She bit her lip and blood roared through his veins. ‘I...didn’t mean anything by it. Certainly nothing based on solid fact.’
‘But you said it anyway. Instinctive or not, you suspect there’s something else going on here, no?’
She shrugged. ‘It was just a general comment, gleaned from observing natural human behaviour. Most people fall into one of those two categories. It could be that Captain Lowell falls into both.’ She firmed her lips as if she wanted to prevent any more words from spilling out.
‘What do you mean?’ he asked. Impatience grew when she just shook her head. ‘Come on, you have a theory. Let’s hear it.’
‘I just think the fact that both Lowell and his two deputies are missing is highly questionable. I can’t think why all three would be away from the bridge and not respond when the alarm was raised.’
Ice slammed into his chest. ‘The investigators think it was human error but you think it was deliberate?’ Reactivating the tablet, he flicked through the rest of Morgan Lowell’s work history but nothing in there threw up any red flags.
On paper, his missing captain was an extremely competent leader with solid credentials who’d piloted the Pantelides tanker efficiently for the last four years.
On paper.
Sakis knew first-hand that ‘on paper’ meant nothing when it came right down to it.
On paper Alexandrou Pantelides, his father, had been an honourable, hard-working and generous father to those who hadn’t known better. Only Sakis, his brothers and mother had known it was a façade he presented to the world. It was only when a scorned lover had tipped off a hungry journalist who’d chosen to dig a little deeper that the truth had emerged. A truth that had unearthed a rotten trough full of discarded mistresses and shady business dealings that had overnight heaped humiliation and devastation on the innocent.
On paper Giselle had seemed an efficient, healthily ambitious executive assistant, until Sakis’s rejection of her one late-night advance had unearthed a spiteful, cold-blooded, psychopathic nature that had threatened to destabilise his company’s very foundation.
‘On paper’ meant nothing if he couldn’t look into Lowell?
?s eyes, ask what had happened and get a satisfactory answer.
‘We need to find him, Moneypenny,’ he bit out, bitterness replacing the ice in his chest. ‘There’s too much at stake here to leave this unresolved for much longer.’ For one thing, the media would spin itself out of control if word of this got out. ‘Contact the head of security. Tell them to dig deeper into Lowell’s background.’
Sakis looked up in time to see Brianna pale a little. ‘Is something wrong?’ he asked.
Her mouth showed the tiniest hint of a twist. ‘No.’
His gaze dropped to hands that would normally be flying over her tablet as she rushed to do his bidding. They were clasped together, unmoving. ‘Something obviously is.’
Darkened eyes met his and he saw rebellion lurking in their depths. ‘I don’t think it’s fair to dig into someone’s life just because you have a hunch.’
Her words held brevity that made Sakis frown. ‘Did you not suggest minutes ago that Lowell could be hiding something?’
She gave a reluctant nod.
‘Then shouldn’t we try and find out what that something is?’
‘I suppose.’
‘But?’
‘I think he deserves for his life not to be turned inside out on a hunch. And I’m sorry if I gave you the impression that was what I wanted, because it’s not.’
A tic throbbed in his temple. Restlessness made him shove away from the desk. His stride carried him to the window and back to the desk next to where she sat, unmoving fingers resting on her tablet.
‘Sometimes we have to bear the consequences of unwanted scrutiny for the greater good.’ As much as he’d detested the hideous fallout, having his father’s true colours exposed had ultimately been to his benefit. He’d learned to look beneath the surface. Always.
She looked at him. ‘You’re advocating something that you hated having done to you. How did you feel when your family’s secrets were exposed to the whole world?’
Shock slammed into him at her sheer audacity. Planting his hands on the desk, he lowered his head until his gaze was level with hers. ‘Excuse me? What the hell do you think you know about my family?’ he rasped.
She drew back a touch but her gaze remained unflinching. ‘I know what happened with your father when you were a teenager. The Internet makes information impossible to hide. And your reaction to the tabloid hack’s question yesterday—’
‘There was no reaction.’