Protecting The Boss. Beverly Long

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СКАЧАТЬ didn’t face Megan’s boutique.

      He started gathering things up, taking them to the small conference room. It was all cleaned up; no one would ever guess that there’d been a party there the night before. He spread everything out on the table. He’d been there about an hour when Trey walked past his door. “Morning,” Trey said. “What are you doing in here?”

      “Clearing off my desk,” he said.

      “How much did you have to drink last night? Because that’s not your desk.”

      “Funny guy,” Seth said. He had his chair at just the right angle that he could see the front door of Megan’s building. He was confident that Megan had not yet arrived.

      Trey walked over to the windows. He sipped the coffee that he carried. “I’m glad we were able to help Abigail and Megan. That means a lot to Kellie. They both seem very nice.” He turned to look at Seth. “And Megan is really gorgeous.”

      “I guess,” Seth said. “But she may get me killed.”

      The amused look left Trey’s face. “What?”

      “Last night when I took her back to her hotel, shots were fired in our direction as we exited the cab.”

      “Holy hell. Did they get the shooter?”

      Seth shook his head. “Nope. And Megan said there was absolutely no reason that anybody would be shooting at her.”

      “You didn’t believe her?”

      He’d wrestled with that question during the night. “I don’t know. For one thing, the reason I was hired was because of concern about a competitor—J.T. Daly’s—wanting some revenge for North and More Designs besting them. But it doesn’t feel right. I did some research on them. By and large, they are a reputable company. There was a suspicion that they might have been involved in a questionable fire of another competitor but it wasn’t proven. And even if it’s true, burning down an empty warehouse is different than taking potshots at the executive team.”

      “So if not them, then who?” Trey asked.

      “I don’t know. And Megan claims not to, as well. But she said a few things that were kind of odd and it makes me think that there’s a story there.”

      “You going to initiate a background check on her?”

      They did that sometimes with new clients. A clause in their standard contract gave them that right. Bobby had done the quick check on her recent criminal history but Wingman Security had contacts who could dig deep. With a few clicks of his computer, he could initiate a background investigation that would tell him everything from her grammar school teachers to her shoe size.

      He’d know everything there was to know about Megan North. “I’ll think about it,” he said. “She has meetings today at the boutique. Made it clear that my services were not needed until we leave town late this afternoon.”

      “Yet you’re going to sit here all day and watch the street.”

      Seth shrugged. “I’m going to sit here until about two and then I’m going to go see my mom. And then swing back about four to get Megan.”

      “I’m going to be here all day,” Trey said. “Kellie has a girls-only baby shower. Come get me when you leave and I’ll work out of this space.”

      “I appreciate that,” Seth said.

      “Here’s what you’ll appreciate even more. I’m calling in a pizza order at noon.” Trey turned to walk out the room.

      “I would marry you if Kellie hadn’t beaten me to it,” Seth said, calling after him.

      Trey’s pithy response echoed back into the quiet conference room, making Seth smile. He really had the best partners in the whole world.

      A half hour later, Seth saw a car pull up and park in the no-parking zone in front of the boutique. He recognized it as the same one that Evan Chevalier had been driving the night before. He got up to get a better look but stayed back from view. Megan got out of the back seat. Her dress was a pale-yellow-and-white print that reminded him of his favorite lemon dessert. Her hair, which she’d worn long yesterday, was pulled up and in some kind of fancy bun on the top of her head.

      Evan Chevalier got out of the car, walked around the front, and opened the front passenger-side door. He helped his wife out. Then Abigail and Megan waited while Evan opened the trunk. The first bag he pulled out was a big suitcase that would never have fit into an overhead compartment. It was a rich-looking buttercream. The second was a matching garment bag that zipped up the front and had a wide leather strap. Classy. It was going to make his black same-as-everybody-else’s look almost shabby.

      Seth smiled when he saw the last thing that Evan removed from the trunk. Megan’s umbrella. She had said that she was going nowhere without it. Now she reached for it and tucked it under an arm. They were expecting rain today but it likely wouldn’t start until the afternoon. She reached for her other bags but Evan waved her away and grabbed for both.

      He watched as Megan unlocked the door and held it for her sister and brother-in-law. Then disappeared.

      Seth waited. Shallow breaths. Knowing that he was crazy but really unable to stop himself. He did not believe those gunshots last night were random. Regardless of the story that Megan was spinning.

      He didn’t breathe easy again until Evan came back outside five minutes later, got into his car and drove away. He sat back down to work. Twenty minutes later, a cab pulled up. Out got two men, both with gray hair. One was carrying a cardboard tube, like what an architect might use to carry around rolled blueprints. The other carried a laptop computer.

      Old school, new school.

      Old school knocked on the glass door. Megan opened it and shook both men’s hands. She was smiling. Then they were all inside.

      She was safe. She knew these people. He sat back down. Tried to work. Fifteen minutes later, he dialed her number.

      “Hello,” she said.

      “Hey, how’s it going?”

      “Fine.”

      “Yeah, uh, I was just checking on the time that I should pick you up? Was it four?”

      “Yes. At the boutique,” she said.

      She sounded fine. Certainly not under duress. Maybe a little puzzled that he’d forgotten.

      “Great. I’ll be there.” He hung up.

      He got busy. He had a lot to do. When Trey came in with pizza later, he pushed the paperwork aside. After his first piece, he sighed. “This is great. Thank you.”

      “All’s well across the street?” Trey asked.

      “Yeah. Megan and Abigail are inside meeting with two men. Architect. General contractor. Something like that.”

      “You want me to make up some excuse and go knock on the door, just to make sure everything is okay?” Trey asked.

      “I СКАЧАТЬ