Page 8 of Wicked Rush

“He greased a few palms,” Lars surmised. He plowed his fingers through his hair, tousling his neatly combed locks.

“Let’s just say he knows how to play the game in Washington. Is said to be involved with a well-known super PAC.”

“Tears down any candidates that oppose his environmental atrocities,” Chase commented.

“Alleged,” Garrett corrected.

“Whatever. You know how it’s done. Candidates who support his causes, they get the money.”

“He reached out and touched a few someones. That coupled with a lack of airtight evidence…”

“But clearly he wasn’t untouched? His stock took a nosedive,” Lars said.

“But as you saw tonight, he’s recovering well. Thriving in sunny San Diego.”

“So what…you’re making sure he knows he’s still being watched?” Lars shifted in his seat.

“I don’t want him getting too comfortable in our town.” Garrett brought the rim to his lips, and paused. “But what I’d like to know is what you were doing there.”

“You know why.” Lars set the glass into a cup holder, and tugged his bow tie loose. “And before you say anything, I already made a decision about this. You know I respect you, G, but I need resolution.”

“She works for that bastard,” Chase spat at him.

“Yes, it appears she does. But that doesn’t mean she has anything to do with his unethical business practices,” Lars countered.

“You talked to her tonight.” Garrett glanced at Chase, his expression somber.

“What the hell difference does it make if I choose to see her?” Lars knew Garrett well enough to know that his friend wasn’t interfering without purpose. A mastermind of secrets, he was probably planning a corporate takeover and didn’t want Lars involved. “There’s no direct conflict. I don’t work for you.”

“This isn’t about Emerson Industries,” Chase interrupted. “You can’t tell me you haven’t done a cursory investigation on her. There’s rumors…some of her research was called into question last year. It wasn’t reported in the papers but if you ask around, it’s easy enough to find out.”

“Of course I did.” Lars rolled his eyes, and sighed. “Have I uncovered some information about her? Yes. And yeah, I heard a few things mentioned about her research but seriously, none of it was substantiated. I pulled up the journal articles myself. It’s not like they’ve been pulled from the online registries. And you know what that tells me?”

“What, Sherlock?’ Chase asked.

“It tells me that it’s not true. It tells me that someone out there maliciously attacked her reputation through online groups. It could be anyone. Now why they did it is yet another question in this mystery.” Lars noted Garrett’s silence and continued. “And before you say another word, this is a mystery. No one found the shooters. I’m convinced she lied to the police. She says she can’t remember anything. Come on, man. I am not buying any of this.”

“Maybe it’s because the woman is a liar. Maybe she got in with some bad people. Did you ever think that she’s tied up with Giordano’s next scheme? Did you see her out there? He’s using her like a goddamned spokesmodel.” Garrett held up his hand and hit the intercom, quickly confirming the driver was returning to Lars’ home.

“I can’t say one way or another yet. But I do know this. I’ve been investigating, and so far, I’m noticing there are some big gaps in her job history, where she’s lived, family history, stuff like that. Places where there should be information, there isn’t any. And you know that means someone has been scrubbing her data. Who? I don’t know.”

“Again, maybe that’s on purpose. Maybe Giordano did that. He has connections. You saw her with him,” Garrett said.

“I saw, but maybe she’s just good with the clients. He’s a businessman. Look, don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending that asshole.” Lars sighed. “I’ve just started uncovering the pieces of the puzzle. Take Dean for example. He put me off for weeks after she claimed she didn’t know anything. There was an attempted murder on a beach in broad daylight. There have to be other witnesses. Clues. Why did the police give up so easily? This makes no fucking sense and you goddamn know it.”

“Maybe all this is as simple as her being as shady as Giordano,” Chase stated.

“Maybe they’re sleeping together,” Garrett added.

“I don’t know why you all are changing the subject but shit, G, we’re friends. If you can’t tell me why you’re warning me off her, I get that, but don’t try to bullshit me.” Lars suspected both Chase and Garrett were concealing information, and while he was sometimes part of whatever top secret project they were working on, clearly he was out of the loop on this one. “I get business is business, and you’ve got certain reasons for keeping your cards close to the chest. Clearances and all that shit. But I’m telling you right fucking now, I don’t care what project you have going on, and from the sounds of it, if I had to guess, you’re getting ready to take Giordano down with an anchor around his neck. But before you go hanging Braelynn out to dry, give me a chance to find out what is going on.”

“You know I can’t tell you what we…” Garrett began.

“No.” Lars held up a silencing hand. “Something is going on with Dr. Rollins. I don’t know what yet, but I’m finding out what it is.”

He’d had enough with the diatribe. There was a reason he was the head of his own IT company. He’d graduated top of his class and had been a well-known white hat. Hacking came as easy as breathing and given he already had access to all of Emerson Industries’ files via their freshly inked outsourcing agreement, he had data at his fingertips. He knew it. Garrett knew it. Both of them also knew he’d break a thousand rules if he needed to, the same ones he’d killed to preserve. DLar-Tech represented the pinnacle of integrity and ethics, which was why he hadn’t gone through their system already. What he hadn’t told Garrett was that he’d already bent some rules, gone digging for information on Braelynn in places where he shouldn’t, and could tell someone had deliberately erased sections of her history.

“Obviously there was another reason why you guys were there tonight. Don’t know why. Don’t care. All I know is that a couple months ago, I got shot at while I was riding some waves. And the next thing I knew I was covered in someone else’s blood. You don’t just have that kind of thing happen and settle for no resolution. I tried, I really did. But I can’t let it go. I can’t say what’s going on with the doctor, but I’ll tell you this. She seems scared. And frankly, my gut tells me…now, I’ve got no proof, but I think she could still be in danger.”