Chapter 10
As he drove back to the house, he caught sight of a black SUV and waited as it drove around the back of the property, coming to join him in the driveway.
River Stone, all thick muscle and watchful gaze, got out first, lifting his head to the sky before strolling over to shake Zee’s hand. His partner, Carter Keaton, followed, a laptop bag slung over his shoulder.
Carter ran a hand through his curly hair and flipped down his shades.
“Thanks for taking my call,” Zee extended his hand to River.
“I wouldn’t turn you down.” River clasped his hand firmly, and Zee laughed.
A few years ago, when River Stone and Xander Montague broke up their business partnership, sides were drawn, and Zee felt a stronger loyalty to Xander and delayed in approving River’s application to Club Bandit.
“I wouldn’t hold it against you if you did. Carter, good to see you.”
“Zee, your property’s size and change of terrain pose some challenges.” River glared at his partner, and Carter put his palms up.
“Hey, I’m just saying.”
“You could wait until you’re inside to say anything.” River cuffed Carter on the neck, and Carter rolled his eyes.
Zee whistled, climbing the steps, staying out of their back and forth, and opened the door, wishing Ella was here to play hostess.
Though this wasn’t a social call. His stomach twisted in knots.
He hated keeping things from her, but he didn’t want to worry her, especially if it was only his imagination tied up with his ego.
“Beer?” Zee offered.
“We’re on the clock, Zee. But if you have a sports drink, we’ll take that, or water’s fine.” River pulled out a stool at the counter and took a seat.Zee straightened, tension ebbing from his stance.
Carter leaned his arms on the counter.
“Nice weather we’ve been having,” Carter drawled, his childhood Montana accent thickening.
“Yeah, Ella can’t wait to get in her garden.” Zee tossed them drinks.
“Did you guys run out of tomato sauce from last year? Let me get you a jar.” Zee crossed the room and rummaged in the pantry.
Having something to do took the edge off his nerves.
“We’re not here for sauce.” River slapped Carter’s hand away as the man reached for the jars.
“You’re always a spoilsport.” Carter stuck his tongue out at River, but Zee didn’t miss how Carter uncapped both sports drinks and waited for River to sip first before taking his own. He grinned when River took the jars and slid them next to his laptop bag.
Zee took a stool across from the men so he could see both of their faces.
“Let’s get down to it. You mentioned phone calls and noticing a vehicle?” River leaned on his thick forearms. Carter took out his laptop and started tapping the keys furiously.
Zee cleared his throat. “I don’t like fanfare. I’ve had more attention than I want lately.”
“Your gig with the university is a big deal, and that award? Yeah that’s fanfare,” River said with a smirk.
“Yeah, I don’t care about awards, but I like that this scholarship is going to help a kid out.
Anyway, my phone has been ringing nonstop since my full-time appointment was announced.
Ever since the university sent out the first press release mentioning my name, I’ve gotten calls.
Some of those calls were from old friends.
Most of the calls were congratulating me.
Some were requests to speak to the media. Have you ever been on a podcast?”
“I haven’t. At Stone Security, we like to keep a low profile. People don’t know we exist until they need us.”
“Right,” Zee said. He hopped off his stool and grabbed his iPad, bringing it back over to the counter.
“And maybe I’m paranoid, but I have had a lot of hangups, and this van has been in Club Bandit’s parking lot more than a few times.
At first, I wondered if it was from one of our members.
Maybe someone got a new vehicle? Maybe someone asked someone to pick them up?
Could it be the new cleaners? But it doesn’t stay and nobody gets out,” Zee pressed play on the security footage.
Carter took the iPad, watching it as River’s steely gaze turned to him.
“Anything else, Zee?” River asked.
“A few emails that could be discounted as spam. Saying things like, we’ve been watching you, we know where you live.”
“What else?” River tilted his head to the side slightly.
Zee’s pulse raced, adrenaline spiking to life as suddenly all the little things he’d been brushing off become to hard to ignored by voicing it out loud.
Needing to discharge the adrenaline, he paced the hallway between the kitchen and the great room. If he had listened to Ella and gone with a bed-and-breakfast on their property, would it have been any better? Or what if he had told Ella about the job before he had accepted it?
Technically, he mentioned it to her when the athletic director first floated the idea of him being full-time staff, but that was a lousy excuse. Communication was everything in their relationship, and he knew he wasn’t as upfront with her as he could be.
He didn’t give her a chance to voice her opinion on the job.
Zee wanted it badly enough that he didn’t want to risk hearing her say, “no don’t do this,” so he didn’t tell her.
Even though he knew Ella wouldn’t stop him from doing something he’d had his heart set on.
“An email came in this morning that said We know where you live, we know what you do, and wouldn’t it be a shame if the university found out?”
“Can we see the email?” River asked.
Carter handed him back the iPad, and Zee brought up the emails.
River read them, and Carter went back to his screen.
“Definitely enough here to be cautious, Zee. These emails aren’t spam. Mind if I copy them?”
Zee blew out a breath and stopped his pacing. River’s confirmation that this stuff might mean something calmed him down and made him feel in charge.
“Do what you have to do.” Zee took a seat.
“Got any enemies?” River asked.
Zee laughed before seeing the seriousness in his eyes.
“I’m an old man,” Zee said. “Nobody wants anything to do with me.”
“It’s clear that somebody does. And you’re a legend. It’s amazing how people come out of the woods when they see your name mentioned in lights after all these years.”
“I don’t know if I’d call taking a job at a university in lights. After I retired from the sport, I did a motivational speaking tour. I never got any negative attention. A couple of bad reviews, but most of those were about the venue.”
“Wounds fester.” River shrugged. “Got any rivals who are sitting on a pile of resentment? Any exes we should know about?”
Zee’s face flamed. There weren’t exes per se, but he’d found himself a willing play partner here and there over the years on the road. Ella knew about it all. He never slept with anybody, just engaged in play when he needed an escape from the rigors of the pool.
“Nobody worth mentioning. Swimming isn’t exactly a cutthroat sport. My two teammates just left this morning. We’ve been called rivals, but they’re happy for me.”
“Okay, but it gives us a starting point. What are their names?”
“Roger Miller and Nico Rodriguez,” Carter said, turning the laptop toward them. He had their bios pulled up.
“Yeah, those are the guys.” Zee’s hand clenched into a fist as he thought of how touchy-feely Roger was with Ella. But it didn’t mean the man was sending him threatening emails, scoping out his property.
“Plenty evidence to tell you to take precautions.”
“What do you suggest, River?” Zee swiped a hand over his face, wondering why he didn’t just quit his job and take Ella on a cruise. Or at least shut the place down and go visit her best friend; she was due for a visit. Or go visit the girls.
Because he was a stubborn old fool, determined to chase one more stab at glory through being part of a team again.
“For now, I would increase your security at Club Bandit. You have the old guardhouse at the gates. Staff it. Get someone to check all the vehicles against a list. If they don’t belong to your members, they don’t come in,” River leaned over to peer at Carter’s screen.
“How do I explain that?” He didn’t like this one bit.
“Tell everyone you are doing a survey for more parking spaces or you’re doing an overhaul of your security.”
“Most members will like it. It’ll add an air of exclusivity,” Carter said.
“Do you think that’s necessary?” Zee clenched his fist. Maybe the members would buy it, but Ella wouldn’t, and he didn’t want to stress Ella out by telling her what was going on.
“Yes, we do think it’s necessary,” Carter said, his voice cool and sharp. “Your check-in method could be improved. Members could be given bracelets with coded tags, so all they have to do is scan them to get it. Eliminate the reception desk.”
“I like our guests being greeted,” Zee grumbled. “We check each person off as they come in. It works.”
“It could be better,” River said. “People get complacent.”
“Club Bandit is a well-run club,” Zee bristled.
“I’m not saying it isn’t. You asked us here to identify some security shortcomings. That’s all we’re doing.” River’s cool voice soothed Zee’s anxiety again.
“I guess all of this has shaken me more than I realized,” Zee said through gritted teeth.
“Yeah, would shake anyone,” River continued.
“I want you to add lights to the back of Club Bandit. Carter, get the team we use out to do that tonight. I’m going to park bodies in your parking lot every night you are open to watch for this van.
I would lock the front gates to your property and close the gates at the back, the ones we came up from. ”
“The garden,” Carter said, glancing up from his screen. “That’s a wide-open area that has no fence, and someone could get through it to the house, bypassing the gates completely.”
The garden stretched around the back gate of the house and reached the edge of a ravine, overgrown with trees.
They never bothered adding a fence back there with it because their neighbours on that side were on the other side of the ravine, and it was secluded.
“Not touching the garden,” Zee said. “It’s a forest back there, and it’s Ella’s.”
“It’s your weakest point from a security standpoint,” Carter said, and stood, closing his laptop. “The crew will be here in an hour to do the lights.”
“Anything else?” Zee asked.
“Yep, we’re going to get our IT people to go over these emails for a look and ask you to change your passwords and enable two-factor authentication,” River said.
“That’s a pain,” Zee said.
“It’s a precaution. I also want you to give us a list of any companies that have come to the property since you first saw this van. I want to rule them out,” River said.
“We have a new contract with a cleaning company.” Zee stood and paced, trying to recall who else had been at his house. Ella loved hosting and taking on projects. She sometimes used a courier that came by the house to deliver her corsets.
“Anything like that, I want those contact details,” River said.
“Anything else?”
“I know you don’t want to raise the alarm and freak your people out, but everyone could be extra vigilant. Make sure your staff are escorted to their cars. We’ll ask our guys to put in more lights in Club Bandit’s parking lot, too.” River said.
“That’s overdue anyway,” Zee said.
“The emails and the van could be two separate things,” Carter said. “We’ll rule that out as quickly as possible. Are there any staff members you’ve let go recently? Anyone in the club having a problem with their ex?”
“Nothing comes to mind, but I’ll think about it.”
“Glad to hear you’re not resisting us,” River said.
“That’s why I called the experts. I would appreciate it if you didn’t talk about this to anyone but me.” He didn’t want Ella finding out from someone other than him.
“We won’t breathe a word about this to anyone. Our team is solid. You can trust us, Zee. We’re on it.”
“Keep me updated.”
“As soon as we know something, you’ll be hearing from me.” River extended his hand and Zee shook it.
“We know how much you care about your people, your community. You did the right thing by reaching out to us,” Carter said.
“It was hard. I have a lot of pride.” Zee admitted.
“I understand that,” River grinned. “I’ve always liked you, Zee.”
Zee laughed and walked the guys out. “Thanks, guys.”
“Talk to you later, Zee,” River said.
He saw the men out, then came back into his empty house, confident that the problem would now be taken care of.
Grabbing his phone, he called their favourite Italian restaurant and made a reservation. He was going to take his wife out tonight.