Protecting the Boss

by Beverly Long

  “Stop,” she said.

  “What?” He pretended to be shocked. “Fine, let me open my luggage for you, Seth?”

  “Yes. Fine, let me open my luggage, my life, my world.”

  He smiled. “Now we’re communicating.”

  They walked into her room. He helped her put the big suitcase on the bed. Then stepped back while she unlocked and unzipped it. She carried the leather garment bag to the bed. Opened it, too.

  “You’ll need to take everything out,” he said. “Unless you want me to.”

  “No,” she said quickly.

  She was a neat packer. Dresses in one pile. Shirts in another. Workout clothes rolled. Dainty piles of lace that she pulled out and shoved under the dresses.

  When the case was empty, he examined it. Took his time. Saw or felt nothing that gave him any indication that she’d been bugged.

  “I’m going to need to actually look at the clothes,” he said.

  “I’ll check my own underwear,” she said.

  “Okay. But pay special attention to your bras, especially if you wear underwires.”

  “Really, Seth. Is there no topic that is off-limits to you?”

  “Nope. Not when people are shooting at me.”

  He could plainly see the look of indecision that crossed her face. Then she scooped up her underwear and tossed it toward him. He caught it and pulled it close to his chest.

  “Examine away,” she said.

  He said nothing. Just got busy. But he did sneak a look at the tag on her bra and silently congratulated himself. He’d been right: 34C.

  “What?” she demanded.

  “Nothing,” he said. “This is all very nice, by the way.”

  She rubbed her forehead. “Two days ago, I just didn’t see this moment coming.”

  “Yeah. I thought this was going to be one of my easier assignments. And now look at me.” He held a yellow lace thong in his right hand and a pale blue one in his left. “Are the boutiques also selling this underwear? I mean, I just want to know if I need to be prepared for a stampede.”

  “No lingerie for sale,” she said. “Can we just get this over with?”

  He gently set down her lingerie. “I reluctantly move on.”

  He unzipped her garment bag and carefully looked through all the clothes. Got through them fast. Spent enough time on the leather garment bag to know that it was clean. Pulled out four pairs of shoes from the bottom compartment of the garment bag. “I’m going to need to lift up the lining,” he said.

  “We’ve come this far,” she said.

  She was being a good sport. He did not find anything odd with her shoes.

  “Computer?” he said.

  “I have excellent virus protection and security software.”

  “Good. Not looking for that,” he said. He held out his hand. Once she handed it over, he used his pocketknife to unscrew the back cover. Examined it. Didn’t see anything unusual and put it back together.

  “Okay,” he said. “I’m starting to feel pretty good about the fact that it’s not on you.”

  “What about you?” she asked.

  It was a good question. “You looking for a chance to go through my boxers? I mean, I’ve got a couple different colors but really, they’re pretty damn boring in comparison.”

  “That’s not why I asked,” she said.

  “Okay, but I don’t generally make the same offer twice. But just so you don’t think that this isn’t an equal opportunity inspection, I’m going to do exactly the same with my things. You want to come watch?”

  She shook her head. “I’ll just put my things away while you go do that.”

  Seth went back to his room and opened his suitcase, grateful for a few minutes away from Megan.

  Who was...awesome. Amazing. Gorgeous. Funny. Strong.

  The adjectives just kept coming. From that first moment he’d set eyes on her, he’d known there was something very different about her. Something that made him want to stop, enjoy, enjoy some more.

  And then when she’d come to Wingman Security, both that first afternoon and then that evening, for the party, he’d been even more intrigued. Wasn’t generally a big proponent of fate but it did seem a bit wild that circumstances had thrown them together.

  When they’d been running, she was a joy to watch. Her body was firm and graceful and it had been a total turn-on to run alongside her. And when she’d slipped, his heart had skipped a beat until he’d known that he’d been fast enough and she was safe.

  And then he’d almost really screwed up. He’d been this close to kissing her. Had stopped. Told himself that it was wrong to complicate their relationship and give her any reason to be wary that he wasn’t 100 percent professional. But the real reason was that she was all wrong for him.

  She’d ended a serious relationship with someone that she’d obviously cared about—because he wouldn’t stop flying. There was no future for them because he sure as hell wasn’t ever going to stop.

  But the physical attraction was pulling at him, making him needy. He’d been so damn nonchalant when he’d been holding her underwear. It had taken every acting skill he’d had.

  He heard her phone ring. In three steps he was back in her room.

  She picked it up. “This is Megan North.”

  She listened for a minute then said, “That will be fine. I’ll meet you in the lobby. Thank you for calling.” She put her phone down.

  “The police?” he asked.

  “Yes. They should be here in about fifteen minutes.”

  “Let’s get to the lobby.”

  Once there, she took a seat on the couch and Seth wandered off to a far corner, cell phone in hand. He stood where he could see her at all times.

  It was only ten minutes before an officer wearing very dark blue pants and shirt came through the door. Megan gave him a little wave and he veered in their direction. When he got closer, Seth guessed him at close to forty and married, given that he wore a wedding ring. That did not stop him from giving Megan a look that Seth recognized: sincere appreciation.

  “Ms. North?” he said. When she nodded, he pulled a card from his breast pocket. “Officer Indeego.”

  They shook hands. She turned in Seth’s direction. “This is my associate, Seth Pike. I’d like him to stay while we talk.”

  “Fine. Maybe over there,” he said, motioning to an empty table in the area where they’d eaten breakfast. All the food had been cleared away and there were no other guests lingering nearby. Someone from the hotel staff was restocking paper products but didn’t seem terribly interested in them.

  “What can I help you with?” the officer asked once they were all seated.

  “I want to make a report,” Megan said. She launched into her story, succinctly summarizing all the events she’d previously shared with Seth and then describing the snake incident.

  When she was finished, Officer Indeego remained silent. He’d been taking notes and it appeared that he was reviewing them. He looked up. “You said there’s video of the person letting the snake loose outside your door?”

  “Yes. Jase Hall, the manager of the hotel, has it. He showed it to us this morning. His office is behind the registration desk.”

  “I know Jase,” he said. “Our kids play on the same baseball team.”

  Seth didn’t know if that was good or bad. Jase Hall would likely be inclined to be cooperative with someone that he’d see at the ballpark, but would he also be comfortable asking Officer Indeego to keep the investigation to a minimum to avoid any bad press for the hotel?

  “The initial report indicated that you’re only in Sedona for a couple days,” Office Indeego said. “Is that correct?”

  “Yes. I’m here to do a grand opening of a store. We have a couple private events today and tonight, and then I’ll be at the store
tomorrow. Then late tomorrow, I’ll be leaving for Albuquerque.”

  “The number I called you at earlier is the best number to reach you at?” the man asked.

  “Yes.”

  He stood up. “If I have any questions or have anything to share, I’ll contact you.”

  It was probably as good a promise as they were going to get. And Seth realized it was likely they weren’t going to hear from the officer again. He would have a discussion with Jase Hall, would probably look at the videotape and then wouldn’t do much with it. It was an isolated incident and nobody had been hurt. In any police department, it would get very little attention especially because Megan was moving on.

  No longer his problem.

  But still, Seth felt it was the right thing to have done to report it to law enforcement. Now there was a record of it. If nothing else, another set of eyes on the videotape, proving that it existed. “We asked Mr. Hall for a copy of the videotape but he wouldn’t provide it, indicating that it was hotel property. I didn’t want to force the issue as long as we can be assured that it will be secured by the police department in the event that we need to view it again or use it as evidence,” Seth said.

  “Okay,” said the cop.

  It wasn’t a resounding yes, I’ll make sure of that but again, it was probably the best they were going to get.

  Megan glanced at her watch and he knew they were cutting it close to get to the luncheon on time. “Thank you, Officer Indeego,” he said. Seth extended his hand.

  The cop returned the shake and in turn, shook hands with Megan. Then he turned and walked up to the registration desk. Seth wanted to wait, to see if he actually talked to Jase Hall, but knew that wouldn’t endear them to the cop. Plus, they needed to go.

  But before that, they needed to do one more thing. “We need to get our bags out of our rooms,” he said.

  She pursed her lips. “We’re staying here one more night.”

  “We’re staying in Sedona, but we’re not staying here.”

  Chapter 8

  “That’s what I was doing while we were waiting for the police,” Seth said. “Calling hotels. Lana was right in that the town is pretty booked up but I was able to find two rooms.” Most hotels kept a few rooms back for emergencies. His offer to pay a premium for the space must have qualified as that.

  “You didn’t say anything to the manager about us leaving. Or to Officer Indeego.”

  “That’s right. We’re not going to say anything. Not going to check out. That means that you’ll get charged for the room so Wingman Security will cover the cost of the second set of rooms.”

  She was looking at him rather wide-eyed. “Do you really think all of this is necessary?”

  “I have no idea. But I’m not feeling too kindly toward this space. My gut is telling me to go. And in general, I’ve got a good gut. There’s no risk to leaving. If Officer Indeego needs to contact us, he’s going to use our cell phone numbers. There could be risk to staying. It seems like an easy decision.”

  “But...”

  “Let’s review what we know. Last night, in a hotel that was reserved by your assistant, a person released a snake that slithered under your door.”

  “Do you have to use the word slithered?” she asked, swallowing hard.

  “Slipped? Ducked in?”

  “Just go on,” she said.

  “The hotel has Snake Charmer on video in the hallway and exiting the hotel but, according to Jase Hall, nothing that shows him arriving last night. So either he arrived looking different and Jase is easily fooled, which is possible, or he was in place before that. There are a whole lot of hotels in Sedona, so that seems unlikely to have happened by chance.”

  She let the words settle. “So what you’re saying or implying, at least, is that Snake Charmer got the information about where we were staying from the person who made the hotel reservation?”

  “I’m saying that we shouldn’t discount that possibility. How well do you know your assistant?”

  “Very well. She’s worked with Abigail and me for years.”

  “What’s her name?”

  “Why?”

  “Because I think it makes sense to take a look at her. If there’s nothing there, great. She’ll never be the wiser.”

  “That’s not necessary. We did a background check.”

  “I’m sure you did. Criminal background, probably. Maybe even a financial check, since she was in a trusted position. All that’s good if you’ve hired a criminal. But not so effective when you’ve hired somebody decent who is later motivated to do something not so decent. And those motivations come in all sizes and shapes. Too much debt. Bad family. Alcohol or drug dependencies. Gambling addictions. Our background checks don’t look at numbers and statistics. We talk to people, we watch, we look at online activity. We look at their environment.”

  “It sounds intrusive.”

  “Wingman Security can be very discreet.”

  “I hate the idea.”

  He shrugged. “If we rule her out, then we don’t need to think about her anymore.”

  He could easily find out their assistant’s name. And if he was going to do this, she didn’t want him operating behind her back. “Fine. Gillian O’Day.”

  “Thank you. Who else would have access to your itinerary?”

  She considered the question. “Abigail, of course. But she would never do anything to harm me.”

  “We’ll assume she’s clear,” he said.

  “Thank you so much,” she said, sarcastically. “I suppose it’s possible, maybe even likely, that she’s told her husband. But really, I think you’d be barking up the wrong tree.”

  “That’s very possible,” he said agreeably. “But there are other ways that people get information. Maybe somebody hacked into the assistant’s computer? Or your brother-in-law’s?”

  She couldn’t immediately dismiss that. Everyone was getting hacked all the time. “I suppose that’s possible.”

  “I’m going to order background checks on Gillian O’Day and Evan Chevalier.” He picked up his phone.

  “Not wasting any time,” she said.

  “Nope,” he said, his tone pleasant.

  She rubbed her temples. “I’m sorry. I really do not need to be a bitch about this. I know that you’re just doing your job. Doing what we hired you to do.”

  He stared at her. “That’s right. It’s my job.”

  The air seemed very still and even though they were in the middle of a busy hotel lobby, it seemed as if they were very alone. “Then I’ll back off and let you do it,” she said. “But are we going to book double hotel rooms for the rest of the trip? That’s going to get pretty expensive. It will eat into Wingman Security’s profit margin.”

  “We won’t double-book. We’ll be able to cancel the other existing reservations and replace them. But we’re going to keep that to ourselves. I’ll work on finding us new hotels in Albuquerque and Colorado Springs later.”

  “I guess I’ll get my suitcase then.”

  “If the maid hasn’t been in yet, we’ll put signs on our doors asking not to be disturbed. That should avoid the problem of housekeeping realizing that we’re gone.”

  “You’re really very good at this,” she said.

  He waved a hand. “Child’s play.”

  Ten minutes later, their suitcases were in the trunk and they were pulling out of the parking lot. She pulled the directions to the fashion show up on her phone.

  It took them about fifteen minutes. The destination was a big old house, three stories high, surrounded by lovely gardens. Next to it was a law office and then a yoga studio. Across the street were houses with little kids playing in the front yard. It was clearly a street that was zoned both commercial and residential, but the businesses kept their signage discreet and their properties blended in.


  He was just about to open his car door when Megan’s phone rang.

  “It’s Abigail.” Emotion flashed in her eyes and he was pretty sure it was fear.

  “Hi,” she said, snatching up the phone. “Everything okay?”

  She must have gotten immediate reassurance because the tension in her face relaxed. “Oh, I’m doing well,” she said after a minute.

  She listened. Then, “Yes, it’s...fine. He’s...an easy traveling companion.”

  Was he a dog or a maiden aunt?

  “We’re just on our way to the luncheon and fashion show at the Women’s Art Club. I’ll send you a text later and let you know how it goes.”

  She listened. “Love you, too. Talk to you soon,” she said before she ended the call.

  “You didn’t tell her about the snake?” he said, choosing to let her description of him go. For the time being.

  “Of course not,” she said.

  “Because you don’t want to worry her.”

  “Because...it’s been reported to the police and it’s in their hands now. And you’re doing your thing so it seems as if we’ve got it covered.”

  She sounded tired. “Very true,” he said.

  “I sure as heck am not going to tell her that you’re doing a background check on Evan. You better be discreet.”

  “We are. Shall we?” He reached again for the door.

  “Just a second,” she said.

  He settled back into his seat.

  “We need to talk about how we’re going to play this,” she said.

  “Play?” he repeated.

  “You know what I mean. People are going to want to know who you are and what you’re doing.”

  “We tell them that I’m providing security. One, it’s the truth so it won’t be hard to remember. And two, it sends a clear message to anybody who wants to screw with you that you’re no longer alone in this. And I understand that while you see me as...merely a comfortable traveling companion, that others might actually see me as somebody they don’t want to go up against.”