“It’s the case we’re working on. When Rose was here a week ago, she warned me that somebody working for Escalante might target me because of what I’m doing. I didn’t believe her then, but I’m starting to think she was right. And I don’t want my problems spilling over into your life.”
Holly blinked. This just hadn’t entered her mind before. “Okay, I’ll be careful, even though I think you and Rose are probably getting worked up over nothing. You were probably right when you said it was a kid that did this, or just somebody being ignorant.”
“I hope it is. But until I can be sure of something like that, I want you to look out for yourself. Human beings are worth more than anything with an engine, Holly, and I want you to remember that.”
“I will.” It wasn’t a sentiment she was prepared to hear from her boss. Especially not said with such warmth and conviction, those blue eyes boring into her in a way that made her feel extremely warm. Suddenly it was time to change the subject to almost anything else.
“So, what’s the next step in taking down Alistair Barclay?” The project was taking up more and more of Jake’s waking hours, and because of that, her life as well.
Jake shrugged. “You tell me. The man might have been unfamiliar with computers to a large degree, but somebody working for him was very, very good with them. And the programs that someone wrote to hide and encrypt Barclay’s personal files are good. I keep thinking there’s something I’m missing that could help me unlock all this, but I don’t know what it is.”
Jake was already looking through his open office door, anxious now to get back to the puzzle. “Go in there and work on it. I’ll tell you if I’m going any farther than the copier in the hall, okay?”
“I expect no less.” And whatever else she knew, Holly was sure that she’d do whatever Jake Montgomery expected of her. He headed to his office, and she went back to untangling the piles of notes and paperwork on her desk.
As she plowed through the piles of stuff, sifting out the important tasks and taking care of them, setting aside what she could for later, an idea began to form in Holly’s mind.
By eleven that morning she’d gotten through the worst of the piles of paperwork on her desk, and made the phone calls and e-mails that were necessary to take care of the things that came next. She knocked on Jake’s partially closed door. “I’m going to the drive-though insurance claims office and I have one other stop to make on some errands. So I’ll need your car keys. And yes, before you ask, I have my cell phone.” She hadn’t worked for Jake this long without being able to answer at least half the routine questions before he asked them.
He smiled wanly. “I figured you had your cell phone. And now you’re going to ask if I want you to bring back lunch, right?”
“Wrong. I’m going to remind you that you have the monthly update lunch meeting to get all the regional heads-up bulletins. Even I can’t get you out of that one. It starts in an hour. If I’m not back, do I need to call you and remind you?”
Jake looked positively glum. “I guess not. Some things I have to remember on my own. Which is a shame, because I’d really love to tell them I forgot this one. Meetings. Bah, humbug.”
“Gee, all you need now is a Santa hat and you’d be right into your normal holiday spirit,” she teased. Of course it wasn’t far off. Jake went to the usual round of society and charity holiday events every year, but he grumbled about wearing a tux and doing the party circuit every time. He might be more than a little relieved to get out of most of that, given the evidence he needed to build against Barclay. Holly felt like telling him the best news of all—that she might have found the key to unlocking the codes he’d been working on for over a week. But in case her idea was out of line, she held off. No sense in giving Jake false hope. She borrowed his keys and went off on her errands, trying to keep from whistling cheery tunes as she left the building.
An hour later she was done with the insurance claim business and cruising down the side streets of Colorado Springs, looking for El Rey Construction. She found it without too much problem, and went into the shabby building, hoping to find the one person who could make her boss’s day.
What was up with Holly? Jake wondered about her lighthearted demeanor this morning, even as he worked on Barclay’s computer for an hour and then went to the dreaded staff meeting. It was as awful as usual, replete with boring turkey sandwiches and vapid little tree-shaped sugar cookies to remind him of the season he was spending behind his office door.
There wasn’t much information in the presentation that he could use right now for anything, but mandatory meetings were just that, so he suffered through as long as he had to, and fled the moment he could for his office.
He was back at Barclay’s now reassembled computer, but it still was not yielding all of its secrets. He’d tried every random compiler he knew of, and still wasn’t having any luck with the series of passwords that would let him open the files he was sure had the information that would link Barclay with Baltasar Escalante.
While he was still muttering over the last fruitless series of code breakers, Jake heard Holly come into the outer office. She was so incredibly cheerful today, which was a surprise. Yesterday she’d been almost beside herself because the car had gotten scratched while she was driving it. Now today she was humming Christmas carols. It just wasn’t like her.
She knocked on his half-open door, and it was all Jake could do not to growl at her. He felt like Ebenezer Scrooge holed up in there, crabbing at Bob Cratchit. Except Scrooge’s clerk had never been as good-looking as the young woman who burst through his door, nearly giggling about something. This was the strangest happening of the week. The sedate, staid Holly Vance, almost giggling? Maybe the stress of the long hours was getting to her.
“Okay, what’s up? I have never seen you in this kind of mood before,” Jake said, getting up out of his chair.
“Blame it all on Miriam Atwater!”
“Who’s she? And what did she do to put you in this frame of mind?”
“Miriam is an administrative assistant at El Rey Construction. But that’s not the really good part. Do you know what she did for a living before November 15?”
“Not a clue. But you’re going to tell me, I’m sure.”
“She was Alistair Barclay’s personal secretary.”
“I don’t think so. Wasn’t his assistant that drippy little character Rose already deposed…what was his name…Brimble or something?”
“Trimble. Carlton Trimble. And he was Barclay’s personal assistant. Merely an honorary position, to hear Miriam tell it, sort of like a valet, only work related. Trimble’s some kind of relation to Barclay, third cousin once removed or something on his mother’s side. Our Ms. Atwater was the one who did the day-to-day stuff, like I do for you.”
Suddenly Jake was beginning to understand Holly’s bubbly mood. It was almost catching, in fact. “If she’s anywhere near as efficient and helpful as you are, she knows everything there is to know about Barclay.”
“I should blush. Thanks for the compliment.”
How had he never noticed before the way Holly’s deep-brown eyes shone when she was happy? Was this the first time he’d ever seen her this excited about something? If so, he really felt like Scrooge.
“But yeah, she knows a lot. And given the lousy situation she found herself in when Barclay decided to hide her away at El Rey, she was more than happy to have lunch with me and discuss all sorts of things.”
“I hope you took her somewhere nice, and put it on my tab.” Jake was also thinking he’d need to call Rose this afternoon and tell her of another potential witness to depose in Barclay’s case.
“We had the quietest table possible at the Stagecoach. And we even used her car, which I’ll have you know came back