The Love Game

By the end of the nearly hour-long session, their investigation hadn’t garnered anything out of the ordinary. Everyone had followed procedure. No one had taken any shortcuts. If anything, their team had taken extra precautions to safeguard the sensitive information.

“Thanks for coming to talk with us like this rather than sneaking around behind our backs and checking our emails.” Ted stretched his legs in front of him, and crossed his arms and ankles.

“I don’t want it to come to that.” A weight had settled on Tyler’s shoulders.

Ted nodded. “That’s good to know.”

“But if we don’t learn who’s behind the leak, we won’t have a choice.” Tyler regretted an email search was beginning to look like a real possibility.

“Fair enough.” Ted adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

Ever since the internal launch, his interactions with associates had been improving. He couldn’t walk across the parking lot without someone greeting him or walk down the hallway without someone asking about his day. Would this leak damage his new camaraderie in addition to his father’s trust in him?

Tyler faced the room one last time. “If anyone has anything they’d like to add, call me and we can speak in confidence.”

Malek shrugged. “Ty, I’m telling you, it wasn’t us.”

Tyler was relieved that his team hadn’t been involved. But he was disappointed that he hadn’t turned up any useful information. Now he had to figure out what his next step was going to be.

The one thing he was sure about right now was that he was glad Iris was by his side.

“What do you think?” Tyler walked with Iris back to his office after the meeting. He stood aside, allowing her to precede him into the room before shutting the door behind them.

“I still don’t think any of them did it.” Iris turned to him. Her cool-blue, short-sleeved blouse and pencil-thin navy skirt made her look both professional and sexy.

“Neither do I.” Tyler shoved his hands deep into the front pockets of his black Dockers.

“They were forthcoming, relaxed, direct. They didn’t seem to have anything to hide.”

“I know. Dammit.” Tyler paced his office, searching for inspiration. He was like a rat in a maze, going in circles without a sense of direction. There was no way out.

“What do we do now?” Iris’s question brought his spinning thoughts to a halt.

Tyler checked his watch. It was after ten o’clock. “I need to give my father an update on the investigation by the end of the day. I hope someone calls me for that confidential chat before then.”

“What will you do when you get that call?”

“It depends on the reason the old test results were leaked.” Tyler shrugged. “It may not have been a malicious act but that doesn’t change the fact that confidential information was sent to the media.”

Iris’s elegant features reflected her concern. “I can’t wait to put this whole episode behind us. It’s cast a shadow over the good work you’ve done.”

“The good work we’ve done.” Tyler crossed the room to take her hand. “We’re a team, remember?”

“A darn good one.” Iris squeezed his hand before slipping hers free. “I’d better finish that social media policy. You’re going to need a full-time person to handle your presence. We’re getting a lot of likes on Facebook and retweets on Twitter.”

“Great.” Whatever that meant.

Iris opened his office door, then nudged the doorstop into place with her foot. “Call me if you need me.”

“You do the same.” Tyler watched Iris disappear beyond his door.

If he called her every time he needed her, he’d be on the phone every minute of the day. How had he come to need her that much in just three short months? Was it a good thing—or not?

* * *

Iris exhaled, kicking off her shoes and carrying the Chinese-food takeout into her kitchen Monday evening. Their traditional family dinner was Wednesday but Tyler was working late and she really needed to see her sisters tonight. That’s why she’d sent the 911—teriyaki chicken and veggies at 6 text message on her way home. Rose and Lily should arrive any minute.

She set the dining room table before transferring the chicken and vegetables to a serving bowl and settling that within easy reach of the three place settings. The doorbell rang. Iris hurried to answer it.