Chapter 3 #2
She stopped talking and glanced at the three Quinn cousins who were more family to her than her own flesh and blood. “And you’re right. The pressure to grow, expand, and ultimately make more money is intense.”
“How intense?” Cal asked.
“The board is looking over my shoulder and questioning every decision. One of my uncles is getting close to the point of micromanaging a few things that he doesn’t need to be worried about.
You all know that I’ve sensed an internal movement to force me out of my position for a while.
I still can’t prove it, and I realize that feelings aren’t facts but .
. .” She trailed off and wished she’d never sent that email.
It sounded so ridiculous when she said everything out loud.
Mo’s voice cut through her inner chastisement.
“In my experience some people ignore their feelings when they should listen to them. It’s true that feelings can’t be used in a court of law, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have value.
Sometimes we know things with our feelings before our brain catches up and supplies the facts to explain them. ”
Bronwyn couldn’t make herself look at Mo, but she wished she could throw herself at him and tell him thank you.
He’d always understood her better than anyone else.
Sometimes better than she understood herself.
How was it possible that now, years later, he still had the words to express her emotions?
Meredith nodded in agreement. “Bronwyn has always been the most intuitive of us. I’d forgotten that. But if she’s picking up on something hinky, it’s there.”
“I can’t accuse anyone of hinky behavior, Meredith.”
“No.” Cal narrowed his eyes at her. “You’ll need proof. And that’s why you need Mo.” He turned his attention to Mo. “Can you evaluate her accounts and find what’s got her spooked?”
Mo nodded slowly. “The Haven’s system is solid. Unless things have changed, the main computers are on a private, hardwired network.”
“We’ve stayed at the forefront of cybersecurity.
We’ve had to.” Bronwyn tapped her phone.
“We have cell phones, and they have Wi-Fi, but I’m the CEO and even I can’t access our records unless I’m in my office or the accounting office.
We guard our guests’ privacy. Those records include extremely personal data that could, in some cases, ruin careers if they got out. ”
“So what you’re saying is that in order for Mo to check out your system, he’d physically have to be on-site.” Cal walked over to his desk and grabbed a thermos. “That might be difficult to explain.”
“Not really.” Meredith grinned.
“How would you do it?” Mo asked Meredith.
“Simple, really. We all pay Bronwyn a visit. She always comes to us so this time, we go to her. We hang out for a while. And maybe while we’re there, she asks Cal to look at something in her office.
” Meredith grinned at Bronwyn. “Didn’t you tell me the other day that you wanted a new desk setup and you were hoping someone would help you with that?
Like, someone who does beautiful custom work? A local craftsman?”
Bronwyn hadn’t expected to laugh today, but she did now. “Did I say that?” She’d never said anything of the sort.
“Well, you haven’t yet. But you will before we leave today. Then we’ll all traipse over there. Mo will come along because even though he’s always sitting at a computer and needs to be out in the sun more, he does have some woodworking skills. Then we’ll all go in your office.”
“And while you’re there . . .” Bronwyn could see it.
Mo held up a hand. “For the record, the kind of work I do doesn’t get done in a few minutes. This isn’t TV. Real-life investigations take time. Hours and hours of time.”
“But does it take hours and hours to copy a hard drive?” Cal asked.
Mo narrowed his eyes. “No.”
“So, we go in, and you duplicate everything on the computer and put it on something portable. You bring it back home and work on it. Problem solved.” Cal brushed his nails against his shirt. “That was easy. Why didn’t you think of that on your own?”
“Yeah.” Meredith grinned. “All these years of supposedly being the smart one on the team and you can’t come up with something so elementary. You’re slipping, bro.”
Mo looked at the sky. Bronwyn could almost hear him thinking, Lord, grant me patience.
“Would that work?” Bronwyn asked the question to the group even though she knew Mo was the only one who could answer.
“If we did that, it would still take me several days to go through it. And if I find something”—Mo glanced at Meredith—“hinky, then I would need to access more files. Eventually, I’d need to be on-site again.
And I don’t think I heard Bronwyn address the issue of her physical safety earlier.
Did any of you? Because if she’s already concerned about that, having me show up and start poking around is going to throw fuel on the fire. ”
Three pairs of blue Quinn eyes settled on Bronwyn.
She broke. “I’m so scared. Maybe it’s all in my head, but I think someone might try to kill me.”