Chapter 8
EVELYN
Alexander’s fingers tapped softly against the leather armrest of the sofa.
The rhythmic tapping was driving me crazy, but I held in the urge to snap at him.
My irritation was more from lack of sleep than it was from the tapping.
I shifted in my seat. The sofa was comfortable, and I fought the urge to lean back against it.
If we were anywhere else, I might have closed my eyes for a few moments.
But with being up so late last night, if I shut my eyes for even a moment, I might actually fall asleep, and that would be embarrassing when we were just about to ask Nathaniel Drake for a favor.
Everything in this office looked lavish and comfortable.
From the gold framed art on the wall depicting scenes from the countryside to the warm tones in the brown leather and green cushions.
Drake had an excellent interior designer even for his temporary offices.
It made sense for a real estate developer.
Liam had scraped together a thin file on Drake prior to this meeting.
I meant to do a deeper dive on him as well, but for now, we knew he was a well-known real estate developer known for his philanthropy work.
Every city he had done a major project in, he had either donated heavily to local nonprofits or helped in other ways, like building low-income housing.
He made money for sure, but he seemed to have a soft spot.
One we were planning on using if we needed to.
The sumptuous luxury was a stark difference to the rubble I had spent hours combing through yesterday.
Like Matt had predicted, there was nothing salvageable in the rubble of HQ.
The fire, aided by the gasoline, had burned too hot.
Most of what we picked up was melted beyond recognition.
I hadn’t stopped until every piece had been combed through.
With Kingfisher gunning for us, even a scrap of a document or a hard drive from a computer could be enough to strike at us in his hands.
It was long, tedious work but necessary.
I had gotten back to my apartment late, sooty, sore, and exhausted. And yet sleep still evaded me, and I spent most of my night tossing and turning and trying not to wake Adrian.
Nathaniel Drake had set this meeting at 8:30 a.m., and it was currently 8:41. His secretary, a young woman in her early twenties, apologized for the delay but hadn’t given us any details as to why he was running late.
I shifted in my seat again, and Alexander placed a hand on my knee. “If he’s not here in the next couple of minutes, we’ll reschedule,” he murmured softly.
“Okay,” I murmured.
We didn’t have the time to wait here all morning. The list of things I had to do was longer than my arm, but something in my gut told me the cameras in the rail yard were important. We needed access.
At 8:45, the door to Nathaniel Drake’s office swung open.
“Mr. Stone, Miss Harper, I’m so sorry to keep you waiting.” Drake stepped out of his office. He was in a gray suit and blue tie, his brown hair neatly combed over.
“Not a problem,” Alexander said smoothly, like he hadn’t been tapping his fingers with impatience for the last ten minutes. He stood, and I followed him into Drake’s office.
Floor-to-ceiling windows dominated the right wall, flooding the room with light it didn‘t seem to want.
The darkly stained oak desk was massive and matched the leather of his chair and the two smaller guest chairs.
It made a statement about who held the power in the room.
Gilded frames lined the walls, more impersonal countryside scenes, the kind of art picked to be noticed for how expensive it was rather than how it felt.
“What can I do for you folks this morning?” Drake asked. He gestured for us to take a seat in the chairs. He settled into his, leaning back into it and steepling his fingers in front of him.
“It’s more about what we can do for you,” Alexander said, leaning back in his chair to mimic Drake’s pose. He crossed his ankle over his knee and folded his hands on his lap. “SDS is interested in providing security for your rail yard development project while construction is underway.”
Drake raised one of his eyebrows. “From what I’ve heard, SDS is experiencing a boom in business due to recent events. This rail yard development is an important project for me. Does SDS have the capacity to take it on?”
Alexander didn’t outwardly react, but I could tell by the rigidity in his posture that he took Drake’s words as an insult to SDS.
“We have experienced a boom, yes,” I answered, smoothing things over so Alexander didn’t say anything rash in response. We needed access to the rail yard. “But our leadership had plans in place for us to scale up to meet our clients’ needs.”
“I see,” Drake said, his brown eyes taking me in as if he didn’t realize I could be more than an assistant. I was used to men like him dismissing me when they saw my tablet and stylus in hand. Their dismissal had worked to my advantage many times in the past, so I wasn’t bothered by it.
“SDS is more than capable,” Alexander assured him. “Additionally, we’re very invested in our community. The rail yard development is an important project that will bring economic growth to the city. We would love to be involved in helping make your vision a reality.”
I hid my grin. Alexander hit on the right words as Drake puffed up in his chair. The rail yard was an important project for the city, although I was still concerned with the gentrification in the surrounding areas. But playing to Drake’s ego was a good move here. Still, the man looked hesitant.
“I appreciate the offer,” he said slowly. “However, I typically have a team I keep on retainer for projects like this. I’ve worked with them for years. They’re actually onsite today getting everything set up.”
My heart sank. Fuck, we were too late. There went that plan. An in-house security team complicated things.
“Mr. Drake…” Alexander leaned forward, preparing to pivot to plan B. “Can I be honest with you?”
Drake nodded, frowning. “Of course.”
“While SDS would be thrilled to be your security company for this project, the real reason we’re here is that we need your help.”
Drake arched his eyebrows. “My help?”
“Yes. Have you heard of the SID?”
“The Special Investigations Division at the Justice Department?” Drake asked.
I bit my lip. I understood where Alexander was going with this, and I had agreed to the plan.
We needed access to the rail yard cameras, but was it worth telling Drake and risking the information getting out?
I thought of the terrified girls from the other night.
Yes, it was worth it. We would just have to manage the risk.
I stayed quiet while Alexander continued.
“Yes. Recently, they asked for SDS’s help in an operation at the rail yard. I can’t give you details as it’s still an active investigation, but I can tell you that it involved human trafficking.”
“My god!” Drake sat up straight in his chair, his mouth slack. “Seriously?”
Alexander nodded. “Yes, I’m afraid so.”
“That’s awful.” Drake rubbed his mouth. “Those poor women.”
“There was an arrest that night, but we don’t think it’s over. We were hoping to continue to monitor the rail yard to make sure there are no more women trafficked through there.”
“Of course. So you want access to the rail yard?” Drake asked.
“Access would be great, or even permission to put up some cameras so we can monitor the situation.”
Drake nodded. “I can do you one better. My security team will be placing cameras all over the rail yard, a precaution we take to make sure none of the construction equipment goes missing. I’ll have them send you a link so you can have access. Will that work?”
“That would be great,” Alexander said.
Alexander looked at me, and I nodded. Honestly, that was more than I thought we would get from Drake. Cameras we didn’t have to procure and could just monitor would be perfect right now.
“Anything I can do to help,” Drake said. He checked his watch. “I’m sorry to cut our meeting short, but I have to get to my next meeting. I’ll reach out to the security team now and get them to send a link to the cameras. They should be live by the end of the day.”
“Thank you. We really appreciate it.” Alexander stood and extended his hand to Nathaniel, who stood and shook it.
“Of course. And if you need anything else, please let me know. I would also appreciate being kept apprised of the investigation,” Drake said. “I hate to think that more women could be trafficked through my site.”
“As much as we’re allowed to share, I’ll share it,” Alexander said.
“Of course. Well, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I hope you get the bastards who are involved in this,” he said, looking between me and Alexander.
“Thank you for your help,” Alexander said. He placed a hand on the small of my back and escorted me out of the office. He waited until we got into the car to speak. “Well, that went better than I thought.”
I sagged back in my seat. “I know. I thought it was over when he said he had his own security team.”
“Same,” Alexander agreed as he pulled the car out into traffic. “I figured playing to his philanthropic side couldn’t hurt.”
“No,” I agreed. “And it worked.”
I only hoped that the Kingfisher wouldn’t find out about it and move operations from the rail yard to somewhere else.
“Hey, it’s a win.” Alexander placed a hand on my leg and squeezed lightly.
“You’re right.” I smiled. We needed the win.
My phone dinged, and I fished it out of my pocket. There was an email from Nathaniel Drake’s office with the camera link. I showed it to Alexander, who glanced at it briefly.
“That was fast,” he commented.
“You were very convincing,” I teased. “I’ll send it to Liam so he can get on monitoring it.”
Hopefully, we would find something soon. Before anyone else got hurt.