The 5-Year Plan (Friends to Lovers Romance Book 1) (13 page)

But no one knew Bob was in here. Mrs. Anderson might not even be home. And if Bob murdered her, he might even make it look a suicide. Everyone would think she’d killed herself. Everyone except Trent—but she’d be gone by then. She couldn’t let that happen.

Holding her aching face, she decided it was time to change tactics. Attack him or confront him was just making everything worse. She would have to think of something else? But what? Her face throbbed. She could feel her right eye swelling from where he’d hit her the second time. She might not survive any more hits.

Lying on the couch, she dropped her voice low. “How much money did you make?”

Eyes narrowed, he stared at her, watching her. “What?”

“I asked how much money you made. It’s got to be more than just enough for one trip to Hawaii, right?” She tried to smile. She was sure it looked more like a grimace, but maybe he couldn’t tell that. She put her hand on her chest, trying to draw his stare to her breasts, and act as if she wasn’t disturbed by what he’d said. “I wish I’d stumbled on to this idea.”

His mouth curved up. “Yeah, I’ll bet. Miss Goody-Goody.”

“Hey, if someone had offered me big money—who knows? You think I bust my ass ten hours every day just so my boss can ignore me, treat me like dirt, and pass me over for every promotion? I wish I’d screwed over TerraDyn.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “Made fifty thousand. And that’s my full date of the split.” He nodded.

“That’s a lot of money. She widened her eyes and put on what she hoped was a fawning voice. “If I had that much, I’d get out of here. Travel the world.”

“That’s my plan, babe! And we’re on to something good. You’re not the only door into that chicken coop.”

“Really? Wow—sounds like you’re working with someone as smart as you. Maybe I could help?”

“How?”

She sat up and tried to look as if she was excited by the whole idea. “I know the kind of files that are worth a lot—I was in a senior position, after all. Maybe you could bargain for an even bigger cut if folks see what I have?”

He rubbed a hand on his jaw. Was his greed strong enough, or would he figure out that she was trying to string him along until she got a chance to get away from him. With an effort, she forced herself not to look at the door. She didn’t want to give away her plan. Once she was out of her apartment, she could run to safety. Until then, she needed to be careful.

She licked her lips and tried batting her eyes like Cynthia had. “I need a fresh start—and that means I need money. After all, I am hardly likely to get another job here. Maybe we could go somewhere together.” She fluttered her eyelashes again. One of her eyes hurt like hell, but she hoped that she still looked reasonably attractive.

His lips pulled back in a snarl. “What about your geek?”

Chest tight, she shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “He doesn’t have to know anything.”

Bob shook his head. “You won’t leave your geek—something’s going on between you two. Something’s always been going on.”

“No, you’re—”

He moved so fast she didn’t have time to duck before he landed another slap. She screamed. Pain burst through her at an agonizing speed. “You think I didn’t see the pictures of you two cozying up on your laptop? You think I didn’t know you’ve been seeing him? Well, someone was watching you. Good idea my partner had to see what you were doing.”

She didn’t have anything else to say. He was never going to believe she was as greedy or as lacking in morals as he was. But what was he planning to do with her? He started to lift his hand again. She shrank back.

Her cell phone rang. She dared not even look at her purse. Was Trent calling? If she didn’t pick up, would he get worried? Would he try to come here? And if he did, what would Bob do?

She realized then just how much she loved Trent. She would take all of Bob’s anger if that would spare Trent. Tears stung her eyes and burned on her cheeks. Why had she come so close to realizing the true love of her life only to lose everything?

Yanking her up by the arm, he pulled her toward the bedroom.

Fear raced through her. She struck at him and tried to twist away. “No, please.”

Pulling off the bedding with one hand, he threw her on the bed. He tied her hands to the bedpost with the sheets and stuffed one loose end into her mouth. “That geek of yours is going to come looking for you and when he does, I am going to teach him a lesson.”

He left walked out. Turning and twisting, she yanked on the sheet, but the knots held tight. After a few tries, she lay there, breathing hard, face hurting, and her eyes stinging. This wasn’t working, but she wasn’t going to make it easy for Bob.

But she wasn’t a quitter. She wasn’t giving up without a fight. She still had skills Bob didn’t know about.

The meeting dragged on and on. Management seemed to want to implement immediate changes, but they wanted every detail hashed out. Someone sent out for pizza, and at ten that night the discussions were still going on about what department would take lead and who was giving up their budget to cover the cost. No one wanted to give up a penny, but everyone wanted the work done, and agreements on anything seemed impossible.

A fair amount of blame and finger pointing went around the room, as well.

Iverson was to blame since Victoria was one of his people. In turn, he pointed out he’d been for improved security, but marketing had shot down the idea.

Trent listened to the bickering. He was damn sure none of this meant the end of the company’s trouble. The real criminal was still free, and Trent was sure now that someone on the inside had been in on the thefts. He’d traced a few of Victoria’s fake logins to outside computers—but most of them had come from company laptops. He also now had a short list of six names for people who had not been logged in on their own computer at the times that matched four of the fake login times. All he had to do was narrow that list to one name.

Unfortunately, he still didn’t have any proof that could clear Victoria right now. If only he could tell everyone here that it hadn’t been her. Hell, if only he could get out of here and get to her side to give her some comfort—and maybe take her to bed. Saying he needed a bathroom break, he headed out and called her. She’d left messages for him, but she didn’t pick up. He left a message for her and hoped she’d already gone to bed.

It was close to two o’clock when they agreed on the final details. Marking would give up a chunk of their budget, Trent was given the responsibly of installing the new system within a week. After promising them that he would get on it first thing in the morning, he made his escape. Exhausted, Trent thought about heading over to Victoria’s apartment, but if she was asleep he didn’t want to disturb her. He called her again. She didn’t pick up. He left a message saying he would drop by first thing in the morning.

He was woken up by a phone call at five.

The worry in Iverson’s voice had him sitting up and throwing off the covers. “Trent, get into the office. Now. We’ve had another theft. I’ll meet you there in twenty minutes.”

Not bothering with a shower, he pulled on jeans and a clean shirt. He’d leave the suit for the suits. On the way in, he called Victoria again but she still didn’t pick up. Now, he was more than worried. It wasn’t like her not to return messages.

Iverson was pacing his office when Trent walked in. “What happened?”

Shoving print out at him, Iverson asked, “Who the hell is this?”

Trent smiled. “No one. Well, it’s a fictitious name.”

“Do you mean to tell me Ashwood accessed the system with a made up account?”

Trent stared at Iverson. He hadn’t actively campaigned for Victoria because he hadn’t wanted anyone to realize he was firmly in her corner. Now, he couldn't afford to stay silent. “Have you considered the possibility your thief is not Victoria?”

Iverson shook his head. “After all the evidence we have?”

Stepping in front of Iverson, Trent waved the printout. “This isn’t evidence. This is a fake account. And this is the perfect opportunity. A fake account means someone had to create that account—I can track that. And if you want proof—well, Victoria doesn’t have the knowledge to pull this off. We have three people in IT would could do this—and I’m one of them.”

Iverson stared at him. “You’re friends with her—don’t think I’ve forgotten that. But I thought you were firmly on the company’s side. Don’t make me change my mind about that.”

“I’m on the side of catching the right person. And just think about this—if we made a mistake and fired the wrong person, the real criminal is just going to keep on doing damage to a point that we may never recover from.”

Iverson smoothed his tie. He looked as if he’d shaved, showered, and dressed to perfection before he’d come in. He also looked worried. Something must have sunk in because he nodded. “What do you have in mind?”

“The reason this theft showed up right away was because I hid a few programs in the system a couple of days—I’m the only one who knows they’re there. I added some tracking software, so that this time there’s no chance to hide any trail. But I want more than that—I want to catch this bastard red handed.”

“How? That’s not possible.”

“Oh, it is. I’ve had something else in mind for some time. And I’ve got a Trojan ready for the next access.”

“A Trojan?”

Trent waved the paper he held in his hand. “This…this tripped the trap. The next time that login hits the system, it’ll look for that username. The code will attach itself to the user and infect the user’s computer. It’s going to leave a traceable flag that’s going to alert me.”

Iverson didn’t look fully convinced. “We should run this by the full management team.”

“Except the more people who know about this, the greater the chance the thief will hear about it and create a new login. If that keeps happening, we’re never going to catch this rat. Look, this isn’t going to set off flags for anyone but the thief. Don’t you want to know—to be a hundred percent certain?”

Iverson let out a breath. He nodded. “Fine. Go ahead. But I can only sit on this latest raid on our files for two days, no more.”

Trent smiled. “That’ll work.”

He started for the exit. His phone rang and he answered, expecting to hear Victoria’s voice.

Instead Cynthia’s deep voice surprised him. “I need to see you.”

“Can’t it wait?”

“You said you’d be there for me. So be there. I’ll be at your office in ten minutes.”

“Fine. I’ll meet you outside.” True to her words, Cynthia walked up to him ten minutes later. She had on a light coat open over a tight-fitting dress. The breeze ruffled her long hair. Trent blew on the coffee he’d brought out onto the street with him.

“This won’t take long.” She cleared her throat and said, “I have a confession to make. I’m not pregnant.”

Trent’s mouth fell open. “What! I just spent the last few weeks planning and organizing my life with a child in mind. And now you’re telling me you’ve been lying? Dammit. Victoria was right. I shouldn’t have trusted you—and I should have listened to her. But—why?”

Tears pooled in her eyes. “It was despicable. But Victoria made me see it wasn’t worth the lie to try and keep you.”

“You met with Victoria? When?”

“Yesterday.”

Trent felt a little better knowing that Victoria was hatching up such schemes. Knowing her, she’d probably devised a plan to make Cynthia confess just so Tori could feel a little more in control over something. He wouldn’t have a moment of peace once they were together. But he had to admit—he was looking forward to it.

He turned his attention back to Cynthia. “This isn’t what I expected from you.”

She nodded. “I should go. I hope—I hope we can still be friends.”

As she turned to leave, Jason called out, “Hey, Cynthia. What are you doing here? Don’t tell me you and the boss are back together?”

Trent glanced at Jason, but Cynthia took charge. “Mind your own business, Jason.”

Grinning, Jason headed into the office building. Cynthia glared at his back. Something tickled at the back of Trent’s mind. “Cynthia, wait.” Putting his hand on her arm, he drew her away from the main doorway. “I didn’t know you and Jason knew each other.”

“He came on to me at the Christmas Party. Remember? I came with you. I told him to get lost. The man’s a creep.” She shivered. “I don’t know how you work with him. He had the balls to tell me I’d be better off as his mistress than with you because he was going to be rich. As if I cared about that!”

“He said that? I’m glad you snubbed him.”

“He deserved it.” Cynthia hesitated. “Trent, not that it’s any of my business, but are you and Victoria…you know?”

“Why?”

“Because knowing what an idiot you are, you probably don’t know she’s in love with you and I’d say she has been for a long time. I don’t think even she realizes how far gone she is for you.”

Trent stared at Cynthia. “Uh…are you sure?”

Cynthia put her hand on his cheek. “Call it woman’s intuition, or maybe I just know because I’ve seen that look in my mirror. Whatever. But yes, I am damned sure she loves you. If you love her, tell her you bozo.” She patted his face.

He kissed her on the cheek. “Bye, Cynthia. And thanks. This makes up for the whole pregnancy thing.”

She smiled. “Good. Maybe you’ll invite me over. Victoria said you have a nice brother.” With a wave of her fingers, she headed down the street.

Trent watched Cynthia leave. His first impulse was to catch a cab for Victoria’s place. But he had one thing he wanted done first. They’d waited this long to admit their feelings for each other—they could wait a little longer. Trent headed back inside took the stairs up to Julie’s office. He knocked on her open door.

Julie glanced up from the paperwork on her desk. “Trent? Uh—I’m not having any problems with my system right now.”

“I need to borrow your laptop.”

Eyebrows lifting high, Julie leaned back in her chair. “Why do you need my laptop?”

He’d dated her for a short time. It hadn’t worked out, mainly because she’d been looking for something serious and he was only having a good time. But she was engaged to a lawyer now, and he hoped she’d let bygones be bygones. “I need to finish something, but it’s all hush hush. And I’d rather not work in my office. Julie, please, this is important.”

She picked up the papers from her desk and put them in a file. “Is this concerning Victoria?”

He shook his head, then nodded. “Something pertaining to that. I just need to check something. Now…please?”

Picking up her laptop, she handed it to him. “This better be good. And I want all the details when all this has been cleared up.” She headed out. In the doorway, she stopped. “By the way, I never believed Victoria could be the one to steal those files. She is too uptight to do anything that lowdown.”

“You’re a gem, Julie.” He blew her a kiss, sat down and opened her laptop. “I fear I made a big mistake when I let you go.”

She laughed. “You never had a chance. Now, get down to it. How long is this going to take?”

“Hopefully, not too long.”

She left him in her office.

In truth, Trent wasn’t sure how long it would take. Everything depended on if Jason was as cocky as he seemed. Opening the laptop, Trent closed out of Windows, headed to the DOS prompt and used the backdoor he’d built for himself to get into the core of the network. Narrowing his search, he focused on Jason’s logins and emails. It took him two hours, but Trent finally hit pay dirt. He found what he’d been looking for.

Bastard!
Now he had Jason by the short leash and it would be a pleasure to show this to Iverson. Knowing Iverson’s love for hardcopy, Trent printed a screen dump. Grabbing the page, he headed for Iverson’s office.

Iverson wasn’t in. Trent glanced around. Did he wait—or maybe he should come back with Victoria and let her present this to Iverson. He’d love to see the look on Iverson’s face when Victoria came in with proof she was innocent. It would be interesting to see how the senior exec handled such the delicate matter of a wrongful termination.

And she should be the first to know.

There was only one loose end—how had someone managed to use Victoria’s login for that initial access into the system? That had been key to getting the really important files. Well, maybe Victoria had figured out that part.

He had to see her.

Heading out from the office, Trent caught a subway train over to Victoria’s building. As he emerged onto the busy street, he wondered just how he should tell her. Did he tell her he loved her first, and then tell her she could clear her name? Or the other way around. Which would get him the better reception? He grinned. Which would get them both into bed sooner?

He had to admit that after one taste of that delectable body, he wanted more. Victoria was more than just a fling—and he was lucky to have her in his life.

He didn’t have any intention of ever letting her go.

Taking the elevator up, he decided he’d tell her first who was behind the plot to get her fired. Then he’d lay bare his soul—and hopefully she would respond in kind. He was a free man now and willing to shackle himself to her for a lifetime. But of course, he couldn’t quite put it like that. In fact, it might be better to come up with some romantic stuff to tell her that she’d like.

Tori needed the right words. She deserved them.

He pressed the doorbell for her apartment. He tried calling her again, but it went straight to a message that the phone wasn’t available. Worried, he pressed the doorbell again. Dammit, where was she? What if she’d done something stupid after hearing the company planned to bring charges against her? Trent cursed himself for leaving her alone for so long. He should have ditched last night’s meeting.

Giving up on the doorbell, he pounded on the door and called out her name. He was just about ready to break down the damn door when it opened.