“Why didn’t anyone put a notice out…? Well, it’s Kieran; he didn’t want people to know. Thanks, Tate.”
Wes booted up his computer. Populating his email, he went through the newest additions. “Hmm.” He read through the patrol reports from the day before. There was a lot of movement of the new staff between the cafeteria and the apartments. Nothing was out of the ordinary except for the fire. He signed off on them and continued reading.
The next report came from the new head of the health clinic, Dr. Sam Baker. He expressed some concerns about some juvenile behaviors of the new staff. A growl fell from Wes’s lips. He requested a meeting with the doctor at his first convenience.
Luke had advised him the status of the two horses. Both animals were responding to treatment. He smiled.
Reading on, he scanned TJ’s report about his medical staff meeting, corroborating some of what the doctor said about immaturity.
But Ken’s report infuriated him about the vying for control among the therapists. He also documented how Eleanor handled herself. “That’s my girl,” he muttered. He shook his head, still feeling conflicted.
Reading further, he decided she may have handled herself well, but adding the behavior he witnessed—if he had anything to say, he’d fire them all. Instead, he sent an email to Yvonne. He wanted a meeting with each one.
Eleanor’s report was next. She didn’t document any of the bad behavior Ken did. The two reports were complete opposites. He typed a memo to Ken for him to discuss the discrepancy.
As he continued to read the next email, a fresh email popped up from Eleanor. It went on to explain what transpired among her staff at the morning meeting. Though he wasn’t pleased with Aaron Bain’s excuse, he was pleased with her response. Her postscript made his heart warm.
“As per our discussion of great love affairs, may I suggest the following choices for future pairs: Antony and Cleopatra, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier, Ilsa and Rick, Molly and Sam, Baby and Johnny, Vivian and Edward, Scarlett and Rhett, Holly and Paul, Adrian and Rocky. Please advise. Also, what is the dinner dress for the evening?”
Naked,he thought. He typed a response. “Like Adrian and Rocky. And comfortable for dinner. Thai or Indian.”
Letting himself drift in the happy thoughts, he was disrupted by the ring of his phone. “Crockett,” he answered, his voice scratchy.
“I hear you didn’t get any sleep. It’s Keith Hartung. We need to talk.”
“Do you want to come to me? Or do you want me to come to you?”
“I’ll come to you. Do you have time for me now?”
“I’ll make time,” Wes said.
“On my way.” The lieutenant ended the call. From the tone of his voice, Wes assumed the news wasn’t good.
Christian knocked and entered. “Found this.” He tossed an evidence bag on the desk. Inside was a severely tarnished silver charm of a clockface with the time set at one minute to twelve, centered by a peace sign made from three rifles.
Wes fingered the bag. “Any ideas?”
“No. I cheated and asked technical analysis to see if they could decipher it. It came back as a symbol for Armageddon. They are searching for more information, but on prelim, it’s a symbol of a paramilitary group preparing for a revolution. They’re called the Divine End; the FBI reports there may be thousands of members around the world.”
“What the hell are they doing in our back yard?” Wes shook his head. “Keith Hartung is on his way to discuss something.”
“I’ll write up a report. Maybe Troy can work his own computer magic.”
“Until we solve this, I’m going to institute an escort system. Every civilian staff member must be escorted by security between locations.”
“It’s gonna scare people,” Christian said.
“We will tell them that it’s a test of the security people.”
Christian chuckled. “Ah, a rewrite of the gas leak phenomenon.” Any time they needed to evacuate a location for security reasons, they told the evacuees it was a gas leak.
“Can I delegate setting up the details to Ken and TJ? There are issues that need to be addressed here. I hope it’s an adjustment period, but I’ve got supervisors reporting juvenile behavior.”
“Are we that old?” Christian pondered, then Wes told him of the other senior staff with issues. “Yes, as far as TJ and Ken. Send me a report on the issues. We also have access to Zulu and Tango Teams. Use them.”
Yvonne stood in the doorway. Wes was expecting to hear that Hartung was there. Instead, she said, “Boss, Kip Brennan is here.” Kip was the co-executive director of Chase Group’s infrastructure security.
“Send him in.” Wes stood to greet him.
