Chase motioned for me to take a seat as he sat in his chair and stretched out his long legs. As it is my nature to study people I had yet to get a handle on Chase. His looks were strong. Dark brown hair cut short. Dark brown eyes — almost black — that didn’t miss a trick. I bet this man had done some hard living in his past. I had no idea how old he was. He gave the impression of youth, but yet his overall presence said strong, tough, and quick. He was not as he seemed and that was a puzzle to me. He cleared his throat and I quickly brought myself back from my study.
“Sir?”
“I asked if you wanted a soda or anything?”
“No thanks. I’m fine.”
“Well, good. Why don’t you tell me why you decided to play hide and seek from Mike and Sean the other night?”
“I don’t think it is any of your business, sir.”
“I beg to differ. They’re both Woo employees and I want to know what happened.”
I stared at Chase for a moment and then told him everything that had happened from the moment I was stood up to the moment I decked my attacker in the alley with the trash can lid.
“I see. How long did you study martial arts?”
“I haven’t studied martial arts. Not formally. A cop that I met in LA taught all of us kids at the shelter basic self-defense.”
“Why did you run away from home?”
“I thought I already had the job. I didn’t think I had to interview.” This was not the line of questioning I had in mind.
Chase smiled and rocked his chair back.
“Laney, the more I know about you the more I get an idea of what you’re capable of. But for now, I won’t push. I already ran an extensive background check on you. Over and above what Sean started when he thought you were a grifter. What happened to you in the past had bearing on who you are now. What you will do in the future is what I want to see. I hired you because I saw potential. Now, let’s get down to the heart of the reason you are here.” Chase reached into a drawer at his desk and drew out a large file wrapped in plastic and he handed it to me. “Open it up.”
I unwrapped the file. Inside was an ID badge, a key card, various papers and a beautiful silver watch. “Presents already?” I asked holding it up.
“No. It is our lifeline to you. Inside that watch is a state-of-the-art tracking device. No matter where you are we can track you, at least within the continental United States. You need to wear this at all times, Laney, especially on the job. It is water resistant and shock resistant. If you’re in trouble you push the bezel on the right side and it will let us know that you need help. It’s also a trade secret. Meaning, you do not go around telling everyone about it. Those who need to know already know. Life being what it is I am sure one day everyone and their brother will want one.”
“Why do I feel that I’ve somehow stepped into a James Bond film?” I commented, turning the watch over in my hand.
Chase laughed, “You aren’t far from it. I’ll be honest with you. In this business, you can and most likely will run into someone meaner and nastier than you are. If someone wants to get to whomever you are protecting — or you, for that matter — they will most likely stop at nothing to achieve their goal. This can be a dangerous job. Tommy was right to be concerned but he knows as well as I do that what we do is necessary.”
Chase stood up. “Scared?”
“Yes. A little.”
“Good. Now sign those papers so you can get paid and we’ll go downstairs to meet some very important people.” Chase handed me a pen and I read everything over. When I got to the details of my salary, I stopped and had to catch my breath. “Um, sir. Is this correct?” I asked pointing at the figure.
“Yes. Why? Not enough?”
“You have got to be kidding me. I haven’t made this much in all my years working. No, it’s fine. I just assumed that, well, regardless, thank you.” I signed it and handed it all back. I put on the watch and pocketed the badge and card key.
We left Chase’s office and headed to an elevator. We could go one floor up or down four levels. Jesus, how big is this place, I wondered?
On the third floor, I was shown the gym and practice rooms. The gym had every piece of weight or workout equipment known to man in it, along with several enclosed practice rooms that had every piece of what one might call ninja equipment; nunchaku, bokken, sai. It gave me pause to think just how much training went on here and what one would be training for.
In one of the rooms, Mason was going at it with a man twice her size. It was like watching a ballet — only this ballet could beat the living snot out of someone. It was fluid, flawless, and lethal. The man she was up against kept pushing her harder, and although she was covered in sweat she was smiling. Not a happy smile. No, it was more like a “come and get me” smile. Cocky, and all attitude; but her badass attitude was real. Mine was a façade meant to keep me shielded from anyone who would get close. I don’t think mine would have protected me near as well as hers would protect her.
We left that floor and went down one more level to a series of corridors. At the end of the first corridor was a set of doors with the nuclear waste symbol on the door. I looked a bit confused but Chase just shook his head with a smile and opened the door and motioned me in.
I had heard the words “Geek Twins” spoken at Muldoon’s but I hadn’t quite made the connection that they were real people. This large room had two huge desks that faced each other, one for each guy. One desk had three computers and another had two computers and some strange looking contraptions that were making buzzing noises. “Quick Dale, hide the games! It’s the Boss Man,” one of them said.
“Ha, ha.” Chase motioned to me. “Boys, I’d like to introduce Laney Murphy.”
Both of them stood up. One of them wiped his hands on his shirt. From their pocket protectors to their broken glasses they were the epitome of geek, and absolutely adorable. I smiled and extended my hand. “Hi.”
Both tried to shake my hand at once. “I’m Dale. This is Oliver.” I studied them for a minute and could not tell them apart. They were tall — over six feet — and all legs. They looked barely out of high school and each with unruly red hair and freckles.
“Sean was right,” Oliver said. “You are pretty.”
Sean had said that about me? Now that was a shocker.
“You available?” Dale asked. I started to say something but Chase stepped in first.
“Pocket the hormones boys. We need to set up her watch and key card.” I handed both to Dale. He slid the key card into one of the small machines on the desk. It seemed to read the card for a long moment, then imprinted it and spit it back out. I had seen something similar when I had worked on the boardwalk in Santa Cruz. The watch, though, was a different set up. They opened the back and attached a small wire to a tiny chip inside. Then Dale sat down and attached the other end of the small wire to a cable to his laptop and entered in a password, his fingers flying over the keyboard as he typed. In two minutes he detached the wires and handed the watch back to me. On his laptop screen he brought up a city grid that had many blinking red lights. “If I enter in your ID number, then your red light shows up here,” he said pointing to his screen. “Push the bezel.” I did and the screen changed from grid to a flashing screen that listed the exact coordinates of where I was. Chase’s pager went off as well as the twins’ pagers. “The computer also pages two other people. There is backup for the backup. Since you will be in training for a few weeks your partner will also be alerted if you are in trouble.”
“Who’s my partner?” I asked looking at Chase.
“I am,” he said with a sly smile.
I groaned and rolled my eyes but said nothing. Great. Just great. Well, I suppose it could have been worse. I could have gotten Sean or Mike.
“Now let’s get you a cubicle. Thank you, gentleman.” Chas
e said and opened the door.
“Nice meeting you, Laney,” both boys said in unison. I nodded and followed Chase out. “Excuse me, sir?”
“Laney, I may be older than you but every time you call me ‘sir’ I keep wanting to look for my father. Chase. One name. It’s easy.”
“Yes, sir.” I said with a straight face. “Why are you my trainer? I mean partner?”
“Well for two reasons. One, is that I promised Tommy that I would see to you personally. It was truly the only way to get him to get over his reluctance and to let you do this. Now hang on,” Chase said at my noise of protest. “Tommy takes his role of,” Chase stopped for a moment and seemed to be readjusting what he had intended to say.
“What? You were going to say something.”
“I was just going to say that Tommy feels protective of you. It’s his nature and he would feel it’s duty to try and stop you from getting into trouble. But you and I both know he couldn’t stop you from doing what you wanted to do. He just needed the reassurance.” We had gotten in the elevator and were heading to the top floor. I knew Chase didn’t say what he had intended to say. This was not the first time I had felt that people were holding back around me. That something wasn’t being said. But before I could ask, though, Chase continued on with his reasons for being my temporary keeper.
“Reason two is that two of my best trainers seem to have taken a liking to you and although there are no rules against fraternization in the company, and I am sure they both would behave professionally, I felt it best to let the air clear between the three of you first. And finally, I need the exercise.” I looked at the additional buttons on the elevator wall, “What’s down at the bottom, sir?”
“Communications. You are not cleared to go down there. It requires an authorized key card. We deal with some sensitive products here as well as view sensitive areas not open for viewing to the, excuse the term, common public. It is Dallas’s domain. Have you met him yet?”
“This morning.”
“If he asks you about your underwear ignore him. You’ll find that we are a little offbeat here and don’t follow the normal standards set by many companies. Our backgrounds are as diverse as bounty hunters to MIT graduates. There might even be a hacker or two employed here. We’re a close-knit group with a common goal of protecting those who need it. If you have a problem with someone, you take it up with them. If it can’t be solved then you can go to Mike, Sean, or me.”
We stepped off the elevator on the top floor. “This is where Tim Woo’s office is, as well as Mason’s and the cafeteria.” Chase pointed to a set of glass doors to the left of the offices.
“Do I get to meet Tim Woo or is he a myth?”
Chase snickered. “Oh he’s real enough, but he loves to be called a myth or a ghost. Tim is currently in Seattle. We’re expanding our offices to that area.”
I almost lost track of what Chase was saying. A wonderful smell had reached my nose and was permeating my brain. This place even had a cafeteria?
Chase smiled and pointed to the doors to my right.
“If you eat here, you use your key card and it’s deducted from your pay. There are a few places around the neighborhood that are good but the cafeteria has some terrific food. When you are in the office you get an hour for lunch. When you are in the field you are on your own for food or even time to go to the bathroom.”
I followed Chase through the glass double doors to the right and my stomach growled in appreciation. Long glass cases were filled with food. You could get deli sandwiches, pastas, salads, fruits of every type, baked goods, and the dessert case alone was staggering. “Why would anyone go anywhere else?” I commented as my mouth watered at the fresh blueberry muffins.
“You know, I ask myself the same thing.” He smiled.
I was usually a bottomless pit when it came to food. My metabolism ran high and I sometimes had trouble keeping up with it.
I must have looked a bit overwhelmed. Hell, I was overwhelmed. I had never seen a company like this. Chase just patted me on the back and we went back down to the cubicles. Chase had a meeting to go to so I was handed over to a young woman named Mindy with bright pink, spiky hair.
“Come on, Laney. I’ll get you squared away at your desk and online and I won’t even ask you about how it felt to deck Sean.” I had to laugh. It was going to be one hell of an experience working here.
I spent the rest of the morning learning the computer system. Not hard just tedious. At noon a handful of daisies fell on my lap as Mike came around the cubicle. “You ready?”
“No.”
“Okay, I’ll wait.”
I turned around in my chair and stood up. “You can wait until hell freezes over, Mike. I am not going to lunch with you.”
“Why not? I’m a great guy.” He flashed me a charming smile. His eyes said he knew he was full of it.
“Because.”
“Well that’s a good reason. I like ‘because.’ But I think you’re afraid of me.” Mike leaned his hip against the desk. “I think you felt something the other night when I almost kissed you. I would have kissed you had Sean not interrupted us.” Mike had slowly been sliding along the edge of my desk until he had me almost pinned against the wall.
I sighed, “I think that you are entirely full of yourself and I am not afraid of you.”
“Prove it.”
“I don’t have to prove anything to you.”
“Good, then let’s go. I’m hungry.” He stepped back and turned to walk out of the cubicle, then looked back at me.
His voice softened. “Laney, it’s only lunch. I just want a chance to get to know you.” Of course he did. I was being silly. Other than being very late for our first date he had really done nothing wrong.
“You’re right. I’m being silly.” As I walked out of the cubicle, Sean came walking down the hall toward me. He stopped in front of me ignoring Mike. “Laney, can I have a word with you?”
“I am going to lunch right now. Maybe later?” Sean glared at Mike. “Sure. Fine. As you wish, your highness,” and he walked off toward the elevator.
I stood there watching him walk away and shook my head. “For the life of me I can’t figure him out. I just don’t get it.”
Mike took my hand, a thoughtful look on his face. “You really don’t understand do you?”
“No. I don’t.”
Mike just smiled and tugged me along toward the front door. “So apparently you understand what Sean’s problem is. Do you care to explain it to me?” I was really becoming quite exasperated.
“Nope,” Mike said with a sly laugh.
“Why not?”
“Because, Laney my love, some things are best kept a mystery until it is time to solve them.”
“Argghhh.” I tried pulling my hand free of his, but he only tightened his grasp. “You people are going to drive me nuts!”
Mike laughed harder and pulled me along after him.
Chapter Seven
When I returned from lunch most of the cubicles were empty, so I took a few minutes to just sit and take stock of my new place in life. Sitting on my desk was a vase with a pink rose in it. No note as to who it was from. It smelled lovely so I said thanks out loud hoping the deliverer would hear it if they were around. Also on my desk were my business cards. I pulled one from the stack and looked at it. I felt like jumping up and down and yelling, “I’m somebody! I’m somebody!” I kept quiet because I didn’t think anyone else would understand, and they’d start to consider me nuts. I had never held a job that gave me a place or reason to be proud. Dishwashers hardly warrant a business card; neither do janitors.
Laney Murphy, the card said. I found an envelope and quickly addressed it to Officer Chen. I looked up the address in Los Angeles and hoped he might be pleased and in a small way I had hoped he’d be prou
d. It meant something to me for him to be proud of what I had finally accomplished.
I had always felt I owed him for helping me. I found a stamp and placed it in the outgoing mailbox.
When I got back to my desk Chase was waiting for me and for the next three weeks he barely gave me time to breathe. Three hours a day, Chase put me through the ringer in evaluating my previous training in self-defense. The man had moves I’d never seen before. If Mason was a panther, Chase was a snake. But he also had an incredible amount of patience, which he needed when he pushed me too hard and too far and I let my temper take over. The only person that usually got hurt — or at the very least slammed on the mat — was me. Time and time again he cautioned me about letting my anger take over.
Then I had weapons evaluation. All Woo employees had to be trained to use a handgun. “You will be licensed to carry a concealed weapon but most of the time you won’t carry one. There have been times that one is necessary, though,” Chase told me.
Then there was the technical end of it all. Although I wasn’t installing alarm systems I still had to know them inside and out. So when I could dredge up the energy, I was studying schematics on alarms and surveillance systems of every type, Woo-manufactured or otherwise. This meant I got to spend time with Dallas. I felt hesitant at first. The man had a voice like warm honey with that New Orleans accent of his, and he was smoother than silk. He exuded a strong sexual vibe and yet his exuberance for his job was almost kid-in-a-toy-store. He and Mindy worked together most of the time. I never would have guessed they were friends but they were thick as thieves. Mindy was punk, goth, and outrageous, Dallas was sultry and loved setting up pranks like a high school kid. When it came to surveillance he was bonkers for the stuff. He had microphones planted all over the place. At first I thought this was a bit extreme, but he mostly did it to test out any of his latest inventions. I was sitting at my desk one day when I found one of his mini cams, neatly nestled inside a rose. My mysterious rose deliverer still left me a rose once a week. It varied in time or day but it was always a pink one and always delivered when I was away from my desk. Dallas had offered to set up a camera to catch them but I told him no. I had no ideas as to who it was and since I was enjoying them I saw no reason to stop them. That is, until week number four when they stopped.
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