“Cassandra,” she said, spreading out my name into a long whine. “I can’t believe you haven’t done this yet. You promised me you’d take it to my cousin. He is mad that it’s not there yet. Like livid. Do you promise tonight?”
“I promise I will take it tonight,” I said, already planning in my head.
Step one in fixing my problems—deliver the box of baby gear to upstate Maine.
15
RILEY
Istood at the head of the conference table back in the Pelican Bay Security office as the local team members scoured over maps. Just because Ridge was off saving a billionaire did not mean work here stopped. We had three active surveillance crews working twenty-four hours on top of the general monitoring we did on the town.
We were also working with Frankie Zanetti, the local mafia leader, on a supersecret project, but those details were on a need-to-know basis. And no one needed to know. Ridge left me to coordinate the different aspects of these ongoing projects, and I would not let him down.
A phone rang and the four heads at the table popped up to glance at me expectantly.
“Someone answer the damn phone,” I said when it rang again before I realized my butt was vibrating. “Oh, right.”
I slipped it from my pocket and smiled at the name on the screen. How did I not smile when I didn’t think I’d ever get to see her name come across on my phone again?
“Babe,” I said, answering the call and giving all the men at the table a look to shut their mouths.
“Are you busy?” Cassandra asked.
My gaze swept from person to person. “Nope, what’s up?”
Cassandra hesitated for a moment, and I just about left my position to run to the security room and see where she was in the bakery. She’d better be in the bakery. I’d given Sloan instructions to alert me the minute she stepped foot outside the door. Any door.
“My coworker, Mandy, called again. She’s upset I haven’t gotten the baby clothing to her cousin. I’m taking the box there tonight.”
“Tonight?” I asked, checking my watch. “You said it was like an hour away. Right?”
“I haven’t put it in my GPS yet, but around an hour,” Cassandra said. “I’m just taking it there, handing it over, and then right back. No need to worry.”
Except if she was calling to tell me then she was apprehensive with something.
I didn’t like that plan. Not the tiniest bit. We hadn’t yet figured out who broke into her brother’s home, and I had doubts who and why the break-in happened. None of it made sense.
“It’ll be getting dark soon and unfortunately I can’t go with you right now,” I said, letting my gaze drop back to the map. We’re only halfway done outlining the next four days of schedules and action plans. If I left now and one of our projects fell through, I’d never forgive myself.
Ridge took a few men with him, and we were already low on guys. More cases were coming in than we had personnel to handle. The business was growing in leaps and bounds, and now Ridge was even talking about starting an official bodyguard service. He’d offered it here and there to a few mega-wealthy people and one billionaire in Michigan, but now he wanted to make it an actual service. We’d need many more people. We had requests coming in from all over the country and couldn’t have our guys that far from base for as long as they needed.
The remote base in San Francisco was working and wanted to expand as well. I thought it was time to open up another branch or two, but Ridge worried about overextending ourselves.
“Don’t worry about it, Riley. I understand you’re working. Katy said she’d drive me to your place to get the box and I’ll pick up my car and drive up there.”
I hated this plan even more. Add in Cassandra going anywhere by herself before I figured out what was going on at her brother’s house, and it was so much worse. I only knew of one solution and damn, I hated to suggest it. One thing I learned early in life was to never give Katy an in. She was like fleas. Before you knew it, you had an entire infestation.
But we were out of options. I didn’t have the time to go, and I lacked the resources to send someone else with her. Plus, I didn’t want any of the single men on the team anywhere near my woman. “Can Katy go with you?”
“No,” Cassandra answered quickly, as if she’d already consider the option. “Pierce is flying back from Portland. I guess something happened. Katy wants to see him before he leaves again.”
Damn straight something happened. We got a big hit on Cyrus Kensington’s whereabouts and now the crew were scrambling to get to the southern side of the country to intercept him. It was why I needed to finish up here and coordinate resources with Ridge. I had hours of work left. Maybe all night.
“What about Vonnie?” Taking her along counted as a poor decision, but if I had to put up on a number line, she’d be better than Katy. Vonnie was still young, but she’d been hanging out with Katy for too long. Her brain had become addled in the same ways.
“No, I asked her too. She’s working at the bakery.”
I let a breath out of my nose and tapped my fingers on the table. The men stared at me, waiting for this phone call to end so we could get back to work. “I don’t like it.”
