Free Spanking Sydney by Paige Tyler Page B

hours to get to them. Grabbing them from the desk, she hurried over to the bed and sat down beside Max.
    “Check this out.” She spread them out on top of the files he’d been going through. “These figures match the ones we found back at Design-Tech. Someone at Sentinal was siphoning a portion of the money from each payment we sent them and hiding it in what sure looks to me like a phony account. That’s where all the extra money’s been going.”
    Max frowned. “And from the looks of it, they’ve been doing it for years. How the hell did Design-Tech not catch this?”
    She shrugged. “Maybe they did. Maybe that same someone at Sentinal who embezzled the money paid them off to cover it up.”
    He clenched his jaw. “And that someone at Sentinal is probably Burton.”
    “Probably,” she agreed.
    He leaned over and kissed her.  “I knew you were good at this stuff.”
    She laughed. “All I did was put two and two together, but thank you for the compliment.”
    He grabbed his cell phone from the bedside table. “I’m going to call the Dallas office and tell them what we found.”
    When he was done, Max suggested they grab some dinner. Sydney would rather have tested out the mattress some more, but her stomach growled in protest. She sighed. She supposed a girl couldn’t live on love alone. Or lust.
    She was just changing into jeans and a T-shirt when Max’s cell phone rang.
    Max held it to his ear. “Daniels.” He glanced at Sydney. “Mr. Friedman. What can I do for you?” His brow furrowed as he listened. “Now?”
    Sydney hurriedly shoved her feet into a pair of sandals. “What does he want?”
    She expected Max to shush her, but instead he put the phone on speaker so she could hear, too.
    “I know it’s late, but yes,” Friedman said. “I have something I need to show you regarding the government contract.”
    Max’s gaze went to Sydney again. “Like what?”
    There was silence on the other end of the line. “I can’t talk on the phone.” Friedman sighed. “Look, this whole thing goes a lot deeper than you think. Beyond Sentinal. Beyond Design-Tech, too. After you left, I did some digging of my own and found some stuff I think you’ll want to see.” A pause. “It’s imperative I speak to both of you. Tonight. And bring all the records with you.”
    Max hesitated. “We’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
    Sydney gave him a questioning look as he hung up. “What was all that about?”
    “I don’t know.” He shoved his phone in the pocket of his jeans. “But whatever it is, Friedman sounds spooked as hell.”
     
    *              *              *
     
    The Sentinal office building was dark except for the soft glow of light coming from the front lobby. Not unusual, considering they’d closed hours ago. Sydney expected to find Alec Friedman waiting for them outside, but he was nowhere in sight. There was a car in the parking lot, though.
    Max held the front door open for her, then followed her inside. She looked around for Friedman, but didn’t see him.
    “He must be upstairs in his office,” Max said.
    There was a light coming from an office at the far end of the hallway. Sydney frowned as she realized it was Burton’ office. Why wasn’t Friedman in his own office? Unless what he wanted to show them was in the CEO’s.
    She gave Max a sidelong glance, and could tell from his furrowed brow that he was wondering the same thing.
    They silently made their way down the darkened hallway. The outer room was empty, so they walked into Burton’ office.
    Friedman was sitting behind the desk. At least Sydney thought it was Friedman. He had his back to her so she couldn’t be sure.
    “Friedman?” Max asked.
    No answer.
    “Friedman,” he said again, louder this time.
    The man still didn’t move.
    Sydney frowned. She leaned close to whisper in Max’s ear “Something doesn’t feel right about this.”
    “I know.”
    She chewed on her lower lip as Max set down