Page 43 of Unlocked

Archer's face hardened slightly. "I want to know if Austin Davis is part of this. It's exactly the kind of thing he would do. He needed money, and suddenly he has some. If I can prove it's him, it gives me leverage."

It was the truth. It stung slightly, but she gave him credit for saying it plainly. And it occurred to her that if Davis was involved behind the scenes with the Granite Industries scam, it wasn't the only thing he was up to. She was sure of that. She knew more than she could say, bound as she was by privilege. That particular constraint had never felt so frustrating.

Archer lifted her chin with his knuckle.

The touch was light. Deliberate. It sent a current straight through her that she had absolutely no business feeling.

"So… The question is," he said quietly, "do you trust me, Tatum?"

She looked at him. Really looked at him. At the patience in his expression, the intensity underneath it. At the way his eyes held hers without flinching. The half-buttoned shirt was doing nothing to help her concentrate, reminding her that he'd dropped whatever he was doing and come here for her.

She didn't have an answer.

Not yet.

Standing here, feeling the pull between them, the heat and the danger and the possibility of something she hadn't let herself want in a very long time, she really didn’t have an answer, but she was beginning to think she might want to find one.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Archer sipped his coffee. He'd been up for hours. In fact, he hadn't really slept at all. His mind kept circling back to Tatum, among other things.

Putting down his mug, he picked up his pen and signed yet another contract. He'd been signing contracts and making real estate deals for the last five hours since he'd given up on sleep entirely. After signing each one, he immediately scanned it and sent it, via encrypted email, to his broker. The paper copy went straight into the shredder. These deals were too dangerous to leave hard copies lying around, at least at this point. Too many prying eyes. Encrypted copies of everything were kept in the cloud, and that had to be good enough. Archer didn't trust any of his clerical staff enough to have them handle the paperwork, and wasn't that a sad statement on the state of things? Austin Davis and now Eli Fisher had done that to him. More's the pity.

His desk phone rang. "Yes?"

Alana, one of his assistants, said, "Senator Davis is here to see you."

Archer's gut rolled. Coming in person was another shot across the bow. They were at war now, and Davis was upping the ante.

"Send him in." He scanned his desk rapidly, making sure nothing he didn’t want seen was visible

"Yes, sir."

A moment later, the door opened, and Davis strode through. Navy suit, light blue shirt, and scarlet red tie, not doing anything to erase the hangdog expression firmly in place. Except for his eyes. His eyes gleamed with something that looked uncomfortably like smugness.

Archer went on full alert. Whatever was about to happen, Davis was feeling very good about it, which meant Archer's morning was about to go sideways.

"Austin," he said, getting to his feet to shake the other man's hand. "Would you like some coffee?"

Davis shook his head. "I'm afraid this isn't a social call. We have a problem."

Archer gestured toward the visitor's chair and mentally braced himself. "Have a seat. What's the problem and how may I help?"

Davis sat and immediately leaned into the drawl. "It pains me to say it, but I have found more proof of malfeasance in the Society."

Archer cocked an eyebrow. "Malfeasance?"

"Someone is definitely installin' cameras at certain locations." He pulled a small object from his coat pocket and placed it on the desk.

Archer frowned. "You found this camera installed somewhere?"

"No, not this one. But ones like it were found installed in the Society location in Madrid." Davis gave a theatrical shake of his head. "This is appalling. The integrity of the Society has been broken. We must do something about this."

Archer kept his features neutral, but the muscles in his back tightened. "Who found these cameras, and where, exactly, were they located?"

Davis shook his head again. "I'm afraid this was brought to me in confidence. I cannot reveal my source. You understand."

Because there was no source. The whole scenario was all a product of Davis’s machinations. Archer ground his teeth. "Yes. I understand completely." And he did. "What is it you think is the appropriate response?"