I would never admit to him that the work was actually enjoyable. I liked creating the security program we used to protect our clients. I liked constantly upgrading it, constantly making it stronger. I even liked watching the video that streamed live from the homes and offices of our clients; I liked the feeling that I was actually capable of protecting someone in some small way despite the wheelchair that became my albatross after the accident.
Not that I would ever admit that to Ash. He didn’t need to know.
After Ash came strolling downstairs, popping into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, Donovan usually arrived if he wasn’t on a case. But, lately, he’s been coming in late, sometimes as late as eight or eight thirty. He has a girl now, a former client who just happened to be his high school crush. They’ve been together five months now, if you counted from the time she was a client. And she seemed to keep him quite occupied when he wasn’t on a case.
After Donovan, Joss usually wandered in. Joss was the only lady who worked as an operative for us. She was a petite little wisp of a woman, blond and tan, the kind of woman you might imagine more on the cover of some fashion magazine than in Army greens. However, she served her time in the military just like the rest of the primary team. She and Ash met in boot camp and reconnected a couple of years ago after her husband and kid were killed in a car accident. She was a surfer. She liked to catch the early morning waves, so she usually came into the office in a skintight wetsuit. It was quite a sight to behold. Not that it had ever crossed my mind to say that to her. I rather liked all my parts right where God had put them.
The last to arrive was always Kirkland. He was a fine operative. His clients always came through their ordeal in one piece. But he was also…well, let’s just say Kirkland was a charmer. And that charm almost always had some beautiful woman chasing him up to the main house from his little cottage, or calling dozens of times a day, trying to get him to fulfill his promise to see her again. He was a classic Romeo, the kind of guy whom you could never quite figure out how he got so many women until you actually saw him in action. And then you might find yourself tempted to fall into bed with him, too.
They were all here today, mostly on time. We hadn’t had a serious client in a few weeks, just a few quick jobs. A visit to a stalker to frighten him off. A few parties that required a special sort of security. An escort to a highly sensitive business meeting. Small things. But it was the big ones, the death threats and the potential kidnappings, that paid the bills.
“Alright, everyone,” Ash called from the head of the conference table, “if you’ll join me, we have a few assignments to go over.”
Donovan was in the kitchen, wolfing down a couple of cinnamon rolls Rose had brought in. Kirkland was with him, sipping at a cup of hot coffee and describing, in detail, the woman he’d been with the night before, trying to remind Donovan of all the fun he was missing out on now that he was in a committed relationship. Joss was at her desk, checking email before she headed back out to the beach to catch a few more waves. One by one, Donovan—an irritated expression on his face—the first, they all heeded Ash’s call.
“You, too, David,” Ash called.
I peeked around the end of my monitors. “Working on something.”
“It’ll only take a minute.”
I could feel all their eyes on me as I wheeled myself around my workstation and made my way to where they were all waiting. Resentment burned in my chest. Ever since my security program was hacked back in January I’d been working nonstop trying to make sure it wouldn’t happen again. I didn’t have time for this bullshit.
I rolled myself just outside the little perimeter of the dining room—or what was once a dining room and was now something of an open conference room—and crossed my arms over my chest. Ash studied me a second, his eyes narrowing, but then he turned his attention to the business at hand.
“As you know, we’ve recently gone through a little dry spell as far as cases are concerned. However, this seems to be changing. We had two new cases come in this morning.”
Kirkland and Joss smiled, but Donovan just sat back and snuck a peek at his phone.
Ash held up two file folders. “The first is an executive who has been getting death threats. He thinks it’s a competitor and that things will blow over after his company launches a new product next week.” He nodded to Joss. “This one’s right up your alley.”
Joss reached over and took the folder. She silently flipped through it, nodding from time to time as she did.
“Got it?” Ash asked.
She nodded, silent as ever.