Page 52 of Finding Love

“Find anything?” she asked with a frown.

“No, I’m backing up my laptop and trying to figure out what exactly they wanted off it.” He turned back to the screen.

“Backing it up online?” she asked, sitting on the edge of the desk.

“Yeah. About the only things I have on here that I don’t have on my office system are a few files from the accounting department. But I pulled them from the network drive at work…” He stopped talking when he realized that she had no idea what he was saying. Chuckling, he stood up. “How about we eat something? I had the staff make us something since I planned to be busy this morning.”

While they ate the omelets and breakfast quiches made for them, they speculated about why someone would want his laptop. Especially when there were so many more valuable items in the house.

“That painting is worth tens of thousands of dollars.” He motioned to the painting the dark figure had passed last night.

“Did you find out anything about Mark?” she asked. “Was he still behind bars last night?”

“Yes, apparently, he still is. He can’t post bail.” Ryder shook his head. “It was set at fifteen grand.”

Brook frowned. “I thought he was acting CEO of the company for the last year. He must have had a pretty big salary.”

Ryder nodded. “He did. Plus, an expensive apartment in Auburn, a shiny new BMW, and I’m told several”—Ryder air quoted—“women he’s been wining and dining the past year. Even though he’s married.”

“Okay, so why can’t he post bail?”

Ryder shrugged. “I’m having someone look into that. But for now, my priority is finding out who broke in and why they went after my laptop.”

“Did you have it when we met?” she asked. When he frowned, she clarified, “Did you have it with you when you were living in your van and on the road? Or was it given to you when you returned?”

He frowned. “I didn’t have it with me this last year. It was here.” He motioned towards the office. “I used it to work on things from home before I left, but I left it behind.”

“Okay, so you left it here while you were gone. It wasn’t locked up or…”

“No.” He shook his head. “I believe it was still sitting on my desk in there when I returned.”

“Okay, then…” She rolled her shoulders and took another sip of coffee. “Maybe we’re going at this all wrong. Maybe it isn’t about Mark.”

“If not, then who? I had one of the guys in the IT department update the thing when I returned. It needed a lot of updates and security patches. They installed some new virus protection and connected it to the new network at the office.”

“Right, but…” She shrugged and laughed. “I have no clue. This sort of thing is really Nick’s field. I can call him if you want. See what he thinks?”

Ryder thought for a moment then shrugged. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt.

After breakfast, Ryder returned to his office while she stepped outside with Willy to make the call to her cousin.

Nick answered on the second ring.

“What’s up, cuz?” Nick asked, sounding a little breathless.

“Am I interrupting you?” she asked jokingly.

“Just taking a run on the beach.” She heard him stop running. “How’s the big city? You aren’t calling me to tell me you’ve decided the city life is for you, are you?”

She chuckled. “Nope, I am calling you because we need your help. Or at least your twisted mind,” she said with a smile in her voice.

“On?” Nick asked.

“How much time do you have?”

Nick was silent for a moment. “Plenty. What’s up?”

By the time she was done giving him the basics of what had happened, Ryder had come out and sat next to her. She switched her phone to speaker, and they both answered a handful of questions.