Page 15 of Made of Steele
She bolted to her office.
“This isn’t over,” he called after her.
Man, she failed. Failed big time. Reverted to her teenage behavior when she’d done something wrong and avoidance seemed like the best answer. It never was. In the end, he always demanded an answer, and she complied before taking her punishment.
But she wasn’t a teenager anymore, and her undercover actions held life and death consequences—not only for her, but for Drew too.
She checked the guard schedule. Sandy Usher was on duty at WOC. A notation showed she was subbing for the daytime guard attending training. Might mean she wouldn’t have a lot of information to share.
Wouldn’t stop Teagan. No way.
She found a clipboard holding evaluation forms, grabbed her purse, and then fled the office before her dad came after her. She even sped through the misty rain and slick roads to WOC as if someone were chasing her. Or maybe she was in a hurry to help Drew find the antiquity suppliers, so she wouldn’t have to sidestep her dad again.
In the lobby, Sandy stood in uniform by the warehouse door. Teagan tucked her clipboard under her arm and greeted Betty, the receptionist who’d been working with the company for years and ran its front end as if it were her own kingdom.
Teagan smiled at her. “Just here checking in with Sandy and the Contis. Are the brothers here by any chance?”
“In their office.” The older woman with curly gray hair and thick glasses shifted her attention back to her computer screen.
Teagan crossed over to Sandy.
“Ms. Steele.” Sandy pulled her shoulders back even further, almost standing at attention.
A former marine, Sandy insisted on formality, as did other guards who’d come up through the military. As much as Teagan wished they would use her first name, she loved the respect they had for authority.
Teagan crossed the space. Residual fear from last night tried to take hold. She took a breath and stopped next to Sandy. “Everything going okay on this location?”
“Nothing odd as far as I’ve seen.” She stepped closer to Teagan. “Honestly, I’ve been here a few days, and I’m not even sure why they need security during the day. Not sure who would want to boost craft supplies.” She grinned.
Teagan would’ve said the same thing yesterday. Not today. Today she knew the Contis were protecting very valuable antiquities in addition to their craft supplies. She wished she could simply request security footage from last night, but Drew said it could make the brothers suspicious and compromise his investigation.
Teagan smiled at her guard. “Other than boredom, how do you like the assignment?”
“Good.” Sandy drew her eyebrows together. “It isn’t nearly as interesting as the hospital. Fewer people to watch.”
“We appreciate you being so flexible to cross-train here. We do like to keep the same people on the same assignments. Helps build familiarity with the surroundings, so they know when something is off, but we need relief staff familiar with the assignment too.”
“I don’t mind. Just saying I prefer my regular hospital gig, and I hope you all keep me on it.”
“Duly noted.” Teagan tapped the clipboard. “I need to go through this checklist with you. Is now a good time?”
“As good as any.”
“Let’s step into the warehouse so we don’t bother Betty.”
“Of course.” Sandy pulled the door open.
Teagan started to smooth her hand over her hair.No. Stop.She was primping for Drew. No way she’d let him catch her doing that. She didn’t want to be doing it at all. She had no real interest in dating. The company was her only boyfriend and would be that way until the business was performing solidly.
Could take quite a while as several companies started cutting back on their security during the day as Sandy mentioned. Losing this account when the brothers were arrested—and she would make sure if they were guilty of selling illegal antiquities that they would be arrested—wouldn’t help the Steele Guardians’ bottom line. Her work with Drew could hurt their company’s financial status but would prevent a much bigger problem of their reputation being tainted.
The warehouse was bustling with staff filling baskets for orders, and she doubted the brothers were doing any illegal business right now. Still, she kept her eyes and ears open as she ran down the checklist with Sandy and made crisp checkmarks in the boxes.
After the last box was neatly filled, she stowed her pen. “Anything you want to add?”
“Nothing other than I appreciate the recent raise, and I love my job.”
“You’re worth every penny.” And more, but they couldn’t go any higher and stay in business. “You can return to the lobby now, and thanks for taking the time to help me.”
