“That’s hotel policy. They can’t disclose information on people to strangers. How about her friends or other members of the bachelorette party?” Pat asked.
“We put in calls to some of the guys. We know two were hitting on her girlfriends, so we’re hoping to find something out that way,” Reece said.
“Well, I hate to say it, but there isn’t much you can do about it. Even if you did find out her full name, her number and address, you aren’t going to fly out to another state just to talk to her and see where it will lead. Leave it as a memory of an unforgettable night. There isn’t much more to do.” Tobin opened the other beer, took a sip, then stood up and continued to put the stuff away.
“It sucks. She was gorgeous, sexy as damn hell, with a knock-out body,” Rusty told them.
“She even had a tattoo on her hip and one on the inside of her wrist. They were both small dragonflies,” Reece told Pat.
“Those are distinguishing marks. Maybe you’ll hear from one of the guys, and it will lead to her number. If that happens, I would call her first before showing up on her doorstep. Then she’ll call the cops on you guys, especially if she only slept with you because she was drunk.”
“Fuck you, that wasn’t the only reason,” Reece said and threw one of the bags at Pat’s head.
“The attraction was instant. There was a connection there, and that’s what I don’t understand,” Rusty said.
“Let’s say this hot, sexy woman felt it, too. Maybe she figured it wasn’t worth it to continue something that would end up nowhere. She isn’t even in this state. She’s nowhere near here. Just put her out of your heads. It wasn’t meant to be,” Tobin stated firmly, and it was obvious to Pat that the conversation was over as far as Tobin was concerned.
“I don’t know. It was special. I never felt like that before.” Rusty played with the rim of his beer can.
“Me either. Who knows? If it’s meant to be, we’ll meet her again. If not, then every woman we meet from here on out will be compared to her,” Reece said, and Rusty agreed.
Pat looked at his brothers. He not only felt bad for them. He also felt envious. This woman really had made an impression. The effect she had on them made him want to meet her, too. But obviously that just wasn’t going to happen. They had yet to find a woman the four of them liked in that way. Considering the current circumstances, it wasn’t looking as though this particular woman was going to break their streak of no luck.
* * * *
“I don’t have time to talk. I just got into the office and it’s crazy busy already. I’ll call you later, Jenny.”
“You’d better,” Jenny said, and then Brighid disconnected the call.
She punched the information into the computer and worked diligently to get things started. Her bosses, Lenny McCoy and Ray Syrias, were in Lenny’s office with the door closed. Something was going on.
She took a deep breath and thought about why Jenny was calling her this morning of all mornings. For a woman who wanted to forget about a one-night stand with some amazing firefighter, she sure wouldn’t stop talking about the guy or his friends. Hence why Brighid didn’t want to discuss it. She was so embarrassed for sleeping with two brothers she didn’t know and for not even remembering most of it. Throughout Sunday, she kept remembering little things. The feel of their bodies, the touch of their hands, and the way they’d undressed her and explored her together.
She was glad she was on birth control and had an IUD, or she would be worrying now about pregnancy. By mid-week that worry would change to possible contracting some sexually transmitted disease from them. They were so hot. They could have their choice of women. In fact, women probably lined up to get fucked by them.
She banged a little too hard on the keyboard, and it lifted up and banged back down. Why did the thought of them being with other women upset her so much and make her feel jealous? She was never going to see them again. So it didn’t matter that she really liked them and that they were perfect for her and they’d had so much in common. It wasn’t meant to be. Now get back to work and focus on making money to pay for the condo and living expenses. She didn’t want to hit up her savings at all.
“Brighid, do you have the file from the Anders investigation handy, or is it still in the boxes? We tried so hard to get everything set over the weekend but it’s been nuts. Especially hiring a few more office assistants,” Lenny asked her.
“I think I just set that one into the filing cabinet. I already downloaded the documents, scanned them, and saved them on the portable hard drive.”
“Great. Can you send that over to me please?”
“Is everything okay with that case? It has been closed for a few weeks.”
“Yeah, there was just something we needed to look over. There’s a number we need from one of the contacts in there.”
She stood up. “I can check it out for you. What’s the name and number?” she asked, taking her pen and pad and looking at him.
“That won’t be necessary. You continue getting everything into the system. We expect some new clients this week and want you to be on top of the organization to ensure no mistakes are made.”
“Okay.” Her gut clenched. It was awfully weird for him to react to her like that. Over the past two years, they always had her look things like that up. Unless they had some sort of personal attachment to the case, which was rare.
She went back to work, trying to remain focused on the job and not on the two firefighters who’d changed her life from just one night.
* * * *
“What are we going to do? We’re not here in this town for two days and this guy won’t leave us alone,” Lenny stated.
“Fuck him. He isn’t going to do shit, Lenny. We’ve covered our tracks. We’re in charge. It doesn’t matter what he wants. He’s the best guy out there, and he’s all ours.”
Lenny ran his fingers through his hair.
“He’s been acting funny for several months now. What if he screws up a deal and we get caught? We’ll lose everything.”
“It’s not going to happen. We got away with the last fire where the old lady was killed. We’ll continue to get away with this. Don’t go gaining some sort of conscience now. He gets paid too good, and he likes doing this shit. Maybe he wants more money, a bigger piece of the action? I don’t know. If you’re worried, we’ll lay low for a while. We’ll tell him we don’t have any jobs for him right now. Maybe he’ll hook up with someone else. He did some work for Baragio.”
“Baragio hasn’t shown his face for months. Not after that criminal investigation by the feds.”
“Which is another reason to not piss the guy off. Listen, it’s all good. We’ll be fine,” Ray stated with a confidence that Lenny just didn’t feel.
“No one expects anything. We help law enforcement officers, firefighters, and military people, too. In a town like this, no one will expect shit. Believe me, we’ll be back on track, rolling in the dough, and our little friend will be the happy little arsonist he enjoys being. I have a few possible new cases lined up. I’ll be meeting the clients and seeing where things are. It will all work out.”
“I sure hope you’re right about this, Ray, because right now, I’m not feeling too certain at all.”
* * * *
The first few weeks of work had passed quickly. They were incredibly busy and had a series of insurance claims concerning fires in the business district a few towns over. She had taken a call for Lenny from some irate customer who claimed that he should have gotten a bigger payout than what he had gotten. It happened often and was based on the plan people had and how much they contributed to that insurance and what it covered. This particular man was seriously misguided and demanding to speak with Lenny. She connected the call and heard Lenny raising his voice. When he came out after the call, he advised her to not patch through any of the calls to him again.
She’d noticed a change in Lenny and Ray recently. They were on edge and not really talking with the three other new staff members in the office. She had taken on the role of office manager, and they seemed fine with that. She kept abreast of what was going on and tried handling situations she knew how to handle and then called in Lenny or Ray to handle the things she wasn’t certain of or felt responsible for.
The business was expanding. They were picking up accounts across the United States, and with the expansion, more incidents popped up. Plus, Lenny was taking a key interest in certain cases, never even letting her see the files or assist even with correspondence. It was kind of upsetting. That, of course, made her suspicious of their behavior. Could they be up to something illegal? If so, she wouldn’t want to be attached to it. That made her think about how much trouble she could get into. She needed this job. She didn’t have any family and didn’t know any people other than her bosses and staff members, who were new to the area, too. It made her feel uneasy, but then she convinced herself that she was jumping the gun and drawing conclusions that probably weren’t true.
The front door to the main office opened, and a man stepped inside. Normally the front desk secretary handled any walk-ins, but Lisa had just walked away from her desk to grab a coffee and use the ladies room.