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I knock, so anxious I’m bouncing on tiptoe. Tamar motions for me to come inside.
“She told Marco I thought the guy looked familiar, and he made her delete the photo,” I blurt. “He was upset. What does this mean?”
“Maybe nothing,” she replies calmly. “But we need to run it by Rafael.”
I’m going to vomit. Breathe through your nose. Nice even breaths.
“Are you okay?” Tamar asks, stepping closer.
No. She must think I’m some kind of lightweight.
“I’m fine. But their relationship is just getting back to normal. He’s going to jump to every conclusion and drag Marco back into the caves. We need more before we go to him.”
“Did she look in the cloud or in the trash for the photo?”
“I don’t know. But I can’t come up with a reason to ask her to do it without alarming her. And I don’t want her to say anything more to Marco.”
“No. The less he knows the better.”
“Isn’t everything backed up and stored here?”
“I can only access it for work matters.”
“Not safety?”
“Not without telling her.”
One blow after another. My head is throbbing.
“But as part of your training,” she continues, “I could teach you how to access material from our backup storage. What you do with that skill is your business.” She pauses. “Although, under any other circumstance, I would fire you, and I can’t promise that Rafael or Valentina won’t.”
The least of my problems is being fired. I’m more concerned they’ll never talk to me again—or to each other. But if it’s Paolo in the photo, that means Marco knew him. Maybe it’s an innocent connection, but Tamar doesn’t strike me as someone who jumps to conclusions, and she’s concerned.
“Let’s do it.” The guilt is so thick I could choke on it. I’m such a terrible friend.
“Lexie, when you’re done, whatever you find, it goes straight to Rafael. I’m telling you this as your boss, and your friend.”
I nod even though I’m not convinced there isn’t a way around it.
After a short lesson where I take a few notes, I access Valentina’s information.
“What you need is right here,” Tamar says, pointing to the files. “Start hunting.”
I’m sick to my stomach as I search through Valentina’s personal information. Fortunately, it’s a photo, and I have an approximate date, so my snooping is limited, but still, I feel awful.
For what feels like hours, I look, and look, and look. But I find nothing. Not in the trash. Not in the cloud. Nothing.
My head feels like it’s going to explode. I take Tylenol from my purse and wash it down with a large swig of water.
“Do you think she has another phone that’s on a separate account that we don’t have access to?” Tamar asks.
“She has one phone.”
“It’s time to talk to Rafael,” she says firmly, and my heart sinks.
“We’re going to cause a problem, and all we have is a feeling.” I should have kept my big mouth shut. “He’s going to jump to every dire conclusion, some we haven’t even considered.”
“When’s the last time you deleted something off your phone and it disappeared within a day? Totally disappeared without you taking the necessary steps to make it happen?”
