The day had gone smoothly, and his team had stayed on task. He had to admit the highlight had been running into Freya. He’d hoped to run into her again before he left, especially with how their encounter had ended. He’d been concerned with how pale she’d been when she’d rushed off. It had taken everything he had to not go after her to see what was wrong. Not only would that have been completely unprofessional, but it would have been weird. He barely knew her. Still, he’d been worried. That was the reason—theonlyreason—he’d wanted to talk with her again. Nothing else.
Right.
However, he had caught sight of her in the dining room with the woman from the shooting incident. Freya had been smiling and laughing, so he was thankful he hadn’t rushed after her like an idiot.
Realizing all eyes were on him, Xander cleared his throat.Shit. Head in the game, man. “The meetings went well. Gabriel was surprisingly easy to work with. Abbot had a laundry list of cybersecurity recommendations that he was open to. Carmichael is going to suggest formal training for both their security and front-desk staff. He, Tash, and Wilson are working on a report with their observations and recommendations right now. They said they’ll have it to us by midday tomorrow to review.”
“Man,” Frazier said, snickering. “I should go away more often. Looks like you’ve got things under control, my friend.”
Xander snorted. “Uh, hell no. Get your ass back here, because as receptive as Gabriel was, schmoozing with billionaires isn’t my thing.”
He was more of a behind-the-scenes guy. Yes, he’d step in every now and then when Frazier was out of town, but that was a rarity. It’s not like he was anti people like Wilson. He liked people just fine. In fact, he excelled at dealing with different personalities—a holdover from his chaotic childhood where reading people was a matter of survival. It was what made him a good head for their personal security group.
His colleagues were basically family, but dealing with that many alpha types and doling out assignments took a certain amount of finesse. Pairing up the personalities of clients and his colleagues, no problem. But getting the assignments and dealing with clients one-on-one? No, thank you. He was more than happy to leave that shit to Frazier.
“True.” Frazier shot him a shit-eating smirk, and Xander braced for what was about to come out of his friend’s mouth. “But I heard that schmoozing and coming to the rescue of a pretty hairstylist is your new thing.”
“Oh, holy Christ,” Xander muttered, dropping his head back. He was going to kill Carmichael. He glared at the ceiling aschuckling sounded around him. “You would have done the same damn thing in my situation?—”
“Well, I sure as hell wouldn’t have kissed her,” Frazier interrupted. “I value my life. Right, B?”
“Damn straight, mister,” Bean said, a knowing smirk lifting her lips. “But Xan’s right though, you’d totally do the knight-in-shining-armor thing?—”
A brisk knock sounded on the door before it was flung open.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Matt Alvarez said, stepping through the doorway, clearly agitated.
Xander narrowed his eyes. The former Seattle PD detective was their lead investigator and was always calm and collected. However, tension radiated from him now.
“Scarlet passed out at work,” Alvarez said in a rush. “The ambulance is taking her to the clinic. They’re monitoring her and the babies?—”
“I’ll drive you,” Esme said standing. “Let’s go.”
Alvarez nodded and met Xander’s gaze. “Daisy’s at day care. I’m supposed to pick her up at three because they’re closing early but?—”
Xander stood and crossed the room, slapping a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I got her, brother. You focus on Scarlet. I’ll take care of Daisy.” His heart was in his throat as he squeezed Alvarez’s shoulder.
Scarlet was pregnant with twins and beginning her second trimester, and Alvarez was over the moon. The guy even had the blurry sonogram picture with the two baby blobs framed on his desk, right beside a picture of his stepdaughter, Daisy.
“Alvarez,” Frazier called from the smartboard. “If you need anything, man, you let us know. If Scarlet needs a medical flight, we’ll get Owen in the air ASAP. Anything you guys need.”
Alvarez let out a deep breath and lifted his chin, eyes blinking rapidly. “Appreciate you guys.”
“We’ve got your back,” Xander said and glanced at Esme. “Keep us posted.”
She nodded, patting Alvarez’s arm. “Let’s go. We’ll take my car. Leave your keys with Xander since your truck has Daisy’s car seat.”
Taking Alvarez’s keys, Xander let out a breath as his friends rushed from the room. “Holy shit,” he muttered, glancing back at Bean and Frazier. He sent a prayer up to the universe that Scarlet and the babies were okay. Alvarez and Scar had already been through so much.
“I’ll let Owen know to be on standby,” Bean murmured, her fingers flying over her keyboard. Hadley Owen was Hudson Security’s pilot. She was one of only three female Night Stalkers their country had produced. If, God forbid, Scarlet needed to be airlifted, Owen would get her wherever she needed to be safely and in record time. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that.
Xander glanced at his watch. It was nearly two thirty. “Bean, can you call Rebecca and let her know I’m on my way to pick up Daisy?”
Rebecca de la Rosa ran and owned the home-based day care Daisy attended. In the everyone-knows-everyone-in-a-small-town vein, the entire staff at Hudson Security was good friends with Rebecca’s husband, Dante. In fact, Dante and his brother, Cade, co-owned De La Rosa Gym, which they were all members of. Hudson Security and De La Rosa Gym also operated a joint partnership in Hudson Tactical, a program that taught hand-to-hand combat and provided tactical training—weapons, marksmanship, and outdoor survival—to law enforcement groups, military units, and search and rescue teams.
“If she needs official authorization to release Daisy, have her call Alvarez.” Xander glanced at his watch again and grimaced. “But have her call him soon before he gets to the clinic.”
“On it,” Bean said. “Give Daisy a hug for us.”
