“Mr. Owen,” she said, her voice hesitant. “I’ve been asked to get your passwords.”

He glanced up from his desk. The woman wore a navy suit, and a pale pink blouse. She was attractive in a Viking kind of way. Then he remembered: she was one of the cyber geeks hired by the Prime Minister to ensure the “integrity” of the data after they had discovered that their data had been hacked—months before. They needed to make sure it didn’t happen again.

The decision had come from Cabinet to keep the breach secret. It would only raise alarm and encourage more hackers to exploit the system before it could be fixed.

But Harry knew the real reason. The government, plagued by scandals, couldn’t afford to admit that it had allowed its citizens’ identities to be stolen. Especially not in an election year.

So KryptoCyber was brought on board to patch the leaky ship.

“Oh, yes, I was expecting you,” he had said, adding “Ms. Cyber Viking” silently. “Do you need my laptop?”

She shook her head. “Not right now. I just need your passwords.”

And so, dutiful public servant that he was, he had given them to her.

Except the one that his boss had directed that no one reveal.

And one that he would never reveal for personal reasons.

If Leah Roberts had hacked into either of those secret email accounts, his career could be over. And he couldn’t tell the police. They would seize the accounts to investigate Leah.

“No. I have no idea who she is.” He threw the detective a challenging look. “Does she have a criminal record?”

Detective Ellis shook his head. “No. And this is where it gets troubling. She works for an information security firm. One that was hired by the government to review all the information technology systems. Including yours.” He pushed the photo closer to Harry.

Harry had to force himself not to look away. But all he could do was remember the pleading in Leah’s eyes when he pulled the trigger.

“Are you sure you don’t know her? Maybe you asked her out on a date?”

Is that what the police were thinking? That he screwed this girl? He almost laughed at the ludicrousness of the question. “No. Why do you think that?”

The detective shrugged. “It’s just one of the avenues we need to cross off our list. You’re a well-known Member of Parliament, Mr. Owen. One who has many female admirers. We know that Ms. Roberts had done work in your department. Do you think she might have fostered feelings for you that you didn’t share?”

Mel twisted in his seat and looked at his son. Harry could read it in his father’s eyes: did your philandering ways bring this woman into our lives and cause your mother’s death?