The Naughty List Bundle with The Night Before Christmas & Yule Be Mine. Fern Michaels
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why’d the jerk go to her place last night?” Daniel wanted to know.
“Because he’s looking for something.” Jonas eased out of her office and glanced down the hallway. “Something that would either be in the lab or in Christie’s house.”
Her breath rushed out.
“If I’m right,” Jonas said, “this isn’t personal, it’s—”
“Business.” Daniel shot to his feet. “Sonofabitch. The lab. Someone’s trying to steal our models!”
Jonas gave a grim nod. “You been working on any designs at home?”
“I-I took a prototype home for a few days.”
“Let me guess.” Jonas rolled his shoulders and the butt of the weapon peeked at her. “Rover, right?”
“Yes.” The robot hadn’t been working just right, and she’d wanted a chance to tinker with him over the holidays.
“Where’s he now?”
“I brought him back last night. He was in my car and when you called about the break-in, I brought him back”—she pointed behind him—“and Daniel put him in the lab.”
Jonas turned his attention to Daniel. “Anyone else here today?”
“Ah…just Vicki from accounting. There was some kind of glitch with the payroll checks. She came in to—”
“All about the money,” Jonas muttered. “I’m gonna need to get in that lab, now.”
Daniel shoved his hand into his jacket pocket. “I’ve got a key.” He was already heading for the door, nearly racing with the security guard.
Christie was right on their heels.
They marched down the hallway, the faint melody of Christmas music filling the air as it drifted through the speakers.
“Let me go in first,” Jonas murmured. “Then, Christie, I want you to do a sweep and see if all the Rover material is still there.”
He reached for the door, but didn’t have to use the key. The lab was unlocked.
Well, hell.
He swung open the door.
The Rover prototype was still there—clutched in Vicki Jasper’s hands.
“Vicki?” Daniel called out, shock and anger mixing in his voice.
Vicki spun toward them, her dark red hair swirling over her shoulders. A wide, laughing smile spread her lips. “You caught me, Dan!” She gave a light, twinkling laugh as she sat Rover back down. “I just had to sneak in and get a peek at old Rover.” She dusted off her hands. “I was taking a break, stretching my legs a bit, and I—”
“How’d you get inside, Vicki?” Christie asked her, aware that Jonas and Sam had both tensed at the sight of the other woman.
Vicki blinked her warm brown eyes. “The door was open. I walked in.” A shrug. “Why? Is-is there a problem?” Another laugh eased past her lips, but this one sounded a bit nervous. “You left the door open. I just walked in to look around.”
“We didn’t leave the door open,” Christie said with certainty. “We haven’t been in here today.”
“The room was locked tight last night,” Jonas added, his voice cold and clipped. “I checked before I left.”
Vicki’s gaze flashed from Christie to Jonas. “Okay, um, I’m sorry I came in here.” She began to edge away from the table. “Numbers can get a little boring sometimes. You know what I mean, Dan. You’re a numbers guy, too. I wanted a little break.” Her smile flashed again. “A chance to see how the other half lived.”
Christie stared at her and felt sad. “You shouldn’t be here, Vicki.”
“No,” Daniel said, the word heavy. “You shouldn’t.”
“What? You’re going to fire me for walking in the playroom?” Vicki’s eyes hardened a bit. “Come on, what’s this really about? Is it about me and Charles? Christie, we didn’t mean for anything to happen, okay? We never meant to hurt you. We didn’t plan it, we—”
“I don’t care about you and Charles.” But, wait…when had Vicki first hooked up with Charles?
Right after I announced plans for Rover at the company meeting in November.
“You’re lying,” Vicki snapped. “I know you’re angry, but let’s all calm down, okay?”
“We are calm, ma’am,” Jonas said, stepping closer to Vicki. “Now I’m gonna need you to do me a favor.”
Vicki’s gaze jumped to him. She must have seen the badge, because her eyes widened. Or maybe she’d seen the butt of his weapon.
“I need you to empty your pockets, real nice and real slow,” Jonas ordered her.
“What? I don’t have to—”
“Vicki.” Daniel’s voice snapped like a whip. “What’s in your pocket?”
And she crumpled. Her lips trembled and teardrops slid down her cheeks even as she shoved her right hand into her pocket—and the hand came back up, holding two keys.
Christie was too far away to tell for certain, but her gut knew those were her keys. “Why?”
But it was Daniel who answered. “Because if there’s one thing Vicki knows well, it’s money. You ran the numbers for the project. You knew what we had coming, didn’t you?”
Jonas took the keys from Vicki. She wasn’t looking at any of them, just the floor.
“Probably planning to sell the prototype to a competitor.” Daniel yanked a hand through his hair. “Vicki, this goes without saying but…your ass—”
“Is fired,” Christie finished because even her Christmas goodwill had its limits. Vicki had passed those holiday limits. Actually, she’d blown right through them.
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