Betrayal of the Dove (Men of Action) (5 page)

Chapter Two

V
alencia had warned him about Alyssa’s independent streak, “Irish temper,” she had said. She had told him about Thomas McGregor. He was a former Marine, severely injured in action and had fought his way back and was a stronger man because of it. He could hear the admiration in Valencia’s voice. Then she had told him about his sister’s problem. She needed a security guard and she didn’t have a lot of money. He hadn’t been looking for a job working security for a store. He had a couple offers from companies that paid more, and wanted him as a security consultant. The consultant positions were more his speed because it’s what he had been contemplating opening his own business in before he put in his papers. There were a lot of options in a position like that, meaning he could choose the jobs he took and he could set his own hours. Even if he had chosen one of the other companies that had offered him a full-time position, he had still been in talks with them to be a freelance consultant; meaning they would pay him an exorbitant amount while he still worked as his own man. He liked that idea a lot.

He also had his ranch that he was finally going to turn into a working ranch with horses. He had never been able to do that before because he was always away on missions or prepping for one. He hadn’t that long ago retired from the military. He had stayed in past his twenty years plus one day, but eventually he turned in his papers. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was going to do. He had a lot of ideas from security consultant to full-time rancher. He had an idea that turning his Cave Creek ranch into a little slice of heaven wasn’t such a bad idea. He had kicked around the idea of working as a security consultant part time while ranching, but he wasn’t sure if it was plausible.
 
If he started his own business as a consultant, advising companies on the best way to improve their safety and security, that would take a lot of time, research on the company, its structure, its enemies—inside and outside the company, and he wasn’t sure that could really be done part-time while still ranching. Although if it could he had rationalized that he could be making money while building his ranch to whatever his ranch could be built into. Right now it was just a big ranch style house and a lot of property that he hadn’t fully put to use. His mother would have called it a waste since he hadn’t used much of the land after he purchased the place ten years ago. His father would call his entire life a disappointment. He never wanted him to join the military. He was a staunch pastor who had strict rules and beliefs on what his son should and should not do. He definitely didn’t think he should go into the military. The government was evil, war was evil and God was going to cure it all. That may have been the case, but while they waited for God to cure the ills of the world they still had to protect themselves. He joined up so he could protect this country, maybe he even joined up to get away from his family, but whatever his reason, his father was never more disappointed of him than he had been the day he told him he was going into the Navy.

Why he decided to take this job, providing security for a store in an upscale Scottsdale area, wasn’t something he fully understood. He didn’t have to do the job. When Valencia called she had asked if he knew somebody who was good and who could provide the best security at a not so expensive price. He could have called on a number of friends, called in favors and been done with it, but listening to Valencia talk made him think maybe, just maybe, he should take the case himself. It wasn’t the information on Thomas McGregor that moved him. It was the little details she had given him about Alyssa McGregor. Irish temper, Italian passion for pasta and the strong determination of a black woman. He was intrigued with just those few words, but what got him the most was what Valencia hadn’t said. The words she had left out made him want to know more. He wanted to know why this woman had moved so far away from her family, a family that by all accounts, seemed tight knit. He wanted to know why she had opened a store on the Row if she couldn’t afford security. The shop owners in that district of town had money. They either came from it or they built it through investments. There weren’t any poor owners on the Row and he knew that. He wanted to know what made this woman think she could break the class barrier and build a successful business there. Valencia had told him some things about Alyssa’s character, her family, her business, but she hadn’t told him how gorgeous Alyssa was. The woman was a goddess.
 

When he walked into the store he hadn’t expected what he saw. He could have done some research on her, maybe even found pictures, before he walked into her store, but he hadn’t. His first order of business had been to do a little more research on what had been going on that made her want security there. He figured he could do the rest of the research later—and he still would, just so he could see how secure she was with her identity on-line. He wanted to know just how much information was out there about her because it would help him do his job better.

When he started researching the robberies he had to play catch-up. He knew about the first robbery, but then he had gone out of town for the family visit from hell before the second and third robbery took place and he hadn’t paid much attention to local news when he returned home. Visiting his father had a way of sucking the life out of him piece by piece and when he came home he just didn’t feel the need for more depressing news. That last robbery had escalated into something more and he knew that the guy would probably continue to escalate. The high he got from each time would make him need to do it again and each time he would find that he needed to escalate his attack in order to feel that euphoria again.

The moment he walked into
Snowflakes in the Desert
and saw her standing behind the counter, her long brown hair with strategically placed blond highlights and a hint of a full body loosely set spiral curls he felt an instant physical attraction. Then she looked at him with those striking blue eyes contrasting against her smooth brown skin and the attraction spread from his northern head to the southern one. And when she smiled and said, “I’ll be right with you, sir,” in that silky sultry voice he imagined that voice calling out his name while he was locked deep inside that hot little body of hers. He nearly came on the spot. He had to resist the attraction because he was there on a mission and he couldn’t get distracted—but he already had. Mission or not, he wanted this woman and he was going to be sure to make his move. He was highly trained, and very efficient. He could do his job and provide security for her store while he pursued something more than a working relationship with her. He could, and he would, do it.

His first priority was upgrading her security. At first, he couldn’t believe that a woman who had brothers that were deep in the military and government sector would have such archaic equipment, but then he thought about what Valencia had told him about Alyssa’s stubborn and independent streak. He had started to wonder if her brothers had even stepped foot inside her store and home. She probably made sure all of her family visits required her to travel to them instead of the other way around. She seemed like the type who valued her privacy. She liked to keep things separate; he could tell that from all the privacy divider screens in her flat. Most people would have just left it open, yet she had closed off each section the best she could, separating each part from the other until she was satisfied with the end result. Everything looked nice, mostly neat except for the hurricane that had gone through her bathroom leaving her underwear behind. But even that had been organized. The few pieces that weren’t on hangers, but were tossed over the shower curtain rod had been neatly placed too. She had pieces hanging on hangers with clothespins keeping the panties and bras anchored in place while they dried. He had to resist the laugh that threatened to erupt from within him the moment she started jerking down her underwear. She was drawing his attention to it more than the items just hanging there.

If she thought he hadn’t noticed the moment he stepped into the bathroom she was mistaken. He would have to be blind not to notice. He was just sensible enough to know he shouldn’t mention it. He realized from her frantic response to him going into her bathroom that she was embarrassed by his seeing her underwear. He didn’t feel a need to mention it. That is he didn’t mention it until he realized she was going to go back to the store with her panties in her hand, and then he felt obligated to say something. It was one thing for him to get a glimpse at what she wore under her clothes, but a completely different thing for anybody passing by to see.

She was a private, independent person. He couldn’t find fault in either trait. He was the same way. His reasons for buying property in Arizona and building his home there instead of going back to New Mexico where his family was had a lot to do with his need to get away, to be his own man and live his life without having his father control his every action. Alyssa’s brothers weren’t anything like his father, he was sure of that, but he still could understand wanting to find her own way. What he couldn’t understand was why she had gone for aesthetic improvements first over security improvements. She had clearly painted, decorated, and put a new floor in the store. He had seen her upstairs too and he could tell she had put in some work up there, not just with paint, but with new appliances as well. Maybe the appliances had been a necessity. She had bought the store and then made her home above it; maybe the previous owner hadn’t used the upstairs as a living quarter. Judging from the small bathroom he was nearly sure of that. It had probably just been for storage, and maybe a break room area. There was an employee bathroom in the hall leading to the stairs for the upstairs flat, so he was sure whoever previously had possession of the store probably would have employees use that one during store hours. It wasn’t a bad setup from a business standpoint, but it was horrible from a security standpoint.

“Maybe she needed the kitchen equipment,” he shook his head as he gathered some of his supplies. “But she didn’t have to paint.” He thought security came first, and it should have. She didn’t have to put in a new tile floor when she opened her shop. She should have updated her camera, her locks, all of it, before she tried to make the place look pretty. Had he known her place was in the Dark Ages he would have loaded his truck before he left this morning.

He decided to change into something he could work in before heading back. A pair of dark blue jeans and a fitted white t-shirt that stretched across his body like a glove. He changed his dress shoes for his work boots and then did one last check to make sure he had everything he needed for today. This wasn’t a task he was going to accomplish in one day only. Updating her security was going to take some time, but at least he would be able to get a few things done today. The locks were priority, then the security camera after hours if she would be okay with that, if not he was going to have to do it during store hours and he didn’t like that idea at all. It was too open and too many people would be able to tell what the security updates would be. He really needed to do it after hours. After he got that situated he would work on getting those windows secure. She really needed something with a thicker pane and sturdy locks.

He had a lot of work to do if he wanted to get those locks changed before the close of business today. He could work on the cameras tomorrow if he had to, but he wouldn’t sleep well tonight if he left knowing she had the world’s most pick-able locks.

He punched in Valencia’s number as he climbed into his truck. When she answered he had three words for her. “It’s a go.” He was in and he wanted Valencia to know that so she could report back to whomever she was doing this for.

“So she hired your guy?”

“She hired me,” he said.

“I see,” she said evenly. He hoped he hadn’t made a mistake here. Had she really wanted him to get somebody else on this after all? “I trust you can handle her.”

“You mean her security?”

“That too,” she said. “Thomas has already warned me that she’s a spitfire when it comes to her independence. And from the woman I met at his wedding I’d say that was an understatement. Good luck.”

“Thanks,” he said. “I think.” He shook his head. “I’m updating her security today, and I’ll check in with you to let you know the progress as I go.”

“No need,” she said. “I trust you. If there’s a problem, call me. If I have a problem or need information I’ll call you. I’ll just let her brother know she’s in good hands and if anything comes up I’ll be in touch with you. You don’t need to give me a weekly progress report.”

“Good thing,” he said because he really didn’t want to have to give weekly status reports. If things changed and something happened that he needed to report then he would let her know; otherwise, he’d save his dime on the call. He disconnected the call before starting the engine on his truck, cranking up the air condition and heading back to Scottsdale.