Page 108 of Stripping Bare

She angled her computer away from Miss Joan and hunched closer. Her fingers were shaking, but they hit the correct keys, typing out HarrisonShaw.

Still, she hesitated before she hitEnter.

Nothing. No mention of him since he went to prison for drugtrafficking.

Breathing a little easier now, she typed in anothername.

Matthew Levine. Over two hundred names came up on LinkedIn alone. That would be like searching the Mojave for a grain ofsand.

She didn’t even know the names of a couple of her attackers, but one guy’s last name had been Cartwright. The other guys had called him Cartwheel, but his real name wasCharles.

When she typed in his name, a few Charles Cartwrights in North Carolina popped up with LinkedIn profiles. One was an insurance salesman in Wilmington. Another worked at a bank in Charlotte. And yet another was a high-school coach inGreenville.

But LinkedIn profiles weren’t going to give her the kind of information she was looking for. People used the platform to brag about their professional accomplishments, not reveal the mistakes in theirlives.

Tessa wasn’t completely sure what shewaslooking for, but she’d know it if she found it. On the third page of her Google search, she spotted it. TheDaily Tar Hill,the UNC newspaper,listed an old article about Charlie Cartwright. He was a senior accused of cheating on the LSAT by hacking into the Law School Admission Council’s network and stealing test answers. Apparently, the student had denied it, but the accusation had ended his plans for a lawcareer.

They paid, but it wasn’tenough.

Oh, sweet mercifulGod.

She jumped up from the table so quickly that her chair almost toppled over, and Miss Joan looked up in surprise. “I…uh…sorry, but I need therestroom.”

Miss Joan pointed her down the hall, and Tessa grabbed her phone and hurried towardprivacy.

She dialed Jonah’s number, but it went to voice mail. Should she leave a message ornot?

Finally, she just said, “Jonah, I have some information that might be relevant. Call meimmediately.”

She dabbed at her face with cool water, trying to keep the sick feeling of betrayal from overtaking her. Once she had most of her composure back, she returned to thekitchen.

If Jonah had done what she now suspected, she might have just stumbled on the truth about who was behind the hacking and game-playing.

Still, she scrolled through the list of Steele Trap employees who’d scheduled more than one session withher.

Benery, Caldwell, Grimes, Vrana, and a few dozenothers.

Wait a minute. Keith Benery was from somewhere in the South. Not only was he one of the few people in the company besides Jonah and her to have a drawl, but she remembered once having a lively conversation about where to find the best Carolinabarbecue.

So she clicked onto Keith’s file and refreshed her memory on why he’d spent several sessions with her, primarily to talk about the death of his younger brother. As she remembered, he was very closed-mouthed about how his brother had died, only saying it was an accident. In fact, he’d never even told her his brother’sname.

His brother’s death had obviously hit Keith hard, because he’d been in her office regularlyuntil…

She clicked through the files, checking dates. His last scheduled appointment had been on December 18, a few months before Jonah sold Steele Trap. Maybe he’d finally worked through his grief and hadn’t felt he needed any more support. Or maybe it was something muchdarker.

Pausing the recording, she clicked over to her web browser and typed inBenery obituaryandNorth Carolina.The site for theSmoky Mountain Timesin Bryson City listed an obit for StevenBenery.

But it reported no cause ofdeath.

Charlotte Bankand Trust was bustling when Jonah walked in. On his way into the city, he’d called to confirm that Cartwright was at work today. It would be his last day if Jonah had anything to do withit.

He strolled up to a desk occupied by a perky blond twenty-something. “Hey, there. I wanted to talk with someone about a homeloan.”

“Absolutely,Mister…”

“Smith,” he said. “A friend of mine recommended CharlesCartwright.”

Her smile dialed back a few notches. “Of course.” Hm. Someone else wasn’t crazy about ol’ Charlie, either. But she made a quick interoffice call and hung up. “You’re in luck. He happens to be free right now. Just down that hallway. Second door on theleft.”