Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
Two days later . . .
“A little more.”
Emmett Shaw tilted the black, wooden frame in his hands a few centimeters to the right. From over his shoulder, he glanced at his teammate, Gwen. “Better?”
“Perfect.” The five-eight woman standing a few feet back flashed him a friendly smile.
“Thanks, Winslow.” He shifted to face the only female on the team. “Appreciate the assist.”
Gwendolyn “Gwen” Winslow gave a shrug. “No problem, boss.”
With her long, blonde ponytail and big, blue eyes, she looked like the quintessential girl next door. In reality, the feisty woman was a mastermind in explosives with a near-perfect shot. And from what Emmett had seen so far, Gwen also had a spine made of steel.
“Told you before, you don’t have to call me boss.”
But Gwen simply shrugged. “I know.” The corners of her lips rose a bit more. “But you have to admit, it does have a nice ring to it . . . doesn’t it?”
The way she waggled her brows made his shoulders shake with a chuckle. Okay, yeah. He had to admit, being the team’s leader felt pretty damn good.
Emmett just prayed he could live up to the title.
Gwen went to the nearest chair that made up the waiting area of their new D.C. office. She started to reach for the black leather jacket and purse she’d tossed there earlier but stopped and look back his way. “Anything else I can help with before heading out for the night?”
“Not that I can think of.” Emmett scanned the sleekly decorated office for any unfinished tasks that still needed to be completed.
Their office waiting area looked ready to roll with its black leather chairs, sleek accent tables, and the subtly colored area rug.
The minimalist paintings he’d just ensured were level as they hung from the cream-colored walls added a slight pop of color with their hues of deep orange, gray, and black.
Each member of the team had finished setting up and decorating their individual offices down the hall. The conference room was ready with its long table and several chairs, and the team’s war room was equipped with the best technology money could buy.
“Looks like we’re ready to open the doors,” Gwen assessed. “Any word on whether or not Barclay will be joining us on the regular?”
Emmett gave a quick shake of his head. “Last I heard, he’s still only agreeing to help out on an as-needed basis.”
“As needed is better than nothing, I suppose.”
It would be better if they had someone willing to commit to the team the same way he and the others had.
The office was ready. They were ready. And he was tired of waiting to get the show on the road.
“I spoke to McQueen this morning,” he shared with his new teammate. “He gave us the green light to open the doors, despite Barclay’s hesitation in coming on full-time.”
Jake McQueen was the founding father of the ever-expanding R.I.S.C.
empire. The acronym for the elite, private security corporation stood for rescue, intel, security, and capture.
And it summed up perfectly what Emmett and the other numerous R.I.S.C.
operators across the country had been hired to do.
“Then I say we go for it.” Gwen’s baby blues widened slightly with a set of raised brows.
Grabbing her jacket, she slid her arms into the sleeves.
“It’s not like we have clients lining the sidewalk out front, anxiously awaiting the day we finally open.
” She reached back and adjusted her collar.
“Plus, I’m sure it’ll take some time to get the word out that we’re even here.
Hopefully by then, Barclay will have decided to join us permanently.
If not, maybe McQueen can come up with someone else he thinks will be a good fit.
Either way, if the big dog out in Texas says we’re good to go, I think we’re silly to keep on waiting. ”
Emmett couldn’t keep his lips from twitching at their corners. “You’re really not one to hold back what you think, are you?”
Without hesitation, his explosives specialist shook her head with a decisive, “Nope.”
“Good.” He dipped his chin in approval.
Gwen picked up her purse with a grin. “’Night, boss.” There was a slight but purposeful emphasis on that last word as she walked out the door with a wave.
A soft chuckle escaped Emmett’s chest on his way down the hall toward his office. Something told him that woman was going to cause him a world of trouble.
His thoughts shifted to Gwen’s suggestion that they officially open for business despite being a man down. While he didn’t necessarily disagree, Echo wasn’t a team of two.
First thing tomorrow, he’d call the team into the conference room for a meeting. They’d go through the pros and cons, and after that, they’d vote. He may be the leader of the team, but if his people weren’t on board, his opinion meant squat.
We’ll meet, discuss, and then—
“Hello?”
Emmett stopped dead in his tracks a few feet from his office door when the unfamiliar voice sounded from behind. Looking back, he was too deep into the hallway to see the person who had just walked in, but someone was definitely there.
Should’ve locked the door behind Gwen when she left.
Holding back a groan of inconvenience, he began walking back in that direction to tell whoever had just wandered into their office that they were in the wrong place and needed to leave.
“Is someone here?” the slightly husky female voice called out again as Emmett grew closer to the hallway’s entrance.
A few yards from the reception area, the woman finally came into view. Her back was to him as she slowly inched her way around the space, giving him the chance to assess what he could see.
She was taller than the average female. Five-six, maybe five-seven, if he had to take a guess.
A pair of well-worn jeans hugged her long legs and heart-shaped backside with mouthwatering perfection.
The green sweater she wore feathered across her belted hips as she moved, and his fingers itched to run their way through her long, dark hair.
The hell?
Emmett wasn’t the finger-itching kind of guy. Especially when he’d only seen this woman for a brief moment, and only from behind, at that.
He picked up the pace and covered the remaining stretch of the hall. When he walked past the reception desk, he found her meandering her way around the waiting area’s black, leather chairs.
“Can I help you?” His deep voice seemed to almost echo throughout the quiet space as he greeted the stranger.
The woman started a bit and turned his way. Almost instantly, Emmett found himself struggling to take in even the smallest of breaths. Meanwhile, the woman put her hand to her chest and smiled.
“Oh, hi.” A soft chuckle left her delicate shoulders shaking. “Sorry. I wasn’t sure if anyone was still here. But the door was unlocked”—she pointed that way—“so I thought maybe . . .” Her entrancing voice trailed.
For a moment, all he could do was stand there and stare. She was truly the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on.
She’s also standing in Echo Team’s office, and you still have no idea why.
Emmett cleared the sudden dryness from his throat. “Sorry, but we aren’t actually open for business yet.”
The woman’s long lashes fluttered with a blink of surprise half-a-second before disappointment flooded her almond-shaped eyes.
“Oh.” She did a quick scan of their immediate surroundings.
“Sorry. I thought . . . A friend of mine suggested that I reach out to you and your team. He thought you might be able to help me with something.” Her blue gaze returned to his.
“Apparently he was mistaken. Sorry to have bothered you.”
A quick flash of a smile was all he got before she made a bee line for the door. And that was a good thing because, as he’d pointed out to her, they weren’t taking on clients.
That would all change after tomorrow’s meeting, of course. Once the team discussed it at length and voted. Until then, he’d apologize for not being able to help and suggest she give them a call in a couple of days to set up an appointment.
That’s what Emmett had intended to say. What actually came out of his mouth was—
“Wait!” His booted feet carried him slowly toward her.
She stopped just shy of turning the knob, glancing back at him from over her shoulder. “Yes?”
“You said a friend sent you here?”
That bit was interesting given they hadn’t yet opened their doors.
“Well he’s not a friend so much as a source, but yeah.
” She nodded. “He said yours was the newest team within the R.I.S.C. organization and that you guys were the best in the business.” Her hand fell from the knob as she turned her body to fully face his.
“From what I’ve been able to find, I’d say that’s a fair assessment. ”
“And you’re in the market for a private security company to help you with—”
“Finding someone who’s missing.”
Emmett blinked. “Missing persons isn’t exactly the kind of thing we take on. Something like that is usually handled by the police.”
“The cops are refusing to look for her, which is why I came here. But since you can’t help me, either, I won’t waste any more of your time or mine. Sorry to have bothered you.”
She went for the door a second time.
“Who’s missing?” He took another step forward, feeling compelled to ask.
“Does it matter?” The woman’s tone had bite. A much softer, “I’m sorry” immediately followed. When she faced him again, a defeated sigh fell from her bow-shaped lips. “Her name is Amy Weaver. She’s an intern with the White House Press Corps, and I think she’s in some serious trouble.”
The White House?
That alone spelled trouble. Especially when you added the word intern into the mix. Actually Emmett found this entire interaction rather bizarre. Even so there was something unexplainable about this woman that seemed to draw him in.
“And you’re sure she’s missing?”