“Evelyn,” Gary began. “I appreciate you wanting to understand what’s going on around here, but I’ve had three people coming to me reporting that you have been asking questions about past shipments.”
“I’m just inquiring—”
He held up his hand, “I get that. I know you’re not making any accusations, but you’ve got to stop. Just do your sales job until the career change to the engineering job next month…or…”
Her eyes jumped to his sharply, aware that Saul’s gaze moved to his brother’s as well. “Or what?” she asked, holding her breath, afraid of the response.
Gary, jerking on his necktie to loosen it a bit, his face contorted as he sighed. “Look, Evelyn, you have to be a team player here, if you want to continue.”
Eyes now widening in shock, she clarified, “Are…are you saying what I think you’re saying? If I keep trying to track down what happened to that missing shipment…an error that cost this company a lot of money…then I won’t get the engineering job? Or might lose my job completely?” Her voice rose with each word, her naturally soft-spoken manner overcome with incredulity.
“Gary,” Saul warned, shaking his head slowly.
“Look, it’s not just me. It’s dad. The idea of negative publicity has him really on edge.” Turning to look at Evie, he continued, “This isn’t a threat, but you’ve got to consider the whole picture. It’s our decision to investigate or not…not yours. If we, as the company, decide to take the loss, then you need to accept it and move on.”
“The military needs our equipment,” she argued back. “They need it when they need it, not when we refill an order because it got stolen…or lost…or misplaced.”
“And I’m telling you that it’s not your concern,” he bit out.
“I care about this company,” she stated emphatically. “I care about its reputation. And as an Army brat, I also care about the military getting their equipment.” For the first time, Evie realized she was proud of being a soldier’s daughter. So what if we moved around…my dad was a hero and our family stood for that.
Standing from his chair, appearing uncomfortable, and said, “I don’t have a problem with your dedication to being a military brat, but if you care about this company’s reputation…and yours…then you’ll settle down and do your job.” With that, he walked out leaving her seething.
The silence between Evie and Saul was now deafening, neither speaking for several long minutes. He looked at her, his expression grim.
“I’m sorry, Evelyn,” he said, frustration lacing his voice. “I don’t know what to say that’ll make you feel any better.”
Sitting perfectly still to quell the desire to cry, Evie said nothing.
“I know this is difficult, but I can tell you that from years in the Financial Department, it is common for companies to take losses, whether in production, sales, deliveries…whatever. If it were of epic proportions, then the company would have to take the time to investigate, but for the occasional loss…we just write it off.”
“Saul, that answer is not good enough for me.”
His face contorted as he begged, “Please, let it go. I don’t want to lose your friendship…or working with you.”
Standing, she offered him a small shrug. “I don’t know what to say. I’ve got some hard thinking to do.” With that, she turned and walked down the hall to her office. Once there, she sat at her desk, the past half-hour rolling through her thoughts. They’d really fire me for trying to solve a theft? All the talk about wanting my engineering skills would just be tossed away?
Heaving a sigh, she looked at the clock on her computer. Only eleven a.m. Great…I still have five more hours to just get through this day!
* * *
Patrick fidgeted as he waited to be patched in for a video-conference with the Saints. Suddenly, Monty came onto the screen, a wide grin on his face.
“Good to see you, man,” Monty greeted.
“You too,” Patrick agreed, glad for the meeting to start. The camera panned around, introducing the other Saints, before landing on Jack Bryant.
“Captain Cartwright,” Jack acknowledged with a nod.
“Call me Patrick. The Captain will be retired in a couple of months.”
“And do I hope you’ll join us then?” Jack inquired.
Grinning, Patrick nodded. “I’d like to. I thought once I can get this matter taken care of, I’ll visit my sister and parents and talk to you about the Saints.”
With his usual curt nod, Jack agreed then turned the meeting over to Luke, whose fingers had been flying on his keyboard.
“I’ve gone through the emails of the major players that were on Evie’s list. Gary, Saul, and Ed in particular. I’ve widened my scope to include the others as well. And just to let you know, I’ve been in contact with Tex Keegan, your friend Dude’s computer expert. He’s agreed to assist, saying any friend of Dude’s is a friend of his. So you’ve got a lot of backup on this. Now, the bad news is that so far, I do not see anything unusual in their work or personal emails, nor their bank accounts.”
“Damn!” Patrick cursed. “I was hoping something would show up on someone from her company.”
“Hold on,” Luke admonished. “We’re still working the problem.”
“You’ll find that patience will be your best friend in this business…and sometimes your worst enemy,” Jack advised. “We chase down a lot of leads before finding the right one.”
Patrick nodded, grimacing. Fuck, I’m not doing very well for my first investigation and meeting with the Saints. Sitting up straighter in his chair, he peered at the laptop screen, determined to pay close attention to what Luke was saying.
“Now, I did start running a preliminary check on the warehouse you said the truck driver stopped at. It seems to be somewhat buried in layers of ownership, which is not necessarily unusual, but can also indicate someone trying to hide who really owns or runs the place.”
“Would it help if I could get in there?” Patrick asked. He noticed the grins right away from Monty and Jack. The camera swung around to a large Hispanic man, sitting next to Monty.
“Patrick, I’d like to introduce you to Cam. He’s our best at…uh…entering facilities, and I don’t mean through the front door.”
Cam nodded his greeting and said, “Jack’s arranged a little trip for me. I know Monty and Angel were going to fly out to see you, so we’ve moved their trip up and I’ll come as well if that works for you. Marc’s a pilot and he’ll bring us, so you don’t need to meet us anywhere.”
The thrill of the hunt coursed through Patrick as he realized how dedicated the Saints were. “Jack, I don’t know how to thank you—”
“You don’t need to thank us,” Jack interrupted. “You know I was Army Special Forces, just like you, and some of my men are former military. We know what it was like to be in a warzone without all our equipment. Nothin’ pisses us off more than our brothers who can’t be protected ’cause some asshole stole it to sell on the black market. We’d do this for you even if you weren’t considering joining us.”
Nodding, chest swelling with pride, Patrick agreed. Settling upon the details of the mission, they disconnected. Leaning back in his seat, he swiveled around to peer out of his window once more. Seeing the soldiers moving equipment, he smiled. Now, we’re going to make a fuckin’ difference. His mind moved to Evie, and his grin grew wider.
Placing a call to Dude, he brought him up to speed on what was happening and thanked him for contacting his computer expert, Tex. “It appears that Tex and Luke work well together.”
“Appreciate it, man,” Patrick said. “The more people working on this, the better chance we have of finding out about the missing shipment.”
“No problem,” Dude replied. “Missing military equipment…especially stolen military equipment, meant for the war zones, pisses us right-the fuck-off!”
With vows to get together soon, they disconnected, leaving Patrick feeling more and more like a new career i
n investigation might be just what he needed.
* * *
Evie snapped her laptop shut at the exact moment her workday was over. Snatching her purse from the drawer, she threw it over her shoulder and stalked down the hall. The hours since her meeting that morning had done nothing to quell her anger. She had moved through the emotions of fury, indecision, hurt, betrayal, and finally ended right back at anger again.
She heard her name called and, recognizing Saul’s voice, kept on walking. Stopping only when she arrived at her car, she jumped in and pealed out of the parking lot. Behind her, in the building, Saul and Gary peered down at her.
“Did you have to threaten her job?” Saul growled, his own anger undisguised.
“Look, you know how dad hates negative publicity,” Gary retorted. “The last thing we need is for her to be digging into things that don’t concern her.” Noting his brother’s silence, he turned, saying, “What’s with you? I thought she made it clear she didn’t date co-workers.”
“I know, but that doesn’t keep me from really liking her. Not to mention, we’ve wanted her on board as an engineer anyway. Now, who knows what she’ll do.”
The two men sighed as they turned from the window. Staring at the street she drove down would not solve their problems.
Chapter 11
“Hey, Evie,” Patrick greeted, answering his phone.
“I want you to come to my place,” Evie jumped in. “I need to see you.”
Now alert, he asked, “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”
“Just come straight to my place after work. Can you do that for me?” she begged.
“Of course. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.” Hearing her disconnect, he gunned his engine a little faster, matching his heartbeat. Something’s up…what the fuck happened today?
Patrick jogged up the stairs to Evie’s condo door, anxious to see her. He lifted his hand to knock when the door was flung open and her hands darted out, grabbing his shirt.
Jerking him in, she launched herself at him as she slammed the door and with as much force as she could muster, plastered her body to his front. With both hands on his square jaw, she pulled him down for a kiss, not waiting for him to speak.
Stunned, Patrick welcomed her luscious body pressed up to his, wrapping his arms around her. She surprised him again when she jumped up and he caught her with one hand under her ass for support.
“Babe…Evi—”
She refused to allow him to speak, wanting her lips and her body to do the talking. Owning the kiss, she slipped her tongue into his mouth, the taste intoxicating. Sucking on his tongue, she heard him moan…or maybe that came from me.
Whirling around, Patrick pressed her back against the front door, their bodies pressed tightly from hip to head. He allowed her to take charge of the kiss for a moment, reveling in the delicious sensation of her tongue tangling with his, her breasts crushed against his chest, and her pelvis grinding against his erection.
Moving her hands from his face, she fumbled with the buttons on his shirt—at least the ones she could reach. Sliding her hands down, she jerked his shirttails out of his pants. His buckle was proving to be more difficult so her hands found their way back to his shoulders where she tried to push the offending material away.
Reality taking root, Patrick moved back slightly, his lust filled eyes attempting to focus on the woman in his arms. Mewling at the loss of contact, she ground her hips into his.
“Evie babe, slow down, slow down,” he said, gulping air as desire coursed through his body.
“I don’t want to slow down. I don’t want to stop,” she moaned trying to press tighter against him. “Don’t you want this?”
“You know I do,” he rasped. Twisting away from the door, he moved to the sofa with her still in his arms. “But I want it to be real, not a reaction to whatever is goin’ on inside your head.”
Tucking her face in his neck, she breathed him in, his rejection stinging. “I’m sorry—”
“No, no. Don’t be sorry. Girl, you’ve got to know I want this with you. I’ve wanted this with you for a while now.”
“So what’s holding you back?” she whispered, her face still buried.
“Talk to me first, Evie. Something’s happened and I want to know what. I know you have feelings for me, but until now, the fact that I’m leaving has put a stop to you wanting to see what we could become.” He gently pulled her face from his neck and, pushing her long hair back from her forehead, held her gaze. “Don’t get me wrong, baby. I’m loving every second of having your mouth on mine, your body pressed against mine, and swear to God, I thought I was going to come in my pants the way we were grinding. But I gotta know what’s changed.”
She dropped her eyes, staring at his chin, not willing to see his doubts. Heaving a huge sigh, she shifted her body to move off of his.
“Uh uh,” he said, smiling. “I like you right here.” Then, seeing the tortured expression on her face, he softened his voice as he pulled her in for a hug. “Come on, Evie. Tell me what’s going on.”
“It’s…complicated,” she confessed.
“Got all night, baby.”
“I don’t even know where to start,” she replied, her fingers absentmindedly fidgeting with his shirt collar.
“How about the beginning?”
Her gaze jumped to his, seeing nothing but concern. Licking her lips slowly, she nodded. “I promised myself when I got out of college, I wasn’t going to be like my dad—always moving. I wanted stability. You know, the kind that comes with staying in one place. Getting to know my neighbors. Finding a favorite pizza place. Having a yard that I could plant flowers in and then see them the next year when they bloomed.” She hesitated for a moment, weighing her words. “Then I met you.”
“But you didn’t like me at first,” he reminded, the corners of his eyes crinkling at the memory.
Smiling, she said, “Well, after the first meeting. You’re gorgeous, sexy, fun, smart—”
“Whoa, then how’d you stay away from my awesomeness?” he teased, brushing her dark hair back away from her face again, this time leaving his hand cupping the back of her head. Her hair felt like silk and he fisted his fingers through the strands.
Now chuckling, she pretended to swat his shoulder. “It wasn’t easy.” Sobering, she sought his gaze and continued, “The fact that you were in the Army was actually a strike against you. Then you said you were getting out and I thought we might have a chance. Then you said you were moving and I knew then that we’d have nothing to build upon.”
“And now?”
“The more time I spend with you, the more I really like you.” She sighed heavily again. “I felt conflicted…like I was in a battle with myself. The plans I had made with what was now in front of me that I wanted.”
Her fingers continued to play with his shirt, almost driving him to distraction, but he wanted her to feel comfortable enough to touch him…talk to him…confide in him.
“I called my mom this morning,” she confessed. She saw his lifted eyebrow and hastened to explain. “I told her about you. And I asked about my dad. About how it was for her to move and not put down roots.”
“What did she say?” he asked, curiosity overcoming his nervousness.
Boldly keeping her eyes on his, she said, “Mom loved dad. So she accepted everything about him. His deployments. The moves. Everything. She said she wouldn’t have had it any other way except to have him come home after his last tour.”
Patrick knew Evie was struggling with something profound and her actions spoke of this battle. Staring at the woman in his arms, he hoped she trusted him enough to reveal what was in her heart. Come on, baby. I need more. I need you to be sure.
“Mom told me that I always wanted to have my life planned out so I wouldn’t have any surprises, but she said it was all right to have adventures. Especially if you’re with someone you love.”
At the word love, he sucked in a breath and then saw the doubt
pass through her eyes. “Keep talking, babe. Say whatever you need to say and I promise, I’m right here.”
Blushing, she admitted, “Well, I’m not saying that I love you…but…I really like you…a lot.”
Gliding his hands through her hair, he moved them to cup the sides of her head. “I’m glad, Evie. So fuckin’ glad to hear you say that.” He paused for a moment before prodding, “But I know there’s more. What happened today?”
Pushing off his lap, she began to pace the floor, her body needing to work off the emotions burning through her. “I’ve had almost seven hours to think about everything. I was so angry at first. How dare they? I was furious, livid, pissed off and wanted to kick some GMS butt!”
His lips curved ever so slightly at the emphatic threats his girl was making. His girl? Hell yeah! Whether or not she knew it…she was his girl.
“Then I was upset, thought about quitting, thought about playing nice and doing what they said, and then I was right back to being angry again.” She stopped pacing and turned sharply, facing him once more. “And then I thought about what my mom said this morning.”
Cocking his head to the side, he said nothing, simply allowing her the opportunity to come to her own conclusion.
“I’ve been battling the feelings I have for you. The ones you want to build on, but I wanted to stay safe more than take a chance. I thought if I stayed in one place, then I’d be safe. I’d be happy. I thought I’d be in control.” Shrugging while throwing her hands up to the side, she added, “But today showed me that no matter how much I plan…life changes all around me. So, I either let it just happen to me or I decide to come out of my safe zone myself and take some chances.”
Standing, Patrick stalked over to Evie, stopping when his polished, military shoes met her tiny toes. Towering over her, he reached up to cup her soft face, seeing her eyes search his. “Baby, I promise, I’ll always be a safe place for you. You decide to take a chance…I’ll be your safe harbor and your adventure. You decide to build on this friendship and I’ll tell you, I’m already with you. You decide to fall, Evie girl…I’ll always catch you.”
Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Protecting Love (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Saints Protection & Investigations Book 7) Page 8
