Chapter 6
Bryn stared down at her coffee, wondering how Damien, and the gunman for that matter, had gotten into her house. Could they have picked the lock? She had never considered getting a security system, mostly because she didn’t have anything worth stealing.
A bad guy breaking in to kill her had never once entered her mind.
“Over easy or scrambled?” Micah’s question about breakfast interrupted her thoughts.
“Either way is fine, whatever you prefer.” Her previous appetite had faded.
The dream was still too fresh in her mind.
Seeing Damien standing there, pounding on the window and screaming at her to help as the fire raged behind him had been so real.
Damien hadn’t really burned to death; he’d been shot and killed. So why had she dreamed about him?
Maybe Micah was right about the subconscious playing tricks on her. If she were honest, she wanted to scream at Damien about why he’d done this to her. Why had he stolen money, then disappeared, only to get himself killed?
She’d never know what Damien’s intentions were now that he was gone. And while she felt bad for what he must have suffered, she didn’t grieve over the loss.
“More coffee?” Micah crossed to the table to fill her cup.
“Thanks.” She tried to shake off the odd despair that seemed to have surrounded her heart. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m not usually so down.”
“Nightmares have a way of lingering. Besides, these are not normal circumstances.” Micah rested a hand on her shoulder for a moment before moving away. “Food will help. Two pieces of toast?”
“Yes.” She sipped her coffee, then stood, grateful her blistered feet felt much better this morning. Enough sitting around and feeling sorry for herself. Maybe her problem was that she wasn’t keeping busy. “I’ll make the toast.”
“Okay.” Micah moved back to the stove. “Thanks.”
“I think you’re right that we need to focus on the employees at the company.” She placed two pieces of bread in the toaster. “I also think we should consider whether something went wrong with one of our more recent clients.”
“Went wrong how?” He arched a brow. “Like they canceled their account and wanted their money back?”
“Nothing like that happened as far as I know,” she admitted. “But I can’t help but wonder if the money was taken after Damien landed the new account.”
“What new account?” Micah’s blue eyes were intense. “You didn’t mention this earlier. Did the police ask you about it?”
“No, they focused on Damien being missing and the money itself. Not our clients.” Maybe she should have mentioned it earlier.
“When you mentioned looking at our clients, I should have thought of the most recent one we’d landed.
I’ll make sure the police know when we head in for the interview.
To be honest, everything happened so fast I didn’t really think about the data center project. ”
“Data center?” Micah let out a low whistle. “Those tend to stir up controversy. Despite what everyone thinks of a new business going in, the environmental impact is far more damaging than the average person realizes.”
“Exactly. That’s why they hired us to provide public relations expertise.
” The toast popped, so she quickly buttered it and added two more slices of bread to the toaster.
“I don’t think the data center is the real issue, though.
I think Damien must have stolen the money after they paid their deposit. ”
“Do you know how much that was?” Micah asked.
“No, but Damien mentioned seven figures.” She grimaced. “I don’t think that was the deposit, but more likely the entire amount of the deal.”
“That’s a lot of money,” Micah agreed. “But I would think Damien has made a good salary over the past seven years they’ve been in business too.”
“I know he did. It just doesn’t make sense.” She buttered the next two pieces of toast, then handed him the plates so he could add the eggs.
They sat at the table. Micah pushed the laptop out of the way.
“I’d like to say grace.” She cleared her throat. “Dear Lord Jesus, we ask You to guide us on the path to the truth. We also ask that You please keep us safe in Your care. Amen.”
“Amen.” He reached over to touch her arm. “Thanks, Bryn.”
“Of course.” She managed a smile. “I started attending church after Tommy’s death. I knew things wouldn’t work out with Damien when he refused to attend services with me.”
“His loss.” Micah held her gaze for a long moment. “When this is over, I’d like to attend services with you. My buddy Mac, er, Grady has recently started attending church. He seems to get a lot out of it.”
“Really?” She smiled for real now, humbled by his comment. She had a vague memory of Grady coming to Tommy’s funeral. She hadn’t known her brother’s teammates very well, only Micah as they’d been friends through school. “That would be great.”
She dug into her meal, suddenly hungry. Prayer had given her the strength she needed to get through this. The worst was over. They were safe now. Once she gave her statement to the police, she was convinced they’d finally believe her.
Obviously, it helped that she had Micah as her alibi for the time frame of the fire and Damien’s murder.
“You know, I still have my phone.” She finished her eggs and toast, then dug in her purse for the device. “I might have access to my work email.”
“You think so?” Micah frowned. “I’m sure they cut you off when they let you go.”
“There’s only one way to find out.” She held the phone to her face to unlock it, then checked her work email. Everything was still there. “Richard must have forgotten to terminate my access.”
“Interesting.” Micah rose and carried their empty plates to the counter. “Give me a few minutes to wash the dishes, then we’ll review your messages.”
Setting the phone aside, she stood. “I’m not sure we’ll learn much, I never had access to Damien’s personal email that he used from home, but it’s worth a shot.”
“That’s surprising that Damien didn’t share his personal email.” He glanced at her. “I’d think he’d want your help with all his correspondence.”
She shrugged. “Gwen didn’t have access to Richard’s personal email either. We talked about it once. I will say there’s plenty of work to do without adding that to the mix. But you’re right, I did manage my boss’s personal and professional emails at my last job.”
“Makes me think Damien and Richard had something to hide.”
“Maybe.” She wondered if Damien had found a new girlfriend after they’d broken up. Not that it mattered. She would have wished Damien well in his new relationship, if he was still alive. “It’s hard to believe Damien is gone.”
“To be fair, we don’t have a positive ID yet on the dead guy,” Micah pointed out. “It’s possible Damien is still alive.”
She waved that off as she dried the last of the dishes.
“I know for a fact that Damien was wearing those cufflinks the day he went missing. He always dressed in a nice suit, shirt, and tie. I’m sure he’s the one who was killed.
I just wish I knew why he’d been murdered.
It’s related to the money, sure, but was he killed because he stole it?
Or did he figure out who did and was killed so he couldn’t talk? ”
“Maybe your email messages will reveal a clue,” Micah said. “You might see something that triggers your memory.”
“Okay.” She handed him the towel, then returned to the table. She picked up her phone and opened her work email. Micah pulled up a chair and sat close, leaning in to see the screen too.
His nearness was distracting, but she did her best to stay focused. “Okay, here are some of the messages about the Wild Prairie Data Center.” She opened the most recent one but didn’t see anything unusual. The next one was just as innocuous.
“What about messages between you and Damien?” Micah asked. “We should look at them since it’s likely the police will be going through them.”
She glanced up at him, then scrolled to the most recent message from Damien. “This message string is related to the data center. Mostly setting up meetings. Nothing unusual there.”
“Go back in time,” Micah suggested.
She was hesitant to go too far back, knowing that some of their more personal messages would be revealed. Yet he had a point about the police getting access to them. In fact, she would be surprised if they hadn’t already gotten a search warrant for the information.
Her cheeks burned as she reviewed some of the messages, especially the ones where Damien had flirted with her. She abruptly thrust her phone at Micah. “You can see them for yourself. There’s nothing interesting in there.”
He scanned her email, then looked at her. “Sounds like he was very interested in seeing you again.”
“He wasn’t.” She resisted the urge to cover her flaming cheeks. Even the back of her neck felt hot. “I mean, he sounded all flirty and cute over email, but in person, things were different. Especially after I, uh, made it clear we weren’t going to sleep together.”
“He’s an idiot,” Micah said. “He should know better than to expect that.”
Thinking of how Lori had mentioned his staying overnight, she knew that wasn’t necessarily true. “Somehow, I don’t think Damien suffered rejection very often.”
“I guess, but he should know the difference between women who are easy and those who are worth marrying.” Micah turned his attention back to her phone.
She was caught off guard by his comment about her being the type of woman a man married.
Flustered, she tried to remind herself that he wasn’t referring to himself in that statement.
No matter how much she wished otherwise.
“I hate knowing the police will see those messages.” She wished for the zillionth time that she’d been smart enough to avoid dating her boss. “It’s embarrassing.”