Wildest Hearts

on his desk.

    In an artless act of graciousness that Oliver thought highly suspect under the circumstances, she had invited Bolt to join in the impromptu feast. Oliver didn't know whether to be amused or annoyed that Annie had arranged not to be alone with him.

    Holding the slice of pizza in one hand, Oliver leaned forward and typed inice , another of the handful of passwords he recalled from the days when Daniel had worked for him. The screen flickered.

    “Ah-hah.” Annie peered intently at the screen. “That's it, Oliver. Look, something's happening.”

    By rights he should have been simmering with fury, Oliver thought as he watched letters form on the screen. He was still vaguely astounded that he was not having to exert every ounce of self-discipline he possessed to control his rage.

    But somehow there was no room for the anger he ought to have been feeling under the circumstances. Whatever else she'd had in mind when she went to Paul Shore's home, she certainly had not deliberately betrayed his trust.

    She had been frantic because of the missing diskette. He knew Annie's list of priorities these days was very short, and there was no question but that anything regarding Daniel was at the top.

    Oliver wondered if he would eventually get used to the feeling of being second on Annie's list.

    He forced himself to put aside the knowledge that her primary allegiance was still toward her missing brother. Oliver reminded himself that he had known where he ranked in the general scheme of things before he had accepted Annie's offer of marriage.

    “Interesting,” Bolt said, watching the screen with unwavering concentration. “Looks like a series of memos regarding Barry Cork. Dates, times, and observations.”

    “Bolt's right. This stuff is about Barry.” Annie stared at the screen. “Why would he leave you a bunch of information on him, Oliver?”

    Oliver glanced impassively at the names and dates that filled the screen. “It looks like Daniel had figured out that Cork was selling Lyncroft proprietary information to the competition.”

    “What? I don't believe it.”

    “It's true, all right.” Oliver punched a button to page through the data Daniel had compiled on Barry Cork. “Apparently Daniel got suspicious a few weeks before he disappeared.”

    “But why would Barry sell off Lyncroft's secrets?” Annie asked, looking genuinely bewildered.

    “The usual reason.” Oliver glanced at her. “Money.”

    “But Barry worked for Daniel. My brother trusted him.” Annie shook her head in disbelief. “Barry was hisfriend .”

    Oliver resisted the urge to remind Annie of her naîveté. He studied her as she sat curled in the black leather chair beside him. She had changed clothes while waiting for the pizza to arrive. The little black dress that had revealed such an enticing length of leg was gone. In its place was a pair of jeans and a ribbed knit pullover that hugged her small waist and fitted snugly over her high breasts and the sleek curves of her thighs. There was a fresh, glowing sexiness about her that made him think of his ferns.

    Oliver turned his attention back to the screen. “I'm surprised Daniel didn't fire Cork as soon as he realized what was happening.”

    Annie frowned. “Maybe he wasn't absolutely certain Barry was guilty. Maybe he was looking for evidence.”

    “He didn't need any more evidence than this list of names and dates,” Oliver said absently. “It's obvious Daniel already had most of the facts.”

    Annie studied him. “You don't seem very surprised by all this bad news on Barry.”

    “I'm not.” Oliver punched up another page of Daniel's notes. “A lot of it correlates with what Bolt and I turned up during the past few days.”

    “You and Bolt knew about this? And you didn't tell me?”

    “I was going to tell you as soon as I walked in the door tonight,” Oliver said. “I had planned to give you the whole story over a glass of wine. But you weren't here waiting for me. If you will recall, I had to track you down first.”

    “Oh, no you don't,” Annie retorted. “Don't you dare try to excuse your secretiveness by using that pathetic excuse. You must have had a strong hunch about what was going on before you even left for California.”

    “I found out on the way to the airport. Bolt filled me in.”

    “You had Bolt investigate Barry Cork?” Annie cast a fulminating glance at Bolt who did not take his eyes off the computer screen. “Without