for cash.”
“She wouldn’t do that.”
“You can’t be sure of that and you definitely can’t prove it.”
Trees was right, and Zy fucking hated it. “This is the same argument I’ve had with the bosses. They’re convinced you’re guilty, and no amount of trying to prove otherwise has put a dent in their collective thick skulls. I’m fucking over this. She’s not guilty because I know she’s not guilty.”
“Man, this isn’t the same. If you’d stop thinking with your heart and start thinking with your brain, you’d know that. We almost died together. We’ve both almost died for each other. Neither of us would be sitting here today if we hadn’t proven ourselves to one another and earned complete trust.”
Zy cursed under his breath. “I know.”
“You and this woman… You’re in love with Tessa, so you feel like you know her. But you don’t.”
“I get why you’d see it that way, but when I was assigned to protect her, I spent nights under her roof. We talked. We got to know each other. I learned who she is. You didn’t, and knowing someone purely from office interaction isn’t the same.”
“Maybe not,” Trees conceded, but Zy didn’t buy his conciliatory tone. “Have you taken her to bed?”
“You know the contract says I can’t.”
“That’s not what I asked. My best friend, the one I’ve known backward and forward for almost a decade? He doesn’t give too many shits about rules, especially arbitrary ones. And that nonfraternization clause is totally arbitrary.”
Goddamn Trees for knowing him too well.
Zy cursed. “No, I haven’t taken her to bed. I’d be happy to ignore that stupid-ass rule. Tessa is too afraid of getting fired to break it. I’m telling you…she’s a good person—a rule follower—who wants to do the right thing.”
Trees seemed to weigh his words. “Or she won’t sleep with you because she doesn’t want to get in too deep with someone in the very organization she’s spying on. Sure, it probably has something to do with being a single mother, too. But if I was in her shoes and I was guilty of passing on information for money, the last thing I’d want is to get close to anyone who could find me out.”
What his friend said made a lot of sense. Zy couldn’t deny that, but… “You’re way off base about Tessa.”
“I think you’re the one who’s way off.”
And Trees would, unless someone showed him proof.
Zy cursed again. What the fuck was he supposed to do? “I don’t want to argue. You gotta help me, man.”
“Do what?”
“Prove you’re not our mole.” And that Tessa isn’t, either.
“Still can’t get the bosses off your back?”
“No. They texted me just before we pulled away from the Wests’ place, asking what I had for them.”
Trees raised a brow. “What did you tell them?”
“I haven’t answered yet.” Zy didn’t know what the fuck to say.
“Avoidance isn’t going to make those bastards stop asking.”
“You’re pointing out the obvious.”
“Tell you what. The clues you’re looking for should be on our network and on our teammates’ computers, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Let me at them. When we get back, I need to head into town to pick up groceries anyway. I’ll spend a few hours at the office and look through the network, just to make one-hundred-percent sure we haven’t been hacked. Then I’ll start taking apart computers. Josiah and Cutter seem like the easiest because they’re both gone. I’ve got Josiah’s computer in my duffel in the back of my truck. He gave it to me this morning before he slid his arm around Maggie’s waist and waved goodbye with a big ol’ smile. And Cutter turned his in the day after Christmas, before he took off for LA again with Shealyn.”
“That would be great.” It might not turn up anything, but it would at least allow him to look at other possibilities.
What are the chances that the guys leaving to get married were on the take?
Zy tried not to put a number to that, because he was afraid it would be near zero. But it wasn’t Tessa; he knew that in his heart.
“Thank you,” he added.
“For pitching in?”
“For not hating me.”
“I wasn’t thrilled. I didn’t say anything at first because I was too pissed. Then I realized you wouldn’t have searched my place without cause. When I tried to imagine what that was…it wasn’t hard to figure out who would put you up to spying on me or why. And once I had that answer, I figured you were as pissed as I was.”
“Maybe more so.