Chapter 2
She drove back to headquarters and raced upstairs. She couldn’t believe she’d spent so much time in this cement building. When she’d left the military, she’d wanted a job that didn’t have her stuck in an office all day. And true, she did leave to meet people, but she was still here for many hours every day. Too many if she were honest. In the military she’d been a trainer and had spent lots of time inside and outside. “I got another one,” she said in a hard voice as she strode across the open space.
The designers lounging on the far side staring at something on the monitors jumped to their feet. “Another one?”
“Yes. Another one.” She pulled out her phone to show them the text. “See?” Her phone was passed from man to man.
“That’s ridiculous. What does he expect you to say or do?” Tommy asked. His flamboyant color choices for his wardrobe did not detract from the fact that he still had more acne than most eighteen-year-olds. He was one of those genius teenagers. He’d been caught hacking government files at twelve because he really wanted to see if UFOs were at Area 51. It’d taken more than a hand slap to stop him. Once they got him designing new military training programs, he’d taken to them like he should’ve taken to school. Once he turned eighteen, he was part of this company. A lot of money was invested in their new programs, and they were always working on new designs. When she came on board, she’d insisted on shares. That had led to an investment program they could all live with.
Warren, who’d started the company, walked over at the commotion. “Did you get another text or was this one an email again?”
She nodded. “A text.”
He shook his head. “Forward it to the cops.”
“Like forwarding the last half dozen made a difference,” she scoffed. It was irritating that the police had been unable to track the sender. Although Tommy, the in-house cybergenius, hadn’t had much luck either. He’d found the accounts were closed as soon as the emails were sent out. So finding the asshole would not be easy. Her stalker apparently had cyberskills she could only dream of. She’d take a fistfight over some sneaky cyberattack any day.
“Any idea what it’s all about?” Tommy asked. “We set up several new walls and added an encryption to your email so he can’t access that again. Surely you must have some idea of what’s going on?”
She shook her head. “Wish to hell I did.”
“How did Levi’s team like the VR system?”
She could feel her face light up with excitement. “They were stunned.”
Warren grinned. “Now that’s what I like to hear.”
It was one of the benefits she brought to the company. Connections. These guys started with an idea, and, with her help, they tested, trained and developed them. Now it was up to her to find buyers. Only so many people specialized in elite military training. Eventually they’d be in the gaming market, but right now it was all about training warriors to defend their own.
“Did you ask him about other markets?”
She shook her head. “No, not yet.”
Warren’s face fell. “We can’t run without money.”
She nodded. “Not to worry. I’m having lunch with Levi and Ice tomorrow.”
Tommy’s face was immediately wreathed with smiles. “That’s Levi’s lady, right?”
Kai nodded and kept her thoughts to herself. None of these guys were military. “She’s his partner in life and in the company, yes.” She remembered the beating she took at Ice’s hands. Ice was a top-notch warrior.
“She’s also a stunner,” Warren said. “A hell of a good-looking woman.”
Tommy said, “What’s she doing with Levi? She should be here with me.”
Warren snickered.
That brought a wave of raucous laughter from the other programmers. Kai shook her head at Tommy. “Ice would eat you for breakfast.”
“She’ll eat me for breakfast, and I shall eat her for lunch,” he said with a smile, waggling his eyebrows.
Knowing he was just being one of the “guys,” a behavior likely learned from Warren, she sighed. “I should teach you a lesson and bring Ice here.”
Warren jumped to his feet again. “That wouldn’t be a bad idea. I wouldn’t mind meeting her myself.” He rubbed his hands together.
Kai stared at the men around her. “You guys have no idea.”
The thing was, they really didn’t have any idea. They didn’t understand how different Ice and the women in the compound were, the way they lived and showed others how to live. The compound was full of top-trained elite soldiers. Nothing less than the best would be acceptable for the partners. She understood most of the partners were weapons specialists and martial arts experts, although some she imagined weren’t. But each one would have something special to bring to the table. They were special men. Not one would accept anything less. She wished to hell she belonged there. Something about that atmosphere—well, it made her homesick in ways she hadn’t considered. They all had someone. They all belonged. And she wanted that for herself. She’d felt out in the cold for too long.
This stalker asshole was making the sensation worse. She felt increasingly isolated. The guys more laughed at it than worried about it. But, for her, a level of unease sat just under her skin.
Her future might be undecided, but every time she tried to think forward, this stalker asshole intruded. It was irritating. And scary.
What did he really want?
*
“Tyson, what did you think of the virtual-reality training program?”
He turned to Levi. “As somebody who hasn’t played many video games, it’ll take a little getting used to, but it was unique, different, and I think it has tremendous potential.”
“I’m not sure gaming experience helps anybody with a training scenario like this,” Stone said. “Our own real-life experiences are probably more helpful. I really like the idea of using different weapons. They all feel so different in your hands.”
“They still have the same weight in VR as in reality.” Rhodes studied the weapons on the table. “Looks like they’ve used the 3-D modeling program and then incorporated accurate weights to give us the same feel. It’s not quite there yet.”
“Maybe that’s a good thing,” Ice said. “We don’t ever want to mistake these weapons for the real ones.”
Levi chuckled. “Hopefully our men will never have the real weapons in the VR training room.”
“We knew the room was being transformed into something, but nobody had any idea just what you two were up to.” Flynn grinned at Levi. “You do know how to keep a secret. And that’s damn near impossible around this place.”
Levi shook his head. “Kai and I have been in discussions for the last year. But only about three months ago did I realize the prototype was to the point where they needed some real-life testing.”
To Tyson it made complete sense. It also helped him understand how Levi had afforded this. It couldn’t be cheap. On the other hand, the security company was doing incredibly well. The compound that had started with just four members was now massive. And still growing.
Bailey walked over carrying a tray. “Too bad Kai left. I have fresh cookies.” Bailey smiled up at the men. “And if there was ever a way to a man’s heart …” She held out the platter. But before anybody could take one, Ice stepped forward and took the biggest. She chuckled at the look of outrage on Levi’s face.
“I figured I’d better snag one before none are left,” Ice said.
Stone snorted. “You stole the one I was going to take.”
“I was after that one,” Levi said in disgust. “It was the biggest.”
Her voice smug, Ice said, “Of course I only took one. You’ll have a dozen. It won’t matter if yours are a little smaller.”
Stone nodded agreeably instead of answering because his mouth was full.
Tyson had to admit he was still unsure of everybody’s names here. He knew most of the men personally. But the women not so much. There were a lot of them. Some worked in town; some worked here, and some didn’t appear to do anything. But he knew they probably did; he just didn’t know what their jobs were yet. He knew Bailey worked in the kitchen because she seemed to constantly appear with food.
Just then she stepped in front of him with the platter of cookies. He smiled and said, “Thank you very much, Bailey.”
Her smile brightened. “You are by far the most polite man here.”
That set off a tirade from the others. “The new guy is just sucking up so he gets more cookies,” Logan said. “I’m leaving in a couple hours, so I should get extra cookies first.”
Agreeing, Bailey held the tray out for him. Before Logan could reach for one, Harrison grabbed several for himself. “I’m leaving too.”
Walking to the coffeepot, Tyson poured himself a cup and turned to look around at the wonderful camaraderie he was unexpectedly overwhelmed by. He’d never thought to see something like this. And that it was here right in front of him with people he knew. He wanted to join in, but, at the same time, he still remained on the outside.
Jace poured a cup for himself. “It’s almost too good to be true,” he said in a low voice.
Tyson nodded. “Michael did tell us that.”
“Exactly.”
They’d trusted Michael for a lot of years. He hadn’t let them down yet. It was a relief to know this time was no different. Somebody else’s face kept popping into Tyson’s mind. Kai. She’d been the same as he remembered her. Innovative, high energy and a dynamo. Tracy used to laugh and say Kai only had one speed, and that was overdrive. He’d seen her in action many times, and he had to agree.
But there’d been a change in her when she’d gotten that text. A disquiet settled on her face. That’s when he’d seen the fine tremor in her fingers as she packed up. There was a lull in the conversation around them as everybody worked on their cookies. Into the silence he asked, “Did anybody else see Kai’s expression when she got that text?”
A dozen heads turned toward him.
“I did,” Ice said. “But it was subtle. You had to be watching her features when it happened.”
Tyson nodded. “Subtle or not, that message worried her.”
“Like us, she leads a full life. I’m sure some aspects of it aren’t very nice,” Harrison said. “I doubt it’s man trouble though. She’d work anybody over who gave her one bit of conflict during her classes.”
That brought out more chuckles and stories of Kai over the years.
Tyson couldn’t let it go. “She looked afraid,” he said in a low voice.
“How afraid?” Levi’s voice was hard. “I didn’t see her face. I was at the far side of the room.”
Tyson studied his new boss. He knew Levi well; so did many of the men here. He was a no-nonsense take-it-at-face-value type of person. Tyson knew he had to back up what he said.
“Very afraid,” he said firmly. “Her face went white, and then she turned away. I saw her eyes. They were bleak and scared.”
Levi turned to Ice.
Ice shrugged and said, “I saw something, yes. Whatever was in that text bothered her.”
“But she didn’t say anything so I doubt it was an emergency,” Levi said. “It’s not like she gave any kind of a physical response as in somebody close to her was in a car accident or something.”
“No. It wasn’t anything like that.” Tyson thought back to the way she’d pulled out the phone almost hesitatingly, as if she didn’t want to see what was coming. “It’s happened before. And she’s afraid it’ll happen again.”
Stone asked, “But what? What is she afraid will happen again?”
“I have no idea. But I don’t think it’s anything good.”