“The office takes up all five stories of a small building at the edge of downtown. There are people in the office twenty four hours a day, due to our contacts and people being all over the globe. There’s a gym with showers, a day care center and a kitchen that does healthy lunches along with breakfast and dinner that could be eaten at work or ordered to be taken home. The food isn’t free but it is fairly priced. Even in the dead of night there’s at least one person in the kitchen but there is also a well stocked choice of items prepared and ready to heat and eat. The second floor is human resources and administrative support. The third floor is intelligence gathering, fifteen people make up those that sift through what is gathered and there are six translators there to assist. Fourth floor is IT everything, support but also those that dig in and search out more intelligence. Fifth floor is Taylor and Chris Stanton used to be here but Taylor bought him out only two years in. Chris Stanton had been former Special Operations, a former Delta, he was the muscle to Taylor’s money and businessman. Now it’s just Taylor, my office and Dr. Keno the resident psychologist and his assistant. He has extensive training dealing with PTSD and all our employees have open access to him. He’ll also administer testing to our prospects but don’t worry he doesn’t share anything private he’ll simply say yes or no or yes but needs further treatment.”
Finishing going over the company as I pull into the garage, I park in Taylor’s usual spot. Relief fills me to see my little car in its space.
“What happened with Stanton?”
Biting my lip from inside my mouth I press my thumb into the scanner. A screen pops up and I identify myself and Sam to Ricky, one of the security guards. The door is buzzed open and I greet Ricky and Stan working the front desk as I make my way to the elevator. I scan my badge to get the elevator to move.
“He was everything you accused us of being. Cocky, impetuous and I mentioned no civilian casualties in the last six years, but this company has been in operation for nine years. Taylor was pissed by how cavalier Chris was and bought him out. He put the measures in place that exist now, the rules that the men are supposed to conduct themselves under. Now, people have to be so clean they squeak before they even make it as far as an interview, even then if their temperament is wrong they aren’t hired. We added some female assets as well and it was welcomed by DOD.”
The elevator opens and Taylor is waiting. “Sam, good to see you. Zoe, I knew you’d come through for me. Can Zoe get you anything, coffee or some water? Then, come on through and let’s talk.
Zoe, I left some things on your desk for you to handle from yesterday.”
I get the message, normally I sit in on interviews, take notes and we discuss them but this wasn’t an interview. Taylor already wanted Sam, this time Taylor would be pitching hard. Watching the door close, I’m longing to be on the other side.
I’m not sure if it’s good or bad that less than ten minutes later Taylor’s door opens again. Taylor seems proud, and just a bit smug so I’m hopeful it’s good, because the company needs Sam.
“Zoe, I’m going to give Sam the tour and then take him out to the training facility. I heard back and Tim Nielson is coming in for an interview out of California on Friday. He has a sister he’ll be staying with in San Antonio before the interview but he was relieved to hear about the offer of the house so you might have another guest at the house.”
“I saw him on the schedule. I’ll make sure Dr. Keno leaves space open for him.” Keeping my eyes on my computer screen is hard but when they leave I’m relieved enough to bury my head in my hands. My stomach is twisting, would Sam accept?
The phone rings and I’m glad for the distraction, it feels like it’s going to be a long day.
Chapter Five
My eyes stray to the clock for what is likely the tenth time in the last twenty minutes. Taylor had often done the walk and tour, he would have taken Sam out to the training facility that is southwest of Austin about a half hour out of the city, it sits on fifteen acres. The training compound held four buildings, one of them housed the sleeping and living quarters of the trainees and staff, the other three buildings were for training. The training lasts four months, during that time trainees stayed on the grounds and every two weeks they had four days off. Training happens at all hours, even the dead of night, most ops were carried out in darkness and it was standard to train for those.
They should have been back by now. I want to be here when they get back to know if Sam is going to accept the job. Taylor was very good at selling his company but Sam is different he didn’t want to buy so wouldn’t that make it harder?
When my stomach grumbles for food the third time I give in and run down for a chef’s salad and practically run back to my desk. Tossing the empty container in the trash by my desk, my stomach is still twisting when I hear the elevator and then Sam’s deep voice. Relief fills me, and when I look up as they come in, I can’t hide it.
“Zoe, why don’t you go ahead and leave early to make up for yesterday. Tomorrow first thing Keno will meet with Sam and we’ll go from there. Robert’s prospect coming in on Monday still needs to be looked into. I’ll put Elissa on that today and tomorrow I want you to pick up from where she leaves off.”
“Are
you sure? I can run Sam home and come back, I don’t mind.”
“Zoe, go home and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I nod and shut down my computer and grab my purse from the drawer I keep it in. Sam is waiting at the open door and I pause for only a moment before I brush past him to get out. When his hand settles into the small of my back my whole body comes alive. “Sam.” It was supposed to be a warning but it came out as only an exhalation of breath.
“I love it when you say my name like that.” He pulls me closer to him and I go without even trying to tell myself not to. It feels so good to be against him and I don’t even question it, just enjoy the feel of him. When the doors open on the ground floor I try to move away but he doesn’t allow me to budge from him and I don’t fight him.
“Taylor made fun of your car but he didn’t actually tell me what it was. Where in the world did you get this? I’ve seen one once before but that was a car show and the guy was quite proud he had one of the few here in the States.”
“Don’t make fun of my car, it is one of the few in the States. I had a neighbor for four years, sweetest little old lady who was British and she gave this to me before she went back to England to be with her family. I think she’s adorable.” Yes, I named my car a dark green Rover Mini produced in 1990.
Sam smiles, “I’m not making fun of her, you just surprised me and what’s her name?”
“Gertrude, after the lady who gave her to me. It really saved me, my car had just died and I didn’t have the money to repair it. Gertrude let me borrow her car as she had gotten older and the standard transmission was hard for her and the hills in the city so she rarely drove it. Then her daughter begged her to move back to Bath and she finally gave in. Before she left she said she didn’t want to deal with the hassle of shipping it back with her. I tried to pay for it but she wouldn’t let me. I’d done errands for her and some shopping, we traded books and just talked for years and she said it was more than enough.” Sam gets in and he takes up half the car. “Okay, yes it’s small but so am I and I fit just fine and that’s all that matters to me.”
“I bet you have to have more upkeep on it than you thought though.”
“Yes, don’t look so smug. It’s more than I thought and sometimes when I look back on all the things I’ve had to do, I think I should just buy a new one but I love her too much to sell her now.”
Our drive home is relatively short in the late afternoon traffic. When we get inside and I key in the code on the alarm pad, I feel him close behind me and shiver in reaction.
“I’m going to get changed and take advantage of the free time and paint. I’ll be in the back, the little room in the back, my studio.” Blindly, I motion as I make my way to my room.