Spin the Bottle by Rhian Cahill

Mac. “Let her say goodbye to the world she’s never been comfortable in on her terms.”
    “Goodbye?” Where the hell was Lilli going? “What do you mean goodbye?”
    Cassie’s eyes widened. “Y-you didn’t know?”
    “Didn’t know what?”
    “That Lil quit modelling.” Cassie glanced around them. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I didn’t know she hadn’t told you. I have to go.”
    In the next breath, Mac was alone. Lilli’s friend disappeared into the crowd with the skills of a highly trained security expert. He shook his head. What the fuck was Lilli Pond and when the hell had Lilli quit modelling? It was the first he’d heard of either, but he wasn’t about to remain in the dark. Mac stood on the balls of his feet, stretching until he could see over the tallest of occupants in the room. There was no sign of Lilli. Well, he’d just have to do what he’d done earlier. Search the house from top to bottom until he found her. But in the meantime there was more than one way to find out what he wanted to know.
    Mac pulled his phone from the front pocket of his jeans. For a second, he thought about ringing the head of McDermott Security to find out what Lucas Wilhelm knew about Lilli Pond, but only for a second. A much faster option was right at his fingertips. He swiped his thumb over the screen and tapped to open a search window. Google is my friend. Smiling, he typed in Lilli Pond.
    It took no time for a multitude of links to come up. By the time he’d scanned through the sixth one he’d discovered two things. Lilli Pond was a hugely successful children’s clothing label and the owner was extremely secretive. Not once did the name of the person behind the business appear in any of the articles or the company website. If Lilli was behind it, and Mac had a sinking feeling in his gut that she was, she’d kept her name out of the spotlight. Or more importantly, the McDermott name.
    He glanced at his watch and decided it wasn’t too late to find out a little bit more. He scrolled through his phonebook, found the number he was after and hit call. When Lucas answered, Mac wasted no time with pleasantries.
    “Lucas. Get me everything you can on a company called Lilli Pond and what Lillian McDermott has to do with it.”
    “I can give you what information we have right now, sir.”
    “Well?” Mac stuck a finger in his ear and headed for the back deck, hoping to find the yard less noisy.
    “Ms. McDermott has owned and operated the company for three years. This year the business made more than its overheads and she no longer has to supplement the bank accounts with her personal funds.”
    “That’s it?”
    “Pretty much, sir.”
    “Why is that all we have on it?” Mac couldn’t believe McDermott Security had so little information. Either Lucas wasn’t giving him everything or he hadn’t done his job properly.
    “Ms. McDermott came to me before she started the company. She gives me the barest of information every three months, with a full report every year, on the condition that I don’t dig any further into the financials or make the information common knowledge,” Lucas said.
    “So you have no idea who works for her?” Mac asked.
    “Oh, no, I have all that information. It’s the same staff since she opened the doors. She allowed me to run full background checks on each of them, Mr. Harris.”
    “And you’ve never thought to mention this to me or Lachlan?”
    “No, sir. She first came to me when you and Mr. McDermott were struggling with the fallout of the takeover from the senior McDermott. You can be assured that I would have come to either of you at any stage if I felt it was necessary. Excuse my frankness, sir, but Ms. McDermott has earned the right to my confidence. She’s worked hard and never gone against anything I or a member of my team has asked her to do in all the years I’ve worked for McDermott Media Corp.”
    Mac wanted to argue, but he knew Lucas well, and he could