The SEAL's Surprise Son (The Admiral's Seals, #1) - Leslie North Page 0,12
interested in her life after her parents’ divorce, no matter how she’d tried to attract his notice. From what she was seeing, Austin wouldn’t have to suffer as she had.
“Would you like to look at some pictures and video from Austin’s first year?” She reached for her iPad and tapped a folder open. Inside it, she’d stored everything from images of his birth to video of his first birthday party.
“That’d be great.” Zach took the tablet from her and sat on her couch.
Within seconds he was absorbed in the pictures, and she slipped back into the kitchen. She didn’t want to see his reactions. What would it be like to know you’d missed more than a year of your child’s life? She didn’t want to think about that and couldn’t help the smidgen of guilt she felt. Even though she’d thought she’d done everything she could to contact Zach, maybe if she’d made one more attempt…
What was done was done, and she couldn’t change the past. Carolyn focused on her laptop screen, forcing herself to return to business. A reminder popped up that a shipment of gemstones was due the next week. With the store still a mess and the investigation ongoing, she was in no position to receive the delivery. She called the distributor to have them hold the shipment.
After verifying her identity through the secure system, she reached a customer service representative.
“I can see the shipment on my screen,” the woman explained over the phone, “but it was canceled five days ago.”
“It was canceled? By whom?” Carolyn asked, immediately concerned. She’d personally placed the order.
“Give me a minute to look in the records, and I’ll get back to you.” After a short wait on hold, the representative returned. “The order was canceled via email from the account we have on file for you. Has your email address for purchasing changed?”
“No, it hasn’t. I’m confused about this,” Carolyn said. “Would you mind forwarding that cancelation email to me? For my records.”
“No problem.” Buttons clicked on the representative’s end. “Anything else I can do for you?”
“I’ll need to reinstate that order with delivery for next week.” Carolyn finished the transaction and hung up.
When the forwarded email came into Carolyn’s inbox, she reviewed it carefully. From the look of it, it had come from their purchasing account and appeared legitimate. But she hadn’t sent it. She picked up her phone, dialing Charlotte first to verify that her sister hadn’t canceled the order. Next, she checked with Jenna, the only other person at the store with that authority. Neither had sent the email.
Something was off, way off. Could someone have hacked their email account? Such things weren’t unheard of. She called her IT company next, to get their perspective.
“Accounts get hacked,” the representative told her after she explained her concern, “but there’s no sign of a problem with yours. We ran diagnostics this morning.”
“I’d like you to dig into my account deeper and do a full security scan,” she said, her concern about sabotage returning.
“No problem. Someone will get back to you.” He clicked off, leaving her puzzled over the seemingly unconnected incidents that might very well be part of a larger plan to destroy her business.
“What’s going on?” Zach’s voice jolted her out of her thoughts. He leaned against the doorway from the living room to the kitchen, looking way too good.
“How long have you been standing there?” She’d forgotten how silently he could move. She supposed it was his training that made him so stealthy—not something she cared to think about, even if she did appreciate what it had done for his physique.
“Long enough to know you’ve got a problem. Or, at least, you think you do.” His tone was casual, but underneath it was the steeliness she remembered about him.
She debated. The detective hadn’t thought much of her theory, and Zach might not either. But despite their past, he was someone she could trust, so she told him her ideas about the robbery and the other odd occurrences. As usual, he said nothing, just listened until she’d finished the list that, to her, suggested something wasn’t right.
“It could be coincidence,” he said, echoing the detective’s words. “You should wait and see what your IT people uncover.”
She didn’t want to wait. She wanted to act, and she didn’t need his permission to do anything. She was launching her own investigation whether or not the police—or Zach—liked it. This was her business, her livelihood, and she wasn’t waiting for the situation