* * *
After a few hours of sleep,Kieran walked through the front doors of the Chase Group building in downtown San Diego, where he was greeted by two receptionists with a level-two operator at each side. Level-one and -two operators formed the bulk of Chase Security’s operation. The majority of both groups came from law enforcement and military service. A group of level-one operators had no affiliation with either. They were put through a version of the police academy before completing Chase Group training. Unlike level-one operators, level-two operators were armed.
“Sir, may I help you?” the brunette receptionist asked.
Damn, Ian and I have to get out here more often.“Yes, is Tony in yet?” He placed his Chase ID in front of her.
The young woman’s hand went to her throat as if she were choking. Eyes wide, she grabbed the countertop to steady herself. “Um. Uh, Mr. Olivetti is in his office. Ms. Donnelly is here as well. Mr. Chase, should I notify them you are here?”
He read her nameplate. “I think I can find my way, Andrea.” After taking a few minutes to meet the others, he proceeded to the seventh floor, the top floor of the building.
Alone in the elevator, he opened his phone and spoke into the memo recording, “Arrange a companywide meet and greet.” Ian and he hated the idea of putting their pictures up in the lobby, but employees who were unable to recognize their bosses was unacceptable as well.
Lena, Tony’s secretary, greeted him with a warm smile. “How are you, Mr. Chase?”
“Always happy to see you, Lena. He and Mia inside?” He smiled.
“Yes, sir.”
Kieran turned the doorknob and went inside. Tony and his executive officer, Mia Donnelly, former CIA, were sitting on the same side of his desk, signing off on the payroll for work that did not involve a timeclock.
“Good morning.” Kieran shook Tony’s and Mia’s hands. “How are things?”
Tony shook his head. “You know I hate that question.”
“That’s why I ask it. It’s likehere’s the rope—are you going to make your way down, or are you going to hang yourself?” Kieran laughed and sat in the chair in front of them. “On an operations level, how are you doing with staffing?”
“We are stretched thin for general security and even thinner for anything requiring tactical expertise. So far, we have been lucky,” Mia said.
“Do you have a number for me?” Kieran opened his phone.
“Two hundred fifty minimum level-one and -two, one hundred level-three, and I think it’s time to give us at least two specific Eagle’s Talon teams,” Tony said, opening his palms.
“Tate Webster is putting out notifications to the message boards. We are hiring the spec ops boys. I’ll have him open it up wide, military and law enforcement. Even on a short clock, for level one through three, resume review, interview, background check, complete physical and twelve weeks in Virginia at the training center, we are looking at six months. And for Eagle’s Talon, a year.”
“We will manage,” Tony, a retired SEAL, said.
“Ian and I don’t want you to only manage. When I get back to DC, we will try to find some temporary solutions. Any personnel issues?”
“None that weren’t corrected with an appropriate kick in the pants.” Mia’s lips turned up.
“Client issues?” Kieran continued through his list.
“Always.” Tony chuckled. “Usually, it has to do with hurt feelings. Nothing that we couldn’t fix.” Tony frowned. “We need to talk about a non-client issue—Monique Lillier.
“I reached out to Lyon police. Her manager, Alain Charpentier, reported thirty incidents going back to July fourteenth of last year. It started out withI love youletters,you belong to meletters; things started disappearing from her home, things disturbed, flowers and gifts,” Tony said. “Then the letters started to get possessive. Edgy.”
Kieran’s jaw moved from side to side. “He’s escalating; the acid and the illness of her manager, and there was an incident at the hospital. She said a man named Dean introduced himself as Charpentier’s nurse. Her friends said the man claimed to be Dean Henry. He wasn’t a hallucination. They said he was wearing nursing scrubs. She said he made her feel uncomfortable and pushed into Charpentier’s room without him. The staff in the ICU said no one named Dean works there.”
“Kieran, I’ll head to the hospital and ask them to pull tape,” Mia said.
“I’m taking her to breakfast to discuss our services; she hasn’t signed on yet. But Smooth’s brother Tag referred her to us. He said he got a bad feeling. Farmer is with her now.”
Tony raised a brow but said nothing at the unusual situation. “Do you need someone to relieve Farmer?”
“I’ll take the day. And when I get a handle on the depth of the situation—Smooth is out here with Delphine for the weekend. If I must, I’ll send Delphine home. Mia, before you head to the hospital, put in a twelve-hour recall for Greece and Ice. Also send a forensics team to the villa she was staying in.” Kieran checked the time. “If you hear anything on the acid or what caused Charpentier’s illness, call me.” He nodded and headed out the door.
* * *
