Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“ T hanks again for the lift, Owen,” Bean said as she walked with the other woman and Gavin toward the hangar where his SUV was parked.
“One of these days you’ll agree to let me take you up and do a scenic tour. You’ll be over your fear of helicopters in no time.”
“What’s with everyone trying to get me out of my comfort zone? First Wilson and this guy with the great outdoors, and now you.” She groaned, setting her hands on her hips. “For the record, it isn’t the helicopter I have an issue with.”
Owen shot her a smirk. “Oh, no?”
“No. It’s the height from the chopper to the ground that I have a problem with. And the stupid fast speeds you go.”
“How about a hot-air balloon?” Gavin asked with a sly grin. “Those go pretty slow.”
“ Boring ,” Owen said in a singsong voice.
As far as Bean was concerned, a hot-air balloon was hell on earth personified. The two jokers in front of her knew what her feelings on those death traps were. Hell, everyone at Hudson Security knew it.
She took a moment to give each of them her best glare. “I hate you both.”
Gavin smothered his laugh with a cough, while Owen cackled. “You love us!”
“On that note,” Gavin said, taking Bean by the elbow, “we’re out, Owen. Thanks again.”
Walking backward toward her small office, Owen waved at them. “Have a good night, you two.”
The drive to Bean’s place was short and passed in comfortable silence. She was mentally rehashing the events of the last hour, and she assumed Gavin was doing the same. When he pulled up to the front of her house, it was nearing ten o’clock. She didn’t question him as he cut the engine and followed her to her front door.
They had work to do.
Dropping her keys, briefcase, and clutch onto the entryway table, she slipped off her heels.
“Let me change real quick, and we can get to work figuring out what the hell is going on.” She made her way toward her bedroom but turned back. Her mind went blank.
Gavin had taken off his tux jacket and draped it over the back of one of her dining room chairs. His bow tie was undone, and he was in the process of rolling up the sleeves of his still-crisp white shirt.
Well, hello, arm porn.
Dragging her gaze from his arms up his chest to his face, her cheeks heated when she met his mischievous gaze.
Knowing she’d been caught checking him out, she held up a finger. “Not one word, buster. ”
The corner of his lips kicked up in that smirky smile. “Wouldn’t dream of it, honey.”
Shaking her head, she turned and headed to her room, calling out, “Make yourself useful, please, and get MacKay and Tiny on the line. Xander too.”
After changing into leggings and her favorite red 49ers sweatshirt, which she knew needled Gavin since he was a lifelong Seahawks fan, she quickly washed her face, slapped on some moisturizer, and pulled her hair back into a high ponytail with a matching red-and-gold scrunchie. Yes, she generally tried to keep up the professional appearance when she worked, but she’d just spent the last few hours being super fancy. Enough was enough.
She returned to the main room, and Gavin turned toward her. He grimaced as he took her in from head to toe. “You’re wearing that shit on purpose, aren’t you?”
She shrugged as she made a detour to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water and an energy drink. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Damn, you even have a matching hair thing.” He made a face and took the bottle of water from her as she passed him on her way to her workstation.
“I have an extra Niners sweatshirt if you want to get more comfortable.” She shot him an overly sweet grin as she cracked the can of her energy drink. She gestured to her dark monitors. “Are the guys unavailable?”
Gavin took a drink of his water and shook his head. “I called them, and they’re ready whenever you are.” He grabbed a dining chair and pulled it up beside her plush office chair. “I didn’t want to touch your computer.”
The corners of her lips twitched. “Smart man.”
She settled into her chair and tapped her keyboard. After she typed in her fifteen-digit passcode, her monitors came to life. Another four clicks, and MacKay’s, Tiny’s, and Xander’s faces were on her center screen.
“What’s up, gentlemen?”
“We should be asking you two that,” MacKay said. “Car chase through downtown Seattle? Seriously?”
“Frazier’s always gotta keep things interesting, right?” Bean said with a chuckle.
Gavin shook his head. “We can’t be certain I was the target.”
Bean rolled her eyes. “Please. No one knows who I am, and if they were after Carmichael, they had hours to take their shot while he was waiting for us.”
Gavin muttered under his breath as he moved his chair closer to hers so they were in the same shot for the rest of the team. They were nearly shoulder to shoulder.
“Well, thank God Bean was there,” Xander said. “Carmichael said she was able to do her thing and create a route for him to get out of there.”
“All true,” she said as she shot off an email to her cyber division team.
“Xander,” Gavin began, “why don’t you update everyone on what Carmichael reported.”
While Xander gave everyone Carmichael’s play-by-play, Bean sent a company-wide notification to all their employees. Within seconds, everyone’s phones sounded with the alert. Even though they didn’t have a grasp of what was going on, when their head boss was targeted, the entire team needed to be extra cautious.
Once he concluded his brief recount of Carmichael’s statement, Xander asked, “Do you want me to head back to Seattle?”
“We just have Team Two keeping watch over Anson and Rita at the hospital, right?” Gavin asked.
“Correct,” Xander replied. “Riviera is currently stationed outside of Anson’s room, and both Carmichael and Bonson are on-site.”
Gavin frowned and rose, pacing behind her. Having worked with him for so long, she knew it was his way of ordering his thoughts while releasing his pent-up energy. She often joked that pacing back and forth brought out his best thinking.
He stopped behind her and leaned down so he was in the video-call frame. “Those three should be good. Where’s Tash at?”
“LA,” Xander said. “After the McClintock mission, she went down there to meet up with Hanniger and the rest of Team Three. They’re meeting with some record label minions about a possible security detail for one of their people.”
Bean noticed a look of confusion crossing Tiny’s face. “Tiny, I’ll explain the team breakdown to you later.” She glanced up at Gavin. “Do you want to call everyone in?”
“I don’t know yet,” Gavin murmured before he resumed pacing.
Bean frowned. It was safe to say that when Gavin got a bad feeling, it was not a good thing.
“What do we know, B?” MacKay asked.
She glanced at her bottom right monitor and saw an incoming email. “I’ve pulled the cyber division in. Abbot just confirmed that she’ll get the team on identifying the car that was following us. She and her crew are going to go through whatever video footage they can find. I’m going to assume the vehicle’s plates won’t match up, but if they can get me anything, I’ll run it through my programs. I’m hoping they can get facial rec—even a partial—on either the driver or passenger who shot at us.”
“How can I help?” Tiny asked.
For a moment, she hesitated. This isn’t about your ego, dammit. Letting out a breath, she addressed the man. “I’d like you to look into Constance Whitcomb.”
“She was the potential client that Edward McClintock mentioned,” Gavin added.
Xander let out a low whistle. “No shit?”
“Exactly,” Bean said. “As much as the woman rubbed me the wrong way?—”
“I’m sure she wished she could’ve rubbed Frazier in more ways than one,” Xander cut in with a chuckle.
Bean laughed. “Oh, dude, you have no idea. The poor guy kept inching farther and farther away from her until he was practically sitting in my lap. He was doing that thing where he keeps his expression neutral, but it ends up making him all broody, which had the woman practically salivating. It was too much!”
“Jesus.” Gavin groaned, scrubbing his hands over his face. “I’m right here.”
“I know, boss.” She shot him a cheeky grin that had everyone but him laughing. “Anyway, there’s something that doesn’t feel right about her. She had a story about needing cybersecurity for a new pay app that she said she’d developed. She said Edward’s a silent partner, but it doesn’t make sense.”
“How so?” MacKay asked.
She grabbed her energy drink and brought it to her mouth for a sip. It was plucked from her hand and replaced with a bottle of water.
Mustering her best glare, she threw it at Gavin with an arched eyebrow. “You’re kidding me, right?”
He met her glare with an arched brow of his own. “Humor me. We’re going to have a long day tomorrow. I need you in top form.”
Grumbling, she took a sip of water and scrunched her face as she turned back to the three faces on her screen. Two were snickering, while the other looked confused. “Zip it, you two,” she snapped, pointing at Xander and MacKay. “You’re being a bad influence on Tiny.”
MacKay snorted. “Whatever. It’s not like Tiny’s going to give you shit. You’re technically his new boss.”
“There is that,” she said and then glanced at the bottle of water and frowned. “This crap’s disgusting.”
“Wait, are you talking about actual water?” Tiny asked.
She stared the man down. “I’m sorry, Tiny. Did you say something?”
His eyes widened, and he cleared his throat and shook his head. “No, ma’am.”
“That’s what I thought. Now, as I was saying, Constance Whitcomb is not a tech person. She has zero history of any involvement in app development. Not in her work history, not in her education, nothing. Tiny, I need you to peek into her search history and emails to see how this is even on her radar. As far as I saw on my initial pass, her professional history includes charity events, fundraising, and community outreach. Her personal history didn’t include anything tech related either.”
“I’m curious,” Xander said. “What did her personal history reveal?”
“An affinity for med-spa visits, high-end shopping, and banging younger men—her staff and fitness instructors included. So her claiming she’s developed any sort of app doesn’t ring true.” Bean leaned back in her chair. “Also, run her husband, Tiny. The man’s a very fit and spry eighty-seven, but he barely spoke a word the entire evening. My gut says he isn’t his wife’s biggest fan.”
“On it, Bean,” Tiny said. “And thanks for giving me something fun and not that CCTV footage shit.”
She shrugged. “Well, as much as I hate delegating?— ”
MacKay, Xander, and Gavin broke into laughter. Loud, obnoxious guffaws.
Crossing her arms over her chest, she waited a few seconds. “Are you hyenas through?”
MacKay made a production of wiping away a tear. “Sorry, but that was rich. You’re the biggest control freak out of all of us.”
“And that says a fucking lot,” Gavin chimed in.
“No shit,” Xander added.
Rolling her eyes, she spoke over them. “As I was saying, Tiny, you’re a damn good hacker, and it would be a waste of your talent to have you scouring through video footage looking for a partial plate or facial rec.”
“Holy shit,” MacKay said, a world of disbelief in those two words. “Did she just compliment someone else’s hacking skills?”
Ridiculous. These guys were ridiculous.
“I said he was good, MacKay. Which he is.” She leaned back in her chair. “Though he’s still not as good as me.”
“Aaand there’s the cocky-ass Bean we all know and love!” Xander laughed.
“All right, guys,” Gavin said, retaking his seat beside her. “All we currently know is that Carmichael spotted the tail after he dropped us off at the Four Seasons. Lost him. Then picked him back up the moment we left the hotel. Cyber’s running their programs, so until we know more, we’re in a holding pattern. Reconvene at zero eight hundred tomorrow?”
Xander groaned. “Fine.”
“What?” Gavin asked. “You had plans?”
Xander rolled his eyes. “No, but I was going to spend my Sunday watching football like normal people.”
“Please,” Bean said. “Like we won’t have the games on in the corner. Besides, Gavin’s bringing in breakfast for everyone.”
“I am?” His eyes went wide with surprise.
She simply stared at him until he cleared his throat.
“Right. I’ll get breakfast for everyone from Ray’s Diner.”
She smiled at the screens. “See, Tiny. You and MacKay should consider moving here. We get perks for working on a Sunday.”
Everyone said their goodbyes, and Bean cut their connection. Pushing back from her workstation, she rose and stretched with her hands high above her head. Glancing behind her, she cleared her throat.
Gavin’s eyes darted up from her legs. A blush tore over his cheeks as he ran a hand over the scruff on his jaw. “Sorry about that.”
The teasing glint in his eyes said he wasn’t really sorry.
She chuckled, then cleared her throat again as a flurry of nerves sprouted in her belly. “I know I promised I’d talk to you about that awkward meeting-my-mother thing, but I’m beat. Can I get a rain check?”
His teasing expression turned soft. Sweet. “Of course. I’ll head out.”
After he grabbed his tuxedo jacket, she followed him to the front door. Hopefully she could put off explaining her family dynamics to him for... Would forever be too much to ask for?
“Get some rest tonight, B. Like I said. It’ll be a long day tomorrow. And thanks again for coming with me tonight.”
She toed the red heels she’d left by the front door. They sure were pretty, not to mention much nicer to think about than her parents. “Well, thanks again for the shoes.” Glancing back at him, she sucked in a breath.
Gavin was standing close. Very close.
Her heart galloped when he brought his hand to her face. Cupping her jaw, he softly skimmed his thumb over the bruise near her eye that makeup no longer hid. “Still hurt?”
With her words lodged in her throat, she shook her head.
“Good.” She remained silent as he continued to study the bruise on her face, his thumb moving in a slow, hypnotic motion. “Aside from the car chase, getting shot at, and Constance’s wandering hands, I had fun with you tonight.”
A smile lifted her lips, and she finally found her voice. “I saved you from that woman, you know. You owe me. Big-time.”
He met her gaze. Lightness and heat warred in his steel-gray eyes. “Oh, I know.”
She held her breath as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Night, B.”
Straightening, he turned and let himself out.
The door closed softly behind him, and she finally remembered to breathe. Her forehead still tingled where his lips had pressed, had lingered.
She wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but something had definitely changed between them. She couldn’t define it, but what she did know was that despite everything that happened tonight, she’d enjoyed being with Gavin too.
Probably more than she should have.