Page 104 of You'll Never Find Me

“Hi. Um, I’m at your gate. Can I come in?”

Tammy was Gavin O’Keefe’s temporary assistant. Gavin’s regular assistant, Gwen, was a ball-breaker and on maternity leave. Tammy had been there for the last two months. She was young, sweet, efficient, and cute. Not hot, but attractive with the innocent girl-next-door vibe. She had a crush on Brad. He’d encouraged it because he needed information from O’Keefe’s office, and Tammy got it for him. He’d nearly slept with her once, but stopped himself, realizing that when he didn’t want to see her again, she might turn vindictive and tell Gavin what he’d been asking her to do.

His restraint had earned him far more than he expected—Tammy thought he was a “total gentleman” and was now half in love with him. He’d made up an excuse, that he couldn’t get involved with someone in the office, but when Gwen returned, then maybe they could go out.

He never planned to, but he definitely liked the benefit of information. Without Tammy, he would never have known that Jennifer had been prying into his business.

That Tammy had shown up here at his townhouse was very worrisome.

“Of course,” he said automatically. “I’ll release the gate. I’m in the middle of the second row, number twenty-four.”

He walked downstairs, typed the code to open the complex gate, and waited for Tammy to drive up in her MINI Cooper. She walked up his short walkway with a nervous smile. “I’m so sorry to come here without calling first, but I didn’t know what to do, and after everything that happened last night—it’s just awful.”

He motioned her inside.

The entry level had an office perfectly set up for a work-from-home arrangement, but he led Tammy up the stairs to the main living level—living room, dining, kitchen. The place was large and comfortable and all his.

“This is beautiful,” she said, taking in his contemporary decor, her mouth slightly open.

He didn’t want small talk, but needed to be polite. She had information for him, and information was power.

“Can I get you a drink?” he asked.

“No, no, thank you,” she said, flustered again. “I shouldn’t have come, but...”

Her voice trailed and he said, “Tell me what’s wrong. I talked to Ron this morning, he was justifiably upset, but our data is archived and the IT department will fix it. Though I heard Jennifer is still AWOL.”

“I’m so glad you talked to Mr. Tucker.” She smiled, as if his comment answered a question for her.

He hadn’t actually spoken to Ron. Ron had sent out an email stating that each staff member would be interviewed by detectives and to cooperate, and no one needed to come into the office except for the IT department. Brad had talked to a Detective Capelle, told him what time he had left (5:20 p.m.) and where he’d gone (home) and who he was with (no one—he was working from home on a project). No way they could confirm any of it either way, he figured.

Brad hadn’t been concerned about all that—until now. Until Tammy walked into his townhouse, face etched with worry.

“Gwen is coming back part-time starting tomorrow—can you believe it?”

“Gavin has always depended on her.” Damn. Brad had hoped he’d be long gone before that battle-ax returned.

“Mr. Tucker said I still have my job because she’s part-time for a few months.”

“Good.”

He wanted to scream at her. Why the fuck are you here, Tammy?

Instead of yelling, he said with fake concern, “What’s troubling you?” He was surprised his voice was so calm. He would have reached out and caressed her shoulder in affection if he didn’t fear he would squeeze too hard.

“I think...” she began, then straightened her spine. “I think that Jennifer White is trying to get you fired.”

He didn’t say a word.

Tammy continued. “Mr. Tucker was very concerned about her when she called in sick, and I overheard him talking to Mr. O’Keefe about data that she had downloaded without permission. He made it sound like a...a crime.” She whispered the word.

“If it’s proprietary data, it is a crime,” he said.

“He brought in a private investigator, Jack Angelhart—I spoke to Mr. Angelhart today. He talked to all the staff.”

He didn’t talk to me. But Brad nodded. “And?”

“And some of his questions—he made it sound like Jennifer was investigating someone in the office. Remember when you told me last month that Jennifer was prickly and didn’t like you for no reason?”