Guarding Jess

by Shannon Curtis

  Drew grinned. “Yep. Hey, have you heard from Mandy?” Mandy Richards was their psych consultant.

  “No. Her office rang this morning. She’s in Haiti doing volunteer work for the Red Cross. She’s due back stateside at the end of the week. Communications are patchy, but they’re trying to get our material out to her.”

  Drew nodded. “So, where is this recording you mentioned?”

  Noah pulled the compact disc out of his pocket and handed it to Drew. “Hopefully we can get a lead from this. Maybe then we can track down this sonofabitch. How are you going with locating that driver?”

  Drew grimaced. “Well, we’ve managed to nail it down to one site, some radio station, but there are over two hundred people staffed there. Apparently they haven’t really considered logs for the use of the cars in their fleet. The fleet manager told me the keys are on a board in the parking lot, and people are supposed to sign in and out, but sometimes they forget.” He shook his head. “I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a new fleet manager soon, judging from Jeff Lyon’s reaction when he found out.”

  “Was the radio station KTFA?”

  Drew nodded in surprise. “Actually, yes. How did you know?”

  “We were there this morning. Jess has a weekly spot there.” He gestured to the disc Drew now held. “That’s where she was when the stalker called.”

  He cocked his head to the side, remembering his conversation with Jessica in the radio station car park, before she’d shorted his circuits with one kiss. “We need to do a background check on Hamish Stewart. For some reason Jessica thought he could be her stalker, before that call came in.”

  Drew nodded. “I’ll do my best. So, when do I meet your Miss Pennington?”

  “She’s not mine,” Noah responded automatically. The woman had made that quite clear in the elevator. Unfortunately.

  “She’s in her office with her aunt,” Gwen offered from her desk. Noah turned to eye the woman. She had her chin clasped in her hands as she watched both men talk. She smiled, unabashed, when she met his gaze.

  Drew arched an eyebrow. “Oh? Then I might just go introduce myself to the lovely lady.”

  Noah pinned his best friend with his gaze. “Hands off, Drew.”

  Drew met his look with an enquiring one of his own. A look of comprehension dawned, followed by glee. “Ooooh.” He drew the word out. “I see.”

  “No, you don’t.”

  Drew nodded. “Yeah, I do. Now I’ve definitely got to meet this woman.” He started to walk in the direction Jessica had taken.

  “Oh, Noah, I have some mail for Jessica, would you mind taking it to her if you’re heading that way?” Gwen called sweetly, holding up some envelopes. “Feel free to interrupt her. I’m sure she’d appreciate it.”

  Noah stared at the receptionist. He wasn’t about to fall for that, again. “Why don’t you interrupt?”

  Gwen shot him a horrified look. “I, uh,” she began, and then fumbled around on the desk. She picked up the phone. “I have to answer the phones,” she said, and waved the receiver.

  Noah’s lips quirked, but he took the mail.

  The phone rang, and Gwen pressed the button on the console. “Good luck,” she mouthed, before smiling brightly. “Pennington Business Academy. Good afternoon.”

  Noah shook his head, smiling, as he walked down the hallway.

  Ollie and Drew huddled off to the side, conversing in low tones. He cocked an eyebrow.

  Ollie shook her head. “I wouldn’t go in there, just yet,” she warned.

  * * *

  Jessica closed the door behind her with a quiet snick. Her aunt was here. Unannounced. She mustered a serene expression to her face. Her aunt never dropped by unannounced.

  Ooze tranquility.

  “Hello, aunt.”

  The platinum blond head swiveled in her direction, and she felt pinned by the crystal clarity of cool blue eyes.

  “Jessica,” her aunt greeted her.

  Hmm. Not exactly warm and effusive, but that was Aunt Jacquie. She didn’t do warm and effusive.

  “This is an unexpected surprise,” Jessica said tentatively, and resisted the urge to pat down her hair. Her aunt always managed to make her feel like a grubby little schoolgirl. Could her aunt tell what she’d been up to? With Noah? On the hood of a car? Her cheeks flamed at the memory, and she strode across her office to take the chair behind the desk. That was her seat. Her office. Her domain. In here, she was in charge. Her confidence always swelled when she sat behind her desk, facing a client. But this wasn’t a client. This was Aunt Jacquie, the one woman she’d never been able to impress.

  The older woman arched an eyebrow. “I don’t see how you could possibly say this is unexpected, considering the circumstances.”

  Jessica quickly masked her confusion behind a polite smile. Her eyes darted to the desk calendar. Had she lost track of an appointment? With everything that was happening, she wouldn’t be too surprised, but for it to happen with her aunt, of all people…

  The desk calendar was blank. No visit from her über-organised aunt was scheduled. Uh-oh. She must have seen the fountain video clip. But the normal reaction would be a terse phone call, not a personal visit…

  “I don’t understand,” she admitted to the woman.

  Her aunt frowned, and Jessica gripped the desk. Not the frown. Please, not the frown. Her aunt’s frown managed to convey disapproval and aggrieved disappointment, all at once.

  “Come, Jessica. Did you think I wouldn’t hear?”

  Jessica’s smile faltered. Darn. So it was the fountain incident.

  “I’m sorry, Aunt Jacquie. Noah and I…well, it was an accident.” Oh, heavens, she wasn’t prepared for this conversation. She hadn’t quite figured out how to tell her aunt about the stalker.

  “First you make a spectacle of yourself at the hotel—I saw that clip.” Jacquie Pennington’s frown deepened. “Now you’re creating another stir with this broadcast.”

  Jessica swallowed. Her aunt had heard the radio show. She’d heard the stalker call in. Her aunt knew, more than anyone, how much those remarks would hurt. Because they were true. “I’m sorry, aunt. We’re trying to track down this man.”

  This time both eyebrows shot up. “Man?” Her aunt pinched the bridge of her nose. “Oh, Jessica, what have you done?”

  Jessica felt the blood drain from her face. Those were the same words her aunt had used on her, all those years ago. And they were uttered in the same, beleaguered tone. That same, simple question had signaled Jessica’s acute embarrassment. Well, her first acute embarrassment. There had been a few since then. Jessica had that same sick feeling broiling away in her stomach, that same intuition that she was about to cause her aunt more humiliation.

  “Nobody expected him to say what he did.”

  Her aunt looked puzzled. “What? Who? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Jessica’s brow wrinkled. Well, if her aunt wasn’t referring to the call at the radio station…?

  “What are you talking about, then?”

  Her aunt sighed. “I’m talking about your lack of discretion.”

  Jessica blinked. Oh, God. The kiss on the car hood. Somehow, her aunt knew. Her cheeks burned. No, wait. Her aunt was already at the office when she and Noah had kissed. That was what had interrupted them. So whatever she was here for, it had happened much earlier.

  “What indiscretion are you referring to?” she asked the older woman carefully.

  Her aunt’s lips pursed. “I’m referring to you broadcasting your client’s failings for all and sundry. I don’t know how you expect to keep your business going if you cause such embarrassment to your clientele.”

  Jessica blinked. “Pardon?” She struggled with the automatic shame her aunt’s recriminations always spawned
as she tried to make sense of what she’d just been told. Had she said something in today’s broadcast?

  “Penningtons are discreet, and respectful. What you’ve done is neither.”

  Jessica blinked rapidly. Whatever she’d done, it was bad. Her mouth opened, but words wouldn’t come in the face of her aunt’s abject disappointment.

  “It’s one thing to notice someone’s shortcomings. I understand that’s part of your job, and then teach your client to compensate or overcome—but to put it on the internet, where everyone can see and make fun—well, that’s just shameful.”

  Jessica took a deep breath.

  “What, exactly, have I done?”

  “That new gossip website of yours. I’ve received countless calls about it already.”

  Jessica twisted in her seat to face her computer. The bottom of her stomach fell away. This didn’t sound good. She hadn’t commissioned a new website, and the current one had been planned for some time to help promote her book. There was no gossip involved. What was her aunt talking about? A sense of foreboding tied her stomach muscles in knots.

  She tapped on the keyboard on her desk, and waited impatiently for her screen to light up.

  “What is the website?” she asked her aunt.

  Her aunt huffed at her brisk tone, but gave her the details. She brought the site up quickly.

  Her jaw dropped. “Oh, dear God.”

  Chapter Nine

  The website had a publicity shot of her, and the title Miss Manners, which was the name of her weekly newspaper column. That wasn’t so bad. What came next was. Clients’ names were listed. She selected the first one, and a new browser opened, with comments about the client, what their weaknesses were, and the areas needed to be developed.

  “Oh, no, no, no, no,” Jessica wailed softly. She minimized the screen, and pulled up her personal files. Bile rose in her throat as she scanned through the entries. Each time she met with a new client, she noted her first impression, as well as their own views on what they wanted to work on. Her first impression notes, as well as the subsequent progress notes, were for her eyes only. And now they were posted on the Internet for anyone to see.

  “Oh, God, I think I’m going to throw up.” If her clients saw this, it would cause them excruciating embarrassment. Her clients included bankers, lawyers and politicians, as well as prominent businessmen and women, and members of the socially elite. It would harm their reputation, possibly their careers. She would lose business over this. Heck, she could lose the business over this.

  Her eyes flicked to her aunt.

  “This wasn’t me,” she told her.

  The older woman opened her mouth as though to speak, but Jessica was already picking up the phone and dialing Gwen at reception.

  “Get Noah in here, ASAP. Oliveria as well.”

  She dropped the handset back in the cradle.

  Her eyes darted back to the screen.

  She was so screwed.

  * * *

  Noah strode into the office with Drew and stopped short. The air was thick with tension, and reminded him of the moments before a battle, when each side knew the other was there, and getting ready. He’d simply reacted when Gwen had told him Jessica needed him. Without thought, he’d raced to her office, Drew on his heels, but Jessica looked fine. Well, safe. She looked like she was going to be sick, but still safe and sound. He glanced briefly at the older woman sitting opposite Jessica. He had no trouble identifying Jacqueline Pennington. The head of the hugely successful JP Designs was famous. Her personal wealth would pull a third-world country out of debt. And she was Jessica’s aunt. Eyes similar in color to Jessica’s impaled him. Where Jessica’s eyes were warm and earnest, though, this woman’s blue eyes were glacial.

  The keen intelligence in her eyes as she met his assessing look with one of her own seemed to only hint at the woman’s shrewd acumen.

  But despite the woman’s fame and fortune and imposing presence, it was Jessica who drew his gaze. Her face was pale, her freckles noticeable. Her eyes, by contrast, were dark. And they were glued to her computer.

  “What’s up?” he asked, and crossed to her side.

  She pointed to the screen, and he saw her promotional image. What was wrong? He started to read the information on the screen.

  Crap. “You didn’t do this?”

  She shook her head. “Do you think it’s him?”

  This would strike at the very heart of her business, and after the letter bomb, he wouldn’t put anything past her stalker.

  “Probably,” he admitted.

  Oliveria ran into the office. She stopped short when she saw Jessica’s expression.

  Jessica beckoned her over to her side to show her the screen. Drew followed.

  Noah heard the Hispanic woman swear in Spanish under her breath. With his advanced grasp of the language, he agreed with her sentiment. He darted a glance across the desk at Jessica’s aunt. She wasn’t happy. Her lips were pulled tight, and a muscle ticked in her jaw.

  “Would somebody mind telling me what’s going on?” she asked, her tone downright frosty.

  Jessica’s hand rose, as though to hold off the force of her aunt.

  “In just a moment, Aunt Jacquie,” she responded quietly. The older woman’s jaw dropped, and Noah had to assume she wasn’t used to being told to wait. His personal admiration for Jessica rose a notch.

  “We need to stop this, now.” Something in her tone made him look at her, really look at her. She wore a stricken expression, as though someone had punched her in the gut.

  “This is going to cause so much pain and embarrassment for my clients.” Her shoulders straightened. Her chin lifted.

  She turned slightly to Oliveria. “We need to get Legal on this, straight away. Organize a ‘cease and desist’ to shut this site down. I want to know who is responsible, ASAP. I’ll need analytics for visitors to the site, downloads, etcetera, to scope out the damage. I also want to release a statement to the effect that this is an illegal site, with illegal information. If my aunt is already receiving calls, then people already know about it. We have to make sure they realize this isn’t us, and that we don’t endorse any of the comments made. Hopefully, appropriately expressed outrage will go a lot toward discrediting this site.”

  Oliveria nodded and hurried from the office.

  She turned to Noah. “We need to shut this site down. Every moment it’s up there, it’s doing untold damage to those clients.”

  Noah nodded and glanced at Drew, who inclined his head.

  “May I?” His colleague politely gestured to her computer.

  She looked uncertainly up at Noah, and he realized she didn’t know who Drew was.

  “Jess, Drew Michaels, my colleague at McCormack Security. Drew, Jess.” He gestured between the two, performing the introductions as quickly as possible.

  Jessica nodded and rose. She stepped aside before she picked up the phone and spoke briefly and quietly to Gwen at reception, issuing courteously phrased instructions. A genteel major-general. That’s what she was. Noah turned to watch Drew at work as he assumed Jessica’s seat and took control of her keyboard. His growing admiration for the woman was difficult for him to process. Her concern with this new PR nightmare was first for her clients, and then her business.

  He understood the career calamity unfolding. Jessica’s business, and lifestyle, were based on reputation, on image. The comments that were posted on this website were damaging to both. By publishing those comments, they would not only embarrass the client they related to, but could cause irreparable damage to that client’s reputation, as well as their business and social prospects. He recognized some of those names, and frankly, he was impressed. Jessica appeared to coach politicians, superstars and the super-wealthy. For these people to be humiliated by the files
could mean the death of the Pennington Business Academy, and likely any opportunity for Jessica to work in the field again. And yet her main concern was for the feelings of her clients, a generous consideration that many would have buried under the need to save one’s own skin.

  “The IPs are jumping all over the globe. Whoever set this up knew what they were doing,” Drew murmured as he tapped furiously away on the keyboard.

  “Just shut it down,” Noah growled. They could spend time admiring the saboteur’s finesse later.

  “I’m not Luke. This is going to take some time.”

  Noah bit off his impatience. He shouldn’t be taking his frustration out on his friend. Luke Fletcher was the IT expert in their team, not Drew. His colleague could do it. Noah just needed to grow some patience. He flicked a glance over at Jessica, whose hand was tightly rubbing the pearls around her neck. Patience was hard when the woman you were beginning to care for was sick to her stomach with fear and worry.

  “I’ll call Detective Carmichael,” he told her in an effort to soothe her anxiety. “The police should be made aware of this, but there might be something they can do to shut down the site, or at least track down the site owner.” He wasn’t going to hold his breath, though. Cybercrime was notoriously difficult to chase down, with a high demand on time and resources. He pulled out his cell phone. It never hurt to try.

  “Now, can someone please tell me what’s going on?” Jacqueline Pennington asked impatiently.

  He saw Jessica’s shoulders sag a little as she pulled up another chair and started to quietly explain the whole mess to her aunt. He stayed where he was, waiting for Louise Carmichael to answer her phone. He realized this was something Jessica would prefer to do on her own terms. He watched briefly as Jacqueline’s eyebrow rose, and Jessica’s arm reached over to pat the woman’s hand. She was the one being stalked, but she was trying to comfort her aunt. Her aunt looked down at the hand on her arm as Jessica continued to speak. After a moment the older woman’s hand covered Jessica’s, her head down as she listened.