Chapter 2 #2
The last of those were easy to identify, so Nick separated them out for closer examination later.
As for the contract files, even though it wasn’t his area of expertise, he could spot a few glaring red flags.
No doubt their recently hired general counsel would be better placed to evaluate those once Nick secured Taylor’s approval to send them on.
By the time he’d finished, Nick had a somewhat clearer picture of what was going on and it was shocking.
He was incandescent with rage at the thought of his comrades and allies possibly being dependent on substandard equipment because of the greed of whoever was behind this.
When he found Markham’s notes, referencing the documents and where the audit trails led, more patterns began to emerge.
Markham hadn’t stumbled onto something of little consequence.
The individuals behind a fraud of this magnitude—and Nick was willing to bet this was the tip of the iceberg—were likely to be merciless in their desire to conceal their activities, so anyone they identified as a threat to their continued success would be in very real danger.
And then, after sitting on this for years, the bastard had blithely sent all of this to his daughter, putting her squarely in the sights of the ruthless people behind it. Why the hell hadn’t he taken it to the authorities?
That was the sensible, rational thing to do, even now.
And while Taylor had acknowledged that in principle during their earlier conversation, whatever his faults, Markham was her only family, so understandably, she wanted to give him a chance to redeem himself.
Nick doubted it was possible; hell would freeze over before he’d contemplate giving the other man even the tiniest benefit of the doubt, because the more he thought about it, the more Nick questioned Markham’s actions and the motivation behind them.
It was time to bring in the heavy artillery. While Taylor might not want the FBI involved at this stage, she couldn’t object to a far more effective alternative not hindered by the constraints of official procedures.
He picked up his cell phone and tapped in a number he’d committed to memory for occasions such as this.
“Tex? It’s Nick Blackmore… Yeah, we’re fine, thanks.
You and Melody?… Glad to hear it. So, when are you coming down for a visit?
The sooner the better… Look, I have a favor to ask.
” Nick coughed. “Yeah, another favor. Just let me know when you want to collect. If I send you some specs for military hardware and supporting information, can you take a look and let me know if there are any negative indicators? Thanks… One thing, though—some of the files seem to have been downloaded from some sort of bespoke system, so they’re inaccessible using standard software. ”
Nick laughed at Tex’s explosive response to that statement. The man relished a challenge. “That’s what I thought you’d say. Yeah, I’m afraid it is quite urgent. I owe you. Big time.”
>>><<<
The knock on the door was not unexpected; Taylor had hoped to have regained control over her thoughts and her emotions by the time it came, but it was not to be. When she opened the door to her best friend, her teeth clamped down firmly on her lower lip to quell the urge to burst into tears.
Charity’s smile was as gentle as her greeting. “Mind if I come in?”
Taylor didn’t mind at all, but struggled to articulate the words. Instead, she simply stood back and opened the door wider to let her visitor enter. She barely had time to turn after she closed the door, before Charity continued.
“I meant what I said, Tay. This… thing with your dad has nothing to do with our friendship. You’re not responsible for what he did. I just wish…”
Taylor’s heart turned over. Whatever Charity was going to say, it couldn’t be good.
“I just wish you’d felt able to tell me sooner, is all. Then we could have maybe figured it out together and been prepared for this. At the very least, you wouldn’t have had to go through all this worry alone for so long.”
Relief almost had her collapsing to her knees. “You mean that?”
“Of course I do, you fool. I wouldn’t lie to my best friend.”
Somehow, they ended up in a hug, the kind that helped Taylor let go of the tension and remember her manners. “If it were later in the day, I’d suggest a beer, but would you like some coffee?”
“I’d love some—although I agree about the beer.”
Nursing their drinks, the two women remained in the kitchen area of the cabin. Taylor had jumped at the chance to move to Honey Fields, and had quickly fallen in love with her new home. She certainly felt more comfortable about discussing her problems here, in her own space.
“Did you have a chance to see what was on the drive?” That she hadn’t dared access the data on the device was one of the first things she’d told Nick when she’d tipped the contents of the box onto the table at their meeting.
Charity shook her head. “Nothing beyond some file names. The extensions weren’t familiar, so it’s likely they’re from an in-house system.
Given the business KDT is in, I imagine there’s some really sensitive stuff on there, like specifications for military equipment. Does that mean anything to you?”
Taylor felt the color drain from her face. “Oh no. I assumed he’d just grabbed an envelope from the office for convenience. What’s he done?”
Charity set her coffee down on the counter. “Are you okay? You look like you’re about to puke.”
Then she looked how she felt. What her friend had said had rocked her to the core. It didn’t take a great deal of imagination to whip up a horrifying worst-case scenario.
With a weird sense of detachment, she watched Charity take the mug from her hands and deposit it on the counter beside her own. “Tay, I think we’d both better go sit down. That way, I won’t have to haul you to the couch if you pass out. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so pale before.”
Still in a daze, Taylor couldn’t respond to her friend’s gentle teasing as she made her way to the long, comfortable couch and dropped onto it like a marionette whose strings had been cut. “How could I have been so naive?”
“Hey.” Charity wrapped an arm around her and drew her into a comforting hug.
“Don’t go there. We don’t have all the details yet, but no matter what the full story is, it’s not your fault.
You didn’t do anything. He’s your dad, someone you should be able to trust, and if he’s gotten involved in something sketchy, that’s on him—not you.
You’re not naive—you’re a loving daughter, and there’s nothing wrong with that. ”
Taylor still blamed herself. “He’s avoided my questions for years, and I’ve let him do it. I should have pushed him harder for answers, but I didn’t. I mean… he’s Pops. I’ve looked up to him all my life. He was all I had for years.”
Charity’s arms tightened around her. “First off, how could you have pushed him harder? You can’t talk to him.
All you’ve been able to do is write to him, and that makes questions easy to ignore.
It’s not as if you knew his address to spring a surprise visit on him.
Don’t beat yourself up for something that’s way out of your control. ”
Charity made a very valid point. During their earlier conversation, Taylor had explained the process she and her father used to communicate.
It involved a series of forwarding services and PO boxes, so all either Taylor or her father knew was the address of the forwarding service at the start of the chain.
There was no way either of them could find out even the general location of the other.
Taylor nodded, reluctantly acknowledging the truth in her friend’s words.
“Would it help to talk about him?”
Taylor worried her lower lip. “If I start, I might not stop. And I’m sure you don’t want to hear?—”
“Tay, just stop right there. I’m your friend. You were there for me through some of the worst times of my life with Ray—I’m here for you now, okay? It’s what friends do.”
After their divorce, Ray Slattery—Charity’s volatile ex-husband—had carried out a series of attacks on her and her business, mostly by proxy.
The attacks had escalated, culminating in his hands-on attempt to burn down her coffee shop with both Charity and Nick inside.
The two of them had been lucky to survive, but Slattery hadn’t been as fortunate, having been killed by one of his own incendiary devices.
Through it all, Taylor had been there to support her best friend.
“If you’re sure?”
“Of course, I’m sure. Why don’t I get us a fresh cup of coffee?” Charity stood.
Taylor managed a halfhearted smile. “I still have some of those chocolate and vanilla cupcakes. I think we could both use one.”
“Oh, you surely know the way to my heart. I’ll be right back.”
Several sips of coffee and half a cupcake later, Taylor felt calm enough to tell her story without letting too much emotion get in the way.
“My mom died when I was really young. I don’t remember a great deal about her now. Once I was old enough to remember stuff, though, Pops was always there. Or as much as he could be—he was always working, so he could keep a roof over our heads and pay all the bills…”