Control (Harper Security Ops #18)

Seven

SEVEN

Alana

This might have been a mistake.

I didn’t normally spend my time second-guessing myself. In my line of work, I’d learned to rely on my gut instincts. And to this point, it had always served me well to do that.

But right now, my gut was telling me that this might have been a mistake.

I’d arrived at Harper Security Ops just three minutes past nine o’clock this morning to meet with Ty, doing it while carrying the file full of everything I had on the Annie Sanders story.

Initially, I’d been excited about where things were headed now that Ty had agreed to help me out by making sure I stayed safe while I tried to get to the bottom of things. And as I told him about everything in the file I’d brought with me, Ty had listened intently. He gave me the time to make sure I relayed every bit of information I had, never once interrupting.

But now that I’d finished, I realized I might have overlooked just how serious things had turned. Right around the time Ty got ahold of the note I’d found with Yasmine’s stack of information on the story, his whole demeanor had changed. He’d continued to listen to me, but he was clearly feeling a level of distraction.

We’d been sitting here in the conference room for the last minute and a half in complete silence. It was clear from the way I’d thumbed through all the paperwork that there was nothing left for me to speak about, so I could only assume the worst was happening.

Ty now had all the information I did on this case, and he must have been reconsidering his willingness to look after me while I did my job. He was still flipping that small square of paper over and over in his hands, and it was obvious from the look in his eyes that he had quite a few thoughts racing through his mind.

By the time we reached two minutes of silence, I couldn’t take it any longer. So, despite the unwelcome feeling of doom I sensed, I asked, “Is it too much?”

Ty blinked in a way that made me think that though his body was here, his mind had been elsewhere. The sound of my voice had brought him back to the present moment. Had I rambled on for so long that he got bored and stopped paying attention?

“Too much?”

I tried to suppress the feeling of mortification that moved through me and swept my hand out to everything splayed across the table. “This. Is it more than you were prepared to hear? Are you reconsidering your offer to be involved?”

“Quite the opposite, actually.”

Well, that was a relief. The embarrassment I felt melted away, but more questions plagued my mind. “I’d love to know what you’re thinking about all of this.”

He chuckled. “Sorry. It’s just…well, I’m just thinking how relieved I am that you decided to be smart about this by coming here yesterday and inquiring about having a bodyguard.”

“Really?”

Ty nodded, holding the small slip of paper up between us. “I’m a little more concerned about this situation than I was initially. I guess that’s led to me having some questions.”

Okay. This I could work with. “Sure. What questions did you have?” I asked as I gathered the overturned papers. “Is there something I went over that you want to review again?”

“No. The main concern I have is with regard to the scope of the services you are looking for from me.”

My brows drew together. “Um, I’m not sure I understand.”

“When do you want me, Alana?”

His deep voice and handsome face mixed with that look in his eyes threw me for a moment. When did I want him? “What?”

He continued to flip that piece of paper around, doing it effortlessly with his fingers on one hand. “You came in here yesterday and said you wanted a bodyguard. The concern I have passed through my mind at that time, but now that you’ve shared all of this, especially this note, I’m curious what you were hoping for when it came to my involvement in all of this.”

Right. Ty was focused on the task at hand, and I was slightly distracted by how breathtaking he was.

He wanted a concrete idea as to how often I was going to need him with me. “Well, this is all assuming that you have the availability, but since I don’t have to start working at the news station until sometime next week at the earliest, I was hoping to take advantage of the time I had now to work on this. Once I’m back to work, I’ll have to shift most of my time that I dedicate to this story to the evenings, unless there’s an assignment that I’m given at the station that requires me to work later in the day.”

Ty gave me a nod of acknowledgment in return. “So, would I be correct to assume you’re only wanting me with you when you’re working on the case?”

“Is that not reasonable? I’ve never done this before, but I would imagine that makes the most sense, doesn’t it?”

His eyes slid to the note, his flipping of it paused so he could read the words on it. “I’m not sure reasonable is the word we should be using.”

I got the distinct feeling there was something I was missing in this whole situation. Unfortunately, despite his efforts to get me to see whatever it was, I remained ignorant. “Ty, I can’t help but feel like there’s something you’re concerned about here that I’m just not seeing.”

“I’ve been doing this bodyguard gig for a while now, and it’s safe to say I’ve learned quite a few things in all this time,” he began. “My question to you is if you are only looking to have me with you when you are working on this story.”

“That was my hope,” I shared.

He held that piece of paper up between us, so I couldn’t avoid looking at it. “And where was Yasmine attacked again? What had you been doing when someone approached you?”

The confusion I’d been feeling suddenly vanished. My lips parted as the reality of the situation hit me. “You think I’m going to be in danger all the time, not just when I’m working on reporting on this.”

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Ty lowered the slip of paper, shifted in his seat, and rested his forearms on the table. “Exactly. You asked about what makes the most sense in a situation like this, and I need to be honest with you. The biggest mistake you can make is assuming that you understand anything about dealing with people like this, people who would go to the lengths to kill a woman like Annie or hurt your coworker to the point she winds up severely injured and in the hospital for weeks.”

I didn’t know if it was because I hadn’t been in such a dire situation until the night that I was in the car accident, but I hadn’t considered being in danger outside of the times when I was actively searching for answers. “You’re right. I guess I assumed if something bad was going to happen to me, it would only happen if someone discovered me like they did the night of the accident.”

“There’s nothing to feel bad about,” he insisted. “Most people aren’t trained to think the way I think, the way my coworkers think. This isn’t a situation of a celebrity attending a specific function that requires additional security, though. And for that reason, I believe it’s worth considering all possible vulnerabilities.”

I was second-guessing myself again. Was this really the wisest thing for me to do? Would I be putting myself in danger all the time? Granted, I was an adult and could make my own decisions—had been doing just that for years—but if my parents found out, I wasn’t sure my mom could survive the level of anxiety she’d be in.

“Do you think this is a bad idea?”

Ty’s brows shot up. “Having a bodyguard?”

I swallowed hard. “No. Is it a bad idea for me to keep digging into this story, to keep searching for the truth about what happened to Annie and Yasmine, and who is responsible?”

Ty pushed off his elbows and sat back in his chair, quietly assessing me as he considered his response. “I don’t think it’s a bad idea. We’re all called to do different things in life, and I’m certain you’re the kind of woman who wouldn’t be able to rest well, knowing that something could be done to make a difference, to bring justice to this situation.”

“I’m glad you can see that,” I murmured. “But now I’m not sure how to proceed with everything.”

He offered a reassuring smile. “We’ll take that one step at a time. First, why don’t you tell me about your home situation? Do you live alone? Do you feel safe where you are?”

Shaking my head, wondering why I never considered this as a possibility, I said, “I never thought I’d be in danger at home. I live in a good neighborhood, and my neighbors are nice. Friendly. They’d definitely help or step in if something bad was happening.”

I watched as some of the tension eased out of his frame. “That’s great. Now, does your boyfriend live with you?”

My boyfriend?

“I don’t… I never said I had a boyfriend.”

“Right. Well, I mean, I just assumed that you?—”

“There is no boyfriend.”

Why would he have assumed I had one? Or did he? Was he just trying to see if there was someone special in my life?

“Okay, so you live alone. It’s good that you have neighbors you are friendly with and can trust, so I’ll leave that decision up to you. Depending on how things go after we get started, we can certainly make changes to how we’re doing things,” he explained.

Just when I thought that Ty might have been asking about a boyfriend for personal reasons, he quickly made it clear this was all just standard for him. This was all about the process.

I also couldn’t ignore the fact that it seemed he was willing to provide some kind of bodyguard service when I wasn’t actively investigating. If nothing else, the man took his job seriously.

“I appreciate that, Ty. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Alana. Okay, so what is your plan now? Do you have any ideas about where you’d like to start?”

“I do.” When he shot me an expectant look, I asked, “Do you want me to share those specifics with you?”

Confusion marred his features. “Well, I’m happy to be someone you can bounce your ideas off of, if you’re comfortable doing that.”

Ty was the only person who knew what I was doing now, that I was going forward with uncovering the truth behind what happened to Annie and who was responsible for the attack on Yasmine. It would be nice to have someone there as a sounding board. In this case, I was extraordinarily lucky, because Ty brought a unique perspective. His line of work afforded him skills that would only prove to be useful in helping me.

So, I said, “I was going to start with Annie. Until Yasmine wakes up long enough that I can have a conversation with her, there’s not a whole lot to do there. Plus, I’m not sure it’s wise to start at the place I had people coming after me.”

“Okay. When it comes to Annie, are you planning to talk to some individuals, or is there a place you’re planning to scope out?”

“Actually, if you don’t mind helping, I’d love your input on this,” I informed him. “I’ve got a list of names I’d like to go through with you. They’re all the people who have had the most recent contact with Annie, have known her all her life, or were people she had regular communication with. There’s no telling who could be a suspect at this point, if at all, but somebody wanted Annie dead, and I thought it might make sense to put together a list of those with the most reason to make that so.”

He shot me a look of approval. “You’re really good at this, you know?”

Hearing such praise from a man who worked at Harper Security Ops—a company that had been talked about in the news on more than one occasion at our news station—meant a lot to me. Ty wasn’t just some random guy. He was trained, working for the best of the best, and he thought I was good at my job.

I felt the flush creep over my cheeks and looked down for a moment before I murmured, “Thank you.”

Ty sent a warm smile my way. “Alright. Tell me about the people on your list.”

Focus.

I was going to need to have that if I intended to be successful and safe. Getting distracted by a handsome guy who said nice things to me wouldn’t lead me to the truth. And right now, that was what was most important.

So, I pulled out my notebook, flipped through to the list of names, and shared, “First, there’s Annie’s family. Her mom, Monica, her dad, Sullivan, and her brother, Reed. I considered going to them first, but it’s only been a month. I don’t know. I feel like it might be better to give them some more time to grieve, especially since there are plenty of others I can talk to before going to them.”

Ty nodded his agreement. “They might have the most insight, but I agree. It’s no secret Annie’s death hit this town hard. Her family has got to be reeling.”

“Yes. Of course, families can do some crazy things, so I don’t necessarily want to wait too long.”

His brows shot up. “You think they could have done this?”

I shrugged. “I have no idea. Not yet, anyway. I don’t want to believe that’s the case, but I won’t rule them out until I’ve done some digging.”

“Fair enough. Who’s next?”

“Well, Annie’s life was dedicated to charitable causes. She held fundraisers and galas, and she devoted her time to helping at shelters, underprivileged and underfunded spots across town, and even schools. She came into contact with a lot of people, but I think if I start by talking to some of the individuals who she would have been in regular contact with in her philanthropic efforts, we might learn a bit more about the person beneath the public image.”

Ty’s gaze shifted to the pile of papers on the table. “If I recall correctly, you have a list of those organizations in there, don’t you?”

I opened the file, sorted through the paperwork, and pulled out the one with the list Yasmine had compiled. Holding it out to Ty, I explained, “The starred ones are those who she has been working with for years. The highlighted ones are those who she’s had recent interactions with, all within the last year.”

As he reviewed the list, Ty reasoned, “I think the ones she’s been working with for years will be your best bet for uncovering something more personal about Annie. When it comes to those she’s been involved with in the last year, there’s still some potential. If something was going on in her life recently, someone might have witnessed her having a bad day. Either way, I think most of these are worth checking out. Aside from the organizations or her family, what about friends or other acquaintances?”

I sighed. “That’s where it gets tough. Annie had a lot of friends. There are two women who have popped up since they were younger, Clover Moran and Bethany Daniels. Both women are also from wealthy families, but neither family was in nearly the same financial position as the Sanders family. It’s hard to say whether the friendships were deep and meaningful, or if they were all just exposed to the same functions as children simply because of their family status. It doesn’t look like Yasmine had an opportunity to talk to either one of them.”

Nodding, his eyes narrowed in a way that indicated he was thinking about Annie’s friends and where they might fit in, Ty eventually suggested, “I’d move them closer to the top of the list. Long-term friendships are probably your best option for intimate details.”

“Or not,” I argued. “Good friends won’t share secrets.”

“Right. But what if they do? How good of friends are they?” Ty countered.

This guy was good.

So good.

In fact, as we continued to move through the list of individuals and organizations to contact, Ty provided such a wealth of knowledge and insight. He didn’t need to know Annie or me or Yasmine to understand people’s motivations. Ty could read people in a way that I wasn’t sure even I could, and I’d been doing this a long time that I was confident in my ability.

The car accident I’d been in had felt terrifying in the moment, and if I allowed myself to recall the encounter I’d had at the gas station moments before I started racing through the streets of Steel Ridge, I shuddered.

But now I was wondering if perhaps it had been a blessing in disguise. There was no question this story was the biggest of my life, even if I wasn’t officially working on it through the station.

So perhaps getting into that accident and, more specifically, meeting Ty, was precisely what had to happen. Because I felt extraordinarily lucky to have met someone with such a vast skill set, who I, for some strange reason, believed I could trust with my life.