DONOVAN (Gray Wolf Security, #1)(148)

“No.” She didn’t look at me when she said it. “Someone went to a lot of trouble to make it look like the emails were coming from your computer, but our people were able to trace them back to the desktop in Lucien’s office.”

Jacob shook his head. “Why would someone do that?”

“Who has access to his office?”

“Hey, I’m standing right here.”

She looked at me, her face a mask of tension. “Do you know who has access to your computer when you’re not in the office?”

“No one. I lock the door when I leave. Jaime and I are the only ones with a key.”

“No, the security office has one, too, in case of emergencies.”

“And who has access to that?” she asked.

“Jacob, me, and the head of security,” I said.

“Someone is using that computer,” she said. “Someone sent at least one of these emails when you were in Kemah.”

“What about Jaime?” Jacob asked.

I shook my head. “You know it couldn’t be her. She was one of the first people we hired.”

“So was Colin, but I’m not sure I could trust him, given this sort of evidence,” Jacob said.

“Jaime wouldn’t do this.”

“I don’t think so, either,” Adrienne said. Then she looked at me. “What about Tito? Your computer guy? If this person knows his way around a computer, he could do it remotely.”

“No,” I said, again shaking my head emphatically. “I’ve known Tito since freshman year of college. He wouldn’t do this. Besides, he has no motive. If he wanted the pancreas, he could have stolen it years ago.”

Adrienne rubbed her temple at the same time she cleared her throat. “That’s something else we need to talk about. We’re not a hundred percent sure that the pancreas is what they want.”

Jacob and I exchanged a glance.

“But…”

“I thought…”

Neither of us could finish our thought because the idea was just that far out there.

“Think about it,” Adrienne said. “Why wait until a week before the device is patented to try to steal it? Why didn’t they try to steal it months ago when you started the process of getting the patent?”

Jacob looked at me. “She has a point.”

“But what else could it be?”

“Is it possible that someone’s just trying to distract you? Or that they’re just trying to play head games with you?”

“Or it’s about one of the other devices.”

“What?” I asked. “The pancreas is the only thing that’s either not already on the market, or that’s close to going public.”

“There’s the Alzheimer’s drug.”

“I thought you said it was still years from hitting the market,” Adrienne said.

“It is,” Jacob said. “But we’ve filed the paperwork with the FDA to begin trials.”

“It’s attracted some attention,” I said. “One of the scientists wrote a paper about it that will appear in a scientific journal later this month. The public relations office has gotten some calls about it.”

“Is that a big deal? Would it garner this sort of attention?”

Jacob shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ve never had this sort of attention. Besides, why would whoever’s doing this want everyone to believe that the emails are coming from inside the office? That would imply that someone in our employ is untrustworthy.”

“Or it would cause the two of you to turn against each other.” Adrienne glanced at me again. “I think that’s what this is really about. Someone’s trying to cause trouble between the two of you for some reason.”

“Could it be Lynn?” I asked.

Jacob jumped to his feet, anger flashing over his face as he looked at me. “Why would Lynn do such a thing?”

“Because she’s divorcing you, and your half of the business is part of your assets.”

“She wouldn’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’ve already agreed to give her half my trust fund, that’s why!”

“Shit, Jacob,” I muttered, stepping back a few steps like he’d punched me. “Why would you do that?”

“Because it was the right thing to do.”

I shook my head, wanting to hug him and shake him all at the same time. Jacob’s trust fund was worth millions. Almost eighty million dollars. Giving half of it away to a woman who had her own trust fund from her own rich daddy was insane. But it also showed how deeply scarred by the whole thing Jacob really was.

“I’m sorry,” I said, at a loss for anything else to say.

Jacob brushed past me.

“This is your mess,” he said as he went. “You clean it up.”

He disappeared down the hallway, leaving me alone with Adrienne. She stayed on the couch, staring down at the floor like she was trying to disappear so that we wouldn’t be embarrassed that this family drama had played out in front of her. I went and sat beside her, taking her hand in mine.

“Not what you bargained for, huh?”

“Not really.”

She leaned in to me, resting her head on my shoulder. I slid my arm around her, pulling her closer, wanting to do nothing more than hold her. And she let me. For a moment.