Lea started for the locker room. “And this fucks up my training class because she also quit that. I planned for a certain amount of couples, and now I don’t have that number. This is why I shouldn’t deal with tourists,” she muttered.
“You don’t get to make that decision,” Noelle said quietly after Lea was gone. “I’m here because your friend there wouldn’t let me be anywhere else, so I’m going to let you know that if you ever come near me again, I’ll get a restraining order.”
Okay, she didn’t have the whole story. She’d been through a lot, and he could understand why she pinned it on him. “Noelle, we need to talk.”
She shook her head. “No, we don’t. The whole drive over here I thought about what I would say to you, and I realized I don’t need to say anything at all. I don’t need to listen to you justify your actions. Maybe that’s not true. I do need to let you know that you won’t break me.”
His heart ached at those words. “I would never do that. Never. I’m sorry I had to run, but you’ll understand once I explain.”
She stared at him, not a hint of affection in her eyes. “Did you or did you not break into the server room and download data?”
His heart seemed to clench because she didn’t look like a woman who wanted to listen to explanations. “Yes, but I did it for you.”
A humorless chuckle huffed from her. “For me? You broke into my employer’s secure computer systems for me?”
He needed to tell her what he’d discovered and she would understand. “Yes, and come into the conference room and I’ll explain everything. A lot has happened tonight. I’m sorry you had to go through that alone, but I had a good reason.”
“How did you know? I walked from behind the elevators and the guard was waiting for me, but he didn’t see you. How did you know to stop? Why didn’t you follow me?”
He wasn’t going to lie to her. “MaeBe had cut into the cameras and she saw them. I had her in my ear, but she didn’t say anything until it was too late. You have to know I would have gotten you out if I could have.”
“Oh, tonight has proven that I don’t know anything at all. You’re the mastermind. How long have you known you were going to do this?”
“In the beginning we talked about the fact that I might need to get on the systems.” Hutch felt the need to defend himself. “It was the whole point of getting Kyle a job at Genedyne.”
“I thought the point was protecting me,” she shot back. “I didn’t feel protected today, Hutch. I felt used.”
“Used?” He understood her anger, but she needed to think for a second. “If I had gone in with you, it would have been much longer before we could have gotten you out.”
“So MaeBe wouldn’t have called someone in?”
He sighed. “Of course she would have, but getting myself arrested would have led to questions we don’t want to answer, and it would have led to us losing all the data I pulled down. Including your research.”
That seemed to stop her in her tracks. “You downloaded my research?”
At least now he had her attention. “Yes, I went in to gather intel for the feds.”
“The feds?”
This was another tricky part. “I spent most of the day with the FBI special agent who is investigating Genedyne for fraud. The whole company, including you, baby. I made a deal with her to keep you out of any prosecution, but I had to get the financial records.”
“Her? Who is her? I thought Chris Taylor was probably the one watching me,” she began, and then it was easy to see that big brain of hers making the leap. Her head shook and there was a shine to her eyes. “Cara. Of course. She came along at the right time. I was lonely and happy to have a friend.”
“I think she likes you. She made that deal to protect you without hesitation, Noelle.” He could save this. He could show her that she wasn’t alone even though she felt that way. He could make her understand that he’d done everything he’d done with her safety in mind. “Part of the deal was not giving up Cara’s cover until the end of the op. I was following the rules of the deal but I shouldn’t have. I should have told you what I was doing.”
“That you were going to steal my keycard and ruin my career? Yeah, I would have liked to have known that was coming.”
“I know it seems bad now, but I was trying to save your career,” Hutch explained.
“Hutch, can you do this in the conference room?” Big Tag stood in the hallway. “I have to get home at some point in time tonight.”