Until It's You (9 page)

Anna’s face fell. Her mouth clamped shut and she looked down, staring at one spot.

Kristina swallowed a lump. “So yeah. Everything has gone to shit.”

“What are you going to do?”

Kristina shook her head. “Someone is behind all of this. The reason Landon’s hiding, my brothers, chasing me. I need to figure out who that is. And hopefully that will lead me to Tom and all the rest.”

"So now it's Landon."

Kristina rolled her eyes. "Yes."

“Why is he hiding?”

“Someone is trying to hurt him. Something about a pharm his company is developing and people want to misuse it.”

“Misuse it?”

“Apparently he’s not comfortable with how well its effects are understood and can be managed."

“And someone really, really wants to use it?”

“That is what the evidence suggests, yeah.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Someone who knew about that protocol he drafted is either responsible for this mess or leaked it to the person who is. That’s a pretty small list.”

“Very small. Do you think Dunn or Brantley could be involved?"

"Have you gotten a feel for what the mood is like in the office today?”

Anna looked to the side, considered. “It’s a total freaking nightmare. I'm guessing you saw the news streaming earlier?”

"Yes."

"Well, let's say people are freaking out. And apparently we know nothing. Both of them have been in meetings all day."

“No visitors?”

"Closed door meetings. I didn't see who went in and nobody is saying anything."

Kristina’s chest rose and fell as she sighed. This was going nowhere fast.

"So how are you going to handle this?"

"What do you mean?"

"If one of them is trying to kill him . . ."

"Yeah. I don't know yet." She shook her head. "I need to do some more feeling out."

Anna pressed her lips together. “You really think they’re after him?”

“I don’t know."

"If one of them is in on it, you think the other is too?”

“No idea.” Kristina rubbed her eyes. “I really, honestly, have no idea.”

She leaned back in her chair. On the one hand, Dunn-Brantley employed her. They paid her salary, her health insurance, everything. They paid her to do the work she was doing. Not Tatum. She was grateful for the steady employment they'd given her. Most investigators had to work freelance, and while that did give freedom, it also took a lot of grinding and stress.

On the other hand, if she talked about finding Landon in their presence, she might be endangering herself, Landon, and her brothers. At this point, it was all up in the air.

“Where’s Kevin?” Anna asked, stirring Kristina from her thoughts.

She looked over at her friend glassily. “I don’t know. He said he would be in minimal contact last night. Doesn't want to be traced. But if I had to guess, I'd say he's looking for Tom."

That was what she should be doing. And if she didn’t talk to either Dunn or Brantley, then she wasn’t going to get any new information.

She could come up with a half-lie. Just enough to pique interest either way. From there, play it by ear and be ready to run quickly if anything looked even kind of off. The alternative was basically turtling into a shell and hoping this all went away.

“Do you know where Dunn is having her meetings?” she asked.

Anna looked at her tab and worked at it for a few minutes. Kristina guessed she was probably bringing up Dunn’s office calendar.

"Meeting's in her office," she said. "Separate from Brantley, actually. That's a little weird. Last I saw them they were together."

Kristina nodded. “I’m going to go talk to her.”

"What are you going to say?"

Kristina stood up. "I don't know," she said. "But I'll have to think of something."

***

She walked to Dunn’s office directly, shoulders squared and avoiding any looks side to side. Nobody bothered her, if they even noticed her at all. Call it a perk of working at a big firm. If she'd tried this in Kevin's office, she would be stopped immediately. Everyone knew everyone there. Here, if you were wearing the right clothes and looked like you knew where you were going, you just blended into the larger organism that was the office. Appearances were everything.

Possibilities of what to say once she go to Dunn's office floated before her like wisps of smoke from recently blown candles. They all seemed potentially bad, but she would have to crystalize one and deliver it. Soon.

She was taking a risk by revealing herself—and her disguise—so quickly, but she needed to talk to people if she was going to have any chance of climbing the giant mountain Landon had set for her. Get more information about what people knew and how they reacted when she gave them information. See if someone slipped. If she just left it to him, who knew where she'd end up.

It would have to be a case of dipping in and out, constantly morphing. With the disguise she'd given herself, she had plenty of options if she continued to change things up.

Maybe she'd buy a hat when she left the office. That could be a good prop.

She arrived in front of the frosted glass door of Dunn's corner office, face to face with her secretary. An excuse had to be made.

Dunn's secretary was a woman Kristina knew in passing, but had never actually introduced herself to. It was pretty rare she needed to go to Dunn's office, and when she did it was always in Dunn's company. She was wishing she'd built up more of a relationship with her at that moment.

The woman's thin brows rose as Kristina approached the desk. "Can I help you?" she asked icily.

"Is someone with Ms. Dunn?"

"Yes. Would you like to leave a message?"

"It's urgent."

The secretary's face stayed blank. "I'm sorry, but the meeting she is in right now is very important."

"Could you please just deliver a message and tell her it concerns Landon Tatum?'"

The secretary's brown eyes opened wide, her brows hovering over them like the rim you leave when you take your coffee mug off a sheet of paper. She looked from side to side, then nodded. "Of course. One moment please."

She rose from her desk and disappeared behind the frosty door of Dunn's office. Kristina waited, silently hoping her first victory here would not be her last.

A moment later, she returned, looking flustered. "Ms. Dunn will be right out to see you," she said.

Kristina took a deep breath. Sure enough, a moment later the door cracked open and Dunn slipped through.

Her icy blue eyes looked Kristina up and down quickly. "Can I help you?" she asked.

Kristina licked her lips. "Can I come in?"

"I'm afraid I can't get rid of my guest at the moment," she said. "What is this about?"

Kristina pressed her lips together.

Suddenly, a flicker of recognition crossed Dunn's face. She turned to her secretary. "Louise, can you give us some privacy for a moment?"

"I...of course," Louise said. She gathered up her tablet and hurried away. "I'll be in Conference Room six."

Dunn watched her go, then turned to Kristina. "What do you have to report?”

Kristina bit the inside of her lip. This was the moment of truth. “I found Tatum,” she said quietly, standing straight. “We have made contact and he is safe.”

Dunn eyebrows arched up. “Jenna was just telling me that she had talked to Tatum earlier."

“Ms. Bruman?”

"Yes. But you said you have his location?"

Kristina hesitated. “A hotel in River North,” she said. “The Hyatt. But he does not seem to be well.”

“What do you mean?”

Kristina licked her lips and did her best to commit this all to memory. She kept her eyes on Dunn's face, hopeful this would be enough when she did a Recall on this conversation later. “He doesn’t seem totally stable. I believe he may have a pharm running, though I can’t be sure. He appears to be very paranoid.”

“Paranoid, or in danger?”

“I don't know yet."

"How long did he say he will be there?

Kristina made a theatrical grimace. “He was already packed up and said he was moving as soon as I left. He wouldn’t tell me where. Seemed suspicious of whether I could be followed.”

"But he had nobody with him? No help?"

"Not that I saw."

Dunn took her glasses off and rubbed her eyes. Kristina chanced a look around to see if anyone was listening, but they had been given a wide enough berth that it seemed clear.

“What are you planning to do next?" Dunn asked finally. "You know that your job is not finished until he is safe and sound.”

“I don’t think he will come back until the ‘threat’ he is worried about has either been neutralized or proven to never have been anything at all."

"So you will meet up with him again?"

Kristina grimaced. "Maybe. Did he talk to you about what that was when you drafted this Disappearance Protocol?”

Dunn seemed to consider only briefly. “It was not something we discussed. We simply did the work for him without question. He was very adamant.”

Kristina gave a quick nod. “Who are you meeting with in your office?” Kristina asked. "If I may be so bold."

Dunn scoffed, but shook her head. "An interested party," she said. "You're not the only one investigating. Honestly, I thought the protocol seemed a bit suspicious at the time. But Landon has always been his own man with this kind of thing, so I tried not to worry about it. But now I am doing a little of my own following up."

"Nothing to report yet?"

"No. Do you have my personal comm ID?"

"I don't."

"Louise will give it to you. Please leave your ID with her in turn. I'll be in touch if I have anything and I would appreciate it if you did the same. That way there's no need for you to come in."

Kristina nodded, her mind racing. "Of course."

"Will that be all?"

"Yes. You can go back to your meeting."

Dunn's quick eyes flashed. Kristina realized she may have said too much. Dunn was always sensitive to who was in control.

"I think I will," she said. "Good luck, Kristina. We're counting on you."

Without anything further, she turned and slipped back into the office. As she did so, Kristina caught a glimpse of the face inside.

It was just a flash, but she knew. That was Bruman. The interested party was Bruman.

Why would Dunn want to keep her away from Tatum's assistant? Wouldn't she want to know about the progress on the case? She had, of course, asked to be kept up with anything.

Very strange. Kristina walked away from the office with questions echoing around in her head. Her first stop would be to get that comm ID from Louise. The second visit was going to be to Brantley.

It took her only a couple minutes to find the conference room where Louise had holed herself up. She was huddled over her tablet, working fiercely through whatever task she'd been given. When Kristina came into the room, Louise jumped.

"Are you done?" she asked quickly, her voice a thin rasp.

"Yes," Kristina said. She studied Louise's face carefully. "Are you alright?"

Louise's brown eyes opened wide again, and little wrinkles sprinkled themselves between her brows and her hairline. "Me? Oh yes, of course."

The room was like many others on the floor: sparse and aggressively modern, with organic curves to the conference room table, to the screen that made up one wall, and even to the bubble glass lighting above. The aero vent at the room's other corner pulsed with a pink light. It must need replacing.

"Are you worried about your job with this Tatum situation?" Kristina asked, forcing a sympathetic look onto her face.

She didn't have a ton of time, but she could see Louise was bothered by something. This was a good guess.

"Who are you, anyway?" Louise asked. "Your face looks familiar."

Kristina shook her head. "I'm investigating the situation with Tatum. Isn't that obvious?"

"Ms. Dunn knows you?"

"She does."

Louise shook her head and put her fingers to her temples. She was frazzled. "Did you really find him?"

"I did."

A smile bloomed on Louise's face.

"But," Kristina said. "His situation is very complicated."

As quickly as her spirts had lifted, Louise's face fell.

"There are a lot of moving parts. Have you seen anything strange at the office today?"

Those thin brows crumbled down toward her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Anything at all," Kristina said, throwing her hands in the air. "I've heard things have been pretty tense today with the news this morning."

She hesitated, then shook her head. "No, nothing."

Kristina paused, trying to give Louise time to consider. Several seconds passed on the digital clock projected on the wall to their right.

Finally, it was obvious nothing else was coming. Her mind began to turn over again, looking toward her next step.

"Well if you do, let me know." Kristina said. She flashed a quick, professional smile. "By the way, Ms. Dunn told me to ask you for her personal comm ID. Can you plug that into my comm for me?"

Louise blinked, then shook her head and that professional smile was back on. "Of course."

Kristina took the slim device from her pocket and handed it to her. Louise tapped at it for a few seconds, then she handed it back with a pensive look on her face.

"Do you carry two of these?" she asked.

Kristina shook her head. "Not now. I have in the past."

Louise seemed to consider this answer, then shrugged. "There is something...I noticed Ms. Dunn carries two. Just today, she had her comm out talking about her schedule and another one buzzed in her purse. This morning on her way into her office, actually."

Kristina's heart rose. "You've never noticed this before?"

"No. Just today. Do you think that's odd?"

Yes
, her insides screamed, but she kept her poker face. "It could be."

Louise's shoulders relaxed in a way that showed there had been immense tension there just seconds earlier. "It's probably nothing, right?"

"Probably, but you never know, right?"

"You aren't going to tell her I said anything?"

Kristina shook her head. "Of course not. If I revealed my sources nobody would ever talk to me."

Louise suddenly looked very put out. Kristina searched for a way she could reassure her some more, but she was drawing a blank.

"I should get back to my desk," Louise said.

She stood up and shouldered past Kristina without another word. Kristina watched her go in silence, torn. Part of her wanted to follow and reassure her again, but in her heart she knew it wouldn't do any good. Resigned, she stood in the empty conference room and thought through next steps.

Either take what she had or push it a little further. Maybe Brantley would have something. She'd accounted for Dunn and Bruman already. Might as well see Brantley before she had to switch her disguise anyway.

It only took her another couple minutes to get to his office. His secretary stationed just outside looked harried as she approached.

"Is Mr. Brantley in?" Kristina asked.

To her surprise, the secretary touched a nearly transparent spot on the glass desk and talked into a hidden microphone. The spot she touched glowed a light green. “Mr. Brantley, Kristina Andersen here to see you.”

Kristina stood up straighter.
That
was an unwelcome surprise.

The secretary smiled sweetly. "I like your disguise," she whispered. "It reminds me of those spy movies. My boyfriend loves them."

Kristina's cheeks warmed. Reluctantly, she returned the smile. She had been feeling pretty good about her morning's work.

The secretary went back to whatever she had been doing. Her blonde hair was tied back so tightly Kristina’s head hurt just looking at it. Combined with her perfectly starched white shirt, she appeared to be the perfect assistant for Brantley. Not a hair allowed to even think of being out of place. “Sorry,” she said, looking up. “I think he’s on his way out.”

Brantley’s voice came through the speaker on the desk, his voice as clear as if he were right there. “Send her in.”

The secretary froze, then forced a tight, bleached-white smile. Young as she was, she'd already had some work done for wrinkles too. “Looks like it’s your lucky day,” she chirped. "You can go in."

Kristina returned the expression and walked down the hall and into Brantley’s office. The charcoal gray curtains on his floor-to-ceiling windows were drawn closed, his suit jacket was on and buttoned up. Everything, from the perfect stack of a few papers at the corner of his huge oak desk to the cleaned up coffee maker and mug, was in its place. He was clearly leaving for the day.

“I’m surprised to see you,” Brantley said gruffly, standing beside his desk. "Especially like this. Disguise?"

He wore a navy blue suit with a white shirt and lilac tie. Kristina had to admit, whoever had dressed him had done a decent job. She nodded at his question.

He returned the gesture, seemed to move past his opinion on her look. “Do you have anything to report?”

Kristina nodded. “I found Tatum.”

Brantley froze, then a smile crept over his face. He unbuttoned his jacket and walked back around his desk to sit, motioning to the chair Kristina had sat in just the day before for her to do so again. She did.

“Good work," he said, once they were both seated. "Where is he?”

“The Hyatt in River North, but he was checking out from there shortly after I left. I’m afraid he’s...not well.”

A dark brow shot up. “Paranoid?"

"Excuse me?"

He waved his hand. "Just a theory I have. Damned peculiar of him to disappear like that, especially with that protocol we drafted." He shook his head. "Anyway, what's wrong with him?"

She took that all in. Reminded herself to keep her eyes moving, if and when she decided to Recall this conversation. “It seems your theory is right. He thinks someone is after him. Won’t trust anybody, including me.”

“Can you tell if he is actually in danger?"

She pressed her lips together. “I certainly can't rule it out.”

"Did he say what he wants? Who's after him? Anything?"

She shook her head. "He said he made the protocol because he had a leak. Needed to figure out who it was. Something about Atlas Pharm, too."

Brantley shifted. "Atlas?"

"They may have stolen some research. Something big."

Brantley eyed her for several seconds. "I see."

He stood up from his desk and put his jacket back on. She stood up as well and followed him to the door.

“Well, it’s good that you’re making progress," he said gruffly. He opened the door. "More than I expected, honestly. Keep me apprised of any updates as soon as you can."

Kristina gave him her professional smile. “Of course. Can I ask where you are off to?”

There was a slight hitch, not quite freezing but not totally natural either. He composed himself quickly. “You can," he said airily. "But it’s a private matter. Get my comm ID from Stephanie and keep me posted of anything at all.”

“Of course.”

He stood aside for her to go first, then locked it behind him and stepped out.

“As I said, keep me apprised of updates, Ms. Andersen. I’ll be available via comm.”

“Will do,” Kristina said.

With a last look, Brantley walked off, straight past his secretary's desk with nothing more than a wave. Kristina pulled out her comm and pretended to be on it as she lagged behind. As soon as he was out of sight, she finally allowed herself to ease up to the secretary's desk, hopeful she could chance a peak at a hard copy of his calendar. But there was no such thing.

“Can I help you?” the secretary asked.

This must be Stephanie. Unless she was very much mistaken, Stephanie was the only person in the building who knew where Brantley was going.

Kristina wrung her hands, weighing several stories. “There’s nothing...going on, with Mr. Brantley, is there? A sick relative or something? He looked like he was about to have an unpleasant visit with someone.”

The secretary shook her head. “Not that I know of."

“Do you know where he's going?"

“Mr. Brantley doesn’t like me discussing his schedule.”

“Atlas Pharm?” Kristina tried.

It was a blind shot, but when Stephanie’s mouth dropped open Kristina knew she'd hit. The secretary composed herself quickly. “As I said, Mr. Brantley does not like me discussing his schedule. What makes you ask about Atlas?”

Kristina shrugged. “Seems like he’s losing faith in Tatum pretty quickly with all this disappearance stuff going on if he's already chasing Fordelli.”

Stephanie's icy mask fell into an irritated glower. "I didn't say he was. What makes you guess he might?"

"Things I've heard. You know I'm investigating this situation with Tatum and his company, right?"

"I do."

"So you know why I'm asking. Is he meeting with Atlas? If not then I'm not really interested. But I probably don't have to remind you that Tatum makes up over half our billings. So this is kind of important."

Stephanie met Kristina's eyes, staring daggers. Kristina's heart pounded as she kept her face blank. She was close to something here.

Finally, Stephanie looked away. "I don't know," she said, her voice strained.

Kristina swallowed a lump. That was unexpected. "What do you mean?"

"He's been having meetings off the calendar," Stephanie said, her jaw relaxing only slightly. "I don't know why he doesn't trust me, and I haven't asked. But sometimes he just leaves."

"Is that normal?"

"Not until recently. I've been with him for five years!"

Kristina nodded in a way she hoped was comforting. "How long is 'recently?'"

"I don't know exactly."

"Like two months?" Kristina tried.

Stephanie shrugged, the muscles in her face still taut. "Something like that. Maybe a little less."

Kristina nodded, doing her best to hide her excitement. That lined up pretty close to the protocol's creation. Maybe Dunn wasn't the only partner who found that whole thing strange.

“Do you think the police will find him soon?” Stephanie asked.

"I don't know," Kristina said, mostly truthfully. "He has to pop up eventually, right?"

“I hope so. It just seems weird for a man like that to disappear.”

“A man like that?”

Her perfectly arched brows shot up and she licked her pale pink lips. “You know. Rich. Intelligent. Gorgeous. What would he have to run from? It doesn’t make sense. If it's some kind of secret, it would have to be
dark
.”

“I guess sometimes people have more demons than you can imagine.”

“I guess,” Stephanie said, though she looked unconvinced.

"In any case, I need to get going," Kristina said. "I'll leave a message with you if I find anything out."

Stephanie nodded, then went back to her work. Kristina turned and made straight for Anna's office. She wanted to update her friend on what she was doing before she headed out.

As she walked, she thought over what she'd learned. If Brantley really was having secret meetings with someone, that was a point of interest. She needed to figure out who that was.

Meetings with Fordelli wouldn't be a smoking gun, but it would look pretty bad. There was enough motive to be hiding it without anything else nefarious going on. Even so, it would be a crazy coincidence . . .