Suspicious Activities

“You two go to the conference room and tell the boys to wait,” she called, halfway down the hall. Jackson shared a confused look with Kelli, who merely shrugged. They followed orders as the boss disappeared into her office.

“Is this normal?” Jackson asked the receptionist.

“No,” she whispered, “it’s not.”

He followed Kelli as she knocked quietly on the conference-room door before letting them in. Jonathan was sitting at the table, leaning over a file, while a man’s voice came through a phone speaker in front of him. The bodyguard looked up, curious at their intrusion.

“Hey, honey?” Kelli said out loud as she took a seat across from Jonathan. For a moment Jackson thought the nickname was directed at Jonathan, but then he realized it was directed at the man on speaker. “Sorry to interrupt, but I think something’s wrong.”

The man who must have been her husband, Orion Agent Mark Tranton, quickly took on an edge to his voice, alert.

“Are you okay? Are Grace and the baby okay?” he asked, clearly concerned about his daughter and pregnant wife.

“Oh, yeah, we’re fine,” she hurried, placing a protective hand over her stomach. “I meant something seems wrong with Nikki. She just told us to come in here and make sure you and Oliver were still on.”

Jonathan looked to Jackson, who gave a half shrug.

“Who’s ‘us’?” asked another man’s voice, which Jackson assumed belonged to Oliver Quinn.

“It’s the new recruit,” Jonathan added in.

“Jackson, right?” asked Oliver.

“That’s right,” Jackson answered.

“Nice to meet you,” Oliver continued. “Well, you know what I mean.”

Jackson was about to say he did when Nikki showed up. She walked into the room with such a fierce mask of concentration that for a moment all the other people in the room could do was stare wordlessly.

“Hello?” asked Mark into the silence.

“Mark, Oliver, it’s Nikki,” she greeted. She didn’t sit down and instead handed Jonathan a piece of paper. From Jackson’s post against the wall, he couldn’t tell what was on it. Apparently Jonathan didn’t understand it, either.

“I want to preface what I’m about to tell you with the fact that I think it’s no big deal,” Nikki said, “but this job has shown me the importance of being cautious, so I feel like I should bring you up to speed. You deserve at least that.”

Jackson didn’t understand the change in tone. Kelli looked at Nikki while Jonathan was focused on the paper. Why did she owe them anything? Wasn’t she the boss?

A thick silence blanketed the room. Nikki certainly had their collective attention.

Finally she spoke. “Last night I ran into Andrew Miller.”

* * *

LIKE SHE’D THOUGHT, Jonathan, Oliver and Mark had instantaneous reactions of anger. Nikki had half a mind to mute the speakerphone but knew she couldn’t do anything about the trainer in the room with them. So she let them all talk at the same time, words jumbling together. She was able to pick out three questions.

“Why?”

“Where?”

“What did he want?”

Nikki’s eyes traveled to Kelli, whose brows were pulled in together as she seemed to be trying to place the name, which she was sure sounded familiar to her new recruit. Jackson leaned against the wall, giving Nikki a stare she could only describe as puzzled. Like Kelli he was trying to put together pieces of information that he didn’t have.

Nikki wasn’t sure why she’d asked him to come into the conference room in the first place. Very few people knew about Andrew, even fewer knew why a visit from him was so startling. Kelli had probably heard the name from her husband, but Jackson? He was as new as they came. So, why had she let him in?

She tried to keep her eyes from moving across his bare arms, toned and strong, or any other part of his body highlighted in his gym clothes. She also tried not to feel a hot rush of attraction that pulsed through her when she locked eyes with him. Shifting her gaze back to the speakerphone, Nikki finally realized that maybe hiring Jackson Fields was a little more dangerous than she’d thought it would be.

“It was at a restaurant, not my home,” Nikki said when the men had quieted enough. “And I think he just wanted to blame someone for his mistakes in life.”

Cause—you destroyed me. Effect—now I’m going to destroy you. Nikki remembered his words clearly. So get ready, Nikki. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

But that didn’t mean she was going to repeat them. Andrew Miller had changed her life as well as Mark’s, Oliver’s and Jonathan’s in such a horrible and fantastic way that bringing up what the man really said, which she still believed to be an aggressive form of venting, would slice through the happiness they had all managed to find in the last few years. Andrew was a sore reminder of their collective tragic mistake. Nikki didn’t want them to fully revisit that by putting them up close and personal with the man. Which she knew would happen if she told her friends and employees about what he’d really said.

“And then he just left?” Oliver asked, voice noticeably deeper. Nikki fixed Jackson with a pointed stare as she answered.

“Yes,” she said. “No other incidents.”

Jackson’s eyes, some intangible coloring between gray and blue, stayed with her as his mouth remained shut. She also didn’t want the men to know about her car. There were other things to worry about now.

“But the real reason why I called,” Nikki said, swinging her attention back to Jonathan and the paper he held, “is what I received this morning attached to a box of chocolates.”

* * *

“A NOTE WITH three addresses on it,” Nikki started. Jackson pushed off the wall, standing at full attention. “Oliver, Mark, I sent you an email before I came in here with the information.” There was silence as the two seemed to be opening up their emails through their phones or laptops. Once they confirmed they were looking at the addresses, Nikki continued. “These addresses are the homes of one family. A mother in Colorado, her daughter in Wisconsin and her son in Arkansas.”

“A family?” Jonathan repeated. “Whose? And why would someone send this to you?”

Jackson watched as an already perfect-postured Nikki straightened even more so. Once again she started to form a fist but caught herself. She let her hand fall back to her side. Whoever the family was, she was invested in them. Nikki cleared her throat and when she answered she didn’t meet anyone’s eyes. Not even his.

“Morgan Avery’s.”

There was a lot of information passing around that Jackson’s lack of experience with the group was hindering him from understanding. However, he didn’t need to be “besties” with them to know that Morgan Avery meant something big to them. Even Kelli managed a gasp. He was sure that soon the trainer and the two on speakerphone would start their yelling at the same time, but Nikki found her voice before them.

“After what happened I kept tabs on her immediate family to make sure they were...” Nikki seemed at a loss for words for the first time since he’d met her. She shook her head slightly. “I contacted Elaine, Morgan’s mother, and asked if she’d been having trouble with anyone lately. She admitted to getting a few hang-up calls within the last month. Ones that didn’t show up on her caller ID. Her daughter, Melanie, and son, Jared, have also received similar calls in the last few weeks. Normally, I wouldn’t worry, but—”

“But someone sent you the addresses for a reason,” Jonathan interrupted.

Nikki nodded.

“It was Andrew,” Mark piped in. “It had to be him. Otherwise that’s a big heaping sack of coincidences.”

“I agree, Nik. The timing is too perfect,” Kelli piggybacked on her husband’s sentiment.

“But why would Andrew be sending you information on the Avery family of all people?” Oliver asked.

“Maybe to remind me of what happened, maybe just to make me nervous, heck, maybe to show that he’s still crafty?” Nikki said, demeanor cracking slightly. She was clearly frustrated.

Jackson wanted to ask who this Andrew was and why the Averys were so important, but he kept his mouth shut. He resolved to ask in private, not wanting to stop what the Orion boss and employees were working through.