I never received a response and after Jake and I became a couple, I had completely forgotten about it. An email to a rival company at the time we placed our bid would be highly suspicious. Jason must have found it and brought it to Jake’s attention.
But surely, had they looked closer, they would have seen that I was applying for a low-level administrative position and not selling secrets.
But maybe they thought it was code for something else? After Jake got burned by a dishonest assistant, would he trust another?
Eyes burning, I stared at that list.
Flipping the page, I started to list everything that would make Jake believe I was innocent. There was only one.
Jake Weston loves Cora Branton.
The words looked very lonely.
Chapter 22
Jake’s office was closed again, but this time I squared my shoulders and marched up to the door. I knocked sharply.
“Come in.”
I walked in and saw Jake, Troy, and Jason sitting together at the conference table poring over sheets of paper.
“Morning, Cora.” Troy was the only one to greet me.
Jake just stared at me quietly, his face blank.
Jason eyed me suspiciously. “Jake, she shouldn’t be here.”
I put my hands on my hips and glared at my boss slash boyfriend slash love of my life. “Jake Weston, you better not try to keep me from clearing my name. This is my reputation on the line.”
His face transformed. The hard lines around his mouth disappeared as his lips pulled up. His eyes were warm pools as he held out his hand to me.
I walked over, gladly gripping his hand tightly. A calm settled over me as soon as I felt his touch. Everything was going to be okay.
I turned to Jason. “I don’t care what evidence you think you have, but I didn’t do it! So I want to know what you have on me.”
He looked like he was about to argue when Jake put his hand up and said, “Enough. I told you it couldn’t be Cora. Show her what we have. Maybe she could help. She’s probably got more figured out than we have.”
“I agree with Jake. Cora would never do this,” Troy chimed in.
I smiled at him in appreciation of his stalwart support.
I squeezed Jake’s hand. Yesterday, while staring at my neat handwriting, I knew I had to have faith in him. In us. Because his faith in me had been unwavering from the very beginning.
“Fine.” Jason didn’t look happy about it, but he couldn’t flout Jake’s order.
Troy moved over and let me have his seat.
“First, you have an email going out to Lakeshore Industries last month.” He placed the printout in front of me.
“It was a cover letter for a job application.” Feeling Jake’s fingers tense, I turned to him and explained. “You were making me crazy and I thought it was easier if I found another job.” His darkening face clued me in that he was not pleased. “If it makes you feel better, I probably wouldn’t have left. But it’s a moot point because they never contacted me.” Looking back at Jason, I said, “Next.”
“There was an email to Bauen which went out from your account a few weeks after you started to work on this floor. While there was nothing overtly incriminating in the email, it’s highly suspect. Why would you have emailed a rival firm?” Jason demanded.
I held out my hand, palm facing upward. “Let me see the email. I don’t remember emailing them, but I send out hundreds of emails a day.”
Jason laid another printout in front of me.
I scanned it and said decisively, “I didn’t write that.” A wave of anger washed over me. “Somebody is setting me up.”
Jason scoffed. “It came from your computer. Unless someone has your login, it’s yours.”
“Tell us why it couldn’t be your email,” Troy requested.
My finger pointed to the signature. “Because I never end my emails with ‘Yours Truly.’ I only use ‘Best Regards.’ And I’d never craft an email like this. It’s full of spelling errors.”
Jake leaned forward, his eyes bright. “She’s right. Her emails are always impeccable.”
“That could be a pre-arranged code,” Jason insisted stubbornly.
Frowning, I picked up the paper to study it. Something about it kept nagging me. Then my eyes landed on the date and time.
Jake must have been watching me closely because he asked urgently, “What did you find, baby?”
Nobody seemed to have noticed the endearment except me.
“I couldn’t have written it because I wasn’t in the office at this time.” I turned to Jake excitedly. “It was sent on March thirtieth in the afternoon. That was the day Marcus had a fight and you and I had to leave the office early.”
Realization dawned in his eyes. “Fuck, then someone must have come into your office and sent it from your computer.”
“But I am very conscientious about logging off my computer when I leave my desk. I don’t know how they could have gotten my password.”
Jake’s face hardened. “There are ways to bypass everything. Jason, pull up the video footage for anyone entering this office after two-thirty on the thirtieth. I think you’ll find your perpetrator.”
Troy grinned. “That asshole is going down!”
Jason looked contrite as he stood up and gathered the papers. “Sorry, Cora. I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.”
Feeling magnanimous now that I had cleared my name, I inclined my head. “The evidence all pointed to me. Only someone who truly knew me would have stood by me.” I turned to smile at Jake.
He tightened his grip on my hand. I could tell he was impatient to get me alone.
Troy muttered under his breath, “Ugh… you two make me sick. Sick with jealousy.”
“I’ll let you know as soon as I find the footage from building security,” Jason said as he opened the door and almost ran over Alana.
“Alana!” I stood up. “Is there something you need?”
She looked ghastly. Her hair was disheveled and her face was as white as a sheet. “I think I know who is selling the information to our competitors. And I inadvertently helped him.”
My legs lost their strength and I plopped back in my chair.
Chapter 23
“I can’t believe it was Tom,” Jake said. “He started with the company when my dad was the CEO.”
I looked up at his face. It was etched in sorrow and disappointment. I kissed his jaw. “He made his own decisions, Jake. He had the choice of asking for help, but he didn’t.”
Alana’s confession still seemed fantastical. She and Tom Wexler had started dating after his divorce. What she didn’t realize was he was using her to get information on the comings and goings of the executive floor. He had gotten into a lot of debt from his recent drug habit and needed money. He was very good about hiding his addiction because nobody knew, including Alana.
On the day she saw Jake escort me out of the building, she had complained to Tom about my unprofessionalism. He had commiserated with her and then pretended that I had forgotten to send him urgent information for a bid. Against her better judgment, Alana agreed to let him go into my office to check if the information was lying around. She never knew he had logged into my computer and stolen the information.
Triumphant from his success, Tom became more careless with his habit. She suspected he doing something illegal when he started spending money indiscriminately. After observing him closely, she realized he was an addict and begged him to seek help. He refused. When I caught her crying in the bathroom, she had just ended their relationship.