Page 48 of Fatal Conspiracy

“Curtis is a board member, but also the CFO of Black Marlin Technologies, right?” she asked, and he nodded. “If we dig into Black Marlin’s financials and see money being funneled to places it shouldn’t be, that would prove it.”

“It would prove that money was going somewhere it shouldn’t, but not where or to whom. The only way to prove it’s Curtis is to find him in Duluth before Hugo’s murder, when he was supposed to be in California. I don’t want to dig around in Black Marlin’s files without consulting Anthony. It could screw something up with the transfer of the business. I can’t risk it.”

“You can’t risk losing the business, but you’d risk letting your boss’s killer go free?” Alayah asked, her jaw dropping open in shock and disappointment.

Rather than jump on her distrust, he took a moment to think about what he’d said. He heard what she’d heard once he ran it back through his head. With a caress to her cheekand then a finger under her chin to close her lips, he answered. “What I meant is, I can’t riskyougetting caught up in it. I know Secure Watch has ways to go undetected, but not from your computer or this hotel, whether using a VPN or not. Can Mina do it while we find Cal and bring him up to speed?”

“Easily. By the time anyone realizes someone has accessed the system, she’ll already be out with the information in hand. Hang on,” she said, opening her Messenger app and typing.

He watched her work and wondered how he got so damn lucky to have found her at the worst time of his life. The bigger question was how he would keep her when the case ended.

Chapter Twenty-Five

They’d been looking for Cal for fifteen minutes. Where could he be at this time of night? They’d tried his room, the gym, and the conference room.

“Maybe he went out for a walk?” Derek suggested as they stood in the hallway. “It’s a beautiful night.”

“It’s also almost one a.m.,” she answered. “Maybe he was sleeping and didn’t hear us knock. Let me text him. We’ll bang on his door again if he doesn’t respond.”

She sent the text and checked her messages while they waited. Mina had agreed to hack into Black Marlin’s server to look for the information they needed before morning. If Derek was right, and Curtis was behind the murder of both Hugo and Josh, they’d need proof before they could ever convince the police. Hell, even with the information, it would be a tough sell to convince the cops to look at him. Then again, if Mina could find video footage of Curtis not getting on the plane to California, that might break the case wide open. At the very least, it would give Alayah a reason to search for Curtis in Duluth over the last three days.

Had it only been three days since his world had fallen apart and yet, oddly enough, been brought back together by a woman with the courage of a lion and a heart of gold? This week had taught him that time was something everyonethought they had more of. If that wasn’t something to draw him up short, he didn’t know what would. It was a reminder that he couldn’t let Black Marlin Technologies take over his life the way it had Hugo’s. He didn’t want that kind of life. He wanted more. He wanted Alayah.

Alayah’s phone rang and she held her finger up to him as she answered. While she talked to whoever was on the line, he wandered through the empty door of the convention hall to stare at the stage where his boss, the man who saw him as a son, had taken his last breath. It was another example of time changing the way we looked at things. The last time he’d been in this hall, he was ready to be done with Hugo and Black Marlin. The long hours and Hugo’s heavy dependence had weighed heavily on him, but suddenly, he’d accept it all onto his shoulders again if it meant Hugo was still part of this world. That was the grief talking, but he still felt guilty for cutting and running on his boss. Did he deserve time off? Yes, but that didn’t soothe the burn.

Nearly to the stage, he was surprised when the door above him closed with a snap. He whirled, expecting to see Alayah, but the person standing at the top of the stairs was not her.

“Pondering how our illustrious boss felt in the last few moments of his life? I hope it was the way he made us feel every day. Small and insignificant.”

“What are you doing here?” Derek asked in shock as he stared down the very last person he’d expect to see in Duluth at nearly 1:00 a.m.

“Cleaning up messes and taking out the trash. I can’t decide if you’re the former or the latter or both. Either way, you gotta go.”

It wasn’t until she pulled out the gun that Derek’s blood ran cold and his life flashed before his eyes, including justhow right it had been making love to Alayah. His gaze darted left and right, looking for any way out of this room, but all the exits were tied up if he couldn’t reach the stairs. Doing that would likely result in a bullet in his back the moment he turned to run.

“What’s happening here, Salma?” he asked, backing toward the stage slowly. If he could drop down in front of the first row of chairs, they might give him cover while he ran.

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know,” she hissed, advancing on him to eat up the distance between them. Not what he wanted. He had to keep her talking and pray she didn’t come any closer. He needed help, but from what he could see, he was on his own.

On his own.

No, he wasn’t. He had the SOS button Cal had given him the night Ryland had brought him to the hotel. When Cal explained all of their clients were given one, he’d felt unexpected relief. Cal considered him someone in need of help and not the monster Detective Henry had made him out to be. Not that he’d ever thought he’d have to use it, but here they were. All he had to do was figure out a way to activate it. The trick was to get his hand down to his pocket without Salma noticing.

“I honestly wish I knew,” he said, hoping to keep her talking. “Obviously, it has something to do with Hugo.”

She mocked him, repeating his words while tossing the gun around in the air. He used her moment of distraction to slide his hand down his side to push the button. At least, he hoped he’d pushed it. He couldn’t risk Salma thinking he had a gun.

“Hugo had to go. It was that simple. Once Hugo was gone, we could take the company public and actually be paid for our hard work.”

“Who is ‘we’? You and Curtis?”

“Ha!” she exclaimed, the sound harsh in the giant space. “Curtis is a wimp. A windbag who wants to act like the boss but could never be the boss. He doesn’t have the balls to do the hard jobs when they arise.”

“Like killing people?” he asked, moving closer to the row of seats. “Does he know what’s happening here?”

“Do I look stupid?” she asked, taking another step toward him. “Telling that patsy would have been a surefire way to have the cops at my door.”

“I’m confused, Salma,” he said, keeping her talking. “Once Hugo was dead, did you send those guys after me? I don’t understand why you needed the app files when you already had access to them.”