Chapter 13 #2
He bobbled the magenta heels as she took off after Jordan, tearing around the corner at full speed. He hustled behind her, dodging people.
When he rounded the corner, he found Ava pressing Jordan against a wall in the empty hall.
“Get off me, lady. I didn’t do anything.”
“I don’t think so,” she growled at him, his wrist tugged behind his back at what looked to be a painful angle.
Alex puffed for breath as he caught up to them.
“Look, Mr. Stone, I didn’t do anything. This is insane. Get your guard dog off me.”
“She’s not my guard dog,” Alex said. “She’s my wife.”
“And we just want to talk to you, Jordan. That’s all,” Ava said.
“You want to accuse me of something I didn’t do.”
Ava narrowed her eyes at him. “What do you mean?”
He gasped in pain as she continued to smash him against the wall. “All that stuff in my file. All those access attempts…none of that was my fault. I didn’t do any of that.”
“Then who did?” Ava said, her words sharp.
“I don’t know.”
Alex furrowed his brow. “What?”
“I know it’s going to sound stupid, but I don’t know. I told Miranda the same thing. I never made any of those logins. I was stunned when Miranda showed me the log. I never accessed those accounts despite what the log shows.”
“What about the unexcused absences?” Ava asked, loosening her grip a little.
“I was interviewing for a new job. I could see the writing on the wall. I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t want to lose my job before I had a new one. That didn’t work anyway.”
Ava shot him a pinched look, lifting a shoulder in a silent question he understood immediately. She wanted to know if he believed Jordan’s story.
He knitted his brows, as he studied the man as he gasped for breath, his one hand shaking as he raised it in the air. “Your story is interesting, but I’m not sure I believe it.”
“There’s nothing I can do to prove it. But I swear to you, I didn’t do this. Someone logged in with my credentials. Someone must have hacked the system and grabbed my password. Can you please stop wrenching my arm like that, Mrs. Stone? It hurts.”
“It’s Ms. Collins, and I’ll let you go if you promise to answer the rest of our questions.”
He bobbed his head up and down.
“Run again, and I’ll chase you down and this will seem like a cakewalk.”
Alex winced at the threat that he knew she could carry out. “I’d believe her. She’s a black belt.”
He nodded again, and Ava slowly let him go. He spun, pressing his back against the wall as he stared with wide eyes at Ava. “I thought he said you were his wife.”
“I am.”
“But your name is Collins.”
Ava set her hands on her hips. “It’s the twenty-first century. I can be married and keep my name. Now, answers. You say you didn’t do this, but you have no way to prove it.”
“Right,” Jordan answered, running a shaking hand through his hair. “But I do have some proof. It’s minor but….”
“But what? Obviously, Miranda didn’t believe you.”
“No.”
“Why not?” Ava asked.
“I don’t know. I guess she just… thought it was too convenient.”
Alex narrowed his eyes. “Just one problem here, Ledger Lad, these accounts showed signs of skimming, and shortly after you skipped off to one of my largest competitors.”
“And now you claim you have some proof of your innocence, but the logins were made with your credentials,” Ava said.
“I’m telling the truth. One of those attempts from the log…I couldn’t have made it.”
“Why?” Ava asked.
“Because I was…” He sighed as he licked his lips and shot his eyes down the hall. “At a fantasy role-playing game tournament. I have pictures. Miranda didn’t believe me, but I can show you.” He reached into his breast pocket and withdrew his phone.
His shaky hands scrolled on his phone before he bobbled it, nearly dropping it before he recovered. “Oops. Sorry, you’re just making me nervous.”
Ava crossed her arms, her glare not helping relax the man at all. He continued to scroll with a shaky hand before he twisted the display toward them. “Here. See.”
Alex peered over Ava’s shoulders as she ripped the phone from his hands and stared at the picture. Jordan Haynes proudly waved a sword in the air, dressed in full knight’s regalia.
“There’s the date on the picture,” he said.
“Those can be modified,” Alex said. “And it still doesn’t explain why you went to CyberSolutions,” Alex shot back.
“Are you kidding me? I got fired. No one else would hire me after Miranda canned me with no recommendation, no chance of getting another job. What was I supposed to do?”
“Well, it looks like you did pretty well for yourself,” Ava said. “You landed the CFO’s position.”
Jordan shifted his gaze to Alex. “I know. Ethan Parker detests you. I mentioned being fired from StoneCorp, and he almost tripped over himself to offer me the job. He’s obsessed with building a better business than you.”
The man glanced back at Ava. “He’s going to flip his lid if he sees your wife.”
“Too late for that,” Alex answered. “I’m still not sure I believe you.”
“Come on, man, I didn’t do anything. I don’t even want to work for Parker. I can’t stand the guy, but I needed a job.”
Ava shot Alex a glance, raising her eyebrows. She believed him.
“Why would I do something like this? It’s stupidity. Unauthorized access over and over? With my username and login. It’s completely traceable.”
“Okay, say we believe you,” Alex answered, “any idea who used your login?”
Jordan shrugged as he shook his head. “No. I tried to look into it, but I got shut down so fast, I didn’t get anywhere.”
“Shut down by who?”
“Miranda. She fired me.”
Ava shot him a pointed glance. He knew exactly what she was saying. She still suspected Miranda even though that made no sense.
“Come on, seriously. I didn’t do anything.”
“All right, fine. We believe you,” Alex said with a nod.
The man puffed out a breath, his relief clear. “Oh, thank you.”
Ava handed his phone back. “Sorry for the trouble.”
She grabbed her shoes from Alex’s arms and slid them back on. “Enjoy the rest of the conference.”
She took a step away, wrapping her arm around Alex’s.
“Hey,” Jordan called after them.
Alex twisted to face him.
“Any chance I could get my job back now that you believe me.”
Alex narrowed his eyes at the man. “Text me Monday.”
“You got it, Mr. Stone,” Jordan said with a bob of his head and a grin.
They strode away leaving him in the hall alone.
“Are you really going to hire him back?” Ava asked.
“Maybe,” Alex said with a shrug. “I’d love to rip him away from Parker. Especially since I don’t think he did this.”
Ava snorted a laugh. “You men and your egos.”
“Well, with that settled, I guess we’re on to the other names on the list.”
“Yep, I’ll check them as soon as we get home,” Ava answered.
“About that,” he said, turning to face her as he ground to a halt. “I was thinking…how does this sound…dinner at a place in uptown, spend the night in the city, couples massage tomorrow morning, and then a Fifth Ave shopping spree?”
He held his breath as he waited for her to answer. If she said yes, he’d start showing her Chris was the wrong man for her, and he was the right one.
It was the next step in his plan to win her. She just had to agree.
He raised his eyebrows at her, prompting her for an answer. Her eyebrows furrowed as she glanced up at him. “No.”
A cold weight settled in Alex’s chest as Ava declined his carefully crafted plans. He’d hit all her highlights, ending with a shopping spree. It wasn’t just the disappointment, but the gnawing fear that every rejection carried her one step away from him and one step closer to Chris.
His heart burned with a mix of dread and desperation. How could he convince her that they belonged together when every attempt seemed to push her further away?