Reggie looked at me, grinning. “And how’s that going?”
“I’ll have you know that I’m adjusting just fine.” I grinned, stretching my arms before flexing my muscles. We had installed a swear rule, where if an adult got caught swearing in front of the kids, they could sentence us to ten pushups. It took me about a week to get my swearing under control, but the hundreds of extra pushups were good for my biceps. “With the tournament this weekend, though, I’m worried Sara will slip back into bad habits. A couple of days of wall to wall off-duty guards and we’ll be right back where we started.”
“It’s all good. Wayne was doing pushups when I left. Then he ordered the kids to return to their school room.”
“They listened to him?”
Reggie snorted as he plated himself some muffins. “He told them he had no problem calling you and snitching on them. They skedaddled.”
“Good, but I should get over there. I have some work to do.” I turned to Bridget. “And a new thief to research.”
“What’s the reward?” Bridget asked.
“A million even.”
Reggie whistled.
“I’ll help Tweedle finish up her baking and then I’ll bring her over,” Hattie said. “You kids go beat Donovan on that wager.”
Chapter Three
“Why didn’t you go to Mexico?” I asked Reggie as we climbed the stairs at Headquarters.
“Because I’m as smart as I look,” Reggie said. “Last trip to Mexico, I came back with a nasty rash and a million mosquito bites. If I stay here I get to eat and drink as much as I want and sleep in.”
I entered the passcode to open the war room door. “If Grady comes home with a mysterious rash, he’s sleeping on the couch.” I placed my thumb on the second lock for a fingerprint scan. The panel turned green, and I shook my head at the over-zealous security update Carl installed last week.
Stepping aside, I let Reggie go first, then Bridget. I hadn’t told Reggie about Bridget’s redecorating of the war room, and he tapped his foot in front of him against the 3D mural on the floor where it appeared the floor plunged into a fiery lava pit below.
“Did I just walk inside a video game?” Reggie asked as he walked forward, examining the other 3D murals of robbers and monsters bursting into the room and the weapons mounted to the walls and ceilings. “This is rad.”
“Nobody says rad anymore,” Bridget said. “That died in the ’80s.”
“What would you call it then?”
“Bitchen,” Tech said. Tech stood and walked over to my usual workstation, raising the section so I could stand while I worked. He had made some technology revisions to the stations which now had dual screens mounted to every other segment of the table. He was attempting to transition me to a paperless world, but it was a struggle. “I know you want to start the jewel thief file, but you have three other files to look at first. Two are consulting cases. The third is a potential client.”
I sighed, passing the jewel thief file to Bridget. “Carl, can you help Bridget with any background work she needs?”
“Yes,” Carl said as he hunched in closer to his screen.
I flashed my eyes from Bridget to Carl’s monitors. She stepped behind him so she could see the screens. Her eyes widened when she saw what Carl was doing. “Carl, get out of those files and off their server before I tell Kelsey what agency you are hacking!”
Tech shook his head at Carl, then pointed to one of the file icons on my monitor. “First up, we have a case in Colorado. The county sheriff asked us to give them some feedback and see whether we can point their investigation in a new direction. Next is an FBI consulting case in Nevada. They want your basic profile workup. Donovan also asked for us to review five open stalker cases, but I warned him we’re behind and might not get to them this week.”
“What’s the third file you mentioned then?”
Tech returned to his chair, checking his phone for messages as he answered. “A fifteen-year-old girl disappeared five years ago. Her parents want to hire us to find her.”
“Tech, we’ve talked about the runaway cases.”
“I know,” Tech said, setting his phone down and looking back at me. “Just hear me out. The parents don’t think she ran away.”
“They never do,” Bridget said.
Tech sighed. “I told them it was unlikely we’d take the case, but we’d review the file. They’re willing to pay our hourly rate for your time.”
“Can they afford to pay our rate?”
“I quoted them the amount, and they agreed.”
“But can they really afford it, Tech? You’re talking about desperate parents who would do anything to get their child back.”
“I don’t know. I’ve been too busy to run their background.” He leaned his head back in his chair. “Between being your analyst and secretary, plus watching Carl and vetting everyone for Silver Aces Security, I’m a little behind.”
“We have enough work we can hire some people, but where would we put them? I don’t want our war room to be crammed full of administrators.”
“I’ll figure out the offices,” Bridget said. “I’ll talk to Donovan when he gets back.”
“I know a guy who can do the background checks for the security side and who will work remotely. I’ll talk to Donovan about him.” Tech rubbed a hand across his forehead. “Then we’ll only need a secretary to handle the incoming calls and emails. And the pile of paperwork that goes with it.”
“Talk to Donovan, but I think you need an analyst for the investigation’s side too. They can do the initial backgrounds and case workups, and then you can dive deeper on the cases we actually take.”
“Combine the positions,” Bridget said. “Hire someone who answers the phones and runs the initial backgrounds on the cases. I know someone who’d be perfect for the job.”
“Who?” Tech and I both asked.
“Trainee Kemp. The guy booted from the trainee program for not disclosing that Henderson assaulted me. He’s still in the area and job hunting.”
“I do feel guilty that I hired you after I kicked both of you out of the trainee program.”
“I knew you would.” Bridget winked. “Plus, Kemp has a computer science background.”
“Sold,” Tech said. “Get him in here so I can talk to him about the position.” Tech pointed to my monitor, silently ordering me to get to work, before he rolled his chair back to his own workstation.
I started flipping through the murder case in Colorado. A twenty-six-year old single mother was stabbed in the parking lot outside her apartment. No suspects. No witnesses. The woman’s body was found two hours later, her purse and jewelry still on the scene. Her autopsy indicated that she bled out from a single stab wound that nicked her clavicle artery.
I read the background report on the victim. She worked as a waitress at a breakfast diner, and based on the official time of death, she would have been leaving her apartment to go to work. Her only possession was a 2005 Honda Civic. She had three hundred and change in her bank account. No known enemies.
I flipped to the photos of the crime scene. The woman’s body was half propped against the rear tire, her purse inches away from her left hand. On the other monitor, I pulled up the contents of her purse. No phone. Her attacker likely grabbed it from her right hand while fleeing the scene.
“Did you try her phone?”
“It’s not on. The sheriff has an alert set to track the phone if it’s used.”
“Can you get me a list of car thefts within a fifty-mile radius? Filter out newer models. We need to look for older cars, low technology.”
“What are you thinking?”
“She’s a single mother, struggling paycheck to paycheck. If she saw someone stealing her car, she’d likely try to stop them.”
“Damn. And lose her life over a Civic?”
I shrugged. “Without her car, she’d have no transportation to get to work. It could’ve financially crippled her for years. And based on the
position of the body, so close to the driver’s door, my theory is possible. Now we just have to see if I’m right.”
Bridget snorted but didn’t look up from her computer monitor.
“I’ve got two cars that were stolen matching that description. One was two months ago. The other was the week before our victim was murdered.”
An alert appeared at the bottom of my screen telling me Tech had sent a file. I clicked the alert and read the basic reports. I grabbed the phone and called the sheriff, explaining that I could continue searching, but I believed the crime was related to car thefts. Based on the cars being older models, he might be looking for someone who’d been out of the game, likely now released from prison. He agreed to saving his county a few bucks by running the research from there and said he’d let me know if he came up with anything. I hung up and compiled a report for him, emailing it directly to him.
“Who does the billing?” I asked Tech.
“I do,” he said, sighing. “I tried to get Jerry to do it, but he said your notes and files were a mess and he couldn’t make heads or tails of it. So… I keep a notepad going,” he held up the notepad, “and send invoices when I get time.”
The phone rang, and Tech answered it on speaker. It was the receptionist saying that Mr. Arthur Kemp was in the lobby. Tech let her know one of us would be right down.
“That was fast,” I said.
“Did I forget to mention that I’ve been letting Kemp sleep on my couch?” Bridget said as she walked around the table and grabbed Tech’s billing notepad. “I’ll get him setup in Grady’s office and have him start on these invoices.”
“Shouldn’t we describe the job and ask if he’s interested first?” I asked.
“I’ve been texting with him. He already accepted the job and was willing to start today. He’s bored.”
Tech glanced up at me, waiting to see if I was going along with skipping the interview process. He had dark circles under his eyes, and I knew he was struggling to keep up with the workload. I shrugged, not caring that we weren’t following the typical hiring process.
Tech nodded, completing our non-verbal conversation, before swiveling his chair in Bridget’s direction. “Get him access to our main email account. There are over a hundred new emails I haven’t opened yet.”
“Done.”
Bridget opened the door and James, president of the Devil’s Players, stood on the other side with his hand in the air, ready to knock.
“Come on in, James,” I called out to him. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“Been out of town the last few weeks,” he said as he looked around the room. “This room is crazy. No wonder Tech never works at the clubhouse anymore.”
“It’s definitely got a vibe. Were you looking for Tech? Or for me?”
“You. Tyler scheduled some guys to work patrols, and I wanted to check in with you about the security assignments.”
I raised an eyebrow at James. Tech laughed and excused himself to take some files to Grady’s office. Reggie stopped playing a game on his phone and threw his arms over his head, interlacing his fingers to watch. Carl smiled broadly as his head swiveled between James and me.
“Tyler’s in charge of personal security for my family,” I reminded James.
“Tyler’s just a prospect. As president, I’m in charge.”
“No. Tyler is my employee. He can choose to hire club members, but he does so as my employee. We contract the club for crowd control on Saturdays. That’s club business. The everyday protection of my family is overseen by Tyler.”
“But Tyler is a prospect for the Devil’s Players.”
“So what? Is Whiskey’s contracting company also managed by you? Or what about Chops’ service repair garage?”
“No, those are their businesses,” James said, sighing. “Look, maybe it would be best if I talk to Grady or Donovan about this.”
“They’re out of town at the moment, but please do speak to them. I’d like to know what they say when you tell them that anything that Tech and Tyler do as employees is club business. In fact, give me advance notice, so we can video record the event.”
“That’s not what I said,” James insisted. “Tyler’s only a prospect. He’s not a full member, yet.”
“And shame on you for that. That kid has proved himself for almost two years. Vote him in already.”
“Don’t tell me how to run my club!” James yelled.
“Why not? You’re telling me how to manage my security team!”
We glared at each other for nearly two full minutes before James stormed out of the room. Carl giggled before turning his attention back to his computer. Reggie rolled his eyes before returning to his game.
I closed the electronic file for the murder case and clicked the icon on the FBI consulting case. It detailed a string of fraud cases in Nevada. The FBI was asking for a profile on their perp. Their cases typically had piles of research already completed, but they lacked enough profilers. I had established a quick-glance service through Special Agent in Charge Jack Tebbs and word was rapidly spreading to other offices. Tech offered the same rate to other law enforcement offices for the quick-glance service, or they could choose the hourly rate if we agreed to take on their case. Most took the quick-glance, just needing a second set of eyes to point their investigation in a new direction.
I was halfway through the profile when Bridget and Tech returned. Two minutes after that, the door opened and Hattie and Tweedle entered. Tweedle walked forward, admiring the wall displays. Her eyes flickered briefly to the floor as she was stepping onto the mural where it appeared the concrete dropped into flames. Startled, she threw herself backward, tripped over Tech’s chair, and fell into one of the spare chairs. The chair flew, with her in it, into the back wall, slamming into the wall with enough force to cause the wall hangings to shake. I leapt forward, pinning the archaic battle axe to the wall as it swung toward her head. Tweedle slowly tipped her head back and looked up. When she saw the giant axe only inches away, she gulped.
“Let’s not tell Ryan about this,” Bridget said, giggling, from the other side of the room.
I raised an eyebrow at Bridget as I lifted the axe and handed it to Tech.
Bridget unsuccessfully tried to hide her smile. “I’ll find someone to better secure the wall ornaments.” She walked out, bursting out laughing as the door closed behind her.
“How are the new houses coming along?” I asked Hattie.
“Splendid, dear. They started framing the exterior walls on the first floor of Katie’s house.”
Tweedle exhaled deeply, looking down at the floor while she continued to sit in Tech’s chair.
Hattie giggled, shaking her head. “There was, however, a minor mishap involving a nail gun and Tweedle’s dress.”
“It’s the third dress I’ve destroyed in less than twenty-four hours,” Tweedle said as she held out the side of the dress that had a perfectly round nail hole.
“Clothes are never a problem around here,” I said, grabbing my phone and taking a picture of Tweedle. “I’m beginning to wonder, though, whether Ryan had the right idea keeping you safely tucked away in our kitchen.”
I sent the picture to Alex, and he texted back a thumbs up.
The door opened and Nicholas and Sara entered, both running over to hug me.
“What are you two doing out of the classroom?”
“They both have dentist appointments,” Hattie said. “I was able to change their appointments for during my visit.”
“Are you sure? I can try pushing my cases.”
“Nonsense. I already know that Sara’s teeth are perfect and Nicholas will have two more cavities. I have the praise and shame-on-you faces already prepared.”
Nicholas and Sara both laughed at Hattie.
“Cavities, huh?” I asked, crossing my arms and looking down at Nicholas with my serious parent face. “Do we need to babysit you while you brush your teeth?”
“I brush them every mor
ning,” he said.
“What about at night? You tell me you brush them before bed too. Are you fibbing?”
He shrugged his shoulders and looked up at me innocently. When I couldn’t hide the smirk, he smiled his toothy grin and ran toward Hattie. “Bye, Mom.”
Hattie raised an eyebrow at me as the kids pulled her out the door. “We’ll have to work on your shame-on-you face, Kelsey.”
“I’ll get right on that,” I said before turning to Tweedle. “I’m not sure whether it’s safe for you to be in the war room until the weapons are properly secured.”
“She knows Wayne,” Tech said. “I’ll text him and ask if she can hang out with him while we work.”
“Is that okay with you?” I asked Tweedle.
“I feel like I’m in everyone’s way.”
“Nonsense. If you know Wayne, you know there’s nothing he likes better than flirting with a pretty girl.”
“That’s an understatement,” Beth said from the doorway. “Alverez turned him down for a date again. He’s on the prowl for his next victim.”
“He’s not bothering you, is he?”
“No. I made it clear I wasn’t available.”
“Lied, huh?”
“Stretched the truth a bit.” She shrugged, grinning. “My dog Storm does tend to get jealous.”
“Well, watch out for my ex-husband. He’s visiting from Texas, and you’re his type.”
“What type is that?” Beth asked.
“Gorgeous,” Bridget answered as she walked back into the war room. “Goat’s coming over this afternoon to secure the weapons so we don’t have another mishap.”
“Well, I’m off,” Beth said. “Unless you have anything I can help with?”
“Bored again?” I asked.
“I need a hobby,” Beth admitted. “I’ve been going stir crazy in my apartment.”
“Stick around. You can help Carl and me with this case,” Bridget said, nodding toward her side of the table.
“I’m not sure I can handle the gore.”
“Jewel and art thief,” I said. “No gore. So far, the thief hasn’t hurt anyone in any of the burglaries. We’d like to catch him before his perfect record changes.”
Hearts and Aces (Kelsey's Burden Series Book 7) Page 3
