Dylan frowned at him. “You okay, buddy?”
“Uh, listen guys… there was an email yesterday that I intercepted of Astrid’s saying…”
“Astrid?” Adam said with a smirk. “I didn’t realize you two were on first-name terms.”
“Ms. Lawrence,” Jake said, correcting himself. “And it seems there’s some insurance claim – an accident at Graves’ plant. It doesn’t sound like the sort of thing I’d want to invest in. Not that it’s my business – I just needed to let you know.”
Dylan pulled out his phone. “Good work, Jake – we’ve been dying to look at this email since Ms. Lawrence mentioned it. Did you forward it to me? I didn’t get the chance to check last night. Sarah and I had that charity soccer thing.”
“Yeah,” Jake said. “I sent it to you. You’ve got it all in writing.”
“This is so helpful,” Adam said. “We’ve been thinking about pulling our investment and this will probably be the final nail in the coffin. We’ll take a look at the email, but I’m pretty sure we’ll be telling Graves ‘no’ at some point today.”
“Glad to hear it. I was about to quit anyway.”
He hadn’t meant to just blurt it out like that. They both stared at him in shock. “You’re quitting?” Dylan asked.
“Sure am. I’m going on my treasure hunt. Dad says he thinks the stash is buried near where I grew up in Paxton – on the outskirts of the City.”
“So you’re leaving?”
“I’ll only be a hundred miles away. And I hope it won’t take long. Ever since Dad confirmed the location of the loot I’ve been dying to do this, but I’ve just been so busy working for you guys…”
“What’s the big hurry to leave town?” Dylan asked. “You in trouble?”
Jake shook his head. He heard the footsteps of another employee coming up behind him – wanting to talk to Adam and Dylan – but their focus was currently glued to Jake. “Look, I’ll be honest with you,” Jake said. “I slept with Astrid.”
Dylan’s expression surged to anger. “Jake! What the hell are you playing at?”
Jake opened his mouth to reply, vaguely aware that Adam was now staring over Jake’s shoulder at whoever was standing there waiting…
****
As Astrid stood behind Jake listening to him bragging to Adam and Dylan about last night, her body filled with fury. Her sense of self expanded then contracted – trying to comprehend what she was hearing. Her skin prickled with an urgency to leave – but first she wanted to kill Jake. She’d trusted him last night – opened up to him! She’d handed her heart – and body – over on a platter, and now this… She felt as if she was watching the three men from afar – like they were on TV and she was a viewer. Her mind whirled, trying to make sense of this…
Not only did Jake know Adam and Dylan… but he was telling them about last night…
She could feel Adam’s eyes drilling into her, but her own glare was currently trying to set the back of Jake’s head alight.
“You slept with her?” Dylan asked, staring at Jake with irritation on his face – oblivious to their audience.
Jake sounded annoyed. “Yeah, I fucked her. What did you expect? She’s a beautiful woman.”
Adam didn’t take his eyes off Astrid. “Er, guys, why don’t we –?”
Dylan folded his arms across his chest. “Well, thanks a fucking lot for potentially screwing up the entire operation, Jake.”
Jake threw a hand to his hip. “I got you those emails, didn’t I? It’s not as easy as you’d think, hacking into emails and bugging phones. Not to mention the dubious legality.”
Adam suddenly grabbed Jake by the shoulder and shook him. “Stop talking, Jake!”
Jake shoved him hard. “Adam, what the fuck are you doing?”
“Just don’t say anything else, okay.”
“Why?”
Dylan glanced up and noticed Astrid too. She was fuming now – she felt as if she was going to spontaneously combust with anger and embarrassment, and burn down the entire Quinlan enterprise. It suddenly all clicked… Simon hadn’t been following her these past few weeks, it was Jake. He’d hacked into her emails, listened to her phone conversations… She clenched her fists, pressing her fingernails into her palms, trying not to faint. He’d said yesterday he was a private investigator – how hilarious that confession must’ve been to him.