Janelle Denison – Seductive Fantasy (страница 2)

With a disgusted grunt, Jackson tossed aside the Business Wire he’d printed from the Internet a week ago—his first shocking insight into Gametek’s violation. The company’s press release announced that their innovative action-adventure game, Zantoid, compliments of his technology, was scheduled for market introduction that fall. Seemingly overnight, Gametek, a San Diego-based gaming software company Jackson had never heard of before this fiasco, was suddenly a big competitor. After Gametek’s public statement, their stock shot to an all-time high and was holding steady…and would plummet to an all-time low by the time Jackson was done with Gametek, and Alexis Baylor.

The stakes were personal, an unwelcome reminder of how women always wanted something from him, from his own mother to the ladies he dated. Usually it was his money and what it could buy that women found so attractive, and while Alexis Baylor didn’t have a direct hand in his wallet, she sure as hell had a direct source to his financial gain. He’d worked too damned hard to build his company, struggled through too many lean years to allow this woman to reap the benefits of something that was his.

Glancing at the clock on the wall in his office, he noted the time of 8:50 a.m. He had another ten minutes before Mike Mansel arrived. Mike was his best friend, as well as the private investigator Jackson had hired for an in-depth, confidential report on Alexis Baylor. He wanted specific details on the woman, from what she ate for breakfast, to whom she was seeing, to what she did in her leisure time, and every idiosyncrasy, no matter how mundane, Mike could discover.

Feeling edgy and impatient, Jackson pushed away from his desk and stood. He paced in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows dominating one entire wall in his Atlanta high-rise office, but the movement did little to burn his restless energy.

He’d already discussed with his attorneys about filing a complaint alleging copyright infringement, unfair competition, trade secret violations, and a bunch of other legal mumbo jumbo, which included seeking an injunction against Gametek to keep their software from hitting the market while they battled specifics in court. While his lawyers explored all legal possibilities against Gametek, Jackson craved personal compensation—a way of evening the score between himself and Alexis Baylor.

He wanted to take something from her, just as she’d stolen from him, something private and emotional that would never allow her to forget who he was, and what she’d done. He refused to let yet another woman use him for her own gain and get away with the deed. The type of information Mike unearthed on Alexis would determine Jackson’s plan.

“Mr. Witt,” his young secretary’s lilting voice drifted through the intercom on his desk, “Mike Mansel is here to see you.”

Anticipation swelled within Jackson, chasing away the more frustrating emotions that had been his constant companions for the past week. “Thank you, Rachel. Send him back to my office and hold my calls until he leaves.”

“Yes, sir.”

The line disconnected, and less than a minute later Mike, dressed casually in jeans and a polo shirt, sauntered into Jackson’s office in his normal, easygoing manner. Despite his carefree attitude, Mike was a highly respected P.I. Jackson had not only trusted him implicitly as a friend since their college days, but regarded him as a discreet businessman as well.

Mike set his scuffed leather briefcase on a clear spot on the corner of the solid oak desk, and Jackson reached across the distance to shake his friend’s hand in greeting before sitting down in his chair.

“Thanks for making this case a priority,” he said, knowing how abrupt his request for Mike’s services had been.

The other man shrugged off his gratitude. “You can express your appreciation by buying me a cold beer sometime. Seems I owe you for all the business you’ve sent my way.”

Mike was one of the few people who didn’t expect anything from him but friendship, so it was extremely easy to promote him and his P.I. agency. “You don’t owe me anything, Mike, and your fee will be in the mail by the end of the day. Now, what’ve you got for me on Alexis Baylor?”

“Not much other than a normal, predictable, everyday schedule and some background facts that don’t add up to anything illegal or disreputable, personally or professionally.” Mike sprawled his long, lean body into one of the beige leather chairs in front of the desk. “Sorry to disappoint you, Jackson. The woman is so damn clean she squeaks.”

Jackson knew better than to believe Alexis was completely guileless and led an exemplary life free of any infractions or misdeeds. Not after he’d discovered she’d used one of her own as a mole to unearth secret information from his company.

A wry smile tipped the corner of his mouth. “Maybe that’s because she depends on someone else to do her dirty work.”

“That may be,” Mike conceded, “but I spent five solid days of surveillance and gathering information on her, trying to find something to lend credence to your claim that this woman is ruthless, and I’m telling you, there’s nothing remotely unscrupulous about her that I could discover.”

“Consider her a good actress, because I have Gametek’s press release that states otherwise. She stole my technology through Fred Hobson, and I want to even the score.” He tapped his pen on his blotter impatiently and rerouted them back to the business at hand before his friend could argue further. “Tell me what you did find on her.”

Mike stared at him for a long moment, then opened his briefcase, pulled out a file folder and withdrew a sheaf of papers stapled neatly together. “It’s all in my report, but I’ll give you a brief rundown.”

He tossed the typed summary in front of Jackson to read while he went on to recite the facts by memory. “Alexis Baylor’s parents died when she was ten, and her uncle, being the only family she had, raised her. Martin Baylor never married and devoted his time to his company, Gametek, which never took off while he was alive. From all accounts, Alexis was a quiet, shy girl and followed in her uncle’s line of work. She attended San Diego State University, majored in Computer Science, and graduated at the top of her class. She went straight to work for her uncle designing basic computer games. When he died three years ago, she inherited the company.”

Jackson dragged a hand over his clean shaven jaw. “How convenient,” he drawled.

Mike shrugged off his comment. “Alexis was Martin’s only family, too, so there really was no one else to take over the business. She didn’t inherit much in the way of wealth, considering the company was near bankruptcy. From what I learned from other sources she’s been working on Zantoid for the past four years, but hadn’t been able to market the software because it was lacking a specific proprietary code to make the game run smoother, faster, and make the graphics more vibrant and real.”

“My proprietary code,” Jackson interjected through gritted teeth.

“Yes,” Mike admitted with a pained half-smile. “There’s no denying that the code is yours, or that she’s reaping the benefits of your technology. She’s received hundreds of thousands of orders for the software since announcing its release.”

Jackson’s gut twisted with aggravation. Exhaling a taut breath, he waved a hand in the air between them, as if the gesture alone could dismiss that disturbing news just as easily. “Go on with your report,” he said, desperately needing to grasp onto something concrete about the woman he could use to his advantage. “What do you know about Alexis’s personal life?”

Reclining in his chair in a deceptively lazy stretch, Mike folded his hands over his stomach and rested one sneakered foot over the opposite knee. “She actually goes by the name of Alex. She just turned twenty-eight and has never been married. She dates occasionally, but hasn’t had a steady boyfriend in the past five years. Though Dennis Merrick, the man she promoted to vice president of the company after her uncle’s death, seems very fond of her.”

The woman hadn’t had a steady boyfriend in the past five years? Jackson frowned, wondering why, and latched onto the most plausible explanation. “Is there something going on between her and her VP?”

Mike shook his head. “No. From what I could find out, he’s been with the company for over ten years and was her uncle’s right-hand man so it was a logical promotion to VP. She seems to depend on him for support and decision making and while he appears to be a good friend she spends occasional time with outside of the office, the interest is very one-sided.”

Nothing to exploit there, Jackson thought in growing dissatisfaction.

“She’s very plain and unassuming,” Mike continued with his findings. “She spends her days at the office, goes out to a nearby deli for lunch, usually alone and with a book. She reads romantic suspense, in case you’re wondering,” he added with a grin. “She orders the same thing every day, a chicken salad sandwich, a side compote of fresh fruit and an iced tea with two lemons. She works at the office until nine or ten at night, and when she leaves for the evening she heads straight home to her two-bedroom condo in San Diego. Always alone.”