Troy had uncovered the information and given it to Mitch to reveal in a very public toast that put the new president on the spot. Those guys had given ambition a bad name with their slimy tactics, and they deserved the full force of the law—which they were now receiving. But as far as she was aware, they’d acted alone—other than blaming a casual researcher who’d already left ANS—and this witch hunt to try to implicate others in the pair’s crimes was dangerous for everybody.
“Did you work with Brandon Ames or Troy Hall on their story about the president’s daughter?”
She unscrewed the cap on her water bottle and took a sip, putting the cap back on before replying. He may have been asking the questions, but she was retaining a smidgeon of control over the process. “As I said when you asked the question two days ago, no, I didn’t.”
Barely acknowledging her reply, he pushed forward. “What about Marnie Salloway?”
“Marnie is an ANS producer and has the authority to assign me tasks,” she said, making a list in her notebook of the names he was asking about. She wanted the record for when she reported back to Graham, but also to gain a little power in this meeting.
“Has she ever asked you to do anything illegal?”
“No.”
“Anything involving phone hacking?”
“That would be illegal—” she smiled sweetly “—so my reply stands. No.”
“Did you know that your stepfather and the president attended the same college at the same time?”
“Yes,” she said. It was hardly a secret.
“Are you aware of any bad blood between them?”
Not apart from Graham thinking Ted Morrow had strutted around campus as if he owned it. “They didn’t move in the same circles.”
For another twenty minutes he grilled her, trying to trip her up, asking questions in different ways, expertly circling back over the line of questioning again and again. She had to admire his technique, but since she had nothing to hide, it was easy not to stumble.
When he paused to take a sip of water, she asked, “Hayden, do you honestly think someone else at ANS was involved in the hacking with Brandon and Troy, or are you fishing?”
“Someone else was involved,” he said, his voice dropping a notch. His dark brown eyes burned with the intensity of his conviction.
Her fingers tightened around her pen. “Why are you so sure?”
“To start with, neither of them understood the process well enough to have masterminded it. They were pawns, used by someone bigger.”
She frowned as she followed his investigative reasoning. “I’m not someone bigger.”
“No,” he said slowly. His gaze locked on hers, taking on a speculative gleam and, as she understood his meaning, her stomach fell away.
“You’re using me to get to Graham.” She swallowed past an uncomfortable constriction in her throat. “I’m not here for routine questioning like the others. You think Graham ordered those goofballs to do it and that I know something that will implicate him.”
One broad shoulder lifted, then dropped, as if this was a casual conversation, yet the intensity in his eyes didn’t waver. “It’s one theory.”
A shiver ran down her spine. She’d known there was suspicion, of course. They all had. But if it was certain that someone else was involved, then ANS was in more trouble than she’d thought. They still had a bad seed in the company, and if Congress couldn’t find who it was, they’d keep their focus on Graham. The exposé alone wouldn’t save her stepfather. She had to do more.
She tapped a beat with the end of her pen on the desk as fragments of ideas flitted through her mind until one coherent plan formed.
She rested her forearms on the desk and leaned forward. “Hayden, I have a proposal for you.”
He stilled. “I’m listening.”
“If there truly is someone else in ANS who was involved in the hacking, and they were pulling Brandon and Troy’s strings, then I want to know who they are, too. I can tell you now, it’s not Graham. I know that man, and I know what he’s capable of—he’s not your guy. But the only way to prove that is to find the real culprit.”
Hayden leaned back and folded his arms over his wide chest. “What exactly are you suggesting?”
“I’m going to help you with your investigation,” she said, mind made up. “I can be your person on the inside. But I won’t be involved in a witch hunt—this has to be evidence-based.” She wouldn’t be manipulated into finding circumstantial or misleading evidence against Graham.
“So you’ll gather information for me?” He spoke slowly, as if testing the idea as he said it.
“Within reason. We have agree to some parameters first.”
He cocked his head, brown eyes curious. “Your stepfather will be okay with you doing this?”
“I won’t tell him just yet. It’s possible he trusts someone he shouldn’t, so for the time being, no one at ANS will know I’m assisting you.” She felt a little queasy at the thought of keeping something of this magnitude from Graham, but in this case, the ends justified the means. The most important thing was that she was working in Graham’s best interests.
Hayden rubbed a hand across a jaw darkened by five-o’clock shadow. “You believe in Boyle that much?”
“More.”
He tapped one finger heavily on the desk three times, then blew out a breath. “Okay, I’m willing to give it a go and see how it pans out. But I have to warn you that I still think Boyle was involved, and I won’t be dropping that line of inquiry just because you’re helping.”
“Noted.” As soon as she found the person behind Troy and Brandon’s crimes, Hayden’s theory about Graham would be moot.
There was a sharp knock at the door. Hayden glanced down at his watch. “Excuse me,” he said, closing his laptop and striding across the room.
A neatly dressed woman in her thirties stood in the doorway behind a stroller containing a squirming Josh. Lucy felt her mouth curve into an unstoppable grin at the sight of the boy. He was gorgeous—Hayden’s mini-me—and his expression was full of joy and delight.
“Daddy!” Josh squealed and reached out to his father.
“I’m sorry,” the woman said. “I didn’t realize you were still busy. Would you like me to keep him longer?”
Hayden reached down and lifted his son high, planting a kiss on top of his head. “No, we’re almost done. I’ll take him.”
“Okay.” The nanny leaned forward and said goodbye to her charge. The image of the three of them was so beautiful in that moment that Lucy felt an aching hollowness spread through her middle. They looked like a family.
After closing the door behind
