Page 63 of Danger and Dominance
“Who recommended him again?”
“No one.”Lincoln grimaced.“Unfortunately, Marshall has been poaching the best candidates before we can even get to them.”
Fucking Marshall.David scowled.“Well, if they’re going to work for Marshall, they’re probably not the best candidates, anyway.”
His boss shot him a look.
“You know as well as I do that Marshall is good at putting on a front.They probably won’t realize what an unethical bastard he is until it’s too late.Like me.”Lincoln made a face.Considering Marshall had both stolen from the companyandslept with Lincoln’s now ex-wife, that was putting it lightly.
David felt a smidgeon of guilt because he knew that Lincoln and Marshall had been good friends for years before Marshall finally crossed too many lines.But David had never liked him.
He was too smart to say ‘I told you so’ about the man, even though he’d wanted to.
“So what are we going to do?”he asked.Better to discuss a solution than all the ways in which Marshall Devlin sucked.That could go on for hours without them getting anywhere.
“I’m not sure.”Lincoln picked up one of his pens, holding it between two of his fingers and tapping each end of the pen against the desk as he moved his fingers up and down.He stared into space while he thought.“I don’t want to stoop to Marshall’s level.”
“It wouldn’t be stooping to his level to start letting it leak more broadly about why he’s no longer with Black Fox,” David countered.Something that he’d said before.
Lincoln had quietly let their contemporaries know that Marshall had been embezzling, but it hadn’t made the papers, and nothing had been said to any of their clients.All of whom would have been likely to spread the word to their friends, depriving Marshall of contacts… which would have been for the best.
To be fair, David didn’t think Lincoln had expected Marshall to start his own competing security firm in Pittsburgh.He’d expected Marshall to have enough shame to flee the city and start over elsewhere.But, as far as David could tell, Marshall never felt any shame.He was convinced he was the one who’d been wronged.Which just went to show how fucked up his moral compass was.
“I’ll think about it.”Lincoln was frowning, though, which meant he wasn’t going to do it.Not yet.Saying that he’d think about it was already a more open-minded answer than the last time David had suggested it, so maybe one day.
David understood.Lincoln wanted to take the high road.Unfortunately, too many people were all too willing to believe the shit Marshall was shoveling.Lincoln also didn’t want Black Fox’s reputation to be affected by people knowing that one of the partners had been embezzling from them… and they hadn’t noticed right away.Lincoln didn’t think admitting that would engender trust from the clients.But Marshall was already doing his best to shit on Black Fox’s reputation; telling the truth was hardly going to hurt them more at this point.
It meant that Marshall had gotten off with basically no consequences other than being removed from Black Fox, and no one outside of the firm knew why he’d been ousted.He was a smooth enough talker that he’d managed to allay people’s suspicions.
Which was frustrating as hell.
It really grated that they, the people who were trying to do the right thing and not be shitty, were the ones losing out to someone who was willing to lie, cheat, and steal to get whatever he wanted.Yet people didn’t seem to look deeper than the surface or question why he was offering so much money for them to get on his side.
David didn’t really blame anyone who took Marshall’s very generous job offer.Marshall had already made it clear he’d be happy to poach Black Fox employees with a shit ton of money.Thankfully, they knew better than to drink from the poisoned chalice.
Others, who hadn’t had personal experience with him, didn’t.
But it still grated.
“How are things going with Cassidy?”Lincoln asked.“You said you pulled some of the daytime protection from her?”
“We don’t have enough people to cover her full-time,” David replied, trying to ignore the trickle of unease that went through him at the admission.Strangely, it did make David feel better that Cassidy was with his grandmother, knowing they were taking care of each other.He didn’t estimate the danger to his grandmother to be very high, but even if Don did show up, they were well protected.Lincoln knew David would drop everything to go running if his grandmother’s alarm went off.
The whole team would.
“There hasn’t seemed to be a reason to keep someone on her every day, all day,” David continued.“She and my grandmother only go to the retirement center, my grandmother’s house, and here for self-defense lessons.Which Claudia said they’ve both been very dedicated and progressing nicely.So far, her ex hasn’t shown his face anywhere.He’s practically disappeared off the face of the planet as far as we can tell.”
“Kind of like what we did to her,” Lincoln mused, rubbing his hand across his chin.
“Yes.And so far, no sign of him.”
“Hopefully, he’s gone for good, though I would like to know where he is.”Lincoln shook his head.“Stalking cases are never easy.”
That was an understatement.If Don never resurfaced, Cassidy would have to spend her entire life wondering if he would suddenly appear out of nowhere.Not exactly a fun way to live.David wouldn’t be able to relax, either.Just in case.
Cassidy
Driving home from Brenda’s, Cassidy couldn’t help but smile when a call came through from Yasmine.She missed her friends from Stronghold, but she was really enjoying the new friends she was making.
