Chapter Ten
When Derek made his way to the conference room the next morning, he felt much better.
At least physically. This morning, the man in the mirror looked more like him than he had the night before.
The pain medication Selina had given him, along with a hefty dose of prednisone, had brought the swelling under control and ended his headache.
Selina had used medical glue on his split lip, which he’d appreciated because the hospital was not where he’d wanted to go.
While his face still sported the bruises, and his lip was still fat, it would be a thing of the past in a few days.
Overall, he looked like he’d lost in the boxing ring, but at least he was alive to tell the story.
He could thank Alayah Heath for that. And he would, if he could find her.
Last night, when he asked Selina how she was, the answer was asleep, which was understandable.
Selina told him Alayah had a sprained ankle after being dropped from the SUV, which sat like a lead ball in his belly.
It wasn’t fair that she got hurt helping him.
He spent most of the night kicking himself until exhaustion finally pulled him into sleep for a few hours.
The conundrum of who killed Hugo hadn’t taken up residence because there was no way he was puzzling that out with his head pounding and half a concussion.
Now that the light of day was here and he felt better, he’d do anything they asked of him.
He wanted justice for Hugo, and to do that, they had to clear his name.
Until they did, they couldn’t focus on finding Hugo’s killer.
Walking into the room, he homed in on Alayah immediately.
She was sitting at a table with Cal and several guys, including Roman, the only one he remembered from last night.
He promised himself that he’d keep it professional until he and Alayah were alone.
He really wanted to find out how she was, but he wouldn’t do it in front of everyone and risk embarrassing her.
“There’s the man of the hour,” Cal said.
“Grab some breakfast and then join us.” He motioned at the buffet.
So, after a good-morning to everyone, he walked to the buffet and filled a plate.
He was surprised by the spread the hotel had put up in the room.
He was grateful to have hot food for his belly for the first time in almost a day.
Derek rejoined the team and sat in the only open seat…
next to Alayah, who was trying her hardest to ignore him.
If she didn’t want to talk, he wouldn’t push her.
For all he knew, Cal had punished her for helping him last night.
He doubted that, though. He may have given her a stern talking to, but the fact that she was sitting at the table told him she was still part of the team.
He tucked into his breakfast as everyone else was also eating, so starting a conversation was pointless until everyone was done.
Unable to resist, he leaned toward Alayah slightly. “Thanks for your assistance last night with the lawyer. It made all the difference.”
“That was Cal,” she said, setting her muffin down and brushing off her hands.
“Not the way I heard it,” he said, then popped more bacon into his mouth and waited for her to respond.
She didn’t. Apparently, he was on her blacklist even if no one else was mad at him.
Sad as it made him, he’d have to respect her and not push.
While he wanted to get to know her better, that didn’t mean she felt the same way about him.
He’d help with the investigation while he tried to earn back her respect.
Maybe he didn’t need that, but he wanted it because he had nothing but respect for Alayah Heath.
“We’re waiting for the conference committee to decide if they’re resuming the event, but the early indication I got was they will be,” Cal said, leaning back in his chair.
“They’re going to move the presentations to a different theater.
It won’t hold as many people, but they don’t expect any of the other speakers to draw the kind of crowd Hugo did, so they think it will work out fine. Sorry, Derek.”
He held up his hand until he finished chewing.
“No need to apologize every time you mention his name. I’m coping with his death by refusing to address those feelings until I’ve cleared my name and his killer is behind bars.
It’s the only way I can figure out how to keep my mind sharp and not focus on the grief and anger of losing a friend. ”
Cal nodded once. “When you have an analytical mind like you do, that’s the best way to approach it. There will be time to grieve, but right now isn’t the time. Now is the time to figure out who killed him. Grieving feels never-ending when a murder charge is hanging over your head.”
Laying his fork down, Derek leaned in over the table.
“For full disclosure, I planned to quit in January. Even before Hugo started feeling poorly, he was unable or unwilling to do much of anything for himself, which meant there was no such thing as time off. It’s been three years since I’ve had more than one day to visit the cabin, and that was only because he was otherwise occupied.
This would have been the first vacation I’d had since becoming his assistant five years ago.
He only allowed it because I was less than thirty minutes away and could return quickly if he needed me.
I expected to, just not for this reason. ”
“Wow,” Roman said, shoulder-bumping his brother. “And I thought you were a taskmaster. Hugo was next level.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” Derek said, holding his hands out to them.
“There were no hard feelings between us. He paid me well for my devotion to him and the company, and I respected him for his contributions to the tech world, but it’s a hamster wheel I can’t run on anymore.
I want a life that doesn’t revolve around my work.
Hugo had become a father figure for me, and fathers teach us a lot.
In this case, he taught me that the last thing I want to do is wake up thirty years from now and be him.
Someone with no family and no love in his life other than that which he paid for. ”
“Amen to that,” Roman said. “There’s the rat race, and then there’s that.”
“All of that said…” Cal lowered his voice as he leaned in over the table. “It’s important that you play the grieving assistant as far as the official investigation.”
“I am grieving, even if it’s tempered,” Derek said, his spine straight as he faced off with the team.
“More than that, I’m angry that someone thought it was okay to kill someone I loved.
It would have been much easier to hand in my resignation letter in January than to lower him into the ground in October. ”
Cal tipped his head in agreement before one of the other men asked, “Do you stand to gain anything from Hugo’s death?”
“I’m sorry but I don’t remember your name,” Derek said when he turned to him.
“I’m Zac. We met last night in the woods, but it was dark, and you were pretty jacked up. Your face looks much better this morning.”
“Thanks for the assist last night, and as for my face, Selina is a miracle worker. Will I gain anything from Hugo’s death? The answer is no. Since I worked for Hugo and not Black Marlin, with his death, I’ll need to find a new job.”
“Then who does gain from his death?” Zac asked the follow-up question he had been expecting but didn’t know how to answer.
“That’s information I’m not privy to, nor would I want.”
“I’ll get Mina on that,” Roman said, taking out his phone and leaving the table as he punched in a number.
“Our plan for the day is to split up the work,” Cal said now that everyone had finished eating.
“Zac and Declan will go over the logs from our programs to see if we missed something, while Roman and I go through the security cameras and the logs from those tracking our movements. Alayah and Derek, I’m going to pair you together.
Derek, I want you to tell Alayah everything you know about Hugo.
From his shoe size all the way to who hated him and why.
Every piece of his life should be accounted for on paper.
Once that’s done, go through the footage, looking only for Derek and Hugo from the time they arrived at the center until he collapsed.
I want to know everywhere they went and who they talked to. ”
“Boss,” Alayah said. “Maybe there’s someone else better suited for that job. You’ll need me to do the cloud work.”
Derek could tell she didn’t want to question her boss, but he also heard in her voice that she didn’t want to work with him.
He wasn’t sure why, but once they were alone, he’d be sure to apologize for insisting she stop at his cabin last night.
If she was in hot water because she helped him, he’d make it right.
“I made the assignments with thought to everyone’s strengths, and I stand by them. I’ll find you a place to work, which will be tricky since they’re moving things around to reopen the conference.”
“We can use my suite,” Derek said without a second thought. “It has a large workspace.”
“That would be great,” Cal said. “Once Selina arrives, she’ll need to check your face and Alayah’s ankle, so having you together is ideal.”
“Arrives?” Alayah asked in confusion.
“Selina and Efren had to stay offsite last night.”
Derek had learned that Efren was Selina’s husband and a member of Secure One. He was part of the new security team that would help with the convention while everyone else worked on clearing them.
Cal went on. “Normally, I would have brought Mobile Command, but there’s no place to park a 45-foot motorhome down here. There were also no rooms available here, so they had to find one at a different hotel.”
“How did I get a room, then?” he asked, glancing around the table. “They should have taken my room.”
“Your room was booked for Hugo and had already been paid for,” Cal said gently.
“He hadn’t checked in yet, so the police confiscated his belongings from behind the reception area and didn’t need to do any evidence collecting in the room.
It made sense to put you there since Hugo had already paid for the room. ”
“Okay, then they should have my room. It has a bedroom, a sitting area with a pull-out couch, and a work area. It doesn’t make sense for one person to stay in it.”
“Then you don’t have a room, and as per the police, this is your home away from home until they rule you out as a suspect.”
Alayah cleared her throat. “I could sleep in Derek’s room on the couch, and you could use my room as the spare. Would that help?”
“That would solve the problem, but I won’t ask you to give up your room,” Cal said.
“You’re not asking. I’m offering, as long as Derek doesn’t mind.” She turned to him, and he forced his expression to stay neutral even though he wanted to smile. “Is that a problem? I promise to stay out of your way when we aren’t working, and it should be short-lived, right, Cal?”
“Should be,” he agreed. “With any luck, we can all get out of here sooner rather than later. But at the very least, the conference ends in a couple of days, and rooms should open up.”
“I’m happy to share the space with you,” Derek said, keeping his voice even so she didn’t hear how happy it made him to spend time with her again. “You won’t be in my way. I owe my life to you, so this is the least I can do.”
Cal clapped his hands together once. “With that sorted, I’ll get the word out. Alayah, if you want to pack your things, I can have one of the guys deliver them to Derek’s room.”
“Don’t be silly,” Derek said, standing when Cal did. “I’ll help her move her things, and once she’s got the workspace set up, we’ll hunker down.”
“You good with that, Alayah?” When she nodded, Cal spoke again. “Once you’re set up, text me. Roman and I want to understand Hugo’s business model, so we’ll sit in on that portion of your discussion, and then we’ll leave you to your work.”
With that, they headed out while Alayah scooted down off her chair and turned to him. “For the record, I don’t want to do this, but I also don’t want the rest of my team inconvenienced when everyone should be in the same place to make transferring of information easier.”
Rather than wait for him to respond, she grabbed hold of a small walker that he hadn’t noticed before and walked toward the exit with her head held high.
He followed behind her, giving her the space she either needed or wanted to prepare herself to share a room with him.
That was the least he could do, considering everything she was giving up to clear his name and help find Hugo’s killer.