Gabriel was quiet for a moment. “The timing fits. If he felt guilty about what he’d done to Sara, he had good reason. But I seriously doubt Mad ever loved her. He couldn’t have and still treated her the way he did. Honestly, I don’t think Mad knew how to love just one woman. How did you come to work for Crawford? Who recruited you?”

  That was another mystery, too. “A headhunter contacted me and hired me away from my former employer. I was working as an IT department team leader in a company of about a hundred—much smaller than Crawford—when the guy called. He offered me a job on the spot. It took me a few days to actually wrap my head around the fact that the offer was genuine.”

  “You weren’t an executive at your last job?”

  She shook her head. “Hardly. I’d recently been moved up to project manager. I was on an executive fast track, but it still would have taken years to reach the level I’m at now. I got lucky.”

  “That seems like a whole lot of luck,” Gabriel remarked. “And this headhunter represented Crawford? Would you recognize his name?”

  “Of course.” She couldn’t forget the name of the man who had effectively changed her life. Her father had passed a few weeks before she’d gotten that call. She’d been depressed, and this had been an open door to a brighter future at a time she’d needed it.

  He nodded toward the laptop. “Hack into Mad’s e-mail and look for any messages he wrote the headhunter about you.”

  “Why?” What did this have to do with solving Maddox’s murder?

  “Because I don’t think your new job at Crawford had anything to do with luck. Mad never used headhunters. He had a solid HR department and preferred to promote from within every chance he could.”

  “He wouldn’t have dealt with the headhunter directly, I’m sure. As you said, he had an HR department. Maybe they couldn’t find a candidate with the right skill set in their own organization, so they went outside.”

  “Indulge me. I have a hunch and I’d like to see if I’m right.”

  Was he trying to prove that Maddox had hired her in order to sleep with her? She knew it wasn’t true, but she was worried about giving Gabriel anything that he could twist. “What makes you think Maddox would be so invested in hiring a security project manager? That’s the position I was initially hired for. A month later, a new, even larger team was being formed around international cybersecurity threats. The team needed a director, which was a perfect position for my skill set. Five months after, the previous VP of cybersecurity retired, and I was promoted into his job.”

  “No doubt, other people in the department had worked for Crawford longer and were just as qualified.”

  She could think of a few. “Maybe Maddox wanted someone younger, more versed in electronic means of security than my predecessor and his cronies.”

  “Even so, an executive position like that should have taken you years to attain . . . unless a very powerful person handpicked you for the role.”

  Gabriel was wrong. He had to be. There was zero reason for Maddox Crawford to have taken an interest in her before they’d even met. “That doesn’t make sense.”

  “I know how Mad’s mind worked. Please check.” He pointed to Maddox’s laptop.

  “I’ve been through his business e-mail already. We’re lucky the IT folks hadn’t nuked the account yet. I didn’t see anything like that.”

  That made Gabriel pause. “What about his personal e-mail? Did you look through that?”

  Everly sighed and reached for the computer. He was like a dog with a bone. “I’ll do it now.”

  She opened her former boss’s private e-mail but found it password protected. She could get around that, but the first and easiest solution was to figure out the password. A truly smart person selected a random set of numbers and letters, but most people picked something personal. What would Maddox choose? He didn’t seem like the kind to get sentimental or obsessive about anything—with a singular exception. The night he’d come to her loft shitfaced he’d been absolutely focused on one subject.

  “What’s your sister’s name?”

  “Sara.” Gabriel spelled it for her.

  She typed the name in, and Maddox’s e-mail popped up. “I’m in.”

  Gabriel sat forward. “Sara was his password?”

  “Yeah. I know you think otherwise, but she must be the woman he talked about loving and losing that night. You know, he never seemed the same again. He hung around me a lot more, but he still seemed awfully alone.”

  Gabriel raked a hand through his hair. “I don’t understand. He broke things off with Sara. They were happy—at least I thought so.” He huffed. “Bastard. Sara had dolled herself up to go to a reception with him. They’d been planning to take their relationship public. While she was waiting for him to pick her up, he sent her a kiss-off text. How could he care about Sara and treat her like that?”

  Everly had no idea.

  She stared at the computer screen, clicking her cursor into the search field to type in the headhunter’s name. It popped up immediately, displaying a few messages. That surprised her. “You’re right about the e-mails. But why would a man as powerful as Maddox Crawford deal directly with a headhunter?”

  “What do you see? Was he looking for a specific set of skills?”

  She had to stop because what she read didn’t make a lick of sense. “No. He was looking for me. Why would he ask for me by name before we’d ever met? He gave the headhunter all my personal information—no idea where he got that—and said to hire me, regardless of my demands. I should have asked for more money.”

  Gabriel stood and walked around the desk to peer over her shoulder. When he leaned in, Everly felt the heat of his body. “Open the attachment Mad sent.”

  She clicked and got another shock. “It’s a complete file on me. My driver’s license, social security number, school records. What the hell is going on?”

  “I’m not sure, but he was definitely interested in you.” He moved away, pacing across the floor. “None of the e-mails spell out why Mad wanted to hire you?”

  She skimmed the rest of the messages. “No. Maddox simply told him to get it done and that there was a bonus if he could get me on board within six weeks.”

  “But he only wanted to be your friend,” Gabriel said, his disbelief evident. “Who the hell are you, Everly Parker?”

  “No one,” she whispered back. “I was raised in the middle of nowhere by a cop. I went to a state college and worked almost full-time to put myself through. I got a decent job when I graduated but it’s not as if I know any classified secrets.”

  “Maybe not but you know how to hack a system.”

  “Anyone in my business can hack a system.” Though secretly, Everly suspected she was a bit better than most. Lots of practice had ensured that.

  “Have you hacked any systems you shouldn’t have? Besides ones involving Peter Jackson trailers.”

  “Not in years. I will admit I’ve hacked into some places that could get me in trouble, but that was in college. Why would Maddox care now? I never did it to hurt anyone, merely to prove to myself that I could.”

  “Maybe you saw something you don’t realize is important.”

  Maybe she had, but she didn’t see how any of this helped them figure out who had killed Maddox and why. If someone who worked at Crawford felt slighted that they hadn’t been promoted when her predecessor retired, sure, they could have killed him in rage. But it made far more sense for the disgruntled employee to off her and hope that Mad chose him or her to backfill the position. Besides, she’d come here with Gabriel to get some answers—and he’d begun asking all the questions. She was a little sick of feeling interrogated.

  “I don’t think so,” she told him. “Let’s come back to that later. Tell me what you didn’t tell the police.”

  He stopped pacing, and his face went stony and blank. “I told the police everything relevant.”

  “So that’s how this is going to go?” She sighed in exasperation. “You only brought me here to figure out my role in all this. You had no intention of sharing what you know.”

  “I don’t know anything.”

  She stood and headed for the stairs. Destination: front door. “Then I don’t think we have anything else to say to one other. I’ll take my chances with the press.”

  Everly didn’t care that there were reporters in front of her building. She would find a hotel. Or better yet, she would take a few days off and get out of the city. She had college friends scattered a few hours away. Her father’s sister lived in Connecticut. She could visit her father’s grave and figure out where to go while she decided what the hell to do with her life now.

  Gabriel wrapped his arm around her middle, hauling her back against his steely body.

  “Don’t go,” he whispered against her ear.

  With those two low words, he transported her back to the intimacy of their weekend together. She remembered how it felt to be under him, his body working to bring them both to climax. She also remembered how safe she’d felt in his arms. When he’d held her, he’d surrounded her, kept her breathless.

  Why couldn’t she stop thinking about that? Damn him.

  “Don’t touch me like this,” she insisted. “You’re my boss now. That’s it.”

  He wrapped both arms around her, holding her tight. “When I hold you, it’s like a balm. You’re the first person to make me feel good in so fucking long. Don’t make me stop.”

  It felt good to her, too. But she knew this heady sense of intimacy only lasted as long as the arousal. Later, he would push her away again, and she would be devastated. No matter how much she loved being with him, the pain wasn’t worth the momentary pleasure. She’d let him talk her into coming here because he’d promised to be honest with her.

  “You have to. I’m not going through this with you again, Gabriel. If you can’t trust me, then it’s time to walk away.”

  “I was at the airport that day.”

  She stilled in his arms. No wonder he’d been reluctant to spill that. “You’re telling me you were at the airport when Maddox flew off?”

  “Yes.” His gruff breath ruffled her hair.

  “Why?”

  “I had to talk to him again. I went there to try. I’d walked through the park for hours. Once I’d cooled down, I knew I couldn’t leave things the way they were between us. We’d been friends for most of our lives. I realized I had to salvage what I could and hope he would eventually seek some kind of relationship with his child.” He sighed behind her, the action pressing them closer together. “Mad would have been the first of us to be a father. That day, I couldn’t imagine him not knowing his own kid. We . . . how do I put this without sounding like a poor little rich boy?”

  “I know your parents weren’t around much.” Everly couldn’t help but empathize. Even before her mother had left she’d always felt distanced from the woman and it had hurt. So even if it made her stupid, she also responded to Gabriel’s sadness. Something inside her wanted to comfort him.

  She clasped his arms, which he still had wrapped around her, and allowed him to draw her closer.

  “Creighton Academy was my parent most of the time. That’s where I met all my friends. Sometimes I think I spent my childhood alone until I met Mad. A lot of who I am today is because of him and his constant friendship.”

  Gabriel seriously mourned Maddox. The grief hollowing his tone tore at her heart. In some ways, he hadn’t simply lost a friend, but a man he considered a brother. And he’d lost Maddox on the ugliest of terms.

  “Gabriel . . .”

  “Let me get this out.” The way he grabbed onto her told Everly that only sheer will kept him going. “That day I sat in the park after I’d threatened to kill him, I thought about what it meant to have kids. These five men were so instrumental in shaping my life. I couldn’t imagine a world where our families didn’t know each other. I couldn’t imagine all of us not getting together with our kids to relax, laugh, drink, and yell at them, the way our parents hadn’t yelled at us. We were supposed to be better, damn it. Our children were supposed to have a real childhood.”

  Everly nudged at Gabriel. He sighed reluctantly, then eased his grip. But she didn’t leave his embrace. Instead, she turned into him, without bothering to remind herself this was a bad idea. That didn’t matter now; only the desolation in his voice did. It took her right back to the time they’d spent together at The Plaza before names and reputations had come into play. Whether it was smart or not, she cared about this man, and he was hurting. She wrapped her arms around him. He hesitated for a moment, then brought her against him tightly. They shared a silent moment of succor. Gabriel seemed to draw strength from her.

  Finally, he rested his chin on her head. “I thought you were going to push me away.”

  “I should.” But she could feel him bringing her closer, as if he’d never let her go. In the moment, she wanted to believe whatever they had together could work.

  “Don’t. Please let me have this moment.” He raised his hand to her face, cradling her cheek. The gesture bespoke affection more than sex, and felt so achingly tender. If he had dragged her to the desk and started tearing at her clothes, she would have been able to resist him. Maybe. But the sweetness of his touch utterly disarmed her. The need to protect herself crumbled under her need to comfort him.

  “It’s all right, Gabriel.”

  “It isn’t. I don’t know if anything will ever be right again. I only know that, for all his faults, I miss Mad. I also know that I want you. You think we can go back to something professional, but I can’t. Because I can’t stop thinking about you. I haven’t gone five minutes without thinking of you since the moment we met.”

  She hadn’t, either. Every second of her life seemed to be consumed by thoughts of Gabriel. “I think about you, too.”

  He pulled away just enough to stare down at her. “We’re in this together, you know. I’ve felt guilty about dragging you into a mess, even though the rumors about your relationship with Mad would have surfaced eventually. But I’m glad you’re here. I’m not sure you could have handled the press on your own.”

  That was true. She could handle a lot by herself. She was very competent. Her father had taught her self-defense and how to use a gun. She felt comfortable making the decision about when to flee or fight. But she had no idea how to handle a mob of insistent journalists. If she’d been left to her own devices, she would have headed home, never realizing there was trouble until it was too late. “This is your world. I don’t really understand it.”

  His eyes turned serious. “I’ll take care of you, Everly. I’ll keep the press off you. Hopefully, once we figure out what happened with Mad, they’ll stop writing about you and move on to the next juicy story. Then you can get back to your life. Will you trust me?” He slid his hands up to frame her face. His thumb traced her lower lip. “Can you stand beside me and try to solve this crazy puzzle?”

  Could she stay with him for days yet still hold herself apart? Everly couldn’t imagine how. Even now, she stood in his arms, barely two hours after she’d vowed to keep things professional between them. She’d be lying to herself if she denied the fact that she felt connected to him. Still, she had to try to resist the temptation of him. Nothing lay down this path except great sex—and heartbreak. But she was a big girl. She could handle it.

  “If you’re honest with me, then yes.” Everly eased away from him, leaving the comfortable circle of his arms.

  Guilt nagged at her. She was asking for honesty, but she wasn’t ready to tell him about the texts or the pictures yet. She needed time to be sure that what she’d received was actually relevant. Now that she was involved, all her investigative instincts were kicking in. She had a part to play in this and she got the feeling that, if Gabriel really understood, he would stand in her way. Whether he would do it to hide something or to protect the “little woman,” she wasn’t sure, but she knew he would try.

  He sighed. She got the feeling that he was only giving her a bit of space for now and would be more persuasive later. “All right. I’ve told you my secrets. You know enough to go straight to the police and give them cause to arrest me.”

  She wasn’t going to do that. Maybe she was an idiot and her hormones were affecting her judgment but she believed that he hadn’t gone to the airport that day with any ill intent. “Why haven’t they seen you on the surveillance footage? Surely they have cameras at the airport.”

  “It’s a small, fairly exclusive airport. They’re also very private. It’s one reason we fly in and out of airports like that. There are cameras but the security is not as tight or in-your-face as a public airport. Maybe none of the surveillance caught me. I don’t know. It was certainly the last thing on my mind that day. But eventually, the police will run the toll tags on my car and figure out where I went. The logic that if I’d planned to kill my friend, I would have covered my tracks better, will be lost on them.”

  Most likely. “Then you’ll have a hard time explaining why you lied during your interrogation.”

  “But if I’d told Detective Johnson, he would have arrested me on the spot. I had to buy time to see if I could figure this out. I know Dax or Connor could have done the same, but they didn’t know Mad as well as I did. If someone killed him in such a premeditated fashion, they had a motive and I need to find it. It also had to be someone with the means, who knew about bombs and knew that Mad intended to fly to DC that night.” He crossed back over to the desk. “I thought I would find something in here. His desk is a mess. Mad never was very organized. It will take me most of the night to go through the rest of this stuff. I don’t even know what I’m looking for. I wish he’d kept a damn diary.”

  “He wasn’t a teenage girl,” she returned. “I think we need to figure out why Maddox wanted a meeting with the president. I doubt he was going there for a beer. Who did he ask you about in that video? He mentioned a name when you were talking to him at lunch.”

  “Sergei. It’s Russian. He didn’t mention a last name. That would have been helpful. I don’t know a Sergei. Never met one. And merely because the name is Russian doesn’t mean the person who uses it actually is. He could be as American as apple pie.”