“How sure are you about this?” Pembrook asked Melinda.
Her heart beat harder at the possibility she was suggesting the wrong course of action and it could blow up an important investigation. But as she mentally reviewed Davis’s interview with Leila, her gut insisted this would work. “Davis needs to convince her the only way to save the company her father founded is to get ahead of this. Which means she needs to think they’re on the same side. If that happens, I’m very sure.”
Pembrook turned her steely gaze on Davis, who stood at attention like he was undergoing military inspection. Finally she gave a curt, final nod. “You’re going in.”
Chapter Three
“There’s been a mistake. The FBI is investigating, and they’ll track down who’s really responsible soon enough. In the meantime, we need to focus on getting our next shipments ready.”
Those were the words Leila had used to rally her employees when she’d finally returned to the office. They’d all nodded and smiled back at her. Tight, worried smiles that led to whispers as soon as she went into her office.
Hopefully, there’d still be next shipments to deliver. Eighty percent of their business was with the military. The rest was domestic law enforcement and private companies, usually civilian security firms. They’d already absorbed a significant revenue loss by closing the weapon side of the business. Now that armor was their only product, the military’s business and their reputation were crucial. But it would all dry up if the tragedy overseas came back to them.
Leila shut the door to her office because she was tired of pretending not to hear the whispers. Then she let out the heavy sigh she’d been holding in since first thing that morning, when FBI agents had taken her to their oddly nondescript office to be questioned.
When Eric had sent the company lawyer to haul her out of there, she’d been half relieved and half annoyed. Relieved because as hard as she tried not to let it get to her, that stark office and that muscle-bound federal agent with the too-intense stare had started to raise her anxiety. Annoyed because the more she thought about it, the more certain she was there’d been a mistake. No way had their armor failed.
She’d bet her reputation on it. Sinking into the plush chair behind her desk, she opened her laptop, ready to get to work. Because it was more than her reputation that would be destroyed if she didn’t figure out what had really happened—and fast.
The question was, how? With the FBI unwilling to let her see the armor the soldiers had been wearing, how could she prove it wasn’t theirs?
She should have started working on that question as soon as the lawyer had gotten her out of the FBI office, but she’d been too unnerved to come directly back to work. So, she’d gone to her father’s gravesite first, spent a long while talking to him the way she used to. Only this time, the conversation was one-sided.
It was the first time she’d been there since she’d had to dump a shovelful of dirt over his coffin, watch it slowly disappear from view. She hadn’t been ready to see his name on that sleek granite headstone. But after too long sitting there battling her grief, she’d started to feel his presence. Started to feel his love. It had helped her focus on what she needed to do.
The knock on her office door startled her, and Leila called out a distracted “Come in” as she pulled up the latest military invoices. She’d already charged Eric—the company’s head of sales—with reaching out to his contacts, but maybe she should be doing the same. Between the people she knew and her father’s connections, maybe someone would be able to get her more details about the armor the soldiers had been wearing.
“Leila, I know today has been a little crazy, but I’ve got some good news.”
Leila glanced up at their head of HR. Ben Jameson was young and new, but anxious to prove himself. So far, he’d been efficient and always full of energy. “I could use some good news.”
“I found you an assistant.”
“Oh.”
He frowned at her lack of excitement, but with everything else going on, the last thing she wanted to deal with was a new employee who needed training. Glancing back at her laptop screen, she debated how she could put him off for a while. Just until she could deal with the disaster with the FBI.
“We got his résumé a few hours ago,” Ben continued quickly. “Normally, I’d do more of a formal process, but he was available for an immediate interview and he’s exactly what we’ve been looking for. I called his references right away and figured we should scoop him up before someone else does. He said he could start today, so I thought, why not let him get the lay of the land?”
When she didn’t reply, he added, “I mean, I thought if the FBI stuff has blown over...”
Finally she looked up and nodded, hoping her CEO face hadn’t slipped. “Great. I could use the help.”
Ben’s face lit up. “Perfect! Let me introduce you.” He turned back toward the door and called, “Davis!”
No way. Two men named Davis in one day?
Leila got to her feet, anxiety already tensing the back of her neck before Davis Rogers entered her office.
This morning, he’d looked more like the brawny owner of a night club in jeans, and a T-shirt that clung to a muscled chest and arms. He’d even had a layer of scruff on his chin. Definitely not what she’d expected for an FBI agent.
Now, he was clean-shaven in dark dress pants and a blazer. He should have looked less appealing in clothes that hid his physique. Instead, it made her focus more on his face. On hypnotizing dark brown eyes made even more intense beneath heavy brows. On unlined brown skin she wanted to run
