Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The men were all situated around the lobby focused on their laptops and iPads, but it was Gray who looked up first when Griffin and Savanna joined them.
Gray’s eyes met Griffin’s for a moment before his attention turned to Savanna and scrutinized her like he was Sherlock-fucking-Holmes looking for clues. What happened was none of Gray’s business, and Savanna deserved some happiness, which was why he’d chosen not to tell her the new intel about Nick.
But damn the guilt he felt for keeping the truth from her, especially after still choosing to have ridiculously hot sex.
“You good?” Gray asked Savanna.
“I’m okay,” she answered with a smile.
Carter tipped his head, eyes on Griffin as if letting him know the “Nick secret” would remain just that, and Griffin lightly nodded before asking, “What do we know?”
Gray returned his focus to Griffin for a moment as they sat on the only empty couch opposite him. “My father said that aside from a handful of government officials, himself included, there are only five people at Archer who would have knowledge of the records housed at that office, as well as access to the vault where the records are stored.”
“Does he vouch for all the government officials?” Griffin asked. “Or are we including everyone, aside from your old man, on our suspect list?”
“He doesn’t want to rule anyone out, but he said we should handle the list of Archer names, and he’ll take point on the names on his side,” Gray answered, seeming calmer than Griffin had expected him to be.
Maybe Carter hadn’t mentioned that he’d discovered Griffin in Savanna’s room? Another secret he opted to keep.
But then Gray skewered him with a steely gaze while cracking his neck like an MMA fighter . . . shoving his palm under his chin and twisting his head until his neck popped. Griffin shook his head. No, he knows, and he’s pissed I disregarded his order.
Officers . Sometimes they could be such a pain in the ass. But there was a reason Carter insisted they work with Gray, Jack, and his guys. They were the yin to Carter’s yang, providing a more subdued vibe to the wilder side that was Carter and his team. Plus, Gray’s contacts were currently an obvious perk.
“We have to make this fast because my father needs us to fly out tonight instead of tomorrow morning. The site’s security director requested we arrive at zero seven hundred hours before the employees arrive at eight. We’ll be meeting with the security team,” Gray dropped the unexpected news.
Now he wouldn’t be spending the night in bed with Savanna as he’d hoped.
“My program is almost finished decrypting the email that contains the names we need to target at Archer,” Gray said a few seconds later. “While that wraps up downloading, I have a few more details my father shared with me.” He perched the laptop on his thigh and looked around the lobby at everyone gathered there, his eyes landing on Griffin last.
He really hoped Gray wasn’t going to hold a grudge. It wasn’t the best way to start their working relationship. Neither was nearly coming to blows with Jack. It’d been a rocky beginning so far, that was for sure.
“Archer Group has pitched at least ten different projects to the U.S. government in the last three years, all of them held at the secure facility in Sicily,” Gray began, his eyes moving to the laptop. “The DOD awarded seven of the projects to Archer, but the other three went to rival companies who’d presented similar proposals but for lower bids.”
“Similar, huh?” Griffin sat taller when a theory struck him, and based on the hard line of Gray’s lips, he was on the same wavelength. “How similar? Is it possible this isn’t the first time that vault was breached? What if our inside man is selling secrets to a competitor? For personal gain, or maybe he’s being blackmailed.”
Griffin glanced at Savanna as she asked, “But if all the plans kept at that location have already been pitched, then doesn’t that rule out a rival company being after the blueprints for, let’s assume, this Elysium Project?”
“Most likely. Unless they have a new project in the works that my father is unaware of,” Gray noted. “Or I’m totally off base about there being an inside man, and hell, all of it. And Joe’s team is really just trying to locate the thief and prevent media fallout.”
“Your hunches have never been wrong before,” Jack spoke up.
“What if we’re looking at this the wrong way?” Griffin stood and folded his arms, needing to think through his thoughts while moving. “What if the Elysium Project is already a done deal and is currently in operation by our government? What if it’s a country and not a company that’s after the Elysium Project? Possibly to learn a defense system to duplicate it for themselves, or attempt to sabotage . . .”
“That’s the one possibility I’m really hoping isn’t the case,” Gray said in a grim tone as if he’d already considered the idea and wanted to nix it, but could they? Not yet. “All right. I’ve got our list of suspects.” Gray tapped a few keys. “The owner and CEO of Archer. The CFO. The chief engineer. President. And lastly, their liaison with the DOD.” He read off the corresponding names, then leaned in closer to the screen with a shake of the head.
“What’s wrong?” Griffin parked himself alongside Gray to see what gave him pause.
A photo of a blonde woman dressed in business attire was displayed next to her biography. “Sydney Archer? She’s the liaison?”
“And the owner’s daughter,” Gray added, but Griffin sensed there was something else bothering Gray aside from the fact their inside man might be a woman. It was doubtful that the owner or his daughter would betray their own company but also not impossible. “I know her.” Gray shoved his laptop toward Griffin and stood, clearly shaken.
Well, okay. Griffin rose and offered the laptop to Carter’s now outstretched hand. “Care to elaborate?” he prompted.
Gray looked to the floor as he ran both hands through his hair, then faced the room. “We went to West Point together,” he said, suddenly smiling as if a memory struck him. “I knew her as Sydney Bowman, though. That’s the name she told me, at least. It’s not like I hacked the college records to verify her story. She probably asked the professors not to use her real last name, preferring not to be known as the daughter of a multi-billionaire.” From the purposefully blank expression on Gray’s face, there was more to the story than the two of them being just classmates at West Point. “She was a freshman while I was a senior.”
“What do we know about her?” Griffin asked.
“Four years in the Army after West Point. She’s thirty-seven now. Married at twenty-seven but divorced at thirty-three and went back to her maiden name. Her son is thirteen, and it looks like she and her ex have joint custody, but the son attends school where his dad lives, most likely because she’s always traveling for her job,” Carter read from the screen as if he were reading off a grocery list, and Griffin had to assume the information wasn’t in the company bio. “And her ex-husband works at the Department of Defense. He’s headquartered at the Pentagon. The dad and son have a place in Arlington. Looks like she has a condo in D.C. He’s not the biological father, but he legally adopted him when they married when her son was young. So, he raised him.”
“He’s not yours, right?” Jack joked, probably the only one who could get away with that since he’d been friends with Gray since they were kids in Texas from what Griffin had learned. “You two do the tango at some point?”
“Funny. Real fucking funny,” Gray grumbled. “No, I have no kids out in the world that I’m aware of, and before you ask if it’s still possible . . . I haven’t seen her in fifteen years.”
“Hm. You happen to know that specific number off the top of your head, huh?” Oliver arched a brow in surprise.
“Well, from what Gray’s dad sent, Sydney’s currently at the Sicilian office in Catania. So, it looks like you’ll have a reunion tomorrow morning,” Carter announced. “But, interesting fact, Joe’s team would report to her as she’s liaison and head of security operations.”
Not exactly a nail in her coffin, but it sure as hell didn’t help. “Yeah, that’s . . . well.” What could Griffin say?
“She’s not the enemy. I don’t believe that,” Gray abruptly announced in a gritty voice as if everyone was ready to declare her the traitor.
“People change. Fifteen years, remember?” Jack issued the reminder as if drawing from his own experience. Had his divorce messed him up? Griffin wouldn’t blame him, considering he himself still felt disillusioned about love because of his mom’s infidelity.
“She stays on the suspect list,” Carter announced, declaring the subject closed for discussion, as was appropriate. Gray needed to remain objective and not let his feelings, positive or negative, for Sydney cloud his judgment.
Annnd the main reason Gray didn’t want Griffin getting involved with Savanna—she was the assignment. But he knew for damn sure he’d already placed her above their mission to retrieve whatever was inside that safe-deposit box. How could he not?
He shook free his wayward thoughts to focus. “Where are we at on Nick’s boss? You hear from Emilia?” He looked to Savanna to get a quick read on her, but she was standing now, back to the room, eyes out the window that overlooked the Aegean.
Thinking about Greece and the Aegean Sea reminded him of his childhood when his mother would read Homer’s greatest works to him before bed. The story of the Trojan horse and Troy had always been his favorite. Probably because it was basically an early war tactic, and he’d already been groomed by his father to join the Army before he’d learned to ride a bike.
His mom loved the military, but she had other aspirations for Griffin. She wanted him to be a scholar or something. Yeah, that wasn’t his idea of a good time.
Savanna shifted her wavy hair to her back only to gather it up, twist it around her fingers, and hold the messy bun at the top of her head, sighing as if she were tired. Then she let it go. Only to do it again.
She was definitely nervous, and he wished he could wrap her in his arms and console her.
“Emilia will have a list by tomorrow. I also sent her photos of the two men we’re holding in case she might have better luck tying them to their boss as well,” Carter said before checking his watch. “You two should head to the jet,” he added, looking at Griffin and then Gray.
Griffin had absolutely no clue what time it was. The last few days had been a blur ever since he first stepped foot into Jesse’s house and came face-to-face with Savanna.
“Grab an overnight bag,” Gray said to him as if recognizing his thoughts were elsewhere, but from the sounds of it, his new boss’s thoughts were now also circling around one particular woman. And they’d be facing her tomorrow.
“Right.” When Griffin turned, he found Savanna’s eyes on him, and he tipped his head to the side to motion for her to follow him to his bedroom.
She was smart and waited a minute or two before joining him, not that Gray wouldn’t know she was on her way to say goodbye.
Griffin was in the middle of stuffing a quick change of clothes in a bag when he looked up and saw her enter his room through the adjoining door. “Hey.”
“Hi,” she whispered as the door shut behind her.
“You’ll be okay, I promise.” He zipped the bag and slung the strap over his shoulder before meeting her halfway. He placed his hands on her hips and drew her into his arms, setting his chin on top of her head.
“Please don’t die on me,” she murmured into his chest.
He stiffened at her words. God, one more reason for him not to consider a future with her. Hell, they hadn’t even gone on a date yet. His job was risky, and well, he could die. What would that do to her? How would she cope with losing someone else?
He didn’t want to think about that right now, though. He couldn’t make any promises about anything. So, he leaned back and did his best to silence her worries in the only way he really knew how.
With a kiss.