Chapter 1 #2
“Yes,” Keira confirmed. “The problem was that the missing veterans had no record of psychiatric help when we knew they were receiving services somewhere. One was being prescribed meds by a doctor who isn’t linked with any practice—VA or otherwise.
The person has an NPI—a National Provider Identifier—but the records are vague.
“Another had a service dog for PTSD. I have a feeling Sims scrubbed his records, and whoever is helping him forgot to pull the data from the VA. Maybe they thought no one would look that closely? I don’t know.
“All we know is that there’s something fishy going on, and the data points to a link between Sims and the Conglomerate. If we can find those missing veterans, that will be a huge bonus.”
Alex shook her head.
“This is awful,” she said. “What is Gray Tower going to do? Sounds like a covert operation.”
“It is,” Miles confirmed. “We know what we need to do. We just—” He stared at Alex, an odd expression on his face. “We need the person to agree to the operation.”
“Oh,” Alex said. “Well, it’s not like Gray Tower operatives can say, ‘No,’ to missions.” She laughed. “It’s part of their job.”
“This person isn’t an operative,” Keira said, looking nervously at Miles.
“Then who is it?” Ryan asked.
But Alex already knew. She was staring at Miles, and he was looking right back at her. He was about to ask something that she just couldn’t do, but he was going to do it anyhow because it was that important to him.
“I…can’t,” she whispered. “You know I can’t.”
“Just hear me out, Alex,” he said softly.
“Sims needs a new secretary. He currently has the job posted. It’s a perfect match for you.
The only thing we’d want you to do is work there for a few weeks, doing the same thing you do here, except if you see something fishy, copy or report it.
That’s it. You don’t have to snoop around any more than that. ”
Alex looked around the table desperately.
“You can’t get another person for this?” she asked. “Gray Tower has a hundred other Administrative Assistants available.”
“None of them pays attention to the detail you do,” Miles said. “None of them I trust more than you.”
“What about an operative?” she asked hopefully. “They can’t pretend for a bit?”
Miles looked at Jack pointedly and asked, “Hunter, do you know basic tools like Microsoft Office? Excel? Outlook? Teams? Those are widely used examples.”
Hunter snorted and said, “Fuck no.”
“Do you have an agent who could do that or learn in…” Miles looked at his watch. “…twenty hours? I have an interview set up with Sims tomorrow for the position.”
“No,” Hunter said, shaking his head. “That’s not a, uh, skill we use.”
Alex let out a shaky breath and asked, “What would this entail?”
Miles nodded, knowing he almost had her cooperation, and said, “All you have to do is interview tomorrow. We have an identity for you, a car, a home address. If you get the job, you’ll start as his Administrative Assistant. If you don’t, we’ll figure out something else.”
“What would I be doing?” she asked. “If I got the job, that is.”
“Typical secretarial work,” Keira said. “But if you see anything weird, copy and report it. That’s it.”
Alex let out a shaky breath.
“That’s it?”
“Yes,” Keira confirmed. “We know you’re not trained.
We know this is asking a lot of you. It’s going to be scary, but you’ll be fine.
We vetted Sims. He might be a slimeball, but he looks to be strictly a white-collar criminal.
He’s got no police record, no complaints from ex-girlfriends or wives.
It just appears that he loves money more than his country. ”
Alex nodded and looked at Miles expectantly. She had no idea what to do or say next. She was usually the one taking notes. Instead, everyone was looking at her, trying to judge her reaction. So, she did what she always did: Alex straightened her back, smiled, and looked at her tablet.
“Just give me the information, and I’ll do it,” she said. “It doesn’t sound so hard.”
It sounded horrible. She’d be putting herself in an unknown situation, and it scared the hell out of her. What was Miles thinking? He knew her history.
He’s thinking he wants to end this thing with the Conglomerate so that we’ll all be safe again, she thought.
Miles had already warned that anyone working at Gray Tower could be a target for the evil organization and that everyone—especially top-level workers—had to be careful.
“You’ll be okay,” Keira promised. “I am going on maternity leave in…” She looked at her watch. “…five hours, but Mr. Hale is going to run the operation with Mr. Hunter as coordinator. You know these men don’t mess around.”
Alex nodded and said, “I know.”
“Good,” Keira said. “Let’s break for an hour. You should process this news. I’ll have Ryan drop by with your documents and discuss tomorrow’s plan. Sound good?”
Everyone nodded, except for Alex, who just stared blankly at her tablet. She couldn’t believe she had agreed to this. Panic started to creep in, and she fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat.
“Ms. Thorn, may I have a word with you privately?” Miles asked.
Alex looked up to see that the meeting had adjourned, and she hadn’t even realized it.
“Uh, yeah,” she said, flustered.
Miles waited until everyone had left before saying, “You don’t have to do this mission. You know that. Don’t you?”
“I know,” she told him, shifting uncomfortably.
Yes, she technically could refuse, but Miles had done so much for her these past years. He had built her confidence back up. He had given her a job with one hell of a salary when she only had an associate’s degree. He had given her a purpose.
“Do you?” he questioned.
“Yes!” she insisted, but quickly looked away.
“Alex,” Miles said firmly, “I’ve known you for way too long. I know when something is bothering you.” He lowered his voice. “I’m assuming your kidnapping factors into your nervousness and hesitation to go.”
Looking down at her black Christian Louboutin shoes—the ones Miles got her for Christmas last year—she bit her lip and whispered, “I won’t make it if it happens again.”
“I won’t allow anything to happen to you, Alex. I promise. You’ll have a tracking device on your smartwatch. We’ll know exactly where you are. Ryan insisted that this operation would go smoothly. All you have to do is your job. It’ll just be at a different place for a few weeks.”
“A few weeks?” Alex gasped.
“I promise it won’t last longer than that. If it drags out, I’m going to pull you and change the operation to something more…drastic. Okay?”
“All right,” she huffed out, smiling weakly at Miles.
Maybe this was what she needed for healing? She had years of therapy, martial arts, and weapons training under her belt. Technically, she was more well-trained than Ryan or Jack realized.
“You’re going to have to buy me a new wardrobe, though,” she teased. “Sims is going to get suspicious if I come in some of the suits you bought me.”
Miles had a habit of buying her luxury items when she had to work overtime, which was…
a lot. She never asked for them. They just appeared at her desk, nicely wrapped and in her size.
She started wearing them to make Miles happy, even though she’d never been into fashion.
Then suddenly, Alex became the prissy Administrative Assistant with coiffed hair, expensive suits, and fashionable shoes.
It was a good way to disguise what was going on inside of her, so she kept the ruse going.
She preferred yoga pants and worn T-shirts.
Looking down at her attire, Miles laughed and said, “I think you’re right. Go find something to wear tomorrow at a department store. Order the rest online. Put it on the credit card.”
“The credit card” was the one given to Alex for any purchase she made for Gray Tower, and the spending on it was unlimited.
Miles’ company was rolling in cash. She had seen the accounting reports.
Gray Tower was extremely profitable. The interesting thing was that Miles typically invested it all back into something.
It was typically Gray Tower, but Miles did buy other companies to support his baby.
Alex supposed that was how her boss stayed ahead.
“All right,” she said, noting on her tablet.
There was a pause before Miles said, “Thank you.” It sounded heartfelt and sincere.
Alex looked up from her tablet and smiled. This time it was genuine. She could do this. It was a step in the right direction and a new beginning.