He and Blake turned their focus toward Lucas Mercer, who was standing inside the open doorway. The forty-five-year-old medic leaned his six-three frame against the door’s dark wood.
With a tip of his scruff-covered chin, he motioned toward Emmett and Blake. “Sorry to interrupt.”
“You’re good. What’s up?” Emmett waved him into the room.
Lucas walked toward them with casual steps. “I just got off the phone with Talia.”
“She gonna help?” Blake asked next.
“She said she’d do what she can.” The former Navy Corpsman came to a stop next to where Blake stood.Shoving his hands into the pockets of his charcoal-gray pants, his blue stare turned Emmett’s way. “Talia said she’d see if Scarlett can help.”
“Good.” He nodded. “Let me know what you find out on that front.”
“I will.”
“Thanks.” Emmett looked Blake’s way. “Same goes for you. That program of yours gets a hit on the van’s logo, I want to know.”
“Aye, aye, Cap’n.” The jokester gave him a half-assed salute.
“What logo?” Lucas looked to Blake. “And there’s a van?” After they filled the man in on what Blake had discovered, he slid his blue stare back to Emmett. “What do you need from us in the meantime?”
“Just keep your phones nearby in case something helpful pops up. And we should probably start scheduling interviews for an office manager ASAP.”
“The stack of resumes is still on my desk,” Lucas shared. “I was looking through some of them earlier. From what I saw, they all seem to be decent applicants.”
Blake scoffed. “And we all know someone can look awesome on paper, but then you meet them in 3D, and it’s like . . .” He moved his hands out from his temples while mimicking the sound of an explosion.
Emmett smirked. “That’s why we should probably get some interviews under our belts sooner rather than later.”
“Boss makes a good point.” Blake nodded his head in agreement. “Word gets out that we’re signing on clients, it’s only a matter of time before that waitingarea out there is full of people ready to give us their money.”
The goofy grin on the other man’s face made him appear younger than his thirty-eight years.
“I’ll give Janie a call and let her know where we’re at with everything so far,” Emmett told his teammates. To Blake, he asked, “Can you touch base with Draven and Gwen to see if they’ve made anymore headway with the landlord or neighbors?”
The brilliant man turned to leave. “On it, boss.” He waved a hand in the air on his way out the door.
“I’ll go check out the rest of the resumes,” Lucas offered. “You want me to bring you the stack of files when I’m finished?”
“That’s fine. And jot down your top five picks when you’re done. But keep them to yourself,” Emmett ordered. “I’ll do the same before I pass them along to the others. Then we can set up a time to compare notes and narrow them down so we don’t waste time with a bunch of needless interviews.”
“Sounds like a solid plan to me.”
With that, Lucas left the office, shutting the door behind him as he went. Rolling himself closer to his desk, Emmett reached out and opened his laptop once more.
Janie smiled back at him from his screen as the article showcasing her professional success filled the space to the right. He finished reading the rest of the story about the fierce, unintimidated woman who was their client.
He had to admit her tenacity in exposing her local government’s crimes was also impressive as it wasadmirable. Emmett’s focus returned to the photo, which appeared to be a professional headshot.
Janie’s blue eyes seemingly stared straight into his. They were eyes he could easily become lost in if he weren’t careful.
You’d better damn well be careful.
The mental reminder had him closing out the digital article and reaching for the business card he’d left on the top of his desk. As much as he dreaded hearing her sexy voice, he’d promised to give her an update.
Not that there was much to tell.
Emmett looked at the number, reaching for his office phone as it began to ring. Blinking, he picked up the receiver with plans to call Janie after he addressed whoever was calling, but those plans were erased the second he heard the slight husk of her voice.
