5 A Close Call

Lila

Lila frowned at the photo, while Tonya waited.

Frank James had made his millions as an Executive Producer on two major documentaries about political scandals—stories he'd broken by using his knowledge from his years in the military as an Intelligence Officer. He was now making a career out of producing True Crime dramas and consulting on movies.

"Who was in charge of orders when the checks were done?" Lila asked Tonya without looking up from the photos. "Who told you when the checks were complete?"

Tonya frowned. "I mean . . . Chris was in charge, but as far as whoever told me to finish the checks . . . I can't be sure. It might have been one of the team leaders?"

She sounded too uncertain for Lila to put any real confidence in her words. She was going to have to dig herself to find out how this had been missed. It was so easy for them to find. And yet, she could also see that it would have been easy to overlook. After all, why would someone from the military care if Dane Daniels' business was a success?

Lila frowned harder. Whoever had decided they didn't need to do this homework when Becky applied was someone who needed to be checked themselves. None of the Daniels clients were contracted without serious security and background checks, for precisely this reason: Clients gained a lot of knowledge about the company. To protect his own security from theft and copy-cats, Dane made sure his clients were truly in need.

A shadow fell over them, and before Lila could speak the questions, a deep voice muttered a curse from behind her. "Why wasn't this in her file?"

Lila turned the chair around to find Dane standing over her, scowling. Tonya shrunk back as he looked between them. "Weren't you on this team, Tonya?" Dane barked. "Why didn't we know this?"

"Yessir," Tonya said. "But like I said, no one ever told me to go deeper on her contacts. She was just another Hollywood Princess getting her fifteen minutes of fame because Daddy said so . . ." her voice trailed off as Dane's gaze clouded.

Lila stepped in before the poor girl started to cry. "I think the better question you should be asking, Mr. Daniels, is why your brother didn't do his homework right at the start. It took us half an hour to find this. And we'd be further down the track if Christian was answering his phone."

"Get my brother on the line!" Dane roared across the office toward Grant.

"We've been trying, Mr. Daniels!" Grant said nervously from the other side of the table. "I think he's gone covert. He hasn't answered—"

"Bullshit! He knows I'm mad and he's avoiding me. Send Tank out to bring him back here. Tell him I don't care if he's my brother, if he's the one bringing us all down, I'll fire his ass."

"Yes, sir!"

"Tank?" Lila asked quietly. Dane snapped his head around to face her.

"Tank is a nickname," he growled. Then he smiled a wicked smile that made Lila fight not to swallow. "You'll see when you meet him." He turned back to Grant. "Tell him I want Chris here inside the hour if Tank has to tie him up and drag him."

"Yes, sir!" Grant was already on the phone.

Lila frowned. "Do you yell every order, or are we just lucky today?" She asked sweetly. Tonya sucked in a breath.

Eyes wide, Dane turned slowly to meet her gaze. No one moved as he spoke between his teeth. "Do you know I walked in here ready to fire you? Is that really how you want to speak to me right now?"

Lila shrugged, pretending her heart hadn't begun to pound suddenly. "And yet, you didn't. So I'm guessing you've figured out that that would be stupid thing to do."

Tonya gasped a laugh, then clapped a hand over her mouth. She refused to look at Dane. Lila prayed her hand wouldn't shake as she offered him the photos she'd been looking at with Tonya. All shots of the woman, Becky, with different powerful people. And not all of them from Hollywood. "You definitely have a plant, Mr. Daniels," she said briskly, pointing to the picture of Becky with her father. "And quite possibly someone working with her from inside the company, trying to sabotage your business. I can help you find them, and I can make the world see you as the victim here. But, of course, only if you're still paying me." She smiled, though inside her head throbbed.

Dane snatched the photos and ripped through them, his jaw tensing further with each one until Lila was sure his teeth might crack. But then he threw them on table, swearing and clawed a hand through his hair, before leaning down to put a hand on either arm of her chair and leaning into her face until they were nose to nose. She could feel the heat coming off his skin and it made her stomach tingle. His eyes—a bright green—locked on hers and for a moment she forgot he was angry as she fought the urge to rub her hands up his cut biceps and see if they really were as firm as his suit seemed to suggest.

"I'll keep paying you," he said quietly, dangerously. "For now. But if you keep taunting me, I'll put you out on your ass faster than you can blink. You're good at your job, Miss Farris. But you aren't the only one who can do what you do. Do we understand each other?"

Not trusting her voice, Lila simply nodded. They both knew she was the best. But she also knew, now, where his line was. She wouldn't push.

"Good," he said. "Now keep following that trail until it ends at someone who works for me. And when my brother is back, I'll call you in for a little chat. Sound good?"

"Yes, sir," she said. Then she smiled. And she almost laughed out loud when his lips twitched up on one side in response.

But then he was gone, and Lila went back to work, blowing out a tense breath. This was going to be a lot more interesting than she'd thought. But having Dane Daniels hovering was going to be a delicious kind of torment.