“Do you have any idea how vital my role was to the Armed Forces overseas? I didn’t just deal with domestic vehicle acquisitions and maintenance.”
He was writing a résumé right there in front of her. Laurie was stunned to realize he had just used specific language for buying cars, otherwise known as domestic vehicle acquisition, when you wanted to make it sound like rocket science.
But Josh wasn’t done. “I was in charge of shipping tanks and Humvees and cargo trucks to the Middle East! That’s what I did! If I had missed the opportunity to dot my I’s and cross my T’s you would have seen mass casualties overseas!”
For just a second, Laurie felt like she was wobbling on a precipice. He kept talking about troop deployments and statistical probabilities of vehicles breaking down in a cargo transport in the middle of hostile territory. He was blasting her with so many details of the hypothetical war hero job he’d had in the Army that her head was spinning.
“Who told you that?” he finally snarled. “That no good stinking Marine? Is that who tried to convince you I wasn’t important? Well, let me tell you a thing or two about him! He’s a no good rapist. That’s what! You ask him why he was pushed out of the Marines? Why isn’t he still in? He’s not old enough to have retired. So, why do you think they put him out? Try inappropriate sexual behavior! That’s why!”
Laurie blinked and wished she could run right now. Run away. But she could not. She sliced her hand through the air and was ashamed to see that it was shaking. “That doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you’re being entirely inappropriate. Do you hear me? You are relieved of duty right now. I am suspending you.”
“You can’t do that!”
“Of course, I can! I’m your boss, remember? I can suspend you and I am. Now.” She pointed to the door. “So, why don’t you go ahead and leave without an argument. I would really hate to have some of those guys come to escort you off the property.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me,” she growled. “I’ve been pushed far enough for now, Josh. Don’t push me any farther. You won’t like what happens.”
Thankfully, he didn’t resist. She was already wondering how she was supposed to handle what came next. She saw a panicked phone call to Younger in her near future. But not if she could help it. It was time for Laurie Talcott to stand on her own two feet. For once.
Chapter Nineteen
Younger kept waiting for the inevitable phone call. It didn’t come. The following morning—Saturday—he skipped fishing and headed into Branson. Using back roads and avoiding every intersection possible, it didn’t take all that long to get to the Landing. It was a lovely morning. Bright sky over Lake Taneycomo, boats bobbing in the gentle swells created by a light breeze, the heat not yet oppressive, and dozens upon dozens of people power walking the promenade before the stores opened and the weather turned downright summer hot.
It didn’t occur to Younger until he reached a deserted security office that it really wasn’t all that likely that Laurie Talcott was at work on a Saturday morning before eight in the morning. But she was there. Once he got closer to the plate glass windows fronting the office, he could see her working behind a desk. There was a box on a chair beside her filled with what looked like paperwork, a nameplate, some random junk, and maybe even some fast food kids’ meal toys.
The sign said CLOSED so Younger leaned in and knocked lightly on the glass to get Laurie’s attention. He wasn’t sure why he felt so good when she obviously perked up at the sight of him. But it did funny things to his gut when he saw her smile. That was weird too. Younger wasn’t usually the sort of man who was affected by that sort of thing.
Laurie jumped up and headed for the door. She pushed it open and he wondered if he’d ever seen a prettier sight than her smile right at that moment. “It’s not locked. You can come on inside. I have had two guys on duty starting at six o’clock. They just make sure nobody bothers any of the kiosks during the mall walking phase of the morning.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m here,” Younger told her sheepishly as the door closed behind him and he entered the nearly frigid air of the office. “I wasn’t actually expecting you to be here this morning. Not after being released from the hospital just yesterday. How are you feeling?”
“I feel good. I came in last night to close out the day and I’m back this morning to—uh—to clear up some stuff.”
Her expression was strange. Younger could not put his finger on it, but it was almost like she was trying to convince herself that she was good. Herself. Him. Anyone else too. That seemed to suggest—at least to Younger—that something had happened to rock her confidence and she was really struggling to keep it together.
“You didn’t call or message me last night to let me know how things went,” Younger reminded her. “I was just trying to let you have some space, all things considered. You know, I don’t mean to be pushy. I would imagine you had a lot to attend to when you got back here.”
“Would you walk with me?” She headed for the door once again.
Younger shrugged and followed along. They headed out of the office and then turned onto the main promenade. The morning was beautiful. The scent of coffee from the coffee shop seemed to be pulling them along toward the end of the block of stores. Laurie was silent until they reached the shop.
“Would you like a coffee?”
“Sure, but I do black coffee with nothing in it. I hope that’s not too boring for you.”
She chuckled. Then her expression turned almost vacant. “Josh used to give me hell for drinking lattes but I love them. He would bitch about all of the calories I was wasting and how I needed to be more careful with my food choices.”
Younger frowned. What the hell? The woman had some curves, sure. But she was a woman. Women were supposed to have curves. It went back to fourth grade and what makes girls different from boys. Laurie Talcott was not fat by any means. And she probably walked a good ten miles a day just on her regular patrol route through the mall. Wasn’t that what all of these people were here to do? Walk the mall and stay fit?
“That’s preposterous,” Younger muttered, pulling out his wallet. “I’m buying you a latte thingy.” He jerked his head toward the muffins. They looked absolutely mouthwatering. “And one of those. Because I want one. Is that chocolate chip banana walnut?”
“Yeah.” She actually gave a little sigh. “They’re amazing.”
Younger strode up to the counter. He noticed the young woman behind the counter immediately looked to Laurie and not to him. “Your usual, Ms. Talcott?”
“Yes, thank you, Leslie. And two of the muffins please?” Laurie looked to Younger and raised her eyebrows.
“A large black coffee for me. No room for cream.” Younger pulled out his wallet as the young woman put their muffins on plates and set about pouring his coffee. Within moments, the barista behind the bar was pouring a foaming latte into a paper to-go cup and passing it across the counter to Laurie.
Younger finished up his transaction and dropped the change in the tip jar. Then he and Laurie made their way to a table. The place was nearly empty. It was quiet and peaceful and you could see the passersby through the huge windows. Younger could see why someone would enjoy being in a place like this one.
He ignored the fork on his plate and picked up the scrumptious-looking baked good for his first bite. It was every bit as good as it looked. “Holy cow.” He tried not to spray muffin at her. “Do they make these here?”
“I believe they buy them from a local bakery but they are fresh daily,” Laurie told him with a smile. She used her fork and took a tiny nibble off one side of the muffin. Then she savored it with her eyes closed. “Yum! I really love these. Thank you for the latte and the muffin. I didn’t ask you to walk with me so you’d feel like you had to buy me breakfast.”
“Nah. I don’t mind. I don’t know any other way to make a point of letting you know that I don’t think you need to worry about calories.
I think you’re just fine like you are.” Younger knew that his words were probably crude and less than eloquent. But he hoped he at least got his message across.
She smiled. “Thank you. That’s really—nice of you. And I don’t mean that… well, I guess I’m trying to say that the word nice really isn’t enough. You’ve been great. And I know I haven’t been the easiest person to deal with. It’s just this thing with Josh has been difficult. He’s an important part of our team, you know? And I feel like he has a lot to offer, but he’s not such a great team player sometimes.”
Wow. She was really trying to justify something. Younger just wasn’t entirely sure what it might be. He finished chewing his bite of muffin. “Why don’t you start at the beginning and tell me what happened when you got here yesterday. You said you finished the day. What did that mean?”
“It means that when I got here last night, Josh had taken it upon himself to promote himself to my position. He’d taken over my desk and everything. He called in every single guy that we’ve ever had work a shift for us at the same time! I had thirty guys on duty last night. My budget is shot and then Josh and I got into it because I stood up for myself.” Her expression suggested that she was still reeling from that incident.
“Good for you,” Younger grunted. And then he gave her a nod. “From the beginning of this whole job, I’ve felt like you were two people. Like you had a multiple personality thing going on. One second you’re confident to the point of being overbearing and the next you’re struggling to even make a basic decision.”
“I’m afraid of him.” She said the words softly and quickly as though they had just tumbled out of her mouth without her permission. “I don’t know when it happened, Younger. I don’t! I don’t know when all of this got away from me. The belittling and the constant nagging that I don’t know what I’m doing and that I need to rely on him because he’s got the experience. Then it got worse. He started giving orders to the other employees and countermanding me. He would tell me I was wrong in front of my employees and I don’t know if you noticed, but we have no females on staff other than me. None!”
She was talking faster and faster. Younger took a long drink of coffee and another bite of muffin and just waited for her to run out of steam. She cataloged the things that Josh had said, the way he treated her in public, in private, and sometimes even in front of her boss. She talked about the lies he’d been telling. Even to the point of trying to convince the employees that her boss had suspended her for incompetence.
“Are you hearing me?” she finally asked, her voice a little shrill.
Younger nodded his head and exhaled a long sigh. “Breathe, Laurie. Just breathe. You’re not crazy.”
“What?”
“You aren’t crazy.” He said it again because he knew that this was what she needed to hear. “When I was in the Marines, I had a very horrible lieutenant who was a malignant narcissist. I mean, this guy met the criteria as though the DSM-V had been written about other narcissists in general and him in particular.”
Laurie straightened up in her seat and then picked up her latte. She downed the last of it and fiddled with the cup. “A narcissist?”
“Yup. They do this thing called gaslighting. It’s a form of lying that actually challenges the reality of the person they’re gaslighting.” Younger struggled to explain. “That lie that Josh told about you being suspended, why would anyone disbelieve it? Why would they think someone would make that up? It’s crazy. Right?”
“Grandiose,” she whispered, her face going pale. “So ridiculous that it has to be true.”
“Exactly,” Younger murmured. “That’s what they do. They tell you something and make it so convincing and then even when you find out it’s a lie they won’t cop to it. They just tell another lie to cover it up. Or even worse, they tell you it never happened.”
“You had a lieutenant who did that?”
“Yes, I did. And let me tell you, it was bad. He lied about things that could have and did get men seriously injured because we were overseas in a very hostile environment and it was not time for him to pretend that he knew what was going on when he didn’t.” Younger shook his head. “But that’s not what’s going on now. You’ve got a situation and you’re just now realizing that you’ve been dealing with a man who has been lying to you and treating you horribly and you’ve let him because there is a part of you that is such a warm, caring, intelligent, and rational person and you just cannot believe deep down that someone could actually be like that.”
“You’re right,” she whispered. “You’re exactly right.”
She sat there devouring her muffing with very deliberate and delicate bites. Each time she severed a tiny piece of the soft bread with her fork and lifted it to her lips, Younger could see her mind working overtime. There was something else though. Not just whether or not Josh Bentley was a malignant narcissist. That wasn’t the only thing on her mind.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked after a moment or two. She waved her hand in the air. “I realize that I hired your company to do a job, but this is more than the job. I really appreciate your insight and your words. It’s—it’s validating to know that I’m not the only person who feels like this is going on. But you don’t have to buy me breakfast and do a therapy session. That’s not what you were paid to do.”
Younger chuckled and finished his black coffee. Here it was again. Hot and cold. But it was different this time. Much different. “Is it so surprising to think that I might want to help you? Not just with the job I was hired to do, but with everything else too? I don’t know why I bought you breakfast and did a therapy session, as you call it.”
“Why did you leave the Marines?”
Younger pursed his lips. This was not a topic he liked to discuss. This was what became of opening up his own personal experiences and then leaving them on the table. “It was time for me to get out. I’d spent ten years overseas fighting a war that nobody really understood and I was tired.”
“It wasn’t because of something else?” There was a frown creasing the delicate skin between her eyebrows.
Younger gazed at her for a moment. This was not an idle question, that much was certain. He had started the process of digging into Josh Bentley’s background. Why wouldn’t he expect that Josh Bentley had done the same when it came to Younger?
Pursing his lips, Younger tried not to be offended. She didn’t know him that well. And right now, she was probably questioning her judgment regarding just about everything, which would include him. “If you’re referring to the accusations that I raped some woman—a fellow Marine by the way—then Josh obviously didn’t mention that those charges were dropped. There was no evidence and she admitted she had been paid to lie.”
Laurie lifted her hands to her mouth. “Paid to lie?”
“Yes, by a certain lieutenant who didn’t appreciate my willingness to tell the truth under oath at the legal proceedings.” Younger gazed at Laurie for a long moment. “Figuring out that someone is lying and gaslighting and behaving in a reprehensible manner is only the first part. The rest of it is that they want that control over you and your mouth and your mind and they don’t like to give it up. Not even if it means they have to cut off their nose to spite their face.”
It was a very appropriate description, especially in the situation that Younger had been in. But it would apply now too. At least that was what Younger was afraid of.
“You’re saying that he’s not done trying to take over here at the office?” Laurie murmured as she polished off the last of her muffin. “You’re saying he will always have one more desperate attempt up his sleeve?”
“For a while, yes.” Younger tilted his head and gazed at her for a long moment. He wanted to help her. He wanted to make all of this go away so she could live a healthy, happy life again. But it wasn’t going to be that easy. “And then one day he’ll just be done and you will wonder why you were ever sucked into his game in the first place.”
She swallowed, the smooth column of her neck seeming to tremble. “I don’t know if that sounds better or worse.”
“Sometimes it’s difficult to tell,” Younger agreed. He could not help but wonder how this whole situation was going to pan out. It was likely to get worse before it got any better.
Chapter Twenty
It wasn’t like Laurie had really believed she was done dealing with Josh Bentley and his arrogant, high-handed behavior. But she wanted it to be over. Perhaps that’s why she had tried so hard to make herself believe she’d gotten through to him.
As Laurie and Younger made their way back down the promenade from the coffee shop heading in the direction of her office, Laurie struggled to come up with a plan of action. She had already corrected the crazy schedule changes that Josh had implemented over the last few days. She was so far over budget in the personnel department that they were all going to feel the pinch come Thanksgiving, but if they could get this skateboarding gang nonsense under control sooner rather than later, they might be able to make it up somehow. That was a big if though.
“I spoke to my friend,” Younger said after a comfortable silence had passed. He gazed down at her and she was almost afraid to look at him lest she did something stupid like blush. “He’s the one who owns the martial arts studio. Remember I told you about him?”
“Yes. You said he sometimes loans out his space to you.” She even managed to say that without her voice doing something stupid like bouncing up and down or getting all breathless and silly.
“If you still want to do some self-defense work, I would be willing to meet with you.”
Now she did look at him. It was a more than generous offer. In the back of her mind, she could still hear Josh’s snide words about Younger being nothing but a rapist. But Laurie wasn’t sure she believed that. It took a certain sort of man to force a woman and Younger just didn’t fit the profile. He was big and strong, sure. He was good-looking and just a little rough around the edges too. Honestly, as much as Laurie hated to minimize anyone’s experience, she couldn’t imagine Younger needing to force a woman. He could charm her pants off if he chose to.
Rock Wolf Investigations: Boxset Page 62
