Dolby(25)
Author: Maryann Jordan
Angela barked out a laugh. “Oh no. I paid a premium sum to have the best private investigator dig out his secrets. The funny thing is that Roger has no idea that I’ve changed my Will and Trust beneficiary. That little turd won’t get away with anything by the time I’m through with him.”
“I’m really sorry, and I’ll do whatever you need me to. God knows you’ve always been there for me.”
“Can you work from here?” Angela asked.
“Of course.” With her laptop, she could easily write anywhere, and staying in Angela’s mansion was no hardship.
Finishing their I’ve got a new guy, and I’ve caught my husband wine and snack, they hugged good night before retiring. Once in the guest bedroom, Marcia snuggled under the covers and held her phone, hoping Jonathan would call. Half an hour later, she was not disappointed.
“No, I’m not fucking kidding. My grandparents met at some hippie concert that was like a Woodstock knockoff.” Dolby laughed. “Believe me… I tried to tell myself they were just two average, boring music lovers there. In reality, I overheard my granddad say that when he saw the gorgeous girl rolling in the mud with her top off, he knew she was the one for him.”
“Oh my God, Jonathan!” Marcia gasped before joining in the laughter. “Are you serious?”
“Hell yeah. I still try to erase that image. If you think it’s hard to imagine your parents as sexual beings, try imagining your grandparents!”
Her laughter was becoming one of his favorite sounds. He only wished they were in the same room… hell, in the same state. But he was in Nevada with Adam and Leo, two of the original Keepers, working on the security design for a multimillionaire head of an engineering firm who helped design military aircraft. The client’s massive estate was one of the reasons three Keepers were working on the assignment at the same time.
They spent their days analyzing and designing and their evenings in one of the guesthouses. He had to admit that the large four-bedroom guesthouse, complete with a private swimming pool, a game room with a billiards table, and a widescreen movie room, was a helluva lot better than a hotel room. And it came with a cleaning staff and a cook who would prepare supper for them daily.
Plus, he had plenty of privacy to chat with Marcia in the evenings, an activity quickly becoming his favorite part of the day. “What did you do today?” he asked.
“I managed to get another few chapters written. I’m still at Angela’s house. She left this morning to spend a couple of days in LA. She’s going through a bit of a rough time personally, and I want to help her in any way I can.”
“Sounds like you’re a good friend,” he commented.
“Oh, it’s the least I can do,” she enthused. “She’s taken on my baggage and quirks, so it’s only right that I support her as well.”
It was on the tip of Dolby’s tongue to ask about the baggage and quirks she’d mentioned, but he hesitated. Trust has to be earned. It was hard to go slow when she was all he thought about. They’d talked on the phone for hours over the past week, and he couldn’t wait to see her again.
“Since you’re there by yourself, how’s her security system? Does the camera work?”
She snorted. “Yes. In fact, it’s in perfect working order. She set it when she left, and since I haven’t gone anywhere, it’s still set.”
“You haven’t gone out on a deck or anything?”
“Goodness gracious, Jonathan. You can trust me to take care of myself, you know. But no… it’s been raining here for the past two days.”
“Sorry,” he mumbled, not really sorry at all.
“It’s okay,” she said. “It’s kind of nice to have someone checking on me.”
“You can count on that.” He looked over and saw that Leo and Adam were almost ready to go out. They were making a nighttime perimeter check of the estate. “I hate to go, but we’ve got some business to attend to tonight. I’ll talk to you tomorrow night, and then we’ll be back the day after that. Since that’ll be Friday, I’ll plan on driving to see you then, if that’s okay?”
“Sure,” she agreed easily, her voice soft. The one-word whispered reply wrapped around his heart, then she continued. “I was hoping you’d want to.”
His chest ached with a longing never felt before. He knew most people would scoff at the suddenness of his feelings, but he’d seen his boss fall just as fast. Hell, so did my grandpa!
After saying goodbye, he disconnected and jogged out to the SUV in the drive. Adam drove, so he climbed into the passenger seat with Leo in the back.
He never asked her about what she was writing or even what book or series she was working on. They’d only known each other for a week, and even though feelings and interests were already involved, he was careful not to pry into her professional world.
The three Keepers had barely begun their drive around the perimeter when Adam sang, “Another one bites the dust.”
“Fuck off, man.” He laughed.
“Seriously, Dolby? Based on what I’ve seen this week, Natalie has started the pool on how long it will take before you’re officially off the market,” Leo said.
“Don’t you have anything else better to do than talk to your woman about me?”
“I do, but she’s been hounding me nightly since you left the compound last weekend after finding Marcia’s address.”
Laughing, he knew Natalie, a Keeper as well as Leo’s wife, was tenacious when ferreting out information. Leo and Natalie had served together on the same Delta team for years, forming a lasting friendship while neither wanted to acknowledge their feelings went way beyond friends. Finally, last year, they’d both ended up in a place where they could come together after Leo headed to Guatemala to help Natalie with a case.
“Jeannie will want to invite her to a gathering before you know it,” Adam added.
Carson’s wife, Jeannie, managed to mother-hen the single men and include the Keepers’ wives and girlfriends in the gathering, determined to foster the camaraderie that Carson worked hard to provide.
Rubbing his chin, he frowned. “I don’t know about that. I’ll need to talk to Jeannie when we get back. Marcia is shy… I don’t want to force her into a social situation that would make her uncomfortable.”