Javier didn’t need more stress; he needed results. And they all needed to figure out where this impromptu trio of theirs was headed.
Xander flipped through his list of contacts and found the one person he knew would get results in the most efficient, quiet way possible—an ex-military friend who happened to be his former bodyguard. Over the years, Decker McConnell had proven remarkably agile in digging through the refuse and rubble of humanity to uncover others’ dirty little secrets. Now, he could do the digging that employees of S.I. Industries couldn’t without raising brows. And if Decker managed a heaping plateful of catching the culprits and he wanted a side helping of blood . . . well, Xander wouldn’t mind in the least.
Decker answered on the first ring. “What did you do to get in trouble now?”
With a smile, Xander sat in Javier’s chair. “What makes you think I’m in trouble?”
The other man snorted. “Just every one of your phone calls for the last half-dozen years.”
Yeah, Decker could extricate him from all kinds of trouble, which had come in handy more than occasionally.
“Besides that,” Xander joked. “I have an issue, and I need your help.”
“Please tell me this isn’t another jealous husband threatening to kill you.”
“Nope.” Xander winced. Had his whole life been a fucking caricature? It seemed like everyone viewed his existence as the punch line to a dirty joke. On the other hand, what had he done except a whole lot of women?
He looked at London and wondered what it would be like if he could say he’d done the last woman he ever intended to do again. Surprisingly, the thought didn’t give him hives. If he had to settle on one, he’d want one sweet, with a hint of spine and sass, who would try to understand him. He’d want one he could spoil and be himself with, who wasn’t jaded. One who would always put their bond first. Funny, he’d never boiled down what he wanted in a woman to a simple checklist, but now that he had . . . was there any way that London didn’t fit the bill?
Not that he could see.
Xander swallowed. “My problem has nothing to do with a woman. This is a corporate matter.”
Decker listened as Xander described the situation, the compromised log-ins, the IP address of the latest access leading them to Cancun, the history of corporate espionage he couldn’t prove but definitely suspected.
“Wow, this kind of issue is definitely off the beaten path for you,” Decker quipped. “Any suspects in particular you want me to focus in on? And how are we for time frame?”
“We need this ASAP. Focus on employees of United Velocity.” Xander tried to wrack his brain for anyone who might have a specific beef with S.I. Industries and only came up with one other name. “Also check into a guy named Chad Brenner. He used to be one of our scientists and invented a few really important technologies while he worked for us. Brenner didn’t like the fact that, when he joined us, he signed away his intellectual property rights. Everything he built while employed by S.I. belonged to us because he created it on our dime. He sued and lost. It’s been about two years, but maybe he’s still bitter. I don’t know. It’s probably just simple corporate greed on United Velocity’s part because they were in the toilet until the last year or so, and I think they’re still on shaky ground. I really can’t think of anyone else.”
“I’ll start there and check back in as soon as I’ve got something. I know a few guys who deal in what I like to call underground capitalism. I’ll dig up something. If you don’t hear from me for a few days, that means I’m finding something juicy.”
They hung up, and Xander pocketed his phone. He probably ought to bring his brother up to speed, but a glance through the little window revealed that Javier’s mood hadn’t improved. Now he paced the floor, looking like he couldn’t wait to rip someone a new asshole. Finally, he growled into the phone, then ended the call with an emphatic slam of the receiver.
“What’s wrong?” Xander asked his brother, wandering out to the reception area. “Sheppard give you bad news?”
“United Velocity is having an unveiling of a new prototype of a light tactical vehicle with ambulance capabilities, just like ours. According to their press release a few minutes ago, they’ve just had a breakthrough and are eager to unveil it to the military community. Convenient, isn’t it? We’ve only got twenty-six days to beat them to market.”
“If they just read our bogus information last night, how would they already have translated it into a prototype they’re ready to unveil?”
“I knew they’d been working on something similar. I’d heard they were breathing down our necks and that it would be a race to see who got to market first.”
“But we’re almost ready?”
“Within three months, yes. But twenty-six days?” Javier raked a hand through his hair. Suddenly, he had that I-miss-vodka look on his face.
“If they’ve taken the bait, they’re working with bogus information.”
“If. But what if they using whatever they obtained from us before Maynard’s son-in-law uploaded whatever crap he invented?”
Yeah, they really couldn’t know what United Velocity had yet. Xander’s stomach plummeted to his toes. Fuck. This was bad news all the way around—unless they did something quick.
“How long have they been working on that sort of vehicle?”
Javier shrugged. “That’s anyone’s guess. There are always whispers, but they’ve got their dirty little fingers in everyone’s pie. I just don’t know how they keep getting into ours. We can’t let this go or we’re sunk.”
At the very least, getting trumped again would mean the end of S.I.’s reputation as forerunners in the defense contractor game. It would also mean the potential loss of up to a billion dollars in profit. The balance sheets couldn’t afford that much red.
And he couldn’t let his brother disappear back into a bottle of booze.
Xander sent an alarmed glance at London, and saw that she immediately grasped the problem. Concern tightened her face.
“So we’ll ramp up everything and launch ours within twenty-five days,” he told his brother. “We have a product that works. If they’ve looked at our bogus information, they don’t. If they’ve looked at genuine research, we’ll just beat them. We’ll just have to show the world.”
Javier’s answer was an ugly curse.