Page 46 of Fatal Conspiracy

Her phone rang, and she grabbed it instantly. “Secure Watch, Alpha,” she whispered.

“Secure Watch, Whiskey. Why are you whispering?” Mina asked as Alayah hopped down and walked to the balcony to step out into the cool night air.

“Derek is asleep and I don’t want to wake him. He needs the rest as he tries to process what happened today.”

“I heard Hugo left him the company. That had to be…jarring.”

“To say the least,” Alayah agreed. “He’s had a lot thrown at him in the last few days.”

“Derek is lucky to have found a friend in you at the time he needed you most, Alayah.”

Her entire system froze for a moment as her brain floundered for words. It felt like a trap to her, and considering what happened just a few hours ago, she could never let Mina think it was anything more than friendship. At least not until this was over and she was back in the safety of Secure Inc.’s borders.

“I’m glad we’ve been able to help clear his name. He and Hugo were close, and he doesn’t deserve to be treated like a criminal while trying to mourn his death.”

Alayah held her breath. Would that answer pass muster?

Mina cleared her throat. “About that. What I uncovered puts him back under suspicion.”

“How? We cleared him, Mina.”

“You know we’ve been waiting to get Hugo’s autopsy report, but had to wait for the toxicology screenings to return.”

“Yes, but what does that have to do with Derek?”

“Well, I just got Hugo’s autopsy report. Don’t ask me how. It may not have been entirely legal.” Alayah chuckled but waited for her to continue. “Hugo died of a massive heart attack from ingesting a large bolus of antifreeze.”

“We already knew that.”

“We did, but what we didn’t know was that the coroner notes evidence that Hugo had been being poisoned slowly with microdoses of ethylene glycol for at least a month. It was only a matter of time before Hugo died, but for whatever reason, someone decided dying on stage would be a show no one wanted to miss.”

“It wasn’t Derek,” she said immediately and without thought.

“You can’t know that, Alayah.”

“I can,” she said, vibrating with anger that, once again, the man she had fallen for was facing unfounded accusations. “He’s shown me who he is, and a cold-blooded killer is not who he is.”

“Unfortunately, all arrows point to him. He was the one who had access to Hugo at all times. That came straight from him. They were joined at the hip. I know you don’t want to hear that, but it’s true.”

“He’s not the only one, though. Hugo worked in an office where plenty of people would have the opportunity to slip something in his coffee or food. If anything, it helps Derek’s case.”

“Okay, I trust your gut on this one,” Mina said, and Alayah could hear the sincerity in her words. She wasn’t placating her. “If you want my help, I’ll need the names ofthe top people he thinks have the chops to do something like this, so we can dig into their background.”

“Give me ten to wake him up and explain, and I’ll get back to you. Alpha, out.”

She hung up the phone and walked back into the room to puzzle out another twist in the game.

* * *

DEREK HAD WOKENwith a start when he heard a phone ring. Immediately, he realized he was alone, so he threw on his clothes and opened the bedroom door. The light was on by the desk, but Alayah was nowhere to be seen. Panic spiked through him. Where was she? Did their lovemaking scare her so much that she took off? He suspected she would second-guess herself, but not to the point she’d leave in the middle of the night. Then it filtered through his still half-asleep brain that her computer was on the desk and open. She’d obviously been using it. Then he spotted her on the balcony, phone to her ear. Her phone was what had woken him. With a relieved sigh, he leaned against the wall to wait for her so he could coax her back to bed. The rest of her work could wait until morning. After making love to her twice, he should be sated, but he’d quickly realized that might never be something he felt when it came to Alayah Heath. Every time he touched her, he wanted more. The idea of the “whole package” was a concept people floated around, but Derek had never experienced it until last night. Alayah was the whole package. Small in size but mighty in every other aspect of life.

“Derek,” she said, and he realized he’d been daydreaming. “Did I wake you?”

He ran his hand down his face and shook his head. “No, I woke up and you were nowhere to be found. Come back tobed. Work can wait until tomorrow.” The look that crossed her face had him pausing halfway to her. “What?”

She motioned for him to join her on the couch, so he sat, leaning in for a kiss. It was simply too hard to resist those lips when he knew what they could do.

“That was Mina on the phone.”