policeman named Justin Shephard. Wincott approved because Justin used to be a cop and knew the job. She spotted Detective Wincott sprawled in a chair that faced the elevators. He stood and adjusted his tie as they walked closer. From his ragged appearance, Regan assumed his baby girl had kept him up yet another night.
“It’s Saturday,” she said. “You should be home with your family.”
“I just put the family on a plane to go see my wife’s mother, but if she were home, she’d have me fixing things, and I’m no good at that kind of stuff.”
He stepped back as the elevator doors silently opened. “I’m filling in for an hour,” he explained. “The officer who was supposed to hang with you today couldn’t do it. His wife went into labor. I’ve got another man coming in.”
Regan was dressed in jogging clothes, and Wincott frowned as he gave her the once-over.
“I thought we had an understanding,” he said. “We’re letting you go to that country club for the hospital thing, but running outside… that just can’t happen.”
The poor man looked as if he was bracing himself for an argument. She realized that if she insisted on running outside, the detective would have to run with her. From the shape he was in and the loafers he wore, she guessed he would have lasted about ten minutes tops.
“I don’t plan to go outside at all today. We have a gym upstairs with a brand-new track, so when I do work out, I go up there.”
He looked relieved. “Where are we headed now?”
“My office.”
“Do you work every weekend?”
“I really don’t have much to do, but since I’m stuck in the hotel, I’m reorganizing the office. This is our slow period. The charity projects and the work on the grants start all over in August.”
“Bet that’s a lot of hard work.”
“Not really. Henry could do the grants blindfolded. As soon as he graduates from Loyola, he’ll be taking over my job and working on his MBA. He’ll hire someone to help, of course.”
“And what will you do?”
She smiled. “I’m going global. I want to set up our programs at all the hotels.”
They reached the first floor and crossed the lobby to another bank of elevators. There was a security guard stationed in the alcove. Regan nodded to him as she walked past. She stepped into the elevator, inserted her key and pushed the button for the third floor.
“Do you think all of these extra guards are necessary, Detective Wincott?”
“Hey, if you’re calling Buchanan, Alec, you can call me John, and I’ve got mixed feelings about the guards. If they don’t get in our way, I guess they’re okay.”
The hallway was quiet, the doors to the other offices locked. Regan led the way into her office. Like Alec, Wincott immediately went to the sofa and made himself comfortable.
She grabbed another stack of files, dropped them on her desk, and sat down. Wincott had spotted the remote on a tray on the table and picked it up. She watched him look around.
“Hey, Regan…”
“Top button,” she said as she opened the first folder.
He didn’t understand her instructions. “Push the top button on the remote.”
The second the panels began to move, Wincott whistled. “Holy heaven. Did Alec know about this?”
She laughed. “Yes.”
“No wonder he didn’t want to share this detail. With this television and…”
“And what?”
Wincott shook his head. And “you,” he was going to say. “The sofa. It’s nice and soft. And this TV. It’s bigger than my house.”
“My brother Spencer had it installed a couple of months ago. He can’t be in a room without a television blaring.”
“I bet I’d like your brother.”
“I’m sure you would. Spencer’s the easygoing one,” she explained.
“And he hangs out here when he’s in town?”
She nodded. “Pretty much.”
“Will the noise bother you while you’re working?”
“Not at all.”
Her computer screen was on and she immediately noticed a little square light blinking in the corner. Had she forgotten to turn it off? Or had someone else turned it on this morning?
She drummed her fingers on the mouse pad while she thought about it. Melissa, the computer tech from the police department, had told Alec that she had removed Regan from the loop.
Melissa had given Regan her card. She found it in her desk drawer and called the station. She didn’t expect Melissa to be at her desk, but she wanted to leave a message asking her to call her Monday.
The woman answered on the second ring.
Regan told her who she was and said, “I didn’t think you would be working on a Saturday.”
“Then why did you call?”
Melissa’s antagonistic tone didn’t deter Regan. “I thought I would leave you a message, and you’d call me back on Monday. Since I have you on the phone, I wonder if you have a minute to answer a couple of questions for me. I could call back if it isn’t convenient now.”
“What kind of questions?”
“Computer questions.”
“Yes, sure,” she said. She sounded almost perky now. “I know everything there is to know about computers.”
“That’s what I understand,” she said. “Detective Buchanan told me that you had discovered my e-mails were going to other terminals in the hotel.”
“That’s right,” she said. “They went to your assistant’s terminal and to one in your brother’s office. Did you want me to pinpoint the exact location?”
“No, that isn’t necessary. I’m almost positive my e-mails were going to my brother Aiden’s assistant.”
“Okay, so what do you want?”
“This morning, when I came into my office, I noticed my computer was on.”
“And you think maybe he or she hooked up again?”
“Yes.”
“It’s easy to find out. I mean, easy for me to find out,” she qualified. “Are you sitting at your keyboard now?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Then let’s get started,” she said impatiently.
For the next five minutes Melissa barked one order after another. Regan had to ask her to slow down a couple of times, but eventually she found the link that indicated someone else had locked onto her private and her business e-mails.
A couple of commands later, Regan knew exactly where her e-mails were going, and the link was broken. “Snoop’s gone,” Melissa said. “Now I’m going to talk you through this, and we’re going to make it impossible for anyone else to get in there.”
Melissa once again rattled off one command after another. Regan came up with a new password and typed it in.
“Okay, we’re done. If you do forget the password, just get hold of me and I’ll tell you what it is. You tell Henry what it is and to memorize it too.”
Regan thanked her for her help and said, “If you ever want to change jobs, please let me know. We could certainly use you at the Hamilton.”
“Honest? Or are you just saying that to be nice?”
“Yes, I do mean it.”
“Would I get to travel to the other hotels, like the one in London and the one going up in Melbourne?”
“Yes, you would.”
