Alex stood with two cups of coffee and a bag from a bagel shop she loved. “I hope you’re hungry. I went out and made a run for breakfast. I brought you two of your favorite bagels—cinnamon and blueberry.
Rebecca’s stomach gurgled as she stepped to the side. “I can’t believe it’s seven already. I feel like I just shut my eyes.”
“Seven? It’s eight.”
Rebecca took the bag from him and glanced at her watch. “I told Neil to have someone wake me up at seven.”
“I think your brother overrode that. Now I understand why Clint was so eager for me to get you up. He didn’t want to face your wrath.”
“I’ll save it for him. Did you get any sleep on my brother’s office couch?”
“About two hours. I went home and changed then stopped for breakfast.”
She smiled and moved to her round table across the room from the sofa. “One of my favorite places to pick up something to eat on the way to work. Thank you. I know you went out of your way to get this.” She shook the sack.
“How about you? Any rest?”
She chuckled. “You were right last night when you told me I practically was sleepwalking. The second my head hit the cushion I was out. I didn’t even turn off the overhead light.”
“And you got an extra hour of rest. Good.”
As Rebecca laid the six wrapped bagels and tubs of cream cheese on the table, she lifted her head. “I’m hungry, but I can’t eat three of these.”
“Clint is joining us in a few minutes. He’s seeing to the transformer being delivered here. I already gave him his coffee.”
“I don’t know if I would have slept if I hadn’t found out the equipment made its flight. At least I won’t have to rearrange the promotional event planned tomorrow at the store.”
“I saw some of your employees starting to set up the display and decorating for the event. What time does it start? What security precautions have you taken?”
“I’m glad you brought that up. George is beefing up security for tomorrow, but we’re looking into other long-term measures, too. Would you consult with George on tomorrow’s activities? I know this isn’t your job, but I’ll pay you for your services.”
“No.” He paused and sipped his coffee. “I can’t accept money from a good friend. I’ll do it for free, and knowing my captain, I have a feeling he’ll breathe easier if I attend and personally keep an eye out for any trouble.”
“They’ve already gotten what they wanted—credit card information on our customers. We’re notifying every credit company involved. I’ll be issuing a statement to the press this afternoon after we get in touch with as many customers as we can. We’ve taken the computers with the financial information offline for the time being, and we’re strengthening our firewalls. I have computer consultants meeting with me, Clint, and Neil after lunch. So do you still think something could happen tomorrow? Why would they risk it?”
“I can’t assume they might not do anything. I have to plan as if they will. Proper security is always formulated with that notion. Most of the time it’s unnecessary, but the few times it is, good security saves lives and property.”
“Will you be able to work with George after our conference meeting this morning?”
“I have to go into the station, but I should be able to talk to him after that.”
“When will you know about fingerprints on the sheets of paper on my door?”
“I already do. Nothing usable.”
“I’m considering electrifying my fence to deter anyone else climbing over it. Not sure why someone would do that. It’s not like they didn’t leave enough tracks in our computer system to announce what they did.”
“As though they wanted you to find out what they did right away. Interesting.”
Tension in her neck and shoulders spread as if her spine was a rope knotted all the way down her back. “Why do you say that?”
“There may be more going on than what’s obvious.”
“Like what?”
“They’re planning to attack more stores and businesses. Our security systems and methods are often twentieth century while the criminals are way ahead of the game. And often hackers think this is a game. Or something else besides money is motivating them. Do you know of anyone that has a grudge against you or Outdoor Sports and Recreation?”
“Like someone who was fired?”
“Maybe.”
Rebecca kneaded the side of her neck. “Here at this store I haven’t personally fired anyone lately. I don’t usually do it. We have protocols and procedures in place. It goes through personnel now.”
“Sometimes when a person has a grievance against another, it doesn’t always make sense to anyone else. That’s why we have to think of all possibilities, or we’ll miss it.”
She’d always known Alex was good at his job, but after seeing him at work on the case involving Tory and Clint last year and now this one, she was impressed. This was a whole different side to him. Even tired from long hours, he came across as confident and in control. Hunger rumbled her stomach. She slathered cream cheese on her cinnamon bagel and took a bite.
“How are your mother and siblings doing?” Rebecca asked, needing for a short time to put the current situation to the side and enjoy her breakfast with someone she cared about.
“My little brother is doing well as a patrol officer. He got a promotion. My mother keeps hoping he’ll do something else. Even after working on the police force for fifteen years, she pesters me to quit and get a normal—in other words, a safe—job. My sister lives with Mom now, which means I have to referee between them a couple of times a week.”
“Your family keeps you busy.”
“More than I signed on for. Most of their bickering is petty. Between my job and family, I’m kept busy.”
“I know the feeling, but mainly it’s my company that demands my time. When I do something with Clint and his family, it’s a break. I love being around my nephew.”
“Didn’t you once say you wanted children? I was surprised you and Cade didn’t have any.”
If other people had asked that question, she would have shut down immediately, but Alex knew her better than most, even at times more than Clint because her brother had left Alaska for ten years. Alex stayed. “My plans changed.” She would need a husband for that, and she’d failed at her marriage with Cade. She didn’t repeat mistakes. To the world, they had been happy, and they were for a while, but deep inside she knew she’d let Cade down those last few years when her father demanded all of her time. She’d always wanted to run the business, but she could only do it on her dad’s terms. “My company takes a lot of time.”
“What I’ve seen in response to the situation yesterday was good. Your different departments and the people who run them are well organized.”
“But you have to be constantly on top of everything and everyone. That takes time.”
“Did you personally hire your department heads?”
“Most of them. A few I inherited from my father.”
“Do you trust your judgment?”
“I know where this is headed. You think I should let go of some of my responsibilities and let the others do their job. But mine is supervising the whole company. I look at the big picture.”
His mouth quirked into a grin. “Do you love your job?”
“Yes—usually.”
“Then you’re doing what you want. You can’t ask for more than that.”
But she wanted more, or at least at one time she had. She was beginning to question what she wanted now. “So one workaholic to another, do you love your job?”
“Yes—usually.” His smile expanded to encompass his whole expression, down to the gleam in his eyes.
“Well, no job is perfect. The challenges keep my work interesting.”
“Rarely is being a detective boring. But mostly it fulfills something deep inside me, especially when I help bring someone to justice like the serial bomber last year.”
“Or finding the guy trying to kidnap kids last year.”
Alex shifted on his chair as if he were uncomfortable with the accolades. Like so many who took part in the Anchorage SAR group, he liked to stay in the background and do what he could without people knowing.
She patted his hand nearest her. “You need to accept that you’re a hero in a lot of people’s eyes.”
“Who is OSR sponsoring in this year’s Iditarod Race?”
Rebecca laughed, glad she could in the midst of the current crisis. “You are not good at subtlety. But I’ll respect your wishes and not talk about what you do well. We’re sponsoring two different mushers, a man and woman, Brian Nanuq and Kimberly Moore, as well as signing on as an overall sponsor of the race.”
“You might have a winner. Both are formidable.”
“I hope one of them is.” Rebecca started to take another bite of her bagel, but the phone on her desk rang. “Excuse me.” She rushed to answer it, hoping this wasn’t any bad news about the transformer. “Hello.”
“Sis, I found something. You and Alex need to come to the first floor by the tents ASAP.”
***
Chapter Four
“What’s that?” Rebecca stood in the outdoor camping section of the store on the first floor.
Alex donned one latex glove and carefully picked up the black box that had been placed inside a display tent. “It’s a cell phone jammer. That would explain why are phones weren’t working yesterday. Who found this?”
“Heather Adams.” Clint waved for an employee to join them.
“She was the cashier Matt Pinkston harassed a few months ago.”
Although not a question, Clint nodded. “She works hard. Today she’s been helping us get ready for tomorrow’s Iditarod promo since we aren’t open for business.”
While smiling at the young woman with short, spikey, blond hair and a shy demeanor, Rebecca shook her hand. “It’s good to see you again. Are you still getting those secret admirer notes?”
“The last one was a couple of weeks ago. My boyfriend hasn’t been too happy about them.” Heather met Rebecca’s eyes briefly then lowered her gaze to a spot on the floor between them.
“I know you mentioned getting a restraining order against Matt Pinkston. You should look into it.” Rebecca gestured toward the black box. “Thank you for pointing this out to my brother. Now we know how the phones were jammed.”
“Just doing my job.”
“Are you working tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“Good. We need an alert staff.”
After Heather went back to assisting another employee setting up the sled Kimberly Moore would use in the Iditarod Race, Rebecca turned to Alex. “Maybe there’ll be latent prints on it.”
“Possibly. I’ll check with Miss Adams to get her fingerprints so I can rule her out. We’ll try to track down where this was bought, but with so many things being purchased online, it might be a dead end.”
“I think all she touched was the handle. That’s how she brought it to me. She thought it was something that belonged in another department. Should we be looking for more?” Clint asked, scanning the store.
Alex lifted the box and examined it. “Maybe, but this looks like a cell phone jammer we’ve used on the job. I’ll check to make sure, but if so, it blocks a signal up to half a mile, which would cover the whole place. Are there surveillance cameras that would have caught the person planting this on tape?”
“Not on this exact spot. With the power off, most of the cameras went down, so I don’t know how much they’ll show you. George is already making copies of the security tapes we have from yesterday that weren’t erased, but I’ll also have him do the day before. He’ll get it to you after lunch.” So many things had changed since Rebecca had been a part of the company her father started. The measures a store had to take to keep a safe environment for their customers had multiplied exponentially in the twenty-five years Outdoor Sports and Recreation had been first opened.
Clint frowned. “I wish we could search everyone coming into the store tomorrow, but a store doesn’t get to use that extra security measure. As a customer, I wouldn’t want to have to wait in line while other people are checked, just to get inside so I can spend my money.” He sighed. “I’d better get back to work, especially on organizing the parking lot for Brian Nanuq’s demonstration on being a musher. The kids will love that.”
“My nephew sure would. If I need any more info, I know where you’ll be, Clint.” Alex faced Rebecca. “I know this isn’t a good time, but I could use someone to help me ID customers and employees on the tapes.”
“Sadly, I probably couldn’t do that with how fast the company has grown in the last five years, but for this store, George or someone in security should be able to. Tell you what. Instead of taking the security footage to your police station, let me set something up this afternoon in my conference room for you and whoever you want to go through the tapes. That way I can have a person from George’s department assisting you, and if I get a chance, I’ll help when not dealing with all the last minute details.”
“I’m going to take this evidence to the station. Then I’ll be back. I’ll feel better if I’m familiar with your security measures for tomorrow.”
“I could use all the help you’ll give us. I’m hiring extra security for the event and the gala in eleven days. It’s important nothing goes wrong.”
“I won’t be long. I’m hoping some evidence can be pulled from this jammer.” He started toward the front of the store.
Rebecca kept pace with him. “I could use a breath of fresh air before I go back to my office.”
Alex opened the main door. Then in the entrance blocked her path. “Stay inside as much as you can. I don’t like you even standing here. We don’t know what’s going on.”
“Yes, we do. Someone has it in for Outdoor Sports and Recreation. Everything has been aimed at the store.”
“Then after the promotion tomorrow, we need to dig into who would feel that way. I’d say we should consider competitors, too, but there aren’t any since your big expansion push five years ago. I won’t rule that angle out if nothing else pans out though.” He grasped her upper arm. “I won’t stop until I find who’s behind this.”
“Thanks. That means a lot to me.”
Alex let the door swish closed.
He walked toward his SUV not far from the entrance.
She’d always given people the benefit of doubt before making a decision to fire them, at least when she’d handled that personally before she took over running the business six years ago. Now there were procedures in place to deal with employee issues from thief to improper performance of duties. She’d have to look back through the records to figure out who she’d fired. But then, if it was a case of her firing the person who was behind the current incidents, why would he or she have waited this long to get back at her? No, it must have to do with the company.
Rebecca swung around and headed for the staircase to the fourth floor. As she mounted the steps, the sound of her footfalls echoed through the concrete shaft. Usually there were other people here, but without customers, only part of the employees had been called in today. She paused at the third floor door. Maybe she should go by and talk to George first.
The quiet surrounding her gave her chills that had nothing to do with the cool temperature in the stairwell. Then suddenly footsteps below her intruded into the silence. She grabbed the knob and hurried down the hall to the head of security’s office. Her first reaction—fear—to the sound angered her. Her father had thought fear was a useless emotion that hindered people from acting the way they should—in control and capable of handling anything. There was a guard at each entrance into the building and only about forty people inside, all people she knew. Running on little sleep was making her overreact.
* * *
“Not too much longer and this will be over with, and you can breathe again,” Alex whispered to Rebecca,
off to the side of the platform set up inside the store for Kimberly Moore.
She turned her head toward him, their faces only a few inches apart. For a moment, the people around her faded from her view, and all she could focus on was Alex’s beautiful silver-gray eyes. They drew her in. Her heartbeat reacted, kicking up a notch. She dragged her attention downward, latching onto his mouth. Instantly, she realized that was a mistake.
She stepped back, but she couldn’t shake the question dominating her thoughts. What would it be like to be kissed by Alex? What was going on? He’d been a good friend to her for years. She, Clint, and Alex had been a threesome as kids.
She quickly swiveled away from him and concentrated on Kimberly, thanking her company for sponsoring her in the Iditarod Race. The two mushers’ appearances at OSR had brought a lot more people to the store than they had anticipated. Rebecca smiled at the thirty-year-old musher with a sizable audience crammed into the camping area.
A scream reverberated through the first floor, then another, followed by a shriek. To Rebecca’s right the crowd parted, people fleeing toward the exits.
“Stick with me,” Alex said in a voice of authority.
An older woman went down, several persons tried to avoid a collision but ended up running into her, falling on her. Alex pushed through the throng and offered the lady his hand, which she grasped, her eyes wide.
Someone behind Rebecca collided into her, shoving her forward into Alex and the older woman. He shielded the lady from the impact, and they remained standing.
Rebecca noticed that the mob was thinning to the right. “Follow me,” she shouted to Alex who used his body to keep anyone from running over the sixty-something lady in the midst of a stampede to the nearest doors.
When they broke free of the crush, Rebecca pointed to a place protected by a glass cabinet of knives. The gray-haired woman collapsed on a stool behind it, her eyes sliding closed as she rested her head against the barrier.
That was when Rebecca saw the gash on the side of the lady’s face, blood streaming from the wound.
Deadly Night, Silent Night Page 4