by Amy Star
“I’ll be fine,” Ava assured him. “I’m sure I’ll just spend the day working and resting up from yesterday. I still have clothes to hang.”
Eli slipped his finger under the strap of her dress and smiled. “It was worth it. You look amazing.”
“I feel amazing. And these shoes are crazy comfortable. I’m glad you talked me into it.”
He pulled her into his arms as the horn sounded again. “I hope to talk you into a lot more when I get home tonight,” he said, kissing her quickly, then hurrying out the door.
He waved as he got into the passenger seat, then closed the door and settled in. “You’re a little impatient this morning, Gideon,” Eli said.
“How did you explain who was picking you up?”
“Rental car company so I could leave her the Q3.”
Gideon smiled. “Smooth.”
“It was,” he said. “If you’ll drop me off at the rental place on Conveyor, I’ll grab the car I reserved and meet you at the office.”
“Sounds good, Boss,” Gideon said, his Jersey accent barely noticeable. “The background checks on everyone at the firm are in the glovebox there. Everyone comes back clean, even McBride. Their IT guy is the only one I’m worried about.”
“Were you able to get the details of his service?”
“No. That’s why I’m worried. Matt Lewis is a ghost, which only means one thing. How a man like that ended up working IT for McBride industries is beyond me.”
“Everyone needs a job when they get out of the military. Elite Forces is no different.” He cleared his throat, going through the background checks while Gideon drove. His eyes were still on the reports when he decided to lay his cards on the table. “I’m going to let you run this one, see if you’re ready to lead the team on your own.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“I am. It’s time I stepped back and let things run without having to be in the thick of it.”
“You’ve been saying that for years.”
“I know, but this time, I have a reason to walk away. I still step in when I have to, but after this one, I’m not going out in the field anymore.”
Gideon looked at him. “Wow, you’re really serious.”
“I am. I spent months vetting each of you before I brought you on, and I know I can trust every one of you to uphold the integrity of everything I worked so hard for. I don’t need the money, and the thrill isn’t there for me anymore.”
Gideon smiled. “This lady has got you thinking of settling down for good, huh?”
“She does. And once the baby comes, I can’t be leaving her for weeks on end. If I do that, I might as well let her go now and visit the kid when I can.”
“Like your father?” Gideon offered.
“Right. And we all know how that ended up. I don’t want that for our child. I want to be there, all the way there.”
“I get you, Boss.”
Eli laughed. “You’ll have to quit calling me that,” he teased. “It’s going to look pretty odd having the team leader calling me Boss.”
“And what about this job? How are we going to run it since McBride already knows you?”
“I’m going to introduce you as my chief software engineer and I’ll stick around like I always do. The men have already got this down, so from the outside, it isn’t going to look like anything. Just do what you normally do, and I’ll instruct the men to follow your lead.” He laughed. “Who knows, I might even take a day off here and there.”
“Now that would be something,” Gideon said, chuckling. “Here’s your stop. Do you need me to wait until you have your car?”
“No. I already did everything online, so I should be right behind you.”
“Alright. I’ll see you there.”
Eli got out of the car and walked into the small trailer office, pulling out his wallet. “I reserved a car online,” he said, handing the man a credit card.
The man smiled. “The Jaguar F-Pace for Logan Jones, right?”
“Yes.”’
“Alright,” the man said, taking the credit card with way too much exuberance for seven in the morning. “I’ll need to see an ID and proof of insurance.”
“I’ve already added your insurance to it.”
“Right, right,” the man said, looking at his ID and handing both cards back. “Well then, I guess you’re all set, Mr. Jones. Enjoy the drive.”
He handed Eli the keys and pointed him in the right direction even though the lot was small, and he’d already laid eyes on the SUV near the front. Eli got into the navy-blue vehicle and back onto the road within minutes of Gideon dropping him off.
They arrived at McBride at nearly the same time, parking in the guest spots and heading in together.
“Logan,” Gideon said with a nod.
“Chad,” Eli said. “You ready?”
“I’m always ready.”
Mia Finley met them at the door, arms wrapped around a heavy binder, her skirt shorter than seemed business friendly. She balanced the binder in one arm and stuck her hand out to Gideon. “Mia Finley,” she said. “And you are?”
“Chad. Chad Wright.”
“Mr. Wright,” she said, her tone slightly flirtatious. “I hope you take advantage of how perfect that is.”
Gideon laughed. “I’ve been known to get creative with it,” he said, then he looked at Eli and cleared his throat. “Sorry, what I meant was, nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“Call me Mia.” She handed a clip-on ID badge to Eli. “Here’s your badge. Yours is the only one with your name and picture, but I have visitor badges for your men. Just make sure you’re nearby or available by phone while they’re here.”
“I will. Chad here is my chief software engineer, so you’re going to be seeing a lot of him.”
She smiled, looked Gideon up and down and winked. “Glad to hear it.”
Before either man could react, she’d turned, leaving them to follow her into the basement of the building where the mainframe was kept. She used a key to open the elevator door, then walked into the hallway and opened another door with her badge. “This is where the main unit is kept. In the back is Matt’s office. Feel free to use it while you’re here this weekend.”
“Will he mind?” Eli asked.
Mia chuckled. “Mr. McBride forced him to take his accrued vacation time. He’ll be back in a week, which should give you plenty of time to do what you need to do without that ridiculous posturing.”
“I wasn’t bothered by it, but it will be nice to work without him breathing down my guys’ necks.”
“That’s what we figured.” She handed him the binder. “Here’s everything you should need to get started. Do you know when you’ll start looking at individual computers?”
“About an hour. That part won’t be too bad. We’ll have everyone back their computers up on an external drive just in case some of the older computers crash, then after everything is set up, we’ll make sure their files are loaded back onto the computers.”
“What will happen to the ones that crash?”
“They’ll have to be removed and replaced. There are usually a couple computers that can’t handle the software in each department. We work the average amount of replacements into the price of services, so it’s not too big of a deal. You just might have a couple people go home early on a Friday if their computers crash during the diagnostic.”
“They’ll go home with pay, so I’m sure they won’t mind. McBride is already closing up by two today. He figured it would be easier for you if the office cleared out a few hours early. Then there’s the added benefit of having everyone excited over three hours of pay and an early start to their weekend. What will you do with the defunct computers?”
“We wipe them clean before we dispose of them, and McBride will be billed for any upgrades beyond the typical number.”
She smiled. “Makes sense to ensure you don’t end up footing the bill to replace an entire office full of crap computers. Are you certa
in that everything will be scrubbed from them before disposal?”
Gideon gave the woman a winning grin. “We’re good at what we do, ma’am- I mean, Mia. That’s why we come so highly rated. Once we’re through with them, there won’t be a hint of McBride left behind.”
“Good,” she said. “Alright, I’ll leave y’all to it. I’ll pop by the security desk and let them know you may be moving computers so they don’t panic.”
“Thank you,” Gideon said.
Mia left, the elevator almost silent as it began its ascent.
“Laying that charm on real thick,” Eli said.
“She made it easy,” Gideon said.
“Mr. Wright,” Eli said, shaking his head. “I almost couldn’t keep a straight face.”
“Did you get a camera count yet?” Gideon asked, switching gears.
“I counted ten, you?”
“Ten.”
Gideon dialed his phone then put it back in his pocket, speaking through the tiny cordless Bluetooth in his ear when Jameson picked up. “We’re ready for a loop,” he said, taking his place at one of the server boards, covering the camera’s view of his hands while Eli stepped in front of one of the computers and began to type.
“We’re a go in three, two, one,” Jameson said, then there was silence for almost a minute before Jameson gave them the all clear.
“You’re a magician,” Gideon said.
“Piece of cake,” Jameson told him. “You have eleven minutes, then the feed will be live again.”
“Thanks,” Gideon said, then hung up and smiled at Eli. “He makes it look so easy.”
“That he does,” Eli said. Eli set his watch timer for ten minutes, and they went to work.
They finished uploading everything to their private server, then went back to their positions seconds before the timer went off. They busied themselves, their movements blending seamlessly with the end of the video loop Jameson had recorded and fed to the security monitors, their technique so finetuned that even the most attentive guard wouldn’t notice the switch from recorded to live feed.
When they were sure they were live again, they finished up and grabbed their bags, taking the elevator to the second floor, and Gideon introduced himself to the department manager. The man looked surprised, then remembered the memo he’d received, nodding profusely and leading the two of them to the first desk. Eli listened as Gideon explained the process to the small group of employees, asking them to write down passwords, then sending them on a break while they worked. They were done quickly, ending the group with the department manager’s computer.
“Has your computer been running slow?” Gideon asked from behind the man’s desk while Eli skillfully kept the man where he couldn’t see the screen without him realizing it.
“A little. Sometimes it freezes for an instant, but if I clear my recycle bin and defrag my hard drive, it usually straightens out.”
“You have a virus,” Gideon said. “And there’s not nearly enough memory to run the new program.”
“What do I do?”
“Nothing, but we’re going to have to take this computer to be scrubbed and replace it with newer model.”
“Is that going to be okay?”
Eli nodded. “We have authorization, and replacement is part of the pricing plan. Don’t worry. McBride knows that there will be a few computers that don’t pass muster, and he’s already told us to send those people home.”
The man looked nervous. Gideon smiled. “He assured us that is with pay.”
He let out a large breath, clearly relieved. “Good. I was afraid my hours might get cut.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that.”
“I won’t,” the man said, taking the jacket and briefcase that Gideon handed him from behind the desk. “I could use a day off.”
The man hurried out of the room before they could change their mind, clearly happy to have won the bum computer lottery. Eli and Gideon exchanged sheepish smiles, both shaking their heads.
“There’s always one,” Eli said.
“There is, and I’m glad, because they’re never involved. I feel good about letting him go.”
Eli nodded, then checked his watch and motioned toward the door. “Let’s get moving. We have a lot to get done before the staff leaves at two, and we still have three floors to go.”
Gideon attached the external drive, which downloaded the entire contents of the computer. Then, he uploaded a program that would scrub the hard drive clean and pushed start. The timer indicated that they had nearly an hour before the computer would be wiped clean, though they both new that the program was only making it appear that the hard drive was being erased. Without the software back at the apartment that was serving as their home base, any attempt to access the files would yield nothing.
“Hopefully, the rest of the afternoon will be this uneventful,” Gideon said as they moved to the next department.
“I wouldn’t count on it,” Eli said wryly.
“I never do.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Ava was putting the finishing touches on dinner when she heard Eli’s tires on the gravel. She set the plates out on the farm style table, then brought the food to the dinner table just before Eli walked into the house.
“Something smells fantastic,” he said, swinging her into his arms and kissing her. He moaned. “Oh, how I missed you today,” he said.
“I was too busy working to miss you,” she teased. He arched an eyebrow at her, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “But I missed you anyway.”
He set his things down on the table by the door and followed her to the dining room. “Wow,” he said. “You really went all out.”
“I went grocery shopping and I decided to make you my specialty. It’s linguine with homemade alfredo, bread sticks and Italian salad.”
“It looks amazing,” he said, taking a seat and waiting for her to get comfortable to take his first bite. When he did, he closed his eyes, savoring the moment with a heavy sigh. “Those fancy Italian Restaurants have nothing on you. Ava, this is delicious.”
“Thank you. I’m glad you like it. It’s weird, but I had tons of energy today. Maybe I’ve turned a corner and that glow and motivation I’ve heard so much about is finally happening for me.”
He took her hand from across the table, his touch sending the butterflies flying in her stomach. “It’s nice to see you happy and feeling better. I could tell you were beyond exhausted before, though I know better than to tell a lady she looks like she needs a nap.”
He kissed the palm of her hand, then released her. An almost imperceptible shudder rushed through her, the tenderness of his touch heightening her senses.
“I hope you feel like cooking often,” he said, finishing the last of his meal and standing to collect the dishes.
“Me too,” she said, then stood to help, but he stopped her.
“You cook, I clean.”
“But when you cooked at the ranch, you cleaned then, too.”
He shrugged. “I guess no matter what, I’ll clean.”
“You could hire a housekeeper.”
“I don’t think I could find someone that I trust like Bonnie. I’ve known Bonnie my entire life, and I trust her completely. I’m not really one to invite strangers into my home.”
“You invited me,” she countered.
“You invited me first.”
“Touché, but if I’m here, it shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
“I’ll think about it. I can clean my own home, so there’s really no need, and you don’t need to do anything if you don’t feel up to it. The only reason I hired Bonnie was because jobs are scarce on the mountain, and I am gone so much. It’s just easier to have someone that’s always there while I’m traveling for work.”
“I’ve been thinking about that a lot. I’m glad I came with you this time, but I don’t know how much I’ll be able to travel with you. And when our child goes to school, I don’t want to uproot our family for a few w
eeks at a time, but kids can’t miss that much school.”
“You don’t have to worry about that.”
“But I do worry about it. What kind of family life is this if you’re only home a few months a year?”
“That’s why I said you don’t have to worry about it. This is my last job out of town. After this, I’m going to step into a consulting role and maybe drum up business now and then, but I have men that work for me, and they’re ready to take the reins.” The pain was evident in his eyes as he thought back to his childhood. “My father worked until the day he died, amassing more money than I could spend in one lifetime. He left me millions, but I don’t have a single photo of us that wasn’t taken at a studio. When my mom passed away, I had a lifetime of good memories and pictures that I cherish. But my dad, it was like he was never there. I don’t want that for our child. I don’t want our child to look back at family photo albums and realize that I’m not in any of the vacation pictures because I was too busy working. That’s not the kind of father I want to be.”
“I’m happy to hear that, because all the romance between us wouldn’t mean a thing if you were going to spend the best years of your life missing out on making memories.”
“I’m not fool enough to think you’d stick around on that mountain if I was never there. You might last a while, but then you’d be thinking about how full your life was before, and how I could just as easily visit you once a month if you lived in Omaha. I don’t want to risk it. This baby is important to me.” He gathered her into his arms and held her tight. “You are important to me. I’m going to do everything I can to make you happy, and that includes working from home more than I’m gone.”
“But you still might be gone?”
“I’ll try not to, but I won’t be gone longer than two days at a time. You have my word on that.” He smiled. “And I don’t know if you’ve thought about this yet, but I can send a plane for Zoey at any time. Hell, if she wants to move to the mountain and work in paradise, I’ll be more than happy to build her a guest house.”
“Are you serious?” she asked, truly shocked. “Zoey is a bit much at times.”