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wish I could, but the protective order in this case is crazy. I can ’ t review the documents from a computer that ’ s connected to the Internet. ”
    “ So don ’ t connect. ”
    “ And I signed a statement swearing that the disk they produced the documents on wouldn ’ t leave the premises. It ’ s in the firm safe, that ’ s how worked up the insurance company was about it. It might not violate the letter of the agreement if I bring the data, but not the disk, home, but the spirit of the order contemplates that I ’ ll keep this stuff in the office. ”
    “ Okay. ”
    “ I ’ m sorry. ”
    “ No, don’t apologize. It’ s your job. But please stop talking about it before you bore me to death. ”
    “ Har har. I promise I won ’ t bring any work on the anniversary trip. ”
    “ Scout ’ s honor? ”
    “ Sure, Scout ’ s honor. You know I was never a Girl Scout, right? ”
    He laughed. “ Well played. ”
    “ But I ’ m serious. The reason I scheduled this deposition for this week is so I can do all the follow-up next week and get this case in a holding pattern before the holidays and our trip. ”
    “ Well if the payoff is you ’ re going to have your toes buried in the sand and not your nose buried in a pile of papers, then stay as long as you need to. I want you all to myself on this trip. No work. ” His voice turned husky, half-purr and half-growl.
    Desire fluttered in her belly and she nearly lost her resolve to stay and work.
    “ It ’ s a deal, ” she managed.
    “ Call me before you leave, so I don ’ t worry. ”
    “ I will. Love you. ”
    “ You, too. ”
    She ended the call and turned back to the spreadsheet. She cleared the fields then began to recreate the metadata searches. She worked steadily, stopping only to stretch once an hour and get the occasional glass of water.
    At ten o ’ clock, she rummaged through her workout bag and found a partially crushed protein bar. She ate it standing at the window while she watched the passing cars create tracks in the light dusting of snow that now covered the ground.
    She finished the bar and drained her water glass. She returned to her desk and studied the nearly completed spreadsheet. Even though she hadn ’ t finished repopulating the chart, she could already see the pattern emerging again. She swallowed around the lump in her throat and considered what the data revealed: A tiny network of brokers, agents, adjusters, and fire inspectors who consistently submitted and approved claims under fire insurance policies — consistently, as in one hundred percent of the time. Laura Yim, the Maravaches ’ claims adjuster, was, of course, not among them. In fact, her denial rate made her an outlier on the chart. But, at the moment, Sasha was more interested in the other group — the cluster of names that showed up together time after time: the same broker, same agent, same inspector, same adjuster, and the same result — claim paid. Something was going on at Mid-Atlantic Fire & Casualty. And it sure looked like that something was insurance fraud.
     

 
     
     
     
    CHAPTER TEN
     
     
    Laura blinked down at the papers in her hand as if doing so might change the words. No dice. The document still read “ Notice of Deposition of Corporate Designee Pursuant to Rule 30(b)(6). ” She skimmed the text, but her mind was racing and her heart was pounding and the words weren ’ t making sense.
    “ You okay, Yim? You look like you ’ ve seen a ghost. ”
    She glanced up, startled. Jim was staring at her with something approximating genuine concern. It must have been the combination of his unexpected kindness and her rattled mental state, but before she could stop herself, she was thrusting the deposition notice at him.
    “ Look at this. Some lawyer just emailed this to me. No explanatory email, nothing. Just a two line message: ‘ please handle. ’ Am I … am I being sued? ” she managed to force the question out despite the fact that she