Page 12 of Isolated (Harper Security Ops #21)

Based on the very little that I knew was ailing her—something about work—I thought it might be best to offer some additional reassurance. I stroked my fingers lightly over her knuckles. “Anything you tell me stays between us. You don’t have to worry about anything leaving this room. ”

Her chin dipped slightly with understanding. Then she inhaled deeply and released a big breath before she blurted, “I think I might be going crazy.”

My brows shot up. “Pardon?”

She pulled her hand away, burying her face in her palms.

I wanted to reach for her again, to pull her into my arms and offer her some comfort.

Iris groaned with frustration and embarrassment. “I can’t believe I’m sitting here about to tell you this. This is insane. But maybe that’s the way it feels when you start to lose your mind.”

“Iris, look at me.” I kept my tone gentle, encouraging.

She lifted her head and looked in my direction. Her eyes were red-rimmed, the look of despair catching me off guard. Obviously, I knew there was something wrong, but I hadn’t ever seen her like this before.

Swallowing down the discomfort I felt, knowing she was so upset, I said, “You can tell me about whatever is going on. I promise you have nothing to worry about. I told you yesterday that I’m happy to lend a listening ear. I don’t care what it’s about; I will do whatever I can to help you.”

Her bottom lip quivered. “Nearly everything in my life was perfect. You saw me a few weeks ago. I was over the moon.”

I smiled at her as the memory flitted through my mind. “I recall.”

“Ever since then, it seems like my life is falling apart.”

“How so?”

She raked her fingers through her hair, gathering it up in one hand at the nape of her neck before twisting it and draping it over the front of her right shoulder.

“It started at work with an unintentionally missed meeting and ended today with my boss calling me into his office and suggesting I take the rest of the week off.”

“Is this the same boss that just offered you a promotion?”

Iris nodded. “Yes. And I think that position is now on the line.”

That had to hurt.

I could recall just how excited she had been about the promotion.

From what I’d learned about Iris over the course of just shy of two years that we’d been working out in the mornings together, she loved her job, and I didn’t think she’d do anything to jeopardize it.

Like any decent private investigator, I pushed for more information.

“I’m so sorry to hear that. What exactly prompted your boss to urge you to take a few days off? ”

Iris swiped at a tear that had escaped and rolled down her cheek.

“His name is Robert. He called me into his office this morning and asked if there was something going on in my personal life. He’s never asked me anything like that before, so I was shocked by the question. But I insisted everything was fine.”

“Is it?”

She shrugged. “Mostly. I mean, there are little things that have been bugging me lately, but it’s nothing that would impact my ability to do my job.”

“Right. Okay. So, what did Robert say when you told him there was nothing to worry about? Did he specify why he was concerned? ”

Iris swallowed roughly. “Well, I already had a sneaking suspicion about it, given all the weird stuff that was happening lately, but he didn’t hesitate to finally share.

Like I said, I had accidentally missed a meeting a couple of weeks ago.

Another boss of mine, Bryan, is the chief marketing officer.

There had been a meeting scheduled for two o’clock one afternoon, but apparently, everyone else got the email about the meeting being moved up to earlier in the day.

I never received that email, and of course, I went to him to say as much when I learned about it.

I guess there was some technical glitch, because he did show me that he’d sent the email to me as well as everyone else.

Anyway, from there, things spiraled. They’ve hired a consultant to help with efficiency, and the consultant started interviewing everyone.

Now, I’m getting dirty looks everywhere I turn.

” She swallowed roughly, shaking her head.

“If I can offer a word of advice, don’t hope to get a promotion while everyone else’s jobs are on the line.

Even if you knew nothing about it, I can assure you that people won’t believe you. ”

My brows knit together. While I understood why Iris was feeling frustrated, I still didn’t understand what led her here. “Did you do something to anyone who was upset about your promotion?”

“What? No.”

“Well, I guess I don’t understand what’s led to you feeling like your promotion is on the line,” I explained.

“That’s because I only told you what happened at the start of this.”

“There’s more?”

She sighed. “I’m afraid so. Evidently, a client had called expressing some dissatisfaction with a campaign I’d worked on. There was also a deadline that got moved up, which I missed, because I hadn’t been made aware of the change.”

“Were attempts made to notify you of the deadline?”

“Apparently, but I never received the notification. My calendar still shows the original deadline, and since we’re on a company-wide software program, if the date got switched, it should have been updated on my calendar.”

Perhaps there was something going on with her computer or email system. “If you’d like, I’d be happy to look into what might be causing you not to get these emails or scheduling updates.”

She sat up straighter, the look of surprise plain as day. “You can do that?”

“You know that I’m a private investigator, right?”

“Yes, but I thought you got hired by people who wanted you to find out if their spouses were cheating on them,” she confessed.

A chuckle escaped. I knew this wasn’t exactly the time to be laughing, but I couldn’t help it. Without trying, even during a dark moment for her, Iris could bring a smile to my face. “I do a little bit more than catch cheating spouses. In fact, it’s rare I’m ever working on a case like that.”

“Oh, wow. I… I didn’t know. Do you really think there might be something you can find that’ll explain why I haven’t received some important emails lately or why my calendar didn’t update?”

“I don’t want to make you promises, but I can certainly look into it for you.”

Some tension seemed to ease out of her body, her shoulders dropping. “Landen, that would be… I’d owe you everything, if you could figure that out.”

I offered to be a good friend to Iris before I understood the extent of her problem. Though I had no intention of holding her to some sort of repayment, I couldn’t say I wouldn’t love to see how she’d show her appreciation.

“Do you have it with you?”

“What?”

“I assume you work on a laptop. It’s not with you, is it?”

Understanding dawned. “No. Unfortunately, I left it at home. I didn’t come here with the intention of having you work on anything for me. I was merely looking to have someone to talk to.”

This was my opportunity, the one shot I’d wanted for as long as I could remember. I wouldn’t prey on her vulnerability, but Iris clearly needed somebody to talk to right now. I was going to be that man for her.

“It is lunchtime, you know?”

“Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to?—”

“Iris, relax.” I placed my hand on her arm.

“I’m telling you that it’s lunchtime, because you said you wanted someone to talk to.

Since you don’t have to go back to work, and we both need to eat, why don’t you let me take you out for lunch, and you can talk to me about anything that’s on your mind? ”

For several long moments, she stared at me with a look of disbelief. I didn’t want to regret having asked her to join me, but after so much time had passed without a response, I couldn’t stop myself from assuming the worst.

Just as I was about to backtrack, she said, “I’d love that. Are you sure? ”

The corners of my mouth tipped up. “I’m positive.”

For the first time since she’d entered my office, I got a bit of that sparkle in her eyes that I’d grown so accustomed to seeing. I never would’ve thought that me asking her to lunch would ever be able to put that look on her face, but I had to admit that it felt good to witness.