“Allie, focus,” I told myself as I flopped into my chair.
I had successfully completed the job that Cooper had hired me to do. The formulas had been turned over and Cooper would take it from there. But still…even with that tied up, there was something bothering me.
Some of the puzzle pieces didn’t make sense. Why had Clay hacked into the Plush database and tried to destroy it? It was bothersome enough to know that someone had tried to do it in the first place, but the worst part was…knowing that it was someone I technically knew.
Bryce and I had known each other for a while now, and although I wasn’t sure how long he’d been together with Clay, I knew things were serious between them. Did Bryce know about all this? The hacking and being hired to do stuff like this?
I grabbed my phone and dialed his number before I could talk myself out of it.
“Hey, Allie!” His voice sounded happy and carefree.
I felt a little sick, knowing I was probably about to ruin his day.
“Hi, Bryce. Is this a good time? I have a couple questions for you.”
“Sure. How are you?”
“I’m good,” I answered, trying not to let my voice falter. “You?”
“Really good. Major news over here. Do you remember Tessa Greenwood?”
“Yes.” My heart nearly stopped at the mention of her, but I left that part out.
“Well, she and Rita got into it a couple days ago and she quit! She took half her department with her and is launching her own firm! I heard she’s working on getting the Plush account.”
“Holy shit,” I breathed. “So that’s why she was with Cooper in the middle of the night. That must be why he was so hush-hush about their meeting.”
“Oh God! Don’t let that get back to Rita! She’s been working hot and heavy to get Plush and some of the other accounts back that we lost. And she is so busy dealing with the fallout that she finally took her hooks out of me and I have actually been able to get back to how things were before…” He cut off, but I mentally filled in the blanks.
…before you got here and everything went to hell in a hand basket.
“That’s great, Bryce. I’m really happy for you.”
“Thanks. So what’s up? Need another decompress lunch date?”
“Actually, Bryce, there’s something I need to ask you. It’s about Clay.”
Bryce hesitated and I could only imagine the thoughts going through his mind. “All right. What is it?”
Oh, fuck…now what do I say?
“Um, well, this is kind of an odd questions, but do you happen to know what company he is currently working—or consulting, for?”
“I really don’t know. We try not to talk about work too much. Why? What’s going on, Allie?”
“This is really hard to say, but, I found proof that he hacked into Plush and tried to steal our database.”
Silence.
I knew I hadn’t given the most graceful delivery, but then how could something like that ever go smoothly?
“What are you talking about? Clay isn’t a hacker for hire, Allie. And to be frank, I’m more than a little offended that you would call me up and tell me something like that, especially after all the shit you’ve put me through.”
I reared back as if he’d reached through the phone and slapped me. Through everything that had happened at Spotlight, Bryce had always been incredibly supportive, and even afterward, when Rita had made his life hell to punish him for hiring me in the first place, he’d remained gracious.
“I’m sorry, but I have proof. You have to know I wouldn’t have even asked if I wasn’t sure about this. I know these are really serious allegations.”
Bryce scoffed. “Did Cooper put you up to this or something? Is this another game? One of his tests for you?”