Free Passionate Investigations by Elizabeth Lapthorne

traitor, Zahra,” Rob cut in quietly. His
tone brooked no argument, though he kept his voice soft. “I don’t know who it
is, but we haven’t been imagining this. There is at least one person, possibly
more, who have been slowly and steadily leaking critical data and ruining
various operations. A large part of being an Investigator is trust. The people
who talk to me need to know they can trust me with the information they give
me. The heads of the various divisions of the Consultancy, the Enforcers and
the other organizations we work with need to know not just that I’m an
honorable man, but also that I can work independent of any supervision.”
    Zahra fell silent. For the first time she truly began to
imagine what it must have felt like for everything Rob stood for and held dear
to be called into doubt, questioned and finally taken away from him. The weight
of what ramifications he had needed to deal with took away her breath.
    “You and I both know I didn’t betray anyone’s trust. There
are a few others, solid friends, who also believe that. But for most people out
there I’m a repugnant traitor, the lowest of the low. It’s why I’m willing to
push so far to get my name cleared. For many it won’t make a difference, but it
will to me . And at no point can either of us forget that someone in my
old employer’s office is that traitor. Someone is causing deaths,
letting rogue agents and criminals run free and tipping off the enemy before a
bust goes down.”
    “I could be in and out of there in ten minutes,” she
insisted. Zahra felt even more strongly now she needed to uncover not only what
had really happened to Tanya, but also to bring those responsible for
attempting to destroy Rob’s life by framing him to justice.
    “Not by yourself,” Rob remained firm. “I saw a phone in the
kitchen when we passed it. Let’s go call Ben and get you some backup. There are
precious few people I trust right now. I’m not about to let you go into that
den of iniquity without someone I have faith in guarding your back.”
    Realizing she’d be wasting her breath to argue further,
Zahra followed Rob into Tanya’s kitchen. He picked up the receiver from its
cradle on the wall and punched in a number from memory. Zahra rummaged in the
cupboard to get herself a glass of water while the phone rang. Silently raising
the full glass, she indicated to Rob whether he’d like one too. Shaking his
head, he spoke as his friend evidently answered.
    “Ben? Yeah, buddy, it’s Rob. You up for something?”
    “Of course. Look, I’ll catch you up when we both have a moment,
but the short version is I need to have someone eye Tanya Gower’s desk. As you
can understand I’m persona non grata over there so I can’t do this
myself. I’ve joined forces with Zahra, but I’m not keen for her to go in that
place alone. Can you spare some time to go with her?”
    Zahra stood beside Rob as she sipped the water. Tilting her
head, she tried to catch the other end of the conversation, only managing to
catch bits and pieces.
    “…friends for, Robbie? Course you realize…you always did
have a brassy set of balls. How about…okay?”
    “That sounds perfect,” Rob replied. “I’m on the bike. How
about I park us outside the garage entrance around the side of the building?
Security won’t bother us if we wait there for a few minutes. Can you swing by
now? It will only take us twenty minutes to get down there.”
    “Sure thing, buddy. See you then.”
    Rob hung up the phone and turned to her.
    Pleased to finally be doing something—anything—useful and
have a purpose in mind, Zahra found herself feeling good.
    “You do realize I could just call up my father, or even
Eric, and have the contents of Tanya’s desk brought to us. Do we really need to
keep this so secret?”
    “Right now, sunshine, there aren’t many people I trust. I
don’t for a moment believe your father had anything to do with Tanya’s death.
His grief is real,