She had felt so happy to escape her mother…and so horribly guilty because of it. Slowly, she’d made friends and created a life. Rather than tell them the truth, she created a fantasy about her family so that the other girls wouldn’t know anything about her nightmare.
But everything had changed the day the letter arrived. She could still smell her mother’s perfume. The envelope was pink with her mother’s familiar scrawl on the front. Her hands had trembled as she opened it. Maybe her mother was over her father’s departure. Maybe, just maybe, she had noticed Alex wasn’t there and actually missed her.
Even now Alex’s heart started to pound in her chest just as it did when she was opening the envelope. The letter had been only two pages. Her mother apologized for blaming her for her father’s abandonment.
Her mother had finally tracked down her father. After the divorce, he’d taken great pains to avoid her. She’d asked him point-blank why he’d left. He’d told her it was her fault. She just wasn’t enough for him. It didn’t matter that she was fabulously wealthy. Money couldn’t make up for her. She had driven him away and she, in turn, had driven Alex away. She just wasn’t good at being a wife or a mother. She wished Alex better luck in life and love…and that was it. Everything had changed after that.
Alex couldn’t bear to think about what happened next. She shot off the bed so fast her head spun. She grabbed the wall to steady herself. Her palms were slick with sweat. Still, even after all this time, her mother and father could torture her.
She took a few deep breaths and pushed away from the wall. She needed a distraction. She texted Leo and gave him Callahan’s name. Then, still upset, she opened her laptop.
She assumed security had taken Drake to his estate, but she knew for a fact the wine cellar rehab wasn’t supposed to be finished until after Memorial Day. She’d spoken with the general contractor by posing as a decorator trying to break into the scene in the Hamptons. He’d been more than happy to complain about Drake and his nitpicking.
She logged into the camera that was at the end of Drake’s neighbor’s driveway. It was across and down a bit from Drake’s entry gate but it gave her a great view of all the comings and goings of the estate.
She’d realized the camera was there during one of her scouting trips after noticing the sign of a local security company. She was able to hack into the system remotely, but the camera needed to be adjusted slightly to give her a better angle.
The homeowners only spent summer in the Hamptons so they weren’t around yet but Alex wanted to play it safe and not call any attention to herself. So, she’d dressed up as a technician from the security company, complete with full uniform and her hair tucked up under the company hat. She’d even rented a maintenance van and had magnets made with the company logo that she’d slapped on the doors.
Making sure she wasn’t seen on camera, she climbed up a ladder and adjusted the camera. It still showed the neighbor’s driveway but now it gave her a wider view of Drake’s gated entry as well. These security companies really weren’t as impregnable as they liked to think.
The video showed a lot of comings and goings of the construction crew. No way were they finished. She also noted the uptick in security guards by the gate. They seemed to have added another guy. That all but confirmed that Drake was moving in.
She leaned back in her chair. Whoever the guy was that came to the yacht, he’d made either Drake or Callahan sufficiently nervous to move in early. She wished for the umpteenth time she’d gotten a better picture of the visitor. Her shot just wasn’t enough to identify him.
She logged out of the camera and started searching for information on Callahan. She’d given his name to Leo, who usually did this type of thing, but she might as well look herself. She had nothing else she could do at the moment. Plus, she was curious.
Two minutes into her search, her phone rang. She glanced at the screen and then answered, “Hey Leo. Did you get my text?”
“Well hello to you, too. And yes I got the text. You’re a bit late, though. I already know his name. You were half right on him, by the way. He’s real security, but new at it. Only been in the business about six months. I just emailed you the file. I’ll check on the estate and see what’s up. Gotta go. My nonna needs her tea.”
“Say ‘hi’ for me. Talk soon.” Alex rang off. She could picture Leo making tea for his nonna back home in Italy. They’d be sitting on their balcony overlooking the sea.
She clicked on her screen and opened her email. There was the one from Leo. A couple more clicks, and she had it on screen in front of her.
Mitch Callahan. Recently retired Navy SEAL. Great. Single. Two brothers. Mother deceased. Father recently retired from the family home security business and living in Florida with a girlfriend, possibly fiancée. Mitch and his brothers, Gage and Logan, had just taken over their father’s security business based in New York City and were in the throes of expansion. Logan was acting CEO, Gage was in charge of managing the expansion into cyber security, and Mitch was taking on personal security. Drake was their first major client in the new personal security division, but they had a good reputation, and all the men had experience in their respective fields.
Well, Mitch’s background certainly upped the ante in this game of poker. Navy SEAL. A professional. What was the term the Israelis used? Security Warrior. So, she was going into battle with one of the best. She squared her shoulders. Bring it on. She never backed down from a challenge.
Chapter Eleven
Pain radiated from Mitch’s jaw through his neck. He unclenched his teeth, and let his mouth go slack for a ten count. It was one way to postpone a trip to the dentist. “No, you can’t have the night off, Dan. To be honest, after you mouthed off to the boss earlier and let that guy Tolliver and his goons on the boat without doing a thorough pat down, you’re damn lucky to still have a job.”
“Drake was being unreasonable. I was just offering him suggestions,” Dan Montero said in a defensive tone.
“Did you offer Drake suggestions when Jason was here? I’m guessing not. Otherwise you’d have been fired a long time ago.”
“Drake didn’t act all unreasonable like when Jason was here.”
Mitch snarled, “He doesn’t have to be reasonable. Get used to it. He’s your boss. Your job is not to tell him when he’s being a dick.” That’s my job. “Your job is to protect him whether he’s a dick or not, understand?”
Montero nodded, his white-blond hair falling in his eyes. He stood about four inches shorter than Mitch’s six feet, but what he lacked in height, he made up for in neck size. He had the shortest, thickest neck Mitch had ever seen. The man was built like a brick shithouse but was sadly lacking in brain power. He wasn’t sure where Drake’s previous head of security had found this guy—maybe he’d dug him up from under a rock—but Jason made him promise to keep Dan on. Mitch had agreed, but time was running out on that promise. The guy was a dud. He needed tier-one operators, not bruisers from the gym.
“And if you ever let anyone on any premises again without fully frisking them, I’ll fire your ass. Are we clear?”
“Yeah,” Dan muttered, “we’re clear.” He turned and walked out of the small security office, bumping shoulders with Jake who was on the way in. Mitch was pretty sure Dan had also mumbled that he was an asshole, but he didn’t give a fuck. If the guy couldn’t do the job, he didn’t get to stay. And the sooner he understood that, the better.
“Yo, boss man,” Jake said as he slid into the chair across from Mitch’s desk.
“Report. What’s going on?”
“So much for small talk.” Jake grinned. “Been a day, huh?”
Mitch took a swig of water from the bottle on his desk. “You have no idea.”
“Actually, I do. I spent it with Drake and Dan.”
Mitch laughed. “Okay, you got me. What’s going on? Any new catastrophes?”
“The construction guys were pretty good about cleaning, but Drake’s house staff still we
nt in with scrub brushes to the wine cellar area and the stairway to the back door. Oh, and the downstairs bath. I guess the construction crew didn’t like the Porta Potty as much as Mr. Drake’s half bath.”
“Oh, fuck.” Mitch ran his hand through his hair.
“Yeah. They broke a towel rack and some vase thing, but the housekeeper, Mrs. Glen, had the yard guy fix it. It all looks as good as new. Drake doesn’t use it anyway, but it was done just in case.”
“I put Jasper in charge of keeping an eye on the construction workers. He’s usually on the ball. What happened?”
“Don’t know, man.” Jake shook his head. “You’d have to ask him.”
“Tell him I want to talk to him when you see him, okay?” Mitch took a swig of his water. He should really text Jasper right now, but it had been a hell of a day, and he just needed it to be over. “Anything else?”
Jake frowned. “The new cameras are being installed in the morning, but I think we’re still going to have a blind spot in that back corner of the house. There’s just no way to get a hardwired camera back there. I can get a wireless one up.”
“No. No wireless. Too easily hacked. It’s got to be wired to a closed-circuit system.”
“Okay, well there’s no way to get anything wired out there without making the wires too obvious. Any guys who are good would spot them a mile away and cut ‘em.” Jake shrugged. “To be honest, that’s a possibility with all the wires.”
“It’s a possibility, but we’ve done a damn good job of hiding the wires and making the cameras hard for anyone to access without turning up on film. Make sure the guys know that even the slightest disturbance needs to be checked out thoroughly. I won’t allow this team to fail because someone thought there was a camera malfunction. There are no malfunctions.”
“Yes, sir.” Jake nodded. “So, what do we do about the blind spot?”
Mitch took another swig of water. “Put a man there. It will help to have another physical body on the grounds.” He tilted his head for a second. “As a matter of fact, take the guys out in small groups and walk the whole grounds with them. Go over the whole setup, but make sure they know where to stand when it’s their turn to cover the blind spot. I want everyone on the same page. Make sure Dan goes with the first group and tell him he’s first up for blind spot duty tomorrow. Maybe that’ll teach him some manners,” Mitch mumbled.
Jake laughed outright. “Yeah, sure. That’ll fix his attitude problem.”
“I have no idea why Jason wanted me to keep him around. He’s shit at this kind of work.” Mitch shook his head. “Do me a favor and call Jason. Maybe he’ll tell you the real story.”
Jake stood up. “Will do, boss.”
“Check on everyone and make sure they’re on point. This transition must go smoothly. For all of our sakes.”
Jake nodded and left the room.
Mitch leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the edge of his desk. He hated to admit it, but Logan had been right. They weren’t ready for a client like Drake, but Mitch had insisted he could handle it. He’d been adamant he could run the personal security arm of the company and that Drake was the perfect client to build their reputation.
Logan and Gage had been reluctant. Gage thought cyber security would be a better place to put their energies and Logan, well, Logan just disagreed with anything Mitch said. Eventually they came around and decided Mitch would run the personal security branch while Gage would develop a cyber security department. Logan would oversee the whole damn thing. Take care of the day-to-day running of the business and be the face when it came to meeting new clients.
Mitch had to stick it out now. Had no choice. His stomach churned with regret. Money was tight, and this job was going to cost way more than anticipated because of the extra security measures he would need to put in place to deal with the whole Tolliver situation. He’d need more boots on the ground as well as equipment. Fuck. He’d screwed up, and he knew it. Maybe he wasn’t cut out for this type of job. What would he do if he didn’t do security work? What else was he good at? Nothing apparently. He shook his head. He really needed to get his head on straight. This line of thinking wasn’t getting him anywhere.
The only thing to do was keep going. Maybe he’d get Logan to argue with Drake over money. As a lawyer, he was much better at that sort of thing, but then Logan would lecture Mitch. Yeah, no way in hell was he doing that.
He finished his water and threw the bottle across the room to the recycling can where it hit the rim and bounced off. He shook his head. His ego had driven him to sign on with Drake. He’d let his need to prove himself to his brothers get in the way of making smart business choices. If he’d made decisions like this in the SEALs, it would have gotten him thrown off the team. Hell, it might have gotten him killed. This could still be a life or death situation if Drake was to be believed. It sounded like Tolliver was a real threat.
He cursed and ran both hands through his hair. He had a lot riding on this job, and it was turning to shit before his eyes. He needed to double, no triple check, everything. Cursing, he popped open his laptop and went through the security routine to access his email. He wrote a quick email to Gage, requesting any and all information they could find on Tolliver and his unnamed client.
Mitch paused, his hands hovering over the keyboard. Though he knew he should tell his brothers this detail was getting more serious than anticipated, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He could practically hear Logan complaining that Mitch had leapt without looking again, leaving them to clean up his mess.
Instead, he finished up the email with a quick request for information about a young female thief who might be working in the area. He gave brief details, told Gage to check Europe as well, and then sent the email. Hopefully, his brother could dig up some solid intel. He needed all the help he could get.
Chapter Twelve
Alex checked her reflection in the window of the pastry shop. Her wide-brimmed sun hat blocked out most of her face, and with the addition of her oversize sunglasses, it was difficult to make out any of her features. She wore an emerald green maxi sundress covered in large flowers. It fell to the tops of her feet where it met her strappy sandals. Her designer bag, slung carelessly over her shoulder, helped her blend in. She looked like any other Hampton socialite on her way to the shops.
She tracked her quarry. Drake was sitting in an outdoor café, having lunch with a friend. She had no doubt that Mitch Callahan would have had a coronary over Drake’s choice of outdoor seating. It made her smile. They were a match made in heaven, those two. She imagined neither one of them liked to be told “no.”
She’d spent the last week getting reorganized after Drake left the yacht. She’d had to move and dig a little deeper into Drake’s background. The more research she did on Jameson Drake, the more she’d come to respect him. Yes, he was a cold fish, ruthless as hell, but it served him well. His mother had abandoned him, left him to be raised by his grandparents. No one seemed to have an ID on his father.
Drake’s grandparents didn’t have much, just a few acres in the mountains in upstate New York, but he’d managed to get a scholarship to one of those exclusive private schools in Massachusetts. He’d made friends with all the high society types. His contacts had invested in his first company after university, and friends in Washington had since helped him out whenever he needed a contract or a tax break.
He’d become famous, or maybe infamous was the word, after dating a reality star for six months. Being handsome had just been the icing on the cake. Now the world wanted to know all about Jameson Drake. Rumor had it, Drake was now on the billionaires list, which is what made this job so confusing. He could buy himself whatever he wanted, so why was he refusing to let Diana’s gift go?
She moved farther down the street, checking the reflections in store windows to make sure Drake was still in place. Her plan was simple. Drake was having a Memorial Day weekend party to celebrate the unofficial kick-off to summer, and she need
ed to find a way on to the guest list. She had briefly contemplated getting Drake himself to invite her, but her weak-link plan seemed like a better call. Besides, she was pretty sure she’d already figured out a way in.
Her phone buzzed. Pulling it out of her pocket, she saw Leo’s name on the screen and hit the green button. “What’s up?” She sat down on the nearest bench.
“Hey, lass. How’s it going?”
“Not too bad. Thanks for the info. I found what I’m looking for.”
“That’s great. When do you think you’ll get it?” Leo sneezed.
“Bless you.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m thinking over the long weekend. His party’s going to provide the perfect window of opportunity.” She turned slightly on the bench and glanced over her shoulder. Drake was still eating lunch. The waiter gave the empty plates to another server but poured more wine. Good sign. He was staying longer. She turned back.
“Have you been invited to the party yet?” Leo asked.
“No, but I will be.”
Leo made a tsking sound. “You aren’t going to go directly to the source, are you? Not sure that would be the best course of action in this case.”
“Relax, Leo. I agree with you. I don’t have a death wish.” She glanced around again. Drake was not at the table. Her heart thumped in her chest. Where the hell had he gone? There. One of his security guys was standing next to the men’s room door. “Sorry, what was that?” she asked.
“You’re watching him, aren’t you? I can tell ‘cause you’re distracted.”
“Yup.”
“I said, so how are you planning to get on the guest list? I’m betting it will be pretty tight.”
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