McKenna glanced around at the three of them, but her eyes landed on Tag. He had an expression on his face that she didn’t recognize. She couldn’t tell whether it was disbelief, or disdain. Regardless, Tag didn’t look happy to be there, and more importantly, he didn’t look happy with her.
“Do you have security cameras at your office?”
Security cameras?
It took a second to figure out what Tag was talking about because she was apparently way too wrapped up in trying to figure him out. Oh, God. How did she forget she had security cameras?
Since this was actually a good thing, McKenna wondered why Tag looked a little out of sorts.
Chapter Thirty Two
Alex and Luke walked in as Tag was asking the question, but he didn’t spare either of them a glance. The way McKenna’s eyes widened, obviously in realization, he knew the answer before she said anything.
“I do,” she replied, her eyes darting between the five people staring back at her.
The answer was a good one as far as Tag was concerned, but there were two possible problems with it. One: her security cameras had been destroyed along with the rest of her office. Or two: they were still intact, and they now had something to hold against Stephen Crawford. Although he hoped it was the second, Tag knew that it was in his best interest – as their lawyer – not to listen to the rest of the conversation. But he couldn’t seem to convince his legs to get up and walk out of the room.
“Where are they?” Alex asked, standing off to the side with his arms crossed over his chest.
“They are recorded via a web feed. I had them installed a few years ago after our first break in,” McKenna explained.
First break in? How many did the woman have?
“They’re hidden really well for this exact reason,” she continued.
“Someone bring her a laptop.” Tag instructed, not looking at anyone else in the room except for McKenna.
From the moment he walked in, she had seemed to be holding up fairly well, even though he noticed the slight tremble in her hands that she was working to keep hidden.
As soon as their eyes met when he walked through the door, Tag witnessed that invisible mask slide into place, effectively hiding any emotion she might be feeling. Her pride was a tangible thing, he knew.
“I’ve got a meeting to go to, but if there is anything I can do, let me know,” Samantha stated suddenly, her voice disturbing the heavy silence that hung in the room. “McKenna, again, I’m so very sorry –”
This time McKenna was the one to cut her off. “Sam, this isn’t your fault. None of it is. I’m insured, so everything’s covered, although I’m sure my insurance company isn’t going to be too happy with me this time.”
Tag couldn’t seem to get past McKenna’s comments that this was a reoccurring event.
Sam nodded her head and turned to walk out of the room, but not before Tag saw the sheen of tears in her eyes. He didn’t blame her.
All of a sudden, it seemed as though everything was beginning to crash down around them. Even with a renewed hope that they had evidence of Stephen Crawford doing this, which they might be able to hold against him, they still weren’t out of the woods yet.
Tag knew from a legal perspective, countering the blackmail wasn’t going to be the best avenue to pursue, but he also knew he wouldn’t be able to convince Logan or Luke of that. No matter what they did at this point, these pictures were going to get out and honestly, every attempt they made to stop it only bided them time.
After McKenna found the website where she could access the security camera feed, the laptop was handed off to Alex. While the rest of them waited patiently to see if there was anything they could garner from it, Tag opted to interrogate McKenna a little, although he could see how unhappy she was to answer his questions.
“How many times has this happened?” he asked. “Or better yet, when is the last time this happened?”
“Not in a long time up until recently, but never to this magnitude,” she answered, glancing back and forth between him, Logan and Luke.
Realizing he was changing the subject, Tag moved on to the other question bothering him. “What prompted you to write that article?”
“I don’t know.” McKenna shook her head and looked down at her hands. “I think his last email just pushed me too far.”
“I want to see that email,” Tag demanded, knowing his tone wasn’t in the least bit polite.
“I’d like to see it too,” Logan chimed in.
McKenna pulled out her cell phone, scrolled through what appeared to be her email and then typed in something. A second later Tag’s phone beeped along with Logan’s with an incoming email. He didn’t hesitate before reading it.