Page 96 of Forty, Flirty & Framed

The nights spent making sure my father hadn't choked on his own vomit.

The creditors I'd faced down alone.The silent meals where the ghost of our mother hung in the air between us.

My jaw ticks.“It became a habit, I suppose."

"One you haven't broken."

"Apparently not."I shake my head."But that's irrelevant to our current situation.What matters is gathering concrete evidence linking Richard to MacTavish and the explicit content."

Karina watches me for a long moment, clearly seeing the deflection for what it is, but she lets it go."I'll keep digging into the Reykjavik connection."

"Good."I gesture to another section of her evidence board."What about the MacTavish angle?Anything new there?"

She accepts the subject change with a grace I'm grateful for."Actually, yes.I've been tracking MacTavish's PR moves in the weeks leading up to the first explicit posts.There's a pattern of him reaching out to Richard's professional contacts in Seattle—people who might have useful information or connections."

"Such as?"

"Three former Abernathy Corp employees who left when you took over.Richard's golf buddies from the country club.And—" she hesitates, "—me."

This gets my full attention."Duncan contacted you?"

"Not directly.One of his VPs reached out about a potential consulting opportunity, right around the time the first explicit posts appeared.I declined, obviously."

"You never mentioned this."

She shrugs."It didn't seem relevant at the time.Headhunting attempts are normal in our industry.But now, looking at the pattern..."

"It suggests they were gathering information from anyone who might have insights into Abernathy's operations."I frown, processing this new information."Or anyone who might have reason to hold a grudge."

"Exactly."She returns to her laptop."I'm cross-referencing known contacts who received similar outreach with network activity during the posting timeframes.If we can establish a clear connection?—"

Her cell phone rings, interrupting her explanation.

She glances at the screen and grimaces."Sorry, it's my sister.Mind if I take this?"

I gesture for her to go ahead, moving to examine another section of her evidence board while she speaks in hushed tones.

"Viki, I can't right now...Yes, I know she has the appointment...Can't you take her?...Fine, fine.I'll figure it out."She ends the call with a frustrated sigh."Sorry about that.Family stuff."

"Everything all right?"

"My mother has a doctor's appointment.My sister had to take Charlie to some school thing."She checks her watch."I might need to cut this short to drive her."

"I can have a car sent," I offer.

"Thanks, but she won't go without family.Armenian stubbornness."She smiles wryly."I can pick this up later tonight."

Something possessive and unexpected rises in me at the thought of her leaving."Or you could come to my suite afterward.”I cough.“To continue working, of course.”

Her eyebrow lifts."To continue working?"

"Among other things, perhaps."

A slow smile spreads across her face."How very CEO of you.Efficient multitasking."

"I prefer to think of it as smart resource allocation."

"Well, when you put it that way, how could a girl refuse?"She begins gathering her notes."I should be done by seven."