Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Xander leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He glanced around Hudson Security’s conference room at his colleagues and frowned.
As he listened to the woman across the table from him, his frown deepened.
Esmerelda Abara was their director of logistics.
She was based in the Seattle area but came to their Hudson Island office every other week or so as she handled .
. . well, everything. She was former CIA, could probably kill him ten different ways, and would most definitely make sure no one ever found his body.
Like all the women at Hudson Security, Esme was a badass.
And she sure as hell didn’t mince words.
“Of the five candidates you sent me,” she said, “my recommendation is that only two of them move on to the next round of interviews.”
His eyebrows rose in surprise. Only two?
As the lead of Hudson Security’s Team One and the overall head of the personal security division, Xander had spent considerable time going through countless applications for their new Team Four.
Nine candidates had passed Bean’s thorough background check.
Their head of cybersecurity, who was seated beside him, was one of the best hackers in the world.
It was safe to say he knew way more information about each candidate than he wanted. After checking their references, conducting two rounds of one-on-one video interviews, and then an off-site, in-person meeting with each candidate, he’d whittled the candidate pool down to five.
He’d thought those that remained were top-notch. Solid. That the only issue would be which three rose to the top. Each of the five had met individually with Esme over the last week, and apparently, he’d been wrong.
“In fact,” Esme continued, “McNab and Stevenson are lucky I didn’t lay them out flat.”
His eyebrows lifted even higher as Bean chuckled beside him.
“I’m afraid to ask, Es,” Gavin Frazier, the founder and head of Hudson Security, said from the video feed on the room’s giant smartboard. “What did they do?”
Esme’s eyes narrowed, and Xander swore he could feel her irritation from across the table.
“As you all know,” Esme said, “for their interview with me, all Xander tells them is they’re meeting with Hudson Security’s director of logistics.
He gives them the location and time. Nothing more.
Nothing less. I met McNab on Wednesday night and Stevenson on Thursday.
” She gestured to the smartboard where Bean had added the photos of both men.
“Let’s just say they’re both slimy motherfuckers.
Zero respect for women. After I let them know who I was, Stevenson had the decency to act remorseful.
But McNab? Nope. He doubled down on the misogyny.
Suffice it to say, neither of them should advance to the next round.
There’s only a handful of women who work here, and there’s no way I’d subject any of us to those guys. ”
“Fair,” Gavin said, nodding. “You know we trust your judgment implicitly.”
“Sorry you had to put up with that shit,” Xander said. “You said only two made it through. Who else did you cut?”
“Katsaros.” Esme shook her head, gesturing to the new photo on the smartboard. “The woman has all the credentials, but the chip on her shoulder is too much. She wouldn’t get along with half the guys here.”
“So that leaves us with Corbin and Jardine,” Xander said as Bean added photos of the two remaining candidates.
“They both interviewed well,” Esme said. “Professional, alert, personable, and intelligent. Jardine has a talent for languages and would be an asset for MacKay,” Esme said, referring to Hudson Security’s number two, Oliver MacKay, who was based in London.
“Sounds good,” Frazier said. “I’ll be back on the island tomorrow. Can you set up an in-office interview for next week with both of them?”
“Of course,” Esme replied. “Who do you want sitting in?”
Once they determined who’d be joining the interviews, Frazier nodded. “Great. Thanks, everyone. Now, Xan, how’d the meetings at the Pacific View Resort go this morning?”
The day had gone smoothly, and his team had stayed on task.
He had to admit the highlight had been running into Freya.
He’d hoped to run into her again before he left, especially with how their encounter had ended.
He’d been concerned with how pale she’d been when she’d rushed off.
It had taken everything he had to not go after her to see what was wrong.
Not only would that have been completely unprofessional, but it would have been weird.
He barely knew her. Still, he’d been worried.
That was the reason—the only reason—he’d wanted to talk with her again. Nothing else.
Right.
However, he had caught sight of her in the dining room with the woman from the shooting incident. Freya had been smiling and laughing, so he was thankful he hadn’t rushed after her like an idiot.
Realizing all eyes were on him, Xander cleared his throat.
Shit. Head in the game, man. “The meetings went well. Gabriel was surprisingly easy to work with. Abbot had a laundry list of cybersecurity recommendations that he was open to. Carmichael is going to suggest formal training for both their security and front-desk staff. He, Tash, and Wilson are working on a report with their observations and recommendations right now. They said they’ll have it to us by midday tomorrow to review. ”
“Man,” Frazier said, snickering. “I should go away more often. Looks like you’ve got things under control, my friend.”
Xander snorted. “Uh, hell no. Get your ass back here, because as receptive as Gabriel was, schmoozing with billionaires isn’t my thing.”
He was more of a behind-the-scenes guy. Yes, he’d step in every now and then when Frazier was out of town, but that was a rarity.
It’s not like he was anti people like Wilson.
He liked people just fine. In fact, he excelled at dealing with different personalities—a holdover from his chaotic childhood where reading people was a matter of survival.
It was what made him a good head for their personal security group.
His colleagues were basically family, but dealing with that many alpha types and doling out assignments took a certain amount of finesse.
Pairing up the personalities of clients and his colleagues, no problem.
But getting the assignments and dealing with clients one-on-one?
No, thank you. He was more than happy to leave that shit to Frazier.
“True.” Frazier shot him a shit-eating smirk, and Xander braced for what was about to come out of his friend’s mouth. “But I heard that schmoozing and coming to the rescue of a pretty hairstylist is your new thing.”
“Oh, holy Christ,” Xander muttered, dropping his head back. He was going to kill Carmichael. He glared at the ceiling as chuckling sounded around him. “You would have done the same damn thing in my situation—”
“Well, I sure as hell wouldn’t have kissed her,” Frazier interrupted. “I value my life. Right, B?”
“Damn straight, mister,” Bean said, a knowing smirk lifting her lips. “But Xan’s right though, you’d totally do the knight-in-shining-armor thing—”
A brisk knock sounded on the door before it was flung open.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Matt Alvarez said, stepping through the doorway, clearly agitated.
Xander narrowed his eyes. The former Seattle PD detective was their lead investigator and was always calm and collected. However, tension radiated from him now.
“Scarlet passed out at work,” Alvarez said in a rush. “The ambulance is taking her to the clinic. They’re monitoring her and the babies—”
“I’ll drive you,” Esme said standing. “Let’s go.”
Alvarez nodded and met Xander’s gaze. “Daisy’s at day care. I’m supposed to pick her up at three because they’re closing early but—”
Xander stood and crossed the room, slapping a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I got her, brother. You focus on Scarlet. I’ll take care of Daisy.” His heart was in his throat as he squeezed Alvarez’s shoulder.
Scarlet was pregnant with twins and beginning her second trimester, and Alvarez was over the moon. The guy even had the blurry sonogram picture with the two baby blobs framed on his desk, right beside a picture of his stepdaughter, Daisy.
“Alvarez,” Frazier called from the smartboard. “If you need anything, man, you let us know. If Scarlet needs a medical flight, we’ll get Owen in the air ASAP. Anything you guys need.”
Alvarez let out a deep breath and lifted his chin, eyes blinking rapidly. “Appreciate you guys.”
“We’ve got your back,” Xander said and glanced at Esme. “Keep us posted.”
She nodded, patting Alvarez’s arm. “Let’s go. We’ll take my car. Leave your keys with Xander since your truck has Daisy’s car seat.”
Taking Alvarez’s keys, Xander let out a breath as his friends rushed from the room. “Holy shit,” he muttered, glancing back at Bean and Frazier. He sent a prayer up to the universe that Scarlet and the babies were okay. Alvarez and Scar had already been through so much.
“I’ll let Owen know to be on standby,” Bean murmured, her fingers flying over her keyboard.
Hadley Owen was Hudson Security’s pilot.
She was one of only three female Night Stalkers their country had produced.
If, God forbid, Scarlet needed to be airlifted, Owen would get her wherever she needed to be safely and in record time. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that.
Xander glanced at his watch. It was nearly two thirty. “Bean, can you call Rebecca and let her know I’m on my way to pick up Daisy?”