Sam

A Few Days Later

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“WHATCHA GOT FOR ME, Lance?”

“Sit down and buckle up, sweet cheeks. We got ourselves a doozy. So, no real information on Emma except what you found. Sorry, hun. But, this Gretchen girl is fantastic.”

“How so?” I asked. “What did you find?”

‘It wasn’t what I found on her, but what I found on people like her. Apparently, she’s not the only person who has been fed false information about our Mr. Steele.”

“What do you mean?”

“Girl, she ain’t the only reporter who’s gotten shit information on our man. There have been several complaints filed against a nameless, faceless individual about improper factual information. And all of it surrounding our luscious Derek.”

“Could you not call him that?” I asked.

“Oh, honey. You know it’s true. I bet the muscles that man is rockin’ underneath that suit could rock my world.”

I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath as I tried to chase away the memory of his body against mine.

“Anyway, none of the reporters gave up who this false prophet is, but I’ll keep digging. But our fireball minx of a reporter isn’t the only one who’s been duped by him,” Lance said.

“Any reason to assume it’s a man?” I asked.

“Isn’t it always a man, honey? Women want to destroy hearts. Men want to destroy reputations. Remember that.”

That was actually a really good point.

“Got anything else?”

“A phone number for Miss Gretchen. I figured you’d wanna call her and have a little girl talk.”

“Send it my way. Thanks, Lance.”

“Anything for you, beautiful. I’m out!”

Something didn’t sit right with me about Emma, but the Gretchen trail was all I had to chase for now. I knew Derek wasn’t a fan of John watching over him these past few nights, but I didn’t have time to unpack whatever macho bullshit was going on with him. I needed time away from him to look into Emma without him pressing me every step of the way. It worried me that he kept stepping up to her defense, but what was even more worrying was the constant mixed signals I was getting from her.

I sat at my computer as the night blanketed the sky. The stars were twinkling, and there were horns honking in the distance, indicative of the impatient people who were scattered across the terrain of San Francisco. I sat in my chair next to the fireplace, my laptop balanced on my lap. There was something about Emma I couldn’t put my finger on, and I was determined to figure it out.

But the more I kept digging, the more questions went unanswered.

I grew impatient with what I was finding. I grew impatient with the loose strings and the unanswered questions and the new questions that kept piling on top of each other. My phone rang out a message from Lance containing Gretchen’s number. Even if she wouldn’t give up her source, I was still suspicious of her visit to Vegas, especially with her appearances at Derek’s company.

So, I punched it in, and I called.

“This is Gretchen speaking. How many I help you?”

I turned on the waterworks and sniffled, trying to mimic a cry as best as I could. I couldn’t call the woman out of thin air and expect her to believe I was calling as his personal assistant. So, I used the only other excuse we had in our arsenal.

I used the girlfriend lie.

“Gretchen? Is this, um, Gretchen Lancaster?” I asked.

“Yes. This is. Ma’am, are you okay?” she asked.

“Look, I know you must not recognize my voice, but I’m, uh, well.”

I sighed as I drew in a shuddering breath.

“I’m the girl who was in Derek’s room in Vegas.”

“This is his personal assistant?” Gretchen asked.

“Um, well, that’s sort of the thing. We’re using that as a cover to keep our relationship under wraps for now.”

“Relationship? Oh my gosh. You and Derek are dating. I knew it. I knew a personal assistant wouldn’t be in his room in a towel. That is not the Derek I know.”

“And it’s been eating me up inside why one of his exes showed up at his hotel room in Vegas. I just ... I can’t sleep. I’m sorry. I know I sound crazy, but I care about him so much. I needed to call and talk to you.”

“No, no, no, I totally get it. And I’m sorry if it’s spooked you this badly. It was a tip for a story gone bad. Someone told me Derek would be there with someone else’s wife, and that wasn’t what happened. It was dumb. Just me trying to chase a story and tug on a string I once had in my life. I promise you, nothing’s going on between us. Derek doesn’t operate that way.”

“Who would tell you something like that?” I asked. “That’s terrible. Panicking me and sending you on a wild goose chase. Derek’s a good man. Why would they do that to him?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. It was an email that came through to my office sent from someone in his company. That’s why I figured it was legit,” she said.

“Someone in his company? That’s ...”

I turned on the waterworks again and it kicked up Gretchen’s mouth.

“No, no. Please don’t cry. Look, I had my tech guy verify the email came from there, but it was a bogus tip. It was nothing. I promise you. I even went to his company and tried to double-check the email through their systems. They didn’t have a log of that email in their system, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to go to Vegas to check for myself. By the time I got to you guys, I was chasing no more than a protective hunch.”

“Protective?” I asked with a sniffle.

“Look, you seem like a wonderful girl, and it’s obvious Derek cares for you. I mean, the chemistry between the two of you in that hotel room was apparent, even if you were standing there with a gun.”

I rolled my eyes as I faked another sniffle.

“There’s nothing going on. I have no interest in dating Derek. He’s a good man, but he lives in a world I have no interest being in. It’s what did us in when we first dated. I was the one who left him, not the other way around. But the email I got? Fraudulent. Probably someone in his company trying to be an asshole or cash in on a quick money opportunity.”

“The email didn’t belong to anyone?” I asked.

“Nope. My tech guy said it came from their servers, but the security guards at the desk told me they didn’t have that email in their system linked to any personnel.”

“Does Derek know this? Is this something he should be worried about?” I asked.

“I figured it was some sort of corporate prank. He and Jacob are always going back and forth with crap like that. They’re linked at the hip when they aren’t being professional. Should I send this to him?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know how he would even feel about me calling,” I said.

“How did you get my num—? You know what? Never mind. I’ve been there. Women who believe they’re being scorned are better at sifting for information than the FBI.”

I put on my best girlfriend giggle as I drew in one last choppy breath.

“Are you gonna be okay?” Gretchen asked.

“Yes. I’m so sorry for bothering you so late. Thanks for talking with me.”

“Anytime. Dating Derek is a whirlwind. We gotta stick together on it.”

“I suppose so,” I said with a giggle. “Anyway. I’m gonna try to get some rest.”

“You do that. It’ll help you feel better. And I’ll get this stuff together and send it his way. You know, just in case. If anything, he can use it to get back at Jacob. Tell him to tell you the story about the tabasco-vodka incident. It’s classic. Derek hasn’t topped it yet.”

“Okay. I will. Thank you, Gretchen, for talking with me.”

“Anytime. Good night.”

“Night.”

I hung up the phone, now more suspicious than ever. Someone purposefully sent that woman toward Derek to embarrass him, concocting a story about him to slander him in the media. But they didn’t succeed because they didn’t account for Gretchen’s journalistic integrity.

Go her.

But it still didn’t tie up any loose ends. It only explained her presence at the company, which was more frustrating than ever. I was ready to throw my laptop onto the ground and stomp on it. There was something I was missing, and I was pissed because it was usually right in front of my fucking nose, something obvious I couldn’t see. I had to start at square one. I had to remove myself from Derek completely, from his preconceptions of the people who surrounded him and look into his life from the outside instead of from the middle.

I started to my bedroom before my phone caught my attention.

Come immediately. Emergency.

It was a text from John, and that shit was never good. But his text messages were usually sent with an emergency code. A three-digit combination we had come up with during our days at another private contracting facility. John and I had worked together for years, and we had our own ways of communicating. Especially when it came to text messages. We had three-digit codes that communicated every emergency from flood warnings to lockdowns to abductions to hospital visits.

Emergency code, John.

I waited for the three-digit number, but he never responded. I turned on my heels and started for the front door, leaving my laptop behind as I ran for my car. I called John’s phone. He picked up immediately, and I was pissed that he hadn’t messaged me back.

“Status report,” I said.

“Derek texted me and said there was an emergency. I’m headed to the house now,” John said.

“Why the fuck are you not at the house, John?”

“He kicked me out. Went crazy and chased me with a damn bat. What the hell was I supposed to do?”

“Take the damn thing from him and handcuff him to a toilet or some shit. What the fuck is a man like him chasing a man like you around? And what is this damn emergency?”

“I don’t know. He sent me the text, so I shot one off to you. I didn’t respond because I don’t know what the emergency is other than a rich bitch throwing a tantrum.”

“We don’t know what’s going on yet. Get our men checking the perimeter of the house. Get the cameras we installed in his home feeding to the screens I set up in his library. I’m on my way,” I said.

“The situation is secure for now. I’m approaching the house, and there doesn’t look like any signs of struggle.”

“Derek could’ve seen something from one of his windows. I want that perimeter double-checked and the house cased. I’m in my car now. I’ll be there in fifteen.”

“Roger that.”

“And John?”

“Yep?”

“Stop being such a damn pussy. Derek doesn’t like having you around because you’re not pretty to look at. Tell him if you don't guard him, then he can fucking defend himself,” I said.

“Got it.”

“Now wipe that grin off your face and check the damn house. I want a report to my cell phone before I pull into the damn driveway.”

“You got it, Sam.”

I sped out of the driveway of my home and raced to Derek’s mansion. If this was him crying wolf because he didn’t want John watching over him, then I was going to have his head. I was spread thinly enough as it was, and with him chirping in my ear with reputations and information he supposedly had on his employees wasn’t fucking helping me. Never in my life had it taken me this long to track down someone. And I knew it was because of his influence and because of his words.

Because of how I let that man get underneath my skin.

If I was this compromised, I wasn’t sure if I could keep working this case. I had the ability to transfer this into John’s hands and make him take the lead and drop down to nothing but a bodyguard. But the more I thought about it, the more I started thinking like this asshole.

If this person really was watching Derek, and this person knew who I really was to him, then that might be his plan to turn us against one another, work our emotions, shake our bonds, and get me just unfocused enough to take a step back from this thing altogether.

And if that was the case, then I was playing right into the enemy’s hands.

Which made me even angrier as I raced through the gate of Derek’s home.