I made my way to the elevator to head up to the second floor of the building. That was the inner workings of the security side of the business, including our control room, tech space, storage for our guns and gadgets, and private offices.
The third floor was where Wade and his wife, Ellie, lived with their daughter. It had originally been two separate one-bedroom apartments, but they had converted them into one large three-bedroom unit for their growing family.
Wade managed the pub, which his uncle previously owned but sold to us, along with the entire rest of the building, when he retired nearly four years ago. The pub had provided Wade, Vince, Archer, and Jack with an initial source of income while they set up Ranger Shield, and now it provided us with a great location to scout future employees. It also meant it would be easy for me to work at the bar for a few shifts because Wade and the others owned both businesses—I was technically an employee of both.
The pub was right down the street from Dobbington Air Reserve Base. While Dobbington was the 22nd Air Force headquarters, it was also home to Navy operations support, Army Reserve, Marine Reserve, and Georgia National Guard, which meant there were a lot of military-trained personnel to recruit from, which was exactly how they found Diego, Andre, and Delia, who all now worked with us.
“Hey, man,” Archer said as I walked down the hallway to my office. “I hear you’re gonna pick up a couple shifts for Tammy?”
“Yeah, Ruthie suggested it to me to help me with all your weird English phrases,” I told him, and he chuckled.
“I’ll just have you work Stella’s case, then, since you’ll be picking up some shifts with Tammy,” he responded. “While you’re working over there, keep an eye out for any possible recruits, will ya?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Cool, and let me know if you need any help finding Stella’s creep.”
“I will. Thanks,” I told him as I walked down the hallway to my desk.
I wanted to get a head start on searching a few ideas I’d had last night about Stella’s stalker before I went over to meet Tammy.
There had to be a way to track him down. Everyone slipped and left markers somewhere. You just had to know where to look.
I shot off a quick message in our portal chat group to Tex and Kitty to see if they had any suggestions, too.
Kitty: Check the postmark on all the letters and see where they were sent from. Braden isn’t exactly a common name, so you might be able to narrow something down with that.
Tex: I know you said her security cameras only go back seven days, but other businesses may go back further. If she knows a date that he for sure was there in person, you can look to see if a nearby bank or something picked him up on their cameras.
Me: Thanks. I will look into both.
Fifteen minutes later, I walked into the Watering Hole and was instantly greeted by Tammy.
“Axel, good to see ya,” she said with a smile on her face.
“Same to you, Tammy.”
“Alright, I’m gonna show you the basics here, so follow me over to the bar,” she said, waving her hand. “I’m gonna have you working the left side of the bar because people will see youwhen they walk in the door, and your face is a hell of a lot more exciting than seein’ my grumpy face when they stroll in.”
She winked at me as I shook my head. Tammy was great, but she didn’t have much of a filter. I towered over her—though that wasn’t saying much since almost everyone was taller than Tammy—but what Tammy lacked in height, she more than made up for with attitude and brass balls.
In addition to being on the shorter side, Tammy had more of a stocky, muscular build. She was what Diego referred to as a brickhouse. Her dark-brown hair was accented by a few strands of gray, and the slight wrinkles around her eyes suggested she might be in her mid-forties. Yet, everything else about her gave the impression she was ten years younger.
“How long have you worked here, Tammy?” I asked her because she had been here when I first moved to this country.
“I was an Army brat growing up and then kept it in the family and went into the Army myself. I used to come here to this pub a lot between deployments. Got to know Wade’s uncle, and when I retired, he offered me a job. Got good retirement from the military, but I’m not the type of person to just sit around and be lazy all day. Plus, I like talking to people, and a bar is a great place for that.”
“Which is why I am here also,” I told her.
“We’ll get you speakin’ like a native in no time,” she declared. “Alright, let me show you where everything is.”
I’d been here before many times, but not on this side of the counter. The bar was a boxy C-shape and could easily fit two dozen patrons around it. Elsewhere, there were at least another thirty or so tables and booths in the rest of the place.
I had always enjoyed coming here ever since Vince and Archer had brought me shortly after I was hired. The place had strong Irish pub vibes, but also a rustic, cozy atmosphere to it.
That vibe came from the old, worn hardwood floors, the warm but dim lighting, and exposed wood beams and posts.
Due to the proximity to the Dobbington Air Reserve Base down the street, there was also a strong military theme throughout the pub.
