Chapter 10 Don’t Feed The Animals #3
Every year, I threw a big party for all the different office locations of Lachlan Industries. It was a small token of my appreciation for all their hard work and loyalty. With the move, I hadn’t even thought about it. That’s why I had Noreen.
“Finnian!” She planted her hands on her hips. “I emailed you last week with the details.”
“I’m sorry, Noreen. It must’ve slipped my mind.”
“Lucky for you, I’ve handled everything, including the awards. You only need to show up and give a speech.”
“Black tie or business casual?”
“It’s like you don't know me at all.”
Black tie it was. Noreen didn’t do anything casual or half-assed.
She was a stickler for details. I’d bet she had the entire evening mapped out to the second, including when the security detail took their bathroom break.
It’s why I didn’t feel guilty about not giving her my full attention when she started laying out her plans.
Me: Hey, baby. How’s your day been?
Her response was immediate.
Waverly: Uneventful.
Me: How would you feel about accompanying me to a work party Friday night?
Waverly: What kind of party?
Me: The fancy kind. Me in a penguin suit, you in a gorgeous gown.
Waverly: What’s the occasion?
Me: It’s an appreciation dinner for my employees.
Waverly: I’ll need to go shopping. I don’t think I have anything to wear to something like that.
Me: I’ll take you.
Waverly: What? Shopping?
Me: Sure. Why not? It’ll be fun.
I hated shopping, but I’d take her to every shop in Huntington if that’s what she wanted. Waverly was due for a little spoiling, O’Lachlan style. Plus, I had an idea. It would be perfect, if I could pull it off with such short notice.
Waverly: You’re weird.
Me: You love me anyway.
Waverly: Heaven help me. I do.
Me: I’ll pick you up at six. We’ll grab takeout on the way home.
Waverly: Sounds good.
“You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?"
At some point, Noreen had fully entered my office, planting herself in one of the high-back chairs in front of my desk. The smirk on her face told me she knew exactly where my mind had gone, or rather on who.
“Guilty.” I winced.
Folding my hands on the desk, I was about to ask for her help when Wes barged into my office. A red-faced Joel stormed in after him. His tie was askew and his normally slicked-back hair was standing on end, like he’d run his fingers through it over and over. He was also pissed.
“Sir. We have an issue.”
“It’s more than a fucking issue, Wes,” he spat.
Noreen quickly excused herself, giving her husband a wide berth as she left the room. Both men stood, hands fisted at their side.
“Are either of you going to explain?”
“Agent Palmer is on his way. It’d be better to wait for him.”
“Why’d you call Duncan?”
I knew the answer before I posed the question, still I wanted confirmation. And I got it when Joel clenched his jaw. Dammit. I’d been delusional to assume my stalker might have begged off since we hadn’t had any other incidents recently. Delusional and na?ve, it appeared.
My cell rang with an incoming call. I answered immediately.
“Hey, ba––”
“I’m so sorry, Finn,” Waverly cut me off.
“I’d be there if I could, but given the nature of our relationship, the director felt it was best if Duncan handled your case from here on out.
He saw the shitshow with the reporters on the news this morning.
We were in the middle of getting our asses chewed out when I got the call from Joel. ”
“Do you know what’s going on?”
“No. Joel only said it was urgent and had to do with your stalker. Duncan just texted. He’ll be there in two minutes. He’s in the elevator.”
Waverly didn’t trust easily, but she trusted Duncan with her life…and now mine. The man was a mystery to me. He was standoffish on a good day, grumpy on others. I didn’t know what to make of him, other than he was obviously good at his job.
“Okay.”
“Finn.”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Be careful.”
I ended the call and stumbled backward a step when I looked up to find Duncan standing two feet from me. It was like he appeared out of nowhere.
“Jesus feckin’ Christ. Where did you come from?”
“My mother.” His lips twitched like he was fighting a smile. “Lanie said I should wear a bell.”
“She’s right.”
“Agent Palmer.” Joel held out his hand. “Good to see you again. Thank you for coming so quickly. I’m sure you’ve met Wes?”
The two men gave each other a chin lift.
“Hal, our building maintenance tech, is waiting for us in the conference room.” Joel ushered us down the hall to the large room we used for inter-department meetings. “He’s the reason I called.”
Hal stood as we entered, shaking everyone’s hands. After we were all seated, Joel nodded to him to begin.
“Honestly, I’m not quite sure where to start.
” He picked up a pen, clicking the top over and over to extend and retract the ink cartridge.
His unease bolstered my own. “As you know, we’ve had a bout of the flu going around for the past week.
The symptoms have varied: nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and headache mostly.
In an effort to rid the air of potential contaminants, I decided to change out the filters in the ventilation system, even though they weren’t due for another few weeks. I figured it couldn’t hurt, right?”
Hal pushed out of his seat and began pacing, muttering to himself about rules of ventilation, whatever the hell that meant. I looked at Joel, hoping for an explanation, but he looked even angrier than he did when he first came into my office. Surely the flu didn’t require the presence of the FBI.
“Keep going,” Duncan encouraged.
“Sorry. I’m just having a hard time believing someone would do this deliberately.”
“Tell them, Hal,” Wes demanded.
“The ventilation system was sabotaged."
Duncan sat up straight. “Sabotaged how? Be more specific.”
“The wires to the exhaust fan, which is what pulls the contaminants out of the air, were cut.
Duncan dropped his chin to his chest. “Carbon monoxide poisoning.”
“Yes,” Hal answered.
“Wait a second, you’re saying someone deliberately poisoned my employees?”
“Mr. O’Lachlan, the wires weren’t eroded, they were sliced cleanly in half.”
Joel blew out a breath with a growl on the end of it. His anger was becoming more palpable by the second. And it was no wonder. His wife spent eight hours a day in this building. She could have easily become a victim. I’d burn the world down if that were Waverly.
“This is too much. How do we stop someone we can’t find?”
I’d meant for the question to be rhetorical; however, Duncan gave me an answer anyway.
“I have an idea.”