WindSwept Narrows: #23 Molly & Natasha

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  Molly

  Natasha

  Book Twenty-Three

  Karen A. Nichols

  Copyright 2012 by Karen A. Nichols

  Smashwords Edition

  Published by Karen Nichols. Copyright, Karen Nichols. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author except for brief quotes used for review purposes.

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Cover art: Snow Leopard Designs

  Chapter One

  Logan Sheffield leaned back in the comfortable office chair and watched his key people settle into their seats. One hand rose to absently stroke over the moustache and goatee, one corner of his mouth lifting at the voice in his mind that sounded suspiciously like his wife’s.

  “It makes you look so deliciously stern and somber.”

  As if either of those adjectives had ever had an effect on her.

  “Abby? Are you ready for this?” He pulled himself from thoughts of his wife and daughter to focus on the head of human resources.

  “Absolutely,” Abby Rollins went to the side where Cassidy had the laptop set up and ready for her. She nodded at Cassidy and started talking. “This is one of two men we’ve had reports about for the last four weeks. They’ve been spotted around the resort, mostly in the foyer or parking area adjacent to the employee parking lot.” She nodded at the attention that information grabbed from those who weren’t aware of the issue yet.

  “I’ve had reports from Frannie, Mac, Faith and Lacie…but I’ve also spoken with Isabel Hightower and Eloise Paddington. They’ve also been contacted.” Abby stopped and drew in a long breath. “Sorry…I’m just not sure what’s actually going on yet. Instinct tells me something is wrong, but I don’t have anything concrete and that’s annoying the crap out of me. These two men have been speaking to certain employees, the ones I mentioned, asking questions about their jobs and their education. Since Mac is here, he can tell you about his conversation because it really is not making much sense to me. I can’t figure out if they’re out to poach employees or if they’re searching for someone specific.”

  “From the suspicious side of us,” Cassidy said calmly into the break. “I believe from Mac’s observations that they’re searching for someone very specific.”

  “I have to agree with Cass,” Mac said with a shake of his head. “They approached me together. But each of the women say they’ve only been approached by one or the other.”

  “Almost as if they didn’t want to frighten them by being in a pair,” Abby said aloud, sinking into the chair by the laptop.

  “They started off as if they were tourists, asking questions about the area and the resort in general,” Mac began, the brief encounter playing back in his mind. “Then they started asking how I enjoyed my job.”

  “They didn’t know who you were?” Logan frowned in thought.

  “They had to know. They approached me and ignored the others in the arcade that afternoon,” Mac shook his head. “No, I’m really sure they knew who I was. They mentioned Lacie and Eloise, as though they thought we were part of a group or club.”

  “Except for Frannie, you’re all involved with computers in some way,” Abby said quietly. She’d been tossing the reports around in her head since she saw the video of the men and their various conversations.

  “Frannie was involved in computers through college,” Mac corrected with a casual shrug. “She’s got a brain that’s all over the place, despite what you might think. She entertained going into programming for a while but decided she enjoyed healing much better.”

  “I’ve run the names with everything I have in my files,” Cassidy said with a look at Abby. “We’ve compared notes to see if there’s any intersection. But came up with nothing. And if not for Faith…”

  Logan groaned, along with several others in the room. He let his head fall into the open palm, face down.

  Abby scowled at her husband, one of the groaners. “Stop that, both of you. Faith might have a few issues with conspiracy theories, but in this case, I think she’s right. Something is off about these men and why they’re going around speaking to certain individuals.”

  “The blonde one stopped Faith one afternoon,” Cassidy kept a straight face and cued up the video. “We don’t have sound, just him trying to talk to her.”

  Only Abby and Cassidy had seen the actual video of the confrontation. And both agreed that confrontation was the only word fitting what they viewed.

  Faith worked as a programmer for the arcade and didn’t take well to people asking her questions that didn’t make sense to her. It began pleasantly enough. They could guess by the way Faith gestured, the man had asked for directions. Faith was a pretty, blond woman – this month - wearing a pair of coveralls that stopped at her knees. Her long hair was bound in a ponytail that rode high on the back of her head and it was the sharp flip that told those watching that things had taken a turn Faith didn’t like.

  The camera quality was finely tuned enough to see the pale brows knit, her eyes narrowed despite the smile on her face. They didn’t know what the man had asked, but Faith had begun moving slightly to the side, as if considering his questions while she opened the door to her car.

  “It’s a little obvious that…whatever knowledge they have of the people they’re talking to, they don’t know their more personal side,” Cassidy said carefully once the wincing stopped and the men quit groaning in sympathy. “According to Faith, he began asking about her work and people she’d known in college. Using her own words, she turned dumb blonde on him and he fell for it. Probably up to the point when she slammed the door into his groin, grabbed his tie and bounced his head off the roof of her vehicle.”

  “Have we heard from his attorney?” Logan asked with a sense of calm that made the others only smile.

  “Not a word,” Abby cast a glare at him and Cade, her husband. “The clue there was Faith, Lacie, Mac and Isabel were the only ones they asked about college friends. Which adds to the theory that they’re searching for someone very specific. Someone we might already have in our employ.”

  “They aren’t registered in the resort and as near as we can tell. And going back six months, they’ve never registered here,” Cade said when he was sure his voice would work. “A trace on the vehicle we have on camera shows it as a rental and the name doing the renting, appears to be an alias.”

  “And just how that is possible in this age of credit cards, makes you think there’s something serious going on that needs attention,” Abby concluded quietly. “And is very far from being above board or even legal.”

  “And they’ve only approached certain people,” Logan repeated thoughtfully. “You haven’t found any connection?” He asked
, looking at Cassidy.

  “The obvious connection, is the higher than normal intelligence. We’re collecting names from year books, Logan, but we don’t even have an idea what year they might be checking. Whoever they’re searching for has evidently come into contact with each of the people somewhere in their time line, we just don’t know where to start, so it’s taking a little time.”

  “I’ve got Nate and Faith working up a little program to make it easier, but it’ll still take time because not everyone has to be listed in the register to have been associated with one of the schools we attended. Add to the fact that all of us bounced to several schools, from colleges to vo-techs for all types of reasons. It could easily have been one of the computer clubs or off-site associations involved with the schools. Hell, it could have been sports or something more obscure.” Mac explained carefully. “Cass told me about the last encounter, which was Faith…”

  “And that would be enough to make them change their tactics,” Cade said aloud with a nod.

  “It wasn’t just Faith’s reaction that made me want to get your input,” Cassidy stood up and paced the front of the office. “None of us are closed minded to things less than…concrete,” she began, the speech she’d practiced clearly outlined in her mind. “We know Isabel. We know what she can do through telepathy, for lack of a better term.”

  “Are you saying Isabel…” Logan stopped, unsure what to call her ability.

  “No, she did not,” Abby said firmly. “Isabel told us she doesn’t have to step into their thoughts to feel something was off. We only know about her and Eloise because they talk to Frannie. But Lacie was the one shaken the most. Something about the men really upset her to the point where Mason was in my office asking about our security. Lacie paces and mumbles to herself when she’d agitated and these men evidently stirred up something that really disturbed her enough that Frannie had to give her something to calm down. You can’t discount intuition, Logan.”

  “I’m not discounting anything, Abby. I’m trusting you, Cassidy and Mac to figure this out. I don’t have a problem with people trying to lure our employees away. It’s a choice where to work,” Logan said with a half shrug. “But I do have a problem if our people are being targeted and I want to know why. Can we get word out to others we don’t know about?”

  “It’s filtering through the employees, regardless of what we might have wanted,” Abby admitted with a slight grimace. “We’ve assured all the supervisors that we’re increasing security and that the safety of our employees is at the top of our agenda. We don’t want a panic and we don’t want someone getting carried away, so I haven’t released the photos of the men.”

  “Because a lot of their spouses and partners are also associated with the resort in one form or another, it’s a little easier to work on,” Cassidy sighed and perched against the window ledge, the early September winds tossing rain against the thick glass. “Don’t any of you dare repeat this, but it really would have been easier if Faith had knocked him out and dragged him into the health center.”

  “You really like to up my blood pressure, don’t you?” Logan asked dryly, shifting his glance to Donovan. “How’s Frannie?”

  “Quiet,” Donovan Banner shook his head. “You know my wife. If there’s something she’s thinking about, and it’s serious, it bakes for a while before she allows it free. But I can tell you that this is bothering her. She says she knows the answer to the puzzle, but can’t put her finger on it.”

  “Do you think they know why these guys might be stalking them and aren’t telling us?”

  “Hey, one of ‘they’ is right here and trust me, I haven’t a freakin’ clue,” Mac returned with a growl that suddenly fell off. “Wait…”

  “Something?” Cassidy touched his hand, her fingers curled around his. “Mac?”

  “A group of headhunters,” he pulled a very old memory forward, his gaze locked on the blue of the water in the distance outside the window behind Logan. “Christ, I was…barely fifteen…but I remember others they’d approached and believe me, subtle, they weren’t. Forceful and almost threatening. I remember my folks seriously pissed because they were told their son would consider working for them, or else.”

  “Or else what? You can’t force someone to work for you…not and expect a decent return,” Logan exhaled hard. “This isn’t a scifi story or some really bad spy plot.”

  “Evidently my dad handled it ‘cause I never heard from them again. I got involved with programming and…I’m going to give Chloe a call. There’s your genius about puzzles and she’s got a memory like a gun safe. If I babbled something during one of our coding sessions, she’d remember it.”

  “Let me get back in touch with the others,” Cassidy said quickly, making notes on her iPad. “With this tidbit, maybe I can jog some memories. But I’m with Logan. You buy employees…dragging them kicking and screaming into your business seems a little on the risky side.”

  “Keep me updated.”

  Chapter Two

  Jonathon Shepherd dragged two hands through the short clipped dark hair, sparks of silver catching on the overhead light above the partially steamed bathroom mirror. He rubbed one palm over his cheek, the growth from one day of not shaving rasping against his skin. And he really didn’t feel like shaving again until Tuesday morning.

  The last two months had been a wild ride through a series of interviews bordering on interrogations and renewing old friendships. Taking the lead spot for Vincent Electronics had been the end result of all the meetings. He dragged a thick WindSwept Narrows towel over his head, another wrapped around his waist and went in search of nothing more complex than jeans, a t-shirt and comfortable, well-worn boots.

  He couldn’t stop thinking about the job, even as his brain was screaming for a little peace. This wasn’t a typical CEO position and very far from what he was accustomed to as far as a profitable company was concerned. To begin with, he had the major stockholder setting down some principles and values that raised more than his eyebrows. But there was something intriguing about the new path; something challenging and beyond tempting.

  Given the new business model and the association he was forging with the WindSwept Narrows reclamation, he honestly felt he might remain with one company for the rest of his work life. And not kill himself with stress.

  His first act had been to carefully examine all contracts to fit the new guidelines that the reclamation was establishing with businesses that were interested in joining their ranks. All overseas manufacturing must be brought to the United States within a six month period. Waivers were issued if an outline was offered showing that the manufacturing would take place on American shores within a reasonable time frame to build such manufacturing plants.

  Contracts cannot be accepted with countries that behaved in a less than humane manner towards its people. There was a list that was updated as insurgencies happened around the globe.

  Profit was still important, but dividends would be less following the guidelines of providing the employees of the company with decent wages and benefits to make a living in the area affordable. Vacations were almost on a level with European countries, and people were urged to use them. Over-time was discouraged and if your work could not be accomplished in the given time, a review was set up to determine why. All level of employees shared the same privileges. Working conditions had to meet a different type of standard and was not negotiable.

  What had intrigued him the most was the control the principles of the WindSwept Narrows was gaining over the city and county area, with the state itself slowly falling into line and actually pulling itself out of debt. He’d met the four principles and was relieved when he realized he knew one of them already. Their determination and backbone was going to make memorable changes to the area around Puget Sound. Slowly, but surely.

  Jon was still going over the things he’d accomplished in the last thirty days since he was hired. And the huge stack of items to be reviewed and scrutinized. Changing peo
ple’s attitudes was turning out to be the most difficult. To the point where some had been told to adapt or tender their resignations.

  He’d been told outright that his salary was not tied to profits, but was instead, tied to a decent level equitable with the heads of the other businesses, including the resort owners. The reclamation was not about the wealth of a few; but the well-being of the community.

  And they were slowly spreading out from the small circle that had begun two years earlier. He still was a little surprised at the power of the fire spreading into the community. Maybe surprised wasn’t the right word, he thought as he climbed onto the large leather and chrome bike. Hopeful, he thought, hands deftly adjusting the helmet before starting the quietly purring engine and adjusting his gloves.

  And maybe a little more than skeptical. Until he sat with Erika Vincent-Moore and she talked about what she expected of the company. Because of criminal charges and severe alienation with her father, she now owned the company and wanted it run well. She wanted not only a good product, but responsible employees who felt they had a genuine input into the life they were building. After listening to her outline, he realized he had lost the effort to maintain a cool, neutral CEO persona in place.

  He didn’t know Xavier Moore when he went into the interview. But his name had made it to the desk through his connection with Cade Rollins, an old military buddy, and Tanner Clayton. Altruism and being a liberal were two things rarely found in the cut-throat business world. Until he began his interviews.

  Later, when he was alone, he actually admitted to himself that he had been waiting to wake up. Only when he did, there was a moving van outside his apartment and very efficient people packing up his existence to be relocated from Houston to Tacoma. He made the drive with his SUV hauling his bike behind and enough clothing to hold him until he found a suitable house or apartment.