Page 54 of The Money Man
She understood. He’d been neglecting the Argon project for her problems. Now he had to put in some serious work to be ready for his trip next week. She felt guilty about her role in adding to the pressure, but she couldn’t regret any of their time together.
At least she knew the end date: his departure for Asia. It was a clear, convenient way for him to break off their little affair. It helped somewhat that she would be able to brace herself for it ahead of time.
She needed a drink and friends to distract her. Grabbing her cell phone, she hit Natalie’s private number. It went to voice mail, of course, because Natalie was working, so Alice left a message. Then she tried Dawn with the same results.
While she was debating whether to go to the gym to work off her dismals, her phone rang in her hand, the caller ID coming up as KRG. Her heart seemed to stop and then begin skipping around in her rib cage. But when she looked at the number itself, she realized it wasn’t Derek’s.
Disappointment dumped its sour taste down her throat, so that she swallowed hard before she answered.
“Alice, this is Tully Gibson from KRG.” His speech had the slow cadence of the West. “Derek gave me a briefing on your trip to Texas yesterday.”
She assumed that he had skipped over a few parts of the expedition.
“I wanted to ask you some questions since you were the one who saw the facilities.”
He proceeded to take her through each room and person she’d met, probing for details and her impressions. He asked her to repeat her conversation with Myron as accurately as she could remember it. He was encouraging, courteous, and relentless.
When his inquisition was done, he said, “I wish more folks were as sharp-eyed and thorough-thinking as you. Makes things easier for me.”
His praise dispelled some of her melancholy.
“If you don’t mind, I’m going to send you a computer rendering of Myron Barsky that Derek started on with our facial-recognition software. You’ve spent more time with him, so I hope you wouldn’t mind telling us how to refine it. I want to see if we can ID him that way since his name isn’t giving us any hits.”
“I’d be happy to.” It would take her mind off Derek’s absence. “What about Ted Murval? Did you find out anything about him?”
She thought he might have hesitated a split second. “We’re working on that.”
“I could give John Peters a try on the software too,” she offered.
“The security guy? Yeah, if you have the time, that would be helpful.” His tone changed. “Now I don’t want to worry you, but Derek and I both believe you should continue to have a security presence for the next week or so. You won’t be aware of them, but I want you to program the number I’m about to text you into your phone in case you feel unsafe.”
Alarm twisted her stomach. “Really? I thought the trip was supposed to fix that.”
“I’m sure it did. This is just a precaution. Did you get my text?”
Alice checked the text that had just pinged into her phone. “Yes, it’s here. Why won’t I be aware of the security team?”
“Because they’re good at their job. We don’t want anyone to know they’re there.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if the bad guys saw that I was being protected?”
His chuckle was low and friendly. “It’s better to take the bad guys by surprise.”
“If you say so. Thanks for being concerned about me.” The call ended with Tully saying the link to the facial-recognition software was on its way.
Alice swiveled her chair to see Sylvester and Audley still fast asleep. Their utter unconcern with software fraud calmed the flutters of anxiety constricting her throat. It was just Derek’s bias making his partners overly cautious.
She nodded to convince herself of the explanation and turned back to her computer.
“How did she take being assigned a security team?” Derek asked when Tully disconnected.
“She wanted to know why the trip hadn’t removed the need for one.”
“But she didn’t object?”
Tully shook his head and relief flowed through Derek. He could imagine Alice pooh-poohing the whole idea. He wanted her to know that she had someone to call if she needed help, especially when he was in Asia.
Tully gave him a long, speculative look. “You seem a mite more worried about Alice Thurber than I’d expect. Not seven days ago, you figured you could spend fifteen minutes on her problem and be done with it. Now you refuse to let Leland and me take over for you when you have bigger fish to fry.”
