Page 108 of Matteo

“Maybe.” He pauses. Then shakes his head. “Actually, no. I can run backups remotely.”

“I know. That’s what caught my attention.”

Alex walks back to the chair and sits down again. “That's concerning.”

I nod. “Very.”

“It still doesn't make sense.”

“No.” I agree. I’ve come to the same conclusion, mulling this idea in my head ever since Elizabeth and I discussed this.

“He's a good employee. Highly valued,” Alex says.

“That's what I thought.” It’s harder on Alex—it’s hard on me, too—to think that one of our own, Joel, could do something like this. But Alex works more closely with the guys than I do. This must be killing him.

He leans back. “Why would he do something like this?”

I rub a hand over my jaw. “I have no fucking idea.” And that's the truth.

I don't know if Joel's involved.

I don't know if Elizabeth is right.

I don't know who's responsible.

All I know is that something isn't adding up.

I hesitate. “I wasn't supposed to say a word, so you must keep this to yourself.”

Alex sits back down, looking like a ghost. “I still can’t believe it. Not Joel. You've got to be shitting me.”

“I’m not. I’m just telling you what Elizabeth and I have talked about, but we can't move on this yet,” I continue. “We need proof. Something concrete. Right now we've got suspicions and circumstantial bullshit.”

Alex nods slowly. “I agree.”

“I'm heading to Italy the week after next to see my mother. Might be a week. Might be longer.”

His eyes lift to mine.

“You'll be in charge while I'm gone.”

“Same as always,” he says, resting a hand on the armrest, and smoothing down his tie with the other hand.

“I need you to keep an eye on Joel.”

He nods firmly this time. “I’ll keep an eye on him. Elizabeth and I will look into things.”

I swipe a hand across my neck, unsure of how to break it to him. “Elizabeth's away too. A friend's wedding in Croatia,” I say casually, unable to meet his gaze.

My cell phone rings just then. I glance at the screen and see that it's from the hospital. Something twists in my gut. “I have to take this.”

Alex promptly gets to his feet. “Everything okay?”

“No idea.”

The moment the door closes behind him, I answer.

The doctor gets straight to the point and explains that they've reviewed the latest results. My tissue-typing results remain favourable. More importantly, the crossmatch testing came back negative.