“Guardian is currently in an aggressive growth position. My boss has deep pockets, and he’s bankrolling the expansion. Every potential employee must pass a rigorous background check and be someone I feel I can work with. These job offers are just that, offers. Getting through the checks, the interviews, and living up to the standards my boss has set, won’t be a cakewalk.”
Olsen made a noise of assent. “Well, I decided to run you last night.”
He chuckled. “Good to know. Happy with what you found?”
“I found nothing out of the ordinary, but you probably knew that. Did your current boss recruit you out of the CIA?”
“My boss, Mr. Xavier, is the only reason I left the CIA.”
“Is he a good man?”
He glanced at the agent. “I’d like to think he is. He does the best he can to make sure he leaves a positive impact on the world.”
“Ethical?”
“Absolutely.”
“He ever give you a reason to doubt him or his methods?” Olsen shoved his hands in his pockets.
“Not once.” He focused his attention down the street. He’d never once doubted the methods he used were ethical. The amount of money he controlled staggered the mind. For as long as he could remember, his mother told him that kind of money corrupts the soul and attracts evil. She was paranoid, so fucking paranoid, but her unnatural fear was the foundation for a freedom of movement he would never have enjoyed had she not been. Her delusional terror had afflicted her for as long as he could remember. He needed to get back to France and see her, not that she’d recognize him. Her mind had left her years ago.
Olsen interrupted his memories. “I’m not like Harvey. I’d be interested in making a change, although uprooting the wife and family would be difficult. The FBI is a good organization, but it has its own issues.”
“Ah yes, the red tape of bureaucracy.”
“Guardian doesn’t have that.” A statement, not a question.
“Guardian is a private entity. POTUS has offered to fold it into one of the other agencies.”
Olsen stiffened beside him. “That going to happen?”
“Not without written assurances that Guardian would operate independently and remain privately funded and controlled by Mr. Xavier.”
“You mean not take taxpayers money, but be a federal agency?”
“Exactly.”
“Your boss is kinda crazy.”
He chuckled. “I believe there is a method to his madness.”
“It isn’t madness, man. It's genius. Guardian would be able to enforce laws and do so with federal authority, but without the restrictions that plague the government entities. Do you think the big guns will ever approve that?”
He shrugged as he watched the threesome who’d gone to the bank return. Delacroix was laughing along with King, and Harvey was smiling and shaking his head.
“There is a season for everything. Right now, might not be that season. Mr. Xavier is willing to wait, watch, and listen.”
Olsen laughed and ambled down the stairs to the car they’d driven from New Orleans. “I think your boss may someday rule the world.”
He glanced up at the clear blue sky. “Nah, God willing, he’ll just make it a better place.”
Chapter 12
“Excuse me, I don’t think I understood what you just said.” Anna put her hands on her hips and glared at the young man in front of her.
He held her Colorado driver’s license in his hand and pulled it back when she reached for it. “Miss… Harriger, the requirements for entry are specific. If you haven’t been cleared for the executive level, you do not get in. Your name is not on the list, ergo, you are not going anywhere except out of this building.”
“Ergo? Ergo? Seriously, did you just learn that word and feel like practicing it? What do you mean I haven’t been cleared?” She opened her arms and looked down at her scrubs. “What, I came here dressed up like this because I’m trying to rip off copy paper?” She looked at the guy and shrugged.
The man narrowed his eyes and gave her the once over. “May I repeat, you are not on the list, ergo, you do not get in.”
Anna rolled her eyes so hard she could see her brain. At least she had one. “Okay, Joe Friday, here is what we are going to do. First, you are going to drop the attitude, because you can’t carry it off. You’re what, twelve years old? I have t-shirts older than you. You do not intimidate me. Second, you are going to pick up that phone, and you are going to call Mr. Deacon Long. He’s the owner of this building and the person I assume your boss’s boss’s boss works for, and you are going to ask him if he wants his nurse, the nurse taking care of his girlfriend, who was just released from the hospital, by the way, to be allowed into the building. Third, you are going to give me back my driver’s license, and after you make that phone call, you are going to apologize for being a dick.”
“Is there a problem here?”
Anna spun at the question. The wall of man that walked across the foyer was big, bald, and intimidating, but she was in the right, and she knew it. “Are you in charge?”
The man stopped in front of her and gave her the now-familiar once over, dismissing her with a flick of his gaze.
“She’s not on the authorized for entry listing, Mr. McNair.”
The man glanced at her. “Then she doesn’t get in. If she persists, call NOPD and have her removed.”
“Removed? Do you know who I am?”
“An annoyance, obviously.”
“Your name is McNair?”
The guy turned around and gave her a ‘are you still here’ look. “Why?”
“I want to know who to tell Deacon to fire.”
“I’m terrified.” The dry, droll taunt dropped like a challenge.
“You should be.” Anna grabbed her driver’s license from the man who denied her access and spun on her heel. She needed to find a phone. Of all the bone-headed, stupid, mush-brained, bull puckey messes. Assholes. She stopped outside the building. Phone. Did she go back to the hotel and call or… nope, there was a telephone booth across the street.
She jogged across the street at the first break in traffic, digging in her purse for change. She scooped a handful from the bottom of her purse and jammed several quarters into the machine before she hit the numbers.
“Harriger.”
“Did I get fired?”
“What? Anna, you can’t start a conversation in the middle. How many times do I need to tell you that?”
“I just came to work, and the Howdy-Doody puppet manning first floor security wouldn’t let me go up. Then this ass-hat came down and threatened to call the police if I didn’t leave.”
“Who did that?”
“Mr. McNair,” Anna ground out. “I don’t usually make snap judgments about people, Nathan, but that guy, he’s a dick.”
“Whoa, settle down, girl. I’ll take care of this. Where are you now?”
“Across the street at the payphone.”
“I’m heading downstairs now. Meet me in the lobby.”
Anna hung up the phone and spun around, colliding into a solid chest. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
The man grabbed her arm, gently steadying her, and smiled. “You did seem to be in a hurry.”
“It has been a heck of a day.”
“Already?” The man glanced at his watch. “It’s only eight.”
Anna laughed and moved away because the guy still had a hold of her elbow. “Some days are better than others. Sorry for running into you.”
“The best thing that has happened to me this week. Are you from around here?”
“No, I’m just here for a little while. A transplant in the big city.” She pointed over to Deacon’s building. “I work over there.”
The man eyed her scrubs and then blinked. “Really?”
Anna glanced down. “Oh, yeah, private nurse.”
“Well, private nurse, I happen to be a native to the city. Perhaps we coul
d have coffee sometime?”
“Oh.” Anna blinked up at the man. He had sandy brown hair and hazel eyes. The suit he was wearing fit him well, and he was attractive. She smiled at him and shook her head. “I have no idea about my schedule, so I’ll have to say no.”
“Here, let me give you my number.” The man reached in his pocket and extracted a card. He handed it to her. She read it quickly. Gary Henderson, Certified Public Accountant. His number was listed below. “I’m Gary by the way.” He extended his hand to her.
Anna took his hand and smiled. “Anna Harriger.” She held up the card and smiled. “I don’t know if I’ll have the time, but thank you. You made a horrible morning much, much better.”
“My pleasure, Anna. I hope you call.” He gave her a bright smile and headed down the sidewalk.
She smiled at the card and tucked it into her purse. Who knew, maybe she would find time for coffee. Dodging traffic, she worked her way back to the lobby of the building. When she entered, the young man was no longer at the security checkpoint, but Nathan was, along with an older, more mature version of the youngster who had been at the desk.
“Am I going to be arrested for coming back in the building?”
The new, suit-clad, man shook his head. “Ms. Harriger, I’m sorry for the confusion. The entry authorization list with your name on it was not given to security this morning. We are learning the process, and unfortunately, you were our crash test dummy.”
Anna laughed, “Okay, that I understand, but that other guy was really a jerk.”
“Other guy?” The man frowned.
“Mr. McNair.” That name was forever etched in her mind. “He threatened to call the police if I persisted in trying to get into the building.”
The man’s expression blanked. “I’ll make sure processes are in place to provide security with all listings as soon as they are available. There will be no further misunderstandings.”
“I appreciate that.” She wouldn't take her ire out on the new guy. He was trying to make things right.
“Now, if you wouldn’t mind, I need to take a photo of you, and we can build you an ID, so this type of thing won’t happen again.” He waved over another man.
“I can see I’m no longer needed here. Anna, I’ll see you later?” Nathan gave her a quick smile.
“Thanks for rescuing me.” Anna waved at him and followed the man to get her new ID.
Forty minutes later she finally made it to Jackie and Deacon’s apartment, and man alive... she was over the security detail. They knew everything about her, and she may have promised them her paycheck for a year at some point. All of the administrative red tape just to get her access to the apartment where Jackie and Deacon were located was mind-boggling.
The elevator stopped with an almost imperceptible skip. The door slid open, silently exposing a massive foyer. The floor looked as if a janitorial crew had spent a year applying wax to it. The shine of the black floor had a mirror-like quality. Anna stepped onto the floor and lifted her foot to make sure she wasn’t leaving tracks. “Wow, I am so not in Colorado.”
“Anna. I’m sorry about the confusion this morning. Nathan called me and warned me you might be wound up about the security.”
Anna whipped around and smiled at Jackie’s man. “Nah, I get it. They want to make sure you and Jackie are safe. How is my girl, by the way?”
Deacon stopped in front of her. “I don’t know. She won’t really talk to me.”
“Well hell, we can’t have that. Where is she?” Anna glanced around the Taj Mahal-sized apartment.
“This way.” He led her through the apartment. She trailed behind him and played tourist. Front room the size of the ward she worked on. Check. Dining room big enough to hold Deacon’s entire football team. Check. Carpet so thick your feet sank two inches when you stepped on it. Check. Crown molding, chair rails, deep, rich, wood, and she was sooo out of her element… Big ass check.
He stopped at a closed door. “This is us.”
Anna waited until he opened the door and literally gasped at the floor-to-ceiling view of New Orleans and the Mississippi River. “Wow. This is amazing.”
“Anna?”
Her head snapped to the left. “Jackie!” She sprinted to the bed. “Honey, it is so good to see you.”
Anna bent down and carefully hugged her friend. The tears started almost immediately. Hers and Jackie’s.
“Um… is everything okay?” Deacon sounded worried.
Anna laughed and nodded, still hugging her friend. “Absolutely perfect. Could you give us a couple minutes?”
Jackie held it together pretty well until the door shut. That’s when her friend lost it. Anna held her until only breathless hiccups remained from the torrent of emotion.
She pulled away and pushed Jackie’s hair out of her face while she grabbed for the tissue box. “Girl, you’re a mess. Dab away with these.”
Jackie laughed and pulled a handful of two-ply cotton fluff out of the box. “I’m sorry.”
“Stop that right now. You’ve been through hell. Again.”
“They think it was the same guy.” Jackie shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. Anna reached down and pulled up a blanket that had been folded at the bottom of the bed.
“You don’t remember anything this time?”
Jackie shook her head. “When I try to remember, all I feel is fear. My skin crawls with horrible, cold, fear, but I have no memory of what happened.”
“Well you will either remember or you won’t. I’m not concerned with that. I am here to make sure you are on the mend.”
“You don’t have to do this. I can manage.”
Anna snorted and stood up. “Just you try to stop me. Now I know you were tanked up on pain killers yesterday, and the doctor stopped by last night. He called me after he saw you. He’ll be back tonight. The major concern here, ducky, is not your physical recovery because I’m on that like cheese on nachos.”
Jackie frowned at her. The black and blue bruising at her neck made her ivory skin seem incredibly pale and fragile. Anna went over to the massive dresser that probably cost more than the old Chevy truck she drove and picked up Jackie’s medical chart. She checked the types of medication and noted the doses required.
“You aren’t going to tell me what the major concern is?”
Anna smiled at the chart. Gotcha.
She turned around and acted shocked and surprised. “You don’t know? They didn’t tell you?”
Jackie’s eyes widened, and her hand rose to the array of black bruises at her throat. She shook her head slowly from side to side.
Anna sighed heavily and walked over to the bed again, twisting her hands in front of her. “Okay, I want to break this to you slowly, but I think it would be better if I just rip off the bandage.”
Jackie stared at her, then demanded, “What? What is it?”
“Okay, brace yourself.” Anna took a deep breath. “Did you know your boyfriend is rich? Oh, my God, Jackie? Have you seen this place? You are in a bed bigger than my entire apartment in Colorado! How in the hell did you meet him? He’s adorable in a beast kinda way, and girl is he ever in love with you. You have to spill everything. Right. Now.” By the last word, Anna was once again sitting beside her friend.
Jackie’s mouth opened and then closed. She blinked and shook her head gently, no doubt the muscles in her neck were sore. “It is quite possible that you are insane.”
“Thank you, but complements will not get you out of answering my questions! Are you as in love with this guy as he is with you? Why didn’t you mention him to me when we talk? I think I’m insulted. No, I know I’m insulted. Okay, not really, but come on, he’s a pro football player, sexy as sin, and over the moon type rich, and what do you tell your friend Anna about this? Nadda. Nothing. Because why? Hmmm?” Anna leaned her elbow on her knee and dropped her chin into her hand, blinking at her friend.
A small smile lifted one side of Jackie’s mouth. And that was exactly wh
at she wanted to accomplish.
“I think I forgot how much you talk.”
“Impossible. You know me better than that. Now stop avoiding my questions.”
“True, but seriously, I think you may have gotten worse.”
“Again, thank you. Now spill!”
Anna opened the bedroom door to find Deacon sitting against the wall outside.
“Is she okay?”
“The injuries aren’t life-threatening, but you know that. You don’t need a full-time nurse for her.” Anna shut the door even though Jackie was asleep.
Deacon stood up and stretched his back. The man's vertebra popped several times. “I know, but she needs a friend, and I'll pay anything to keep you here until she's better.”
Anna headed down the hallway. She was hungry, and there had to be a kitchen in this place. “I know you would. She’s going to be fine, physically. It will be a couple weeks before she's able to move around comfortably. Mentally, she’s got some demons to hunt. She’s processing what has happened. Give her time. She’ll open up to you. I think maybe in her own way, she’s afraid of you.”
The big guy tightened up and his fists clenched. “Of me?”
“Hell, how do I say this? Okay… she can’t remember anything except the fear. You want to make everything right. You’ve hired security, brought me here, changed your life to take care of her, and she doesn’t…” Anna's finger moved between them as she spoke. “Well, it’s just my opinion, but I think she thinks you are going to decide she’s too much to deal with and leave her.”
Deacon deflated in front of her. He shook his head as he stared past her to the door. “Why would she think that?”
“Not my story to tell, my friend, but suffice it to say, the people in her past have done exactly that.”
“I’ll never leave her. Not as long as there is a breath in my body.”
“Well, don’t tell me. Tell her.” Anna caught Deacon’s arm as he spun toward the bedroom door. “Whoa, after she wakes up. I gave her some pain meds, and she was fading fast when I walked out here.”
“Fuck, I want to find that bastard and shred him.” Deacon rolled his shoulders and slammed his hands into his pockets.
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