Strength and Mercy

Rattled

After a week Kaden ran into nothing but dead ends. When he visited the sites no one seemed to know anything about the leak and his tech team couldn't figure out how the information was spread. But he was sure that an outsider wouldn't know the ins-and-outs of the business, it had to be an inside job. But there was also no word about who was snooping around rousing the suspicion of the cops. What added to his frustrations were people asking about Alonzo. Of course, no one questioned Kaden to his face but there were whispers that Alonzo was "let go". It wasn't the first time Kaden had to relieve someone from their services but the occurrence was rare. Animal and Durell hadn't said a word about the incident and, thankfully, no one knew they were involved. Though nothing could be proved since there was no body or evidence the thought of leaving some trace behind rattled him.

He placed his elbows on his desk and held his head with his hands. Though it was early in the morning he really wanted a drink. He needed to escape, even if it was for a little while. But escapism was for the weak-minded and was something he couldn't afford. Out of exasperation he slammed his fists on the desk causing a tremor in the room and the items on the desk to sprawl all over the floor. After a few deep breaths he convinced himself to relax and immerse himself in work until something turned up. But before he could sit his secretary paged him saying that Manuel was in the building and anxious to see him. When Kaden sent word to bring Manuel up the young man all but bursted through the door, nearly tripping on some of the items.

"Mr. Kross! I didn't find where the trail started but think I found where it ended!" Manuel exclaimed after he shut the door.

As Kaden poured himself some water he felt a weight forsake him but his demeanor remained stony, "What did you find?"

"Apparently, the person gathered some financial records from the last year or so. And a couple of weird incident reports we had on file."

Kaden's mind reeled as he walked to his desk. When he sat he swished the water in the glass trying to figure out what the hell would someone want with old files. Maybe someone was trying to comb through his finances to make sure everything was legal. Maybe it was a rival company trying to use what they could to undermine him. It had to be a company affiliate doing this, no individual would want something so mundane.

"What company were the finances linked to?" Kaden finally asked.

Manuel's face dropped, "They, um, they were linked to Saving Grace, sir."

Kaden's body froze but his eyes turned into glacial slits.

"Before you jump to conclusions, sir, I don't think Ms. Bello or her team had anything to do with this. Don't get me wrong, she and her team are smart but this level of decrypting is beyond them. "

The furrow of Kaden's brow deepened at the sound of her name. It was bad enough she's invaded his sleep and robbed him of his drive for other women but now she's trespassing against his company! Kaden pushed himself out the chair and stared out the window, lightly squeezing the cup.

"Don't underestimate the power of that woman," he growled. "She's cunning and will use whatever's in her arsenal to get what she wants."

"Hold on, she's a nice lady who's just trying to do her job!" Manuel blurted out.

After an awkward pause Kaden quietly asked, "You know her?"

Manuel slicked his hair back, "I met her a few times while she was here. We were alone once. "

His mind flashed to the time he met Ava in the lobby waiting for her team and him waiting to see Kaden. Her hair was up in a messy bun and wore a casual but business appropriate outfit. He thought she was an intern and tried to direct her to another department. After she stated why she was here they had a good laugh and jumped into a conversation. She had no idea he was working right under Kross but had a feeling she wouldn't have censored herself if she knew. She mentioned Kaden being a hard ass but nothing more. They talked about the latest advances in technology and swapped stories about technology faux paus until she had to go.