Nerds in Force

by D. R. Grady

  This is a bad idea… The voice of reason cautioned her and she wrestled for control of herself all over again.

  It took a moment of near fumbling before she started the video. She had recorded it with her phone, so the quality wasn’t bad. She lowered the sound because it had been loud there. “One thing I’d prefer is if we can buy something better quality that doesn’t make as much racket. Our employees don’t need to add deafness to other possible health ailments in later years.”

  They supplied ear plugs but whether that equipment was utilized she didn’t know.

  He nodded, intent on the screen. She wondered what went though his mind as he consumed what it took to make sugar cane.

  When the video ended he nodded. “Can we see it again?”

  “Of course.” She tapped a button and the video replayed.

  When it finished Keith rummaged in a drawer and removed a pad and pen. He jotted a few things onto the pad then asked about specific parts of the video. She found them and showed each in order. He added to the notes on the pad.

  “Okay, I think I have what I need. What equipment are you considering?”

  She tapped a tab she already had open. “This one, this one, and this one.”

  He selected one of the options. “This one isn’t made to do what you need it to do.”

  “Oh good. We can cross that one off the list.” She closed that tab with relief.

  Keith took his time reading about the merits of the other two. “Both of these will work.” His eyes narrowed. “I don’t think we can make a decision without some measurements though.”

  “Is one better than the other?”

  He thought about her question. “Yes and no. One will work better in a more confined space. While the other will work best in an open, large area.”

  “What you’re saying is we need to visit the processing plant.”

  “I can make the most practical decision based on the measurements.”

  Hmm, well now they had an activity for the weekend. Only … a work visit and not in the least romantic.

  She suppressed a sigh.

  Chapter 12

  The next morning she and Keith left the house after the sun came up. Actually, by the time they finally left, it neared nine. Everyone had questions, suggestions, and comments but in the end Harlow decided only she and Keith should head to the processing plant.

  Harlow looked forward to the break far more than she should.

  She hadn’t resorted to fighting with her roommates but totally understood why Chad needed a bolt hole, even as an adult. It did make sense to have a place where you could collect your thoughts. Keith had his own room.

  The women weren’t so lucky. She did have her office space but then she felt compelled to work.

  Keith accelerated through the intersection and headed toward the manufacturing part of town. She leaned forward to scrutinize the buildings Horgate owned. Her grandfather hadn’t been as interested in keeping up the buildings. Harlow had been adamant that they do so a few years ago and now she surveyed the results.

  People wanted to take pride in what they did and where they worked. If the place was rundown it didn’t make them proud to work there. It also lowered the value of the buildings and those surrounding them. She had changed that. While out and about in the various buildings she had witnessed a subtle change in morale.

  Well-maintained businesses also prompted their employees to keep their own environment tidy and she had seen plenty of evidence of that as well. They used the trash cans and picked up discarded items that blew into the hedges and shrubs without being asked.

  The Horgate holdings they passed made her proud before they pulled into the deserted parking lot of the sugar processing plant.

  Keith parked the vehicle in the space closest to the entrance door. Not because they couldn’t walk but for the added cover.

  He glanced around the lot. “There are handicap spots and one for the employee of the month, but there are no executive or other fancy parking spots.”

  “No. I saw no reason for the execs who already enjoy so many perks not shared by our hardworking employees to have the closest parking. I did away with those. Some of the executives could use the exercise anyway.” She glanced around the lot. “I am going to have a few expectant mother spots added though. We have a few women who are pregnant and they sure could use a closer space.”

  He nodded. “That’s kind.”

  She glanced at him. “Maybe. But I’ve seen some of those women try to walk. Their center of gravity is totally off. They will appreciate closer parking.”

  “When is this going into effect?”

  “Next week. I arranged for it earlier this week.” Before her house had burned down. She therefore no longer had the paper details but had sent copies to the right people so hopefully that would all come together.

  Harlow, along with Keith, checked out every part of the grounds and building before they left the vehicle. Just because they couldn’t see anyone didn’t mean someone wasn’t lurking around a corner or on a rooftop with a long-range rifle.

  She breathed in the space, taking in more than the scents of the plant and surrounding area. Harlow watched for shadows, other scents, other awarenesses of what didn’t belong. Nothing pinged her senses. She darted a look to Keith, who also appeared satisfied.

  They headed to the front door. She set her badge on the reader and used her fingertip to activate the door.

  It clicked as the latch released and she entered the lobby, Keith on her heels. But she didn’t go forward until the door once again latched behind them. Then she reset the alarm with the code that allowed them to be inside the building. That way it wouldn’t shriek when the motion detectors noticed them walking about.

  She headed to the processing part of the facility in the back and to the side.

  “You know your way around here.” Keith’s comment made her pause in donning the hairnet and protective gear they required people to wear in the processing area.

  “Of course I do. I’ve been in and out of this place and all of our other facilities since childhood.” She finished her preparations. “This legacy has been instilled in me since I was small.” She gestured toward the actual manufacturing area.

  “You’ve been groomed for this position since your youth.”

  “There was never any question. Granddad noticed my temperament from the onset and thought I’d do nicely to help my dad. My father also noted this. When Chad’s difficulties made themselves known they knew for certain that I was the heir.”

  “What happened after your father disappeared?”

  She suppressed a sigh as she led an identically clad Keith into the part of the facility where the current equipment resided. He carried a tape measure and a notepad to jot notes. She guessed she’d be jotting those notes but she could also take measurements.

  “My father’s death meant that Granddad would have to stay on longer and I’d have to step up sooner. Neither of us expected that.”

  “If anything happens to you…”

  “I’ve taken steps to ensure that two of my cousins will take over. They’re both well suited to the role and but they’re both still in business school.”

  “It sounds like you’ve been in the CEO position for a long time.” Keith mentioned this almost as an aside as he took in the equipment that while clean and ready to go still showed its age.

  She stiffened but then thought further on his comment. “I’ve been the CEO-in-waiting. While not troubleshooting for the company, I’ve helped Grandy make decisions and have taken up the slack as he’s shown obvious signs of wanting to retire.”

  “Meaning you’ve worked two jobs.”

  Harlow thought further on his take of her situation. “I don’t know about that. I’ve had plenty to do but not to the point of being overwhelmed.” At least not until now.

  She didn’t admit this, of course.

  “Seems obvious to me you’ve picked up the slack for one high lev
el position while also working another high-stress job.” He did shoot her a speaking glance before he started taking measurements.

  Keith called out the numbers and told her the part name which she noted beside the measurement.

  By the time he reeled in the tape measure and nodded to himself they had a good idea of the size of the machinery in question.

  “Do you have what you need?” She handed him the notepad.

  He read the numbers, added a few additional notations on the pad and then walked around everything again. As though getting a feel for the space and the size. His big hand nearly swallowed the pen. She noticed that he favored his left hand. Most of them in this business could use either hand but all of them had a slightly more dominant one.

  Keith didn’t answer her question.

  Harlow leaned against the bulky part of the machinery and watched him. The man could be used as an icon for what a male of their species should look like.

  “I’m done. We’ve got exactly what we need.”

  Oh good, this field trip had been successful then. Mission accomplished. So why did she feel slightly deflated?

  §

  Keith followed Harlow out of the plant, once again enjoying the symmetry and motion of her body. No other woman moved like this one. Or maybe he just had never paid attention before. She had certainly captured his attention. From day one and the affliction appeared to be growing worse.

  He valued how she stopped within the relative safety of the doorway to assess their surroundings, trusting no one or their environment. She inspected all of the same points he did, watched for the exact same tells he searched for, and listened for the identical cues. Not many women were trained to this level. Not many men were, for that matter.

  Once they mutually decided it was safe to climb into his vehicle he brought this interesting subject up with her. “You have the same skills as Verity or me but you never served in the military or worked as a secret operative?”

  “I mentioned on Monday that I was trained by a former secret operative.”

  “I remember now.” He frowned. “How did you manage to convince one of those to train you?”

  “I paid him, obviously.” Harlow refastened her hair on top of her head. Her motions slow and easy, less likely to draw fire, because that tenet had been drilled into her.

  “How does one go about discovering that sort of trainer?”

  “I needed the training for my job as a trouble shooter.” She hesitated. “My father found him.”

  “How soon after this did your dad disappear?”

  “A few months? We had enough evidence to conclude that he had been murdered. I have never believed that he left us or got amnesia. He was murdered.” Her voice softened into cold, deadly tones.

  The hairs on his arms rose. In a good way. In a manner that told him he was fooling himself if he didn’t admit that this woman fired all of his engines.

  Then he thought about what she had said and added the new marker to the timeline in his head. “You realized if someone had killed your father they might attempt to kill you or someone else in your family.”

  “Yes, that’s what upped my training. I needed certain skills for my job as a troubleshooter, then my great-grandfather died of an extremely aggressive onset of dementia. He died maybe a year after my dad was suddenly taken from us. Those upped my need for as many skills as I could obtain.”

  “You’ve never found your father’s body?”

  “No. With no body we had no way of proving he was murdered.”

  “Savannah and Eric’s father also disappeared and they’ve never found his body either.” He wanted to pound something. It’d been so easy to blame Horgate Industries. Yet Harlow’s experience was so eerily close to his siblings’ that they couldn’t do so. In fact, hers had been worse as her grandfathers had both been targeted as well with one of them succumbing to the poison and the other summarily removed from the island.

  Then she’d been targeted three times by a killer. Both of them were convinced that other SUV had tried to run them off the road yesterday. Regardless of it being a rental. That spot had claimed more than one life and a few of those instances had revealed suspicious marks on the road and in the foliage that grew up the cliff face. The police never came right out and said it had been murder but anyone with some military or law enforcement training could read the story in the clues left behind.

  “Yes, they also lost their father. A man who Savannah’s mother would never speak about. Then she loses her mother due to,” she made air quotes, “’natural causes’ while in our offices. I only just learned of that death because I have delved much deeper into an investigation of all the deaths of Horgate employees.”

  “That’s why whoever is targeting you is doing it so hardcore.”

  Her sigh was nearly silent. “Yes. I understand I made myself a target. I’m tech savvy but not to the extent that Chad is. He’s much more adept at avoiding the traps and triggers that I must have sprung.”

  She gazed ahead of them before continuing. “However, I am not going to set this investigation aside. These are our employees and I will not allow their deaths to go without justice.” The fierceness in her voice resonated in ways he didn’t have the words to describe.

  “The way you worded this indicates you have allowed that some of these instances are probably through natural causes.”

  “Several of our employees have passed from cancer. We lost one in childbirth, which is rare, and another was hiking with friends and did something foolhardy. He died through negligence on his own part.” She rubbed a hand along her thigh. “We can rule out those sorts of deaths. A few have died at sea or from the direct impact of storms. I also crossed those off the suspicious list.”

  “That makes sense.” As they conversed they had remained parked. Now he turned on the engine and drove out of the parking lot. Keith kept diligent at watching everything around them. Harlow didn’t relax her vigilance either. Her eyes roved at the same rate as his.

  When they traversed the same dangerous curve from yesterday he relaxed because of two cars ahead of them and three behind. Too many witnesses meant no professional would try to shove them over the side today.

  Despite that reasoning, Harlow continued to note everything around them.

  The only other woman he knew who kept up this level of surveillance and who commanded his respect was Verity. Over the years he had grown concerned at not being attracted to Verity. He’d begun to question whether something was wrong with him.

  All those worries fled out the window upon introduction to Harlow. He readily admitted, with a copious amount of relief, that he definitely was attracted to her.

  Not that he intended to tell her that. She had plenty going on and Keith had always been known for his timing. Those who had worked with him in the past had described his timing as bordering on the paranormal.

  No need to break that stellar record.

  Besides, Harlow kept things close and closed off. He also had no desire to learn that his attraction wasn’t mutual.

  Chapter 13

  The next morning Harlow headed downstairs to obtain a much needed cup of coffee. Keith hadn’t decided yet which equipment to buy, because he said he wanted time to think about their options.

  This left her blinking. Wasn’t the decision fairly clear cut now they had those measurements? Since she had no idea, she left the decision to Keith’s engineering skill. When she commented on the side to Eric about Keith waiting, he had laughed in an ominous way. He further confused her when he patted her arm and said, “Ah, you’ve encountered Keith’s dark side.”

  “His dark side?” This sounded terrible and she was sure she didn’t want to go there.

  “Not dark, perhaps, but the frustrating side. He tends to think everything over from every perspective, weighing all options and the consequences.” Eric wasn’t unsympathetic. “He rarely gives an immediate answer. It tends to be a day or so later.”

  “Okay.” But
she didn’t know if that’s how she felt or not. Harlow’s method, according to her family, was full steam ahead, and get out of her way.

  On her descent to the kitchen she acknowledged that bringing Keith on could be interesting… For everyone else.

  She stepped to the coffee maker and soon had the elixir in hand. Then she settled at the counter to watch breakfast preparations. Keith and his mother already had the meal under way. They had said good morning but their focus was on the food sizzling in front of them.

  The coffee tasted especially good this morning and she made a mental note to try this one again. It went down far too easily as she enjoyed watching the massive man’s gentleness toward his mother. Harlow had met many men over the years. She couldn’t remember ever meeting one as large as Keith Monnette.

  He must be pushing giant status if he wasn’t already there. She missed being labeled tall because she only enjoyed average height but she clocked in at the upper end at least. If she was so inclined, she was tall enough to model. Then she remembered her overt curves and average looks.

  Too curvy, not pretty enough, and not interested seemed like good enough reasons to reject modeling.

  The twins entered the room and after obtaining coffee perched on the stools on either side of her.

  “No.” She rejected this awful configuration immediately and moved to the other side of Finn.

  “What?” Gage tried for offended, but she’d been a member of this family long enough to know sitting on either side of these hecklers never turned out well. For her.

  “Wise.” Keith nodded in approval as he expertly flipped potatoes in the huge skillet he manned.

  His mother worked on what might be eggs. Harlow couldn’t see clearly enough into her skillet. The griddle held sausages and what she hoped were the meatless variety. She’d eat whatever, of course.