***
John looked at his computer screen, re-reading the police report in front of him. One of his security teams had been transporting a wealthy client’s collection of eighteenth-century jewelry across two states. They’d been heading toward New York when they’d been ambushed outside of Stamford. No one had been seriously hurt, but it had been close.
Even though the jewelry hadn’t been taken, the vehicle his team had been driving would be written off. John’s eyes traveled over the report, stopping at the third paragraph. Up until they’d hit Port Chester the journey had been uneventful. That had all changed when they’d driven over the Rippowam River.
All of John’s teams followed strict pre-assignment protocols. Before they left, they checked all national and state websites, making sure they knew of all planned events that could impact on their assignment. They checked weather conditions and accident reports. Traffic congestion data was analyzed and they planned their journey to avoid any unnecessary holdups.
They’d done everything they should have, but they’d still been caught in unscheduled roadworks.
The team had quickly realized that something wasn’t right. As they’d overtaken all of the traffic to get away from the slow-zone, two black SUVs had tried to block their path. Tony Martinez, the driver of Fletcher Security’s SUV, had swerved to the opposite side of the road and slammed into the side of one of the vehicles. He’d kept driving and called for back-up.
They’d made it to their destination, delivered the jewelry, then sent through their report with the dashboard camera images.
Sam and Tanner, two of John’s team based in Montana, had been studying the video for the last few hours. After pulling every piece of data they could find off the video, they were no closer to locating the owner of the SUV.
A quick knock on John’s door pulled his attention away from his computer.
Tanner stood in the doorway. “Sam and I are heading home. Are you coming?”
John glanced at his watch. It was eight o’clock—too late to do anything more for his team in New York. “How’s Tony?”
“Better than your SUV. He’ll contact the insurance company tomorrow.”
John sent Tony a quick email. “We can do that from here. He’s got enough to worry about.” He frowned at the printouts on his desk. He’d looked through each paper at least a dozen times. Nothing that had happened today made sense. Compared to some of the contracts they carried out, the transfer of the jewelry had been a routine operation. Nothing should have gone wrong.
He scooped all of the papers into a pile and locked them away in his bottom drawer. “I’ll leave with you and Sam. Bella’s going to be upset that I missed her bedtime.”
Tanner stared solemnly at him. “Don’t make work your entire life, John. Before you know it, she’ll be heading to university and making her own way in the world. Make the most of having her with you.”
From anyone else, those words wouldn’t have had the same impact. But John knew about Tanner’s past, the heartache that had followed him to Montana. “I wish it was that simple.”
“It is.” Tanner waved John through the open door. “Sam’s waiting for us by the main reception desk. Don’t ask her how she’s feeling.”
John grabbed his jacket and left his office. “What happened?”
“She was supposed to go on a date tonight. The guy had a hard time believing that she couldn’t meet him for dinner.”
“Sounds like she needs to date a different person.”
Tanner grinned. “I told her the same thing. You don’t want to know what she said.”
John flicked the lights out in his office, locked the door and headed toward the front of the building. “Sam wouldn’t know how to be rude if she tried.”
A woman in her late twenties walked down the hallway, frowning ferociously at Tanner. At five-foot-five, the top of Sam’s head wouldn’t have reached John or Tanner’s shoulders. But size, in Sam’s case, meant absolutely nothing.
“I heard that, John Fletcher. Just because I’m quiet, it doesn’t mean I don’t get annoyed.” Her blue eyes were flashing fire. If he’d been a betting man, John would have put ten dollars on her trying to box his ears if she could have reached that far.
Tanner’s grin got a whole lot wider. “It’s just as well your boyfriend can’t see you now. He’d run straight toward the Rockies and never come back.”
Sam stuck her hands on her hips. “I don’t care if I never see him again. And he wasn’t my boyfriend. He was a friend of a friend.” Her nose tilted in the air. “It was a pity he didn’t have a few extra brain cells between his ears. I wouldn’t have canceled our date unless it was important.”
“That’s my girl,” Tanner said proudly. “Boot his sorry ass out the door and look for someone better.”
Sam sent Tanner a withering glare. “I’ve decided to take a vacation from dating. I’m surrounded by too many men all day and it’s damaging my ability to think rationally.” She turned her back on them and strode along the corridor.
Tanner turned to John and gave him one of his ‘I-told-you-so’ looks. John shrugged his shoulders. He was too surprised by Sam’s outburst to do more than follow her.
He might know about business plans, strategic warfare, and the latest surveillance techniques, but he was lost when it came to women.
Tanner lengthened his stride until he was walking beside John. “Was Bella looking forward to seeing Rachel today?”
“She was dressed before six o’clock. When I left home, she was sitting in the kitchen with Patty, counting the minutes until Rachel arrived.”
Sam waited at the reception desk for John and Tanner. “I sent the images from Tony’s dash-cam to a friend at the FBI. He’s going to have a look at it tomorrow.”
John waved at a security guard as they left the building. “Thanks. You’ve both worked hard today. I appreciate what you’ve given up to stay here.”
Sam glared at Tanner. “Don’t say a word.”
“I wasn’t going to,” he said with a smile in his voice. “I’m going home to eat left-over pizza. Want to join me?”
Sam wrinkled her nose. “No, thanks. I need sleep more than cold pizza.”
John shook his head, too. “I’ve got a little girl to kiss goodnight. See you tomorrow.” As he left the parking lot, he went through the day he’d planned before Tony and his team had been ambushed. That’s when he remembered his promise to go to the mall with Bella.
With a sinking heart, he knew he was heading toward worst dad of the year status. Instead of choosing a birthday present for Bella’s friend and eating hot dogs, he’d been buried in paperwork.
Tanner was right. Something had to change.