I shrugged and slumped back in my desk chair, laid my head back. “Yeah, I guess.”
“And if anyone can do it,” Sheila continued, “it's these guys. I met two of them while they working for Daddy, and they gave off this whole ex-military vibe. They had guns and stuff. Like, kind of scary.”
“Scary?”
Sheila grinned, brushed her short hair from her forehead. “Well, scary but, I don't know kinda hot, too.”
I laughed, shook my head. “Oh, I see now. Your master plan.”
“Master plan?”
“Act all antsy about me going to them, to avoid suspicion . . .”
A look of shock came over her face, like I'd just shot her horse or run over her dog.
“. . . just so I can give these guys some more work and you can have an excuse to have them hanging around again.”
The look immediately faded and she laughed. “Dammit, Jess, that's so not it, and you know it. Shit, maybe I'm worried you'll meet someone and leave me all single. You thought of that?”
I shook my head, grinning. “Not likely. You know me, I can't get tied down. But, have you thought that maybe he'd have a friend? A nice handsome one, that you haven't known since you were in diapers?”
“At this point, I'd just be happy as long as he walks on two legs and is housebroken.”
I laughed a sad little laugh that turned into a sigh. It had been a while since I'd dated anyone. It just seemed that most of the guys I met up here were either wealthy assholes just passing through, or total hicks I couldn't stand. But, I was like Sheila. As much as I loved the oceans, loved cities and the wider world, I knew I'd never be able to drag myself from these mountains, from the snow, the trees, the way the air smelled on a winter morning or a summer night.
“Look,” Sheila said after a moment, “I'm really worried about you. If you don't think Peak can help, maybe you should call.”
“Yeah,” I said, nodding, “you're probably right. What were these guys called again?”
“Frost Detectives? Something like that, I think. I can get something from Daddy about them. I bet he kept their card in case he had any more problems.”
“Really that good, then?” I asked as I leaned forward in my chair, propped myself up on my elbows. “Seriously?”
“Absolutely. Best in the state is what Daddy told me.”
I waved her off and opened the little laptop on my desk and began to sign in. “I can figure it out. How many Frost security firms could there be in Colorado? And in the Rock, no less?”
A few minutes later and Sheila and I were both crowded around my laptop, looking through their website. It was well-designed. No flashy ads or videos, just a straight rundown of the services they provided. And, wow, did they provide some services. Surveillance, counter-surveillance, missing persons, physical security, fire investigations. They were like a mini-police force, all fully licensed and bonded by the state of Colorado.
“No bios, huh?” Sheila pouted.
I playfully elbowed her in the side. “Wanting to see if your hotties were still working?” I teased.
“No,” she said with an exaggerated whine. “Well, yeah. Also, I wanted to see what their turnover was like.”
“Makes sense they wouldn't show pictures of the guys,” I replied, “especially if they're doing surveillance.”
“Good point,” Sheila agreed. “You gonna call?”
“Well, they look on the up and up. I guess it can't hurt to talk to them, right?”
“Right,” she said. “Call them, see if you can set up a meeting.”
A few minutes and two rings of the phone later I had their secretary on the line, a nice grandmotherly-sounding sort. “Frost Security, Genevieve speaking. How may I assist you today?”
“Hello, my name is Jessica Long.” I hesitated. “And I think I have a stalker problem.”
“Well, Ms. Jessica Long,” Genevieve replied without missing a beat, “briefly tell me what you can, and we'll see what kind of help we're able to provide.”
I sighed and smiled, then began to give her a brief sketch of my problem. Five minutes later, I had a meeting scheduled with Peter Frost, the owner of the agency, for later that afternoon.
Chapter Two
Richard
I marched back into the office from my lunch break around one o'clock. It was just me and Peter in the office today, besides Genevieve, our secretary.
The Frost Security office was a little unconventional. Peter had picked the old saloon up for a song a few years earlier when we'd decided to finally make our start as a security agency. The renovations required a lot of hard work. We handled everything, from gutting the interior, to redoing all the plumbing, to rewiring the whole joint. But it was ours, lock, stock, and barrel, out on the far edge of Enchanted Rock. We'd kept a lot of the wild west motif, liking the unique style of the design. Rather than keep it as an open barroom, though, we'd installed glass offices and a conference room. The clear walls were all equipped with shades we could draw down to give us privacy when needed.