One Good Reason (Boston Love #3)(68)

“It’s all circumstantial.” Nate shrugs. “We don’t have anything besides the work order and a sense of suspicion.”

“And the fact that Lancaster is a shitty, corrupt f*cking *.” Parker sounds pissed beyond belief.

“Agreed,” Luca mutters.

“Did we just agree on something?” Parker’s eyebrows lift.

Luca’s mouth twitches. “Don’t push it, rich boy.”

“Wait. Asbestos…” My voice is soft. “That would cause medical problems, right?”

Nate nods. “Anything from mesothelioma to lung cancer to immune system disorders.”

“Hold on a second,” I whisper, limping over to my computer. It takes a minute, but I pull up the document I was looking for and scroll down until I find it. “There! Right there.” I jab my fingers at the screen and the three of them lean close to read the name on at the bottom of the staff list.

“Doctor Charles Birkin,” Nate mutters, staring at the thumbnail image of the middle-aged man in a white lab coat. “Who the hell is that?”

“And why did Lancaster need a full-time doctor onsite at the Lynn factory?” Parker adds.

“I found an email from Lancaster to his Head of Security, a guy named Linus… he mentioned Birkin in the message, along with some kind of transfer – I’m guessing it was a payoff.” I feel puzzle pieces starting to snap together in my brain. “I did a little digging to see what I could find on Birkin. Turns out, Lancaster was a big proponent of in-house medical visits for his workers. Oddly considerate, since he paid most of them minimum wage. Don’t you think?”

“He knew they were sick. Or… that they’ll get sick eventually.” Luca sounds disgusted. “I can’t f*cking believe this.”

“He thinks if he makes it look like he fired ten thousand workers because of budgetary issues, he’ll be able to avoid paying out millions in healthcare costs for workers he poisoned.” My voice is dark. “That f*cking *.”

“If he gets rid of them now, he’s less liable in their lawsuits when they finally start getting sick and realize what’s happening.” Parker’s hand squeezes my shoulder. “From a business standpoint, he’s covering his ass.”

“We’ll need to talk to some of the workers to confirm,” Nate says. “See if any of them are exhibiting health symptoms, find out exactly how many times they saw Lancaster’s doctor and what he told them about their health. Maybe get them in to see an actual, unbiased health professional.”

“Shouldn’t be tough. Most of them live locally,” Luca mutters. “I can start making house calls later today.”

“Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve,” I remind him. “Not exactly the gift most of them were hoping for.”

Luca shrugs. “If you had cancer, wouldn’t you want to know sooner than later?”

“Point taken.” I push away from my computer and start to pace. “Lancaster is not going to get away with this. I’m going to pin that bastard to the wall, so help me god.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Parker steps in front of me and places his hands on my shoulders to stop my pacing. “Let’s keep in mind for a second that literally three hours ago, Lancaster sent some thug from his security team to attack you, right outside your home. If you think you’re still going after him, you’re dead wrong, darling.”

My mouth drops open to retort, but Luca jumps in before I can.

“He’s right, babe.”

I whirl to face my best friend. “You’re f*cking kidding me, right?”

He stares back stonily.

Parker’s expression is identical.

“Great! You two finally start agreeing on shit at the worst possible time.” I scream in frustration. “How can you even think I’m going to consider walking away from this? That I’d let Lancaster get away with what he’s doing? It’s my case! My investigation! You can’t take it from me.”

“No one’s expecting you to let Lancaster get away with this,” Nate says in that deep, intense voice of his.

I glance at him and see he’s totally serious. My brows lift. “You aren’t?”

His head shakes. “I’ll take over on the investigative end. Do some surveillance, put ears to the ground and see what I hear. No offense, but it’s what I do for a living, and I’ll find out more in a shorter time frame than you could anyway.”

I scowl. He’s a patronizing ass.

Unfortunately, he’s also right.

“And I suppose you just expect me to sit on my hands and do nothing?” I ask in a scathing tone.

Nate’s head shakes. “No. I expect you to do what you’re best at — keep pouring through his files until you find things we can use against him.”

“Nothing I find is going to be admissible in a court of law. Hacking a server isn’t exactly the same as possessing a search warrant,” I point out. “You do realize that, right?”

Nate’s lips slowly curl into a scary smile. “Who said anything about a court of law?”

A shiver goes up my spine. This boy does not f*ck around.

“I’ll go get started.” Nate nods at Parker. “Let you know what I find out.” His gaze moves to Luca. “It would be helpful if you could come back to headquarters, discuss some of the shit you found at the factory in more detail with me and my men. I’m sure Lancaster has the area locked down, now that they know you and Zoe are digging into things. We might not be able to get in a second time.”