Colton Baby Conspiracy

“I can certainly try,” he answered cautiously. She knew he didn’t like making promises unless he was 100 percent certain that he could successfully deliver.

“But can you do it?” Marlowe asked again, needing an affirmative promise from him. “You’re the best in the business, Daniel, and if you can’t do this...” A note of hopelessness filtered through her voice as it trailed off.

“Ms. Colton, you have to understand that a search for something this heinous could very well involve the dark web, and that’s a great deal trickier to navigate than the regular web. They don’t call it the dark web just to create an aura of mystery. The transactions carried out on this part of the internet are way more difficult to pin down. I would be remiss if I wasn’t being honest with you, Ms. Colton,” he confided. “The truth of it is that you might never find out who sent this email.”

“But you will try to, right?” She was aware that she was practically imploring Daniel at this point.

“That goes without saying, Ms. Colton,” he told her. “I will use every trick in the book and lean on everyone I know to help me uncover just who sent out this piece of unfounded propaganda.”

She knew he was doing his best to comfort her, but she had one more request. “Can you do all that without telling them why?”

Daniel smiled at her. “The people I deal with are accustomed to these sorts of nefarious transactions. Don’t worry, Ms. Colton. If it can be done, I’ll do it,” he promised, “and no one will be the wiser.”

“That’s good enough for me,” she told him, rising to her feet. “And when you do find out, call me, Daniel. Night or day, call me,” she repeated.

“I’ll be sure to do that, Ms. Colton,” he promised solemnly.

Chapter 5 (#ua627d5e6-522e-5b4f-a8bc-d367e2d547ea)

Well, that didn’t exactly go as planned, Marlowe thought as she left the IT director’s office.

She supposed that part of her disappointment was tied to the fact that she had begun to expect nothing short of miracles from Daniel. Marlowe had always had a great deal of respect for the man’s abilities. The problem was that she had gotten those impressive abilities confused with his ability to do anything when it came to the internet.

Truthfully, until he had mentioned it, she hadn’t even thought about the dark web. To her, the internet was the internet, whether it was “dark” or not.

If anyone could make some notable headway there, it was Daniel. Especially since she had made him realize how important finding whoever had sent out that email was to her. To the family.

Still, Marlowe was definitely not looking forward to telling her father that, rather than “mission accomplished,” there was a chance, albeit it a slim one, that it might turn into “mission impossible.”

She sighed. There was nothing to be gained by putting this off, so she went back down to the boardroom on the off chance that her father was still there. This was the kind of message that she preferred delivering in person rather than over the phone.

As she made her way down the corridors, the area felt oddly empty at this time of the late afternoon. Unless faced with a deadline that necessitated working overtime, most of the Colton Oil employees had gone home for the day. Even the lights seemed dimmer than usual, somehow, although none had been turned off yet.

Drawing closer to the boardroom, Marlowe heard the sound of raised voices. Or at least one raised voice. It didn’t take much for her to recognize that the one she could clearly make out belonged to her father.

There was no doubt about it. No one could project his voice—or his emotions—the way that her bombastic father could.

Knocking on the door, Marlowe didn’t wait for a response but opened it and walked right in.

Payne Colton immediately swung around. “What?” he demanded, abruptly curtailing the supposedly encouraging words he was imparting to his firstborn, Ace. However, coming from Payne’s mouth, even encouragement came out sounding like he was venting his anger.

Ace Colton wasn’t the target or the cause of that anger, but given the scope of his father’s displeasure, Marlowe could imagine he felt as if he might as well have been.

All of his children had decided long ago that Payne Colton’s ways took a lifetime to get used to—and even then it wasn’t always easy.

Marlowe mustered the best smile she could at the moment and told her father, “I just thought you’d want to know that I put Daniel Okowski on the trail of our anonymous emailer.”

The silver-gray mane bobbed up and down in approval. “Good. What did Okowski say? How long before he has some answers for me?”

The fact that her father had placed himself rather than her as the key player in this wasn’t lost on Marlowe, but then, he did own the company, and anything that affected the company affected Payne Colton directly, so she wasn’t about to quibble. It was a given, she thought, resigned to the fact.

“That’s just it, Dad...” she began slowly, attempting to hedge her bets, only to have him break in and interrupt her.

“What’s ‘just it’?” her father demanded. “C’mon, girl, speak plainly. It’s way too late in the evening to be playing riddles,” he thundered.

“Let her talk, Dad,” Ace requested patiently.

Payne glared at his oldest son. He’d never liked being interrupted. “I am letting her talk,” Payne retorted. “It’s not my fault that she doesn’t talk fast enough, and when she does talk, it comes out in circles.” His eyes shifted back toward his daughter. “Well, go ahead. What is it you’re trying to tell me?”

Marlowe picked her words slowly, never taking her eyes off her father’s face. “Daniel said that navigating the message might have links to the dark web. That is tricky, and there’s a chance that we might never find out who’s responsible for sending that email to us.”

“What do you mean by never?” Payne demanded, exasperated.

“Exactly that,” she responded. “Those were Daniel’s words, Dad. Not mine. I guess he means that it’s a lot more complicated than any of us might think,” she began, only to be cut off again.

Payne laughed. It was a nasty sound with no mirth attached to it.

“Don’t be so naive, little girl. Money can buy anything. It can damn sure get us those answers we’re looking for, so we can fight even dirtier than this guy who’s hiding behind his anonymous email. I’ll just give Okowski a bunch of money to wave around, and you’ll be surprised how fast those ‘dark web’ doors will fly open for us,” he informed Marlowe and Ace with utterly unshakable confidence.

“I certainly hope you’re right, Dad,” Marlowe said. Her eyes darted toward her half brother. “For everyone’s sake.”

“Of course I’m right,” Payne retorted. Marlowe saw that her father was dead serious as he added, “I’m always right.”

Marlowe only wished that she had even half of her father’s confidence.

“I’m going to go back to my office and talk to Okowski about that added incentive I’m giving him,” Payne told his children. He held up the cell phone he had in his hand. “Keep these close in case I have to call you about any further developments.” And with that, he walked out of the boardroom.

“Why don’t you go home, Marlowe, and get some rest,” Ace suggested kindly.

She looked at him sharply. “Why would you say that?” she demanded. Did her brother suspect something?

“Well, I hate to put it this way, but to be honest,” he said in a kind voice, “you look terrible.”

She was instantly defensive, but the feeling quickly subsided. Ace was just watching out for her the way he always did. “Funny you should say that. I feel terrible,” she admitted.

“Are you sick, Marlowe?” he asked, concerned.

No, I’m pregnant.

But Marlowe didn’t feel up to sharing this news with her family just yet, so she merely said, “Just about this situation.” Then, because it was in her nature to be the family cheerleader, she said, “Don’t worry, Ace. None of us are buying into that ridiculously fabricated claim in that email, and Dad’s behind you a hundred percent. We’re going to get to the bottom of all this,” she promised him with feeling.

“I’m not worried,” Ace told her. “Just mad that this is taking away precious time from the work we should be doing.” He looked at her more closely. “Now go home and get some rest,” he repeated, kissing the top of Marlowe’s head. “That’s an order.”

Though it was strong, she resisted the urge to wrap her arms around Ace and cling to him the way she used to when she was little and felt as if the whole world was closing in on her.

Ace would never judge her, never indicate that he thought it was a sign of weakness for her to display a need for comfort. But she knew that if she did that now, Ace would sense that there was something wrong other than the fatigue she was claiming. He would start asking her questions, and she wouldn’t be able to lie to him. She never had, but she couldn’t burden him with this, either. He had more than enough to deal with without taking on her problem, as well.

So instead, Marlowe flashed a smile at him. “Sounds like good advice, although I really am fine,” she assured him.