"So, we turned down their offer. Now we're back to the bank or other venture capitalists who might be interested in investing. Actually, we have a lot of interest, so that's not the problem."
"The problem,” Zach said, “is that we just heard a rumor through the ‘yeast grapevine’ that Steinbrau is putting out a new so-called ‘craft beer’ supposedly much like our California Blonde Ale. And, they reportedly got hold of our yeast and our recipe to make it."
"Yeast?” Ashlyn looked at him with raised brows.
Zach nodded, frowning. “Yeast is very important for brewing. In fact, it's crucial. It's what gives individual flavor to different beers. One strain of yeast makes lagers; another makes ales. The big breweries have their own strain of yeast they use over and over to make their beer. And we have our strains of yeast.” He paused. “Yeast is proprietary ... it's a trade secret."
"Okay,” Dave said slowly. “Yeast. Well."
"We don't know if they actually have our yeast,” Zach continued. “It's just a rumor. But from a pretty reliable source."
"You're going to have to tell us who that was,” Dave told him.
Zach paused. “Jack Briggs. He owns a yeast lab in San Diego. He propagates and stores our yeast for us."
There was silence around the table. “I know you're thinking he's the obvious one who would have given away the yeast, but I'm sure it wasn't him,” Zach said stiffly. “His lab has incredible security. We've been doing business with him for years, and I believe he's totally trustworthy. I know he does business with lots of other breweries and he's never had any hint of trouble. And he's the one who told us about this ... why would he do that if he'd given them the stuff?"
"Could be a deflection technique,” Dave remarked thoughtfully. “But we'll check it out. What's the name of the lab?"
"Briggs Laboratory,” Connor answered. “But we figure if someone gave away our yeast, it had to be someone inside our company. We just don't know who."
"No breakins?” Ralph asked. They shook their heads.
"So, we want to find out if someone inside is leaking info.” Zach looked at Dave Farrell; the expression on his face was a puzzling mix of hope and regret.
"Not just information,” Ashlyn put in. “You're saying they may actually have taken yeast?"
"That's right."
She pictured little envelopes of granules for baking bread, and a muffled giggle escaped her. “That just sounds so weird."
She saw reluctant amusement in Zach's eyes.
"You have to understand yeast,” he said.
Ashlyn gave a little shrug, dragged her eyes away from Zach, and jotted down some notes.
"Do you suspect anyone?” John asked.
"No,” Connor said slowly. “We've thought about it, and we trust everyone who works for us. Why would someone do that?"
"That,” Dave said, “is a very good question. And one we need the answer to. Generally, these things come down to money. Now, we need to ask you some questions."
The investigators started asking about all the staff who worked for Surf Coast Brewery, the facility and their existing security. Ashlyn asked about computers and software and hardware. They all took notes as they listened to Connor and Zach.
"All right,” Dave said finally, leaning back in his chair. “Here's what I think we need to do. You may choose to do some of this or all of this. We have names of everyone who works for you. If you can get us more details like social security numbers, it will make things easier. We'll do asset tracking for each of your employees to see if anyone has some unexplained large sums of money coming in. We also need to set up surveillance in your plant. John will need to visit to know what he needs to set up. That way we can watch what's going on. We could set up surveillance on everyone's phones and computers as well."
Connor and Zach nodded, but Connor's brows drew together. “This sounds like a lot of money."
"All right, let's discuss money,” John said, and gave them the cost details. “Ashlyn will look at everyone's computers and see what they've been doing on them."
Ashlyn nodded as Zach's eyes turned back to her, her body tensing up again. She gripped the pen tightly in her fingers.
"I'm sure they would have deleted anything incriminating,” he said.
Ashlyn smiled. “They may have,” she said. “But I can find it even if they did delete it."
His brows lifted, but he said nothing.
"Seriously. I'll need more info about your computer systems,” she added in as businesslike a tone as she could manage. “Your hardware and software and what security you currently have in place."
"When would be a good time to come to the brewery?” Dave asked. “We'd prefer to do it when your staff isn't there, obviously. For now, you need to continue with business as usual. Don't say anything to any of your employees. You two are the only ones who need to know about this."
They nodded their agreement as Dave continued. “Once we have some information, we'll prepare a report and decide about further action."
"I guess the best day would be Sunday,” Connor said. They all nodded, not surprised at having to work on a weekend.
"Let's all meet at the brewery at nine o'clock Sunday morning,” Dave said. “We'll talk more once we've seen the place."
Connor and Zach stood up to leave.
"Ralph, John, Ashlyn, if you could stay a minute, I'd like to discuss a few more things with you,” Dave requested as he got up to show Connor and Zach out.
Ashlyn watched Zach leave with mixed feelings of relief and disappointment. He hadn't even tried to talk to her or see her again. Maybe she'd ditched him one too many times. Or maybe he really did know what she'd done. The gnawing pain in her stomach intensified.
"Can you copy all their hard drives on Sunday when we go?” her father asked her. She turned her attention to business.
"No,” she said. “They said they have eight computers. It takes a couple of hours to copy a hard drive. I could only get a few done."
"Well, we'll prioritize based on what we know about each employee,” Dave said. “But this may be more work than you bargained on."
"That's okay.” She smiled. “I need the money."
He grinned. “Okay. See you all Sunday morning."
Ashlyn went down the elevator and out the front door of the building. Tall office buildings blocked the low, late afternoon sun. Rush hour traffic clogged the street, horns blared, and office workers rushed by on their way to Friday evening happy hour.
As the door swung shut behind her, a man moved away from the shadows where he'd been leaning against the building and took hold of her arm. She jumped and turned to use a self-defense move, but found herself staring at Zach.
Chapter Five
"Oh, God,” Ashlyn gasped, “You scared me."
"Really,” Zach said with apparent unconcern.
She swallowed. She had no idea how to handle this. She'd have to wing it. One thing she did know was the less said, the better. Not only did she have her own ass to cover, but she had to protect the privacy of her client, Jessica Montgomery.
"What's the deal with you?” Zach asked very softly, still holding her upper arm. His face was tense, like he was striving for self-control. She'd thought he was such a nice guy, but right now he looked a little scary. His dark eyes glittered, and his hand was hard on her arm.
"What do you mean?” She licked her lips.
"Why do you keep leading me on, and then disappearing?"
"I have never led you on!"
"Oh, yes, you have,” he bit out. “You flirted with me. You let me kiss you. You kissed me back! And it was fucking hot."
"Oh.” Her tummy fluttered down low, remembering just how hot that kiss had been.
"Are you playing some kind of game? Or are you just a pathological flirt? I can't figure it out. Help me out here, babe."