A/N: Thank you all for your continued love and support :) I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 20: Searching for the Truth

As determined as Ana was that she would get to the bottom of what Jack and Kate were planning, she wasn't quite sure how she could go about figuring it out. She couldn't exactly go and confront them with her suspicions, and doing more snooping around the office would most likely lead to her getting caught. She knew she had to do something, though – Christian's career and future hung in the balance.

The next day was Friday, and Ana headed into the office as she normally did, feeling none of the usual 'TGIF' giddiness she usually felt along with the rest of her coworkers on Friday mornings. There was simply too much on her mind regarding Christian and Jack and Kate, but she tried to hide her disquiet as she smiled at Nadia sitting at the receptionist desk when she stepped out of the elevators.

"Hey Ana," Nadia grinned at her friend, holding out a file folder. "Could you give this to Max when you see him? The people at Estee Lauder just called to confirm the photoshoot itinerary for next month."

"Sure thing," Ana said, taking the file from her. "Do you and Jess wanna grab lunch later?"

"Obviously," Nadia giggled. "Wanna go to Ishiguro's today? I'm in the mood for some decent sushi."

"Let's do it."

After they agreed to meet up at her desk at noon, Ana headed down the hallway toward her office to drop off her things before she would head over to Max's office with the folder. However, just as she set her purse down and hung up her coat, the man himself actually walked through her door.

"Hey Ana," Max said, smiling kindly. "Happy Friday."

"Happy Friday," she smiled back. She picked up the folder and handed it to him. "This is for you, by the way. It's apparently for the photoshoot with Estee Lauder."

"Oh. Thank you very much," he said, accepting the folder from her. "I'll be sure to review it. But I just came by to ask how you've been doing with your workload. Are you handling everything alright, or do you need to pass anything to another marketing agent? It's totally understandable if you do."

Ana couldn't help but feel touched at Max's thoughtfulness, and she smiled at him. "Thanks Max, but I think I'm okay for now. I'll let you know if everything gets to be too much."

Max nodded, satisfied. "I appreciate it, Ana. I know you're taking on a lot right now, and after everything that went down with Christian the other day, I just want to make sure you're okay and that everything in the department is running smoothly. Please, if you're feeling too overwhelmed with the workload, just let me know. Okay?"

Max sounded sincere as he spoke, and Ana decided to broach the subject she wanted to know most about from him. "Of course I will. I understand if you can't really talk about it right now, but how's it going with the whole investigation? Have there been any updates?"

Max blinked, something unreadable crossing over his features as he cleared his throat. "If I had any new information, Ana, I would tell you. I haven't heard much from Mr. Kavanaugh or from IT."

His tone and body language made it seem like there was something he wasn't saying, however. "You haven't heard anything at all?" Ana asked expectantly.

Max grimaced, not meeting Ana's gaze, and he glanced out the door of her office as if checking to see if anyone was approaching. "I mean, I've heard some things. I'm not privy to everything that's been going on in the investigation, and so I'm sure there are some things that I'm not being told…"

He hesitated, and Ana watched him, trying not to appear too eager. "Yeah?"

He let out a sigh. "Apparently, IT confirmed the source of the overbilling wasn't from Christian's computer. It was from Mr. Kavanaugh's."

The shock Ana felt was genuine, and she could only stare at Max in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," he said, shaking his head. "I couldn't believe it when I heard it, but that does seem to be the case."

Ana's mind raced, and her thoughts immediately went to Jack when she caught him sitting behind Mr. Kavanaugh's desk yesterday. She didn't want to tell Max about that just yet, though. "Well, obviously it wasn't Mr. Kavanaugh, right?"

"Of course not. But it was someone who had access to Mr. Kavanaugh's computer," Max explained. "The prevailing belief still seems to be that it was Christian who managed to access Mr. Kavanaugh's office after hours and overbill those clients."

"Why though?" Ana asked honestly. "Did someone see Christian go into Mr. Kavanaugh's office? Or was there CCTV of him?"

"That's what I'm wondering," Max said, looking just as flummoxed as Ana. "Apparently no one saw him, and from what I heard, the CCTV in the CEO's office was conveniently turned off when it happened. But Mr. Kavanaugh seems convinced that it was Christian who did it. He says he has inside information proving that it was Christian who broke into his office, but doesn't seem to want to explain where his information is coming from."

Max's tone clearly conveyed his skepticism of Mr. Kavanaugh's 'source', and Ana's mind continued to race as she considered everything. She knew that Jack was likely the one who had accessed Mr. Kavanaugh's office and turned off the CCTV, and she suspected that Kate was probably helping him hide everything from her father.

Wait a second… Kate.

Could Kate be Mr. Kavanaugh's 'inside information'?

Ana had a lot of questions, but didn't want to let on to Max what she knew about Jack in case she was wrong. "Max, I'm sorry to ask this, but do you think Mr. Kavanaugh's daughter might be involved in this somehow?" she asked tentatively.

Max blinked, looking surprised at her question. "Kate? Her name hasn't come up in all of this. Why would she try to sabotage her father's business?"

Ana shrugged, trying to look innocent. "I was just curious. I know that Kate and Christian went on a date a couple weeks ago and it didn't go very well. I'm not sure exactly what went on between them, but Kate seemed really upset at Christian. I feel like if anyone had motivation to hurt his job here at Kavanaugh Media, it would be Kate."

Max raised his eyebrows, clearly considering her words. "Interesting. And since her father is Christian's boss, she would certainly have had the means and ability to hurt him like that. But I don't understand why Kate would try to put her father's business in jeopardy."

"I don't know either," Ana confessed, still trying to not let on what she suspected about Jack. "Unless she wasn't the one who overbilled those clients? Maybe she's just using this as an opportunity to suggest to her father that Christian was the one who did it."

Max looked intrigued by that idea. "That's a very interesting theory, Ana, and it doesn't seem entirely implausible. Have you ever thought about going into detective work?"

Ana smiled despite herself. "That's my second job."

Max chuckled. "Of course. I'll look more into what you suggested regarding Kate – you've definitely given me a lot to think about."

Ana tried her best to hide her smile as she nodded. "Glad I could help."

Max left, and Ana went to her desk, for the first time feeling hopeful that Christian would soon be on his way to clearing his name.

~/~

As Max had predicted, Ana was swamped with work for the rest of the morning. Christian had a lot of clients, and sorting through everything he was working on for them would undoubtedly take days. Ana felt that she could handle it for the time being, but she knew that if the work got more demanding she would need to let Max know so some of the work could be taken off her plate.

All the more reason I need to clear Christian's name, Ana couldn't help but think sardonically as she watched email after email appear in her inbox.

A little before noon, Ana got up from her desk and stretched. She, Nadia, and Jessica were heading out for sushi soon, so she went to grab her purse and coat from the rack behind her desk. Standing in this exact spot made her mind involuntarily go to Christian, when mere days ago (which felt like years at this point) he had pulled her into his arms and kissed her in a way that had changed her life forever.

Her heart pounded in her chest at the thought of him, but she tried to ignore the feeling as she slipped her arms through her coat sleeves and buttoned it up.

When she turned around toward the door, however, someone was standing there. And it wasn't Christian.

"Hey Ana," Jack smiled at her from the doorway from her office. "Heading out to lunch?"

Ana's heart sped up out of fear and trepidation upon seeing Jack standing in front of her. She blinked at him before forcing out a smile. "Um, yeah. Some of the girls and I are going out for sushi."

"Oh, that sounds fun," Jack smiled, leaning against the side of the doorway and casually crossing his arms. "My fiance, Leila, loves sushi. I should pick some up for her on my way home."

"Well, we're going to Ishiguro's, so I can give you some recommendations when I get back," Ana said with a casual smile, hooking her purse over her shoulder and moving toward the doorway, clearly indicating she wanted to leave.

"Thanks, I appreciate it," Jack smirked at her, still standing in her way as he leaned against the doorframe. "So have you heard from Christian lately?"

Ana froze, and once again her heart began to pound in her chest. Why was he asking her that? There was a chance it was just an innocent question, but her recent realizations about Jack made it hard for her to take him at face value. "Um, no I haven't. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Jack shrugged slightly, his gaze still fixed on her. "I figured since you guys are office mates, you would know better than most people what's going on with him and this whole overbilling debacle."

Ana could only stare at Jack, feeling something cold grip her stomach. Did he know she suspected him? She tried her best to school her features and remain calm as she looked at him. "I know about as much as everyone else. Christian and I don't really talk outside of work."

Jack continued to look at her before smiling, and Ana couldn't help but feel a bit unsettled. "Of course. And I'm sure you wouldn't want to try to talk to him anyway, all things considered."

Ana blinked, trying her best to hide her disquiet. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Jack raised his eyebrows at her, as if it should have been obvious. "He was allegedly stealing from the company, right? Any sort of contact with him would pretty much implicate you."

Ana fought her hardest not to clench her jaw and glare at Jack. Him saying that, when Ana knew full well he was most likely behind this whole scheme and had framed Christian for it, made her practically burn with suppressed rage. "I s'pose it would," she said, her voice surprisingly normal.

"Exactly," Jack nodded. He glanced over his shoulder, as if checking to see if anyone was nearby, before leaning in a bit closer to Ana. "Just between you and me," he said quietly. "Some of the higher-ups here may be more likely to suspect you're involved in this whole thing since you and Christian worked so closely together. I'm just saying… maybe be careful about who you talk to."

Ana felt utterly speechless. The audacity Jack had to say that to her! This asshole was framing Christian for his own crimes, and he had the nerve to tell Ana she needed to watch her back. Ana somehow knew in that moment that Jack knew she suspected him, but instead of feeling scared, she felt more determined than ever to take him down.

Screw this snake.

She smiled at him, even managing to let out a small laugh. "Oh please. Everyone here knows the only 'talking' Christian and I ever did was arguing with each other loud enough for the whole department to hear. Max has seen the two of us together – trust me, he would know better than anyone that Christian and I hate each other. It's absurd to think that we would conspire to do anything together, illegal or not."

Jack raised his eyebrows before letting out a laugh, his eyes lighting up in amusement, and Ana had an urge to punch him in his stupid face. "Really? Well, I guess I have heard rumors around the office about you and Christian not getting along. I s'pose your dislike of him feels really justified now, doesn't it?"

Ana let out a fake laugh. "Oh, you have no idea."

Jack laughed along with her, finally moving away from the door frame. "Anyway, I'll let you get to it. I'll see you around Ana. Let me know about the sushi."

"Will do," Ana said, watching as Jack turned and walked away. Her smile dropped away in an instant.

That snake is going down.

A/N: Sorry this chapter was a bit shorter, but some pieces are finally coming together. Next chapter, Ana learns some more shocking information about Jack.

If you enjoyed this chapter, please review!