Agent Under Wraps

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Chapter 1

“You do understand that I have never worked as a personal bodyguard, right?” Willow O’Malley spoke to her sister and boss, Toni, via her car’s hands-free audio as she drove. The brand-new Ford Explorer, black with tinted windows for security, not status, was a company car. As she entered the highway westbound, toward the Washington state line and away from what had become her home base these last six months, her heart gave a little squeeze. It was validation that she had made a home of her rented condo with the view of Coeur d’Alene Lake, no matter that she was still new to a civilian lifestyle. “And while I’m at it, let me remind you that I’m not working for the family biz to be a glorified babysitter.”

“You’ve mentioned your concerns at least six times since last night, yes.” Toni’s indulgent tone said it all. She really did need Wil to handle this last-minute contract request. The family private security agency, Cascade Confidential, kept its physical headquarters in Seattle, Washington, where their mother had founded it decades earlier. Although they were used to steady growth, this past year had seen almost exponential increase in requests and clients. There were plenty of people applying for their many open positions, but security clearances took time, sometimes months. Because CC took government contracts, their employees not only had to have US government clearances but also had to pass the tight vetting that CC adhered to.

“How much is this contract worth, by the way?” Wil asked.

Toni told her, and Wil shook her head. “Holy cow, sis. That’s enough to pay for Sierra’s entire college education.” Wil still wasn’t used to the significant increase in salary that her military skills commanded in the “real” world, as her fellow Marines had called life after the Corps.

“It is, indeed, but don’t forget we recently bought three SUVs, the same model as yours, and there’s always the astronomical company overhead.”

Any discussion of financials made Wil’s eyes roll, no matter that she comprehended that the top security services provided by CC cost top dollar. She respected the job her sister did as CEO, no question. But when it came to numbers, unless it had to do with the website location of a cyberterrorist or the details of the cold case she was working on, it didn’t interest her.

“Point taken. We need this job. And I don’t mean to yank your chain so much, but I’m the only one in the Coeur d’Alene office who’s been working the Hartford girls cold case, not to mention the cyberhacking cases I briefed you on last week.” Wil had thought she’d be spending most of her time solving cybercrime for their clients, but last week an elderly woman had come into the office and showed proof that she was the grandmother of an eleven-year-old girl who had disappeared, along with two other girls, thirty years ago. She was determined to find answers for the woman.

“It’s all going to wait until I get back from this godforsaken assignment.” Wil needed to be fully immersed in a case to connect all the loose threads that were inevitably there. This bodyguard assignment was more than a distraction; it was a threat to her solving her first big cold case for Cascade Confidential. It was also her first civilian case that didn’t involve cyber ops, a chance to prove her mettle in a different situation.

“You don’t have to remind me that you’re the computer and cold case genius, Wil. It’s part of the reason I asked you to leave the Marine Corps earlier than you’d planned.” The bigger reason was left unspoken: The family-run security agency was stretched to breaking with a tsunami of requests and limited personnel to assign. The deeper, private reason she’d agreed to come work for Toni, however, was that she needed something different, a life change that involved more than another new duty station assignment. She’d never intended to make the Corps a career. Not at first, anyway.

But one day had bled into the next, and her tours of duty piled up to a dozen moves over the last twenty years, not including the several deployments downrange, often to remote duty stations, including one combat tour. If asked, she wouldn’t be able to articulate any one reason she’d decided to leave the Corps, which she was forever bonded to. It was something deep inside her that had urged the change.

Her most recent Marine Corps assignment had been the Pentagon, where her life–and practically her soul–weren’t her own. The break from 24/7 cybersecurity responsibilities was an unexpected bonus of working for her family. The yoke of global security, even though it had been shared with her colleagues from all the other military branches around the globe, had been soul crushing. Now, she was energized when she awoke each morning. The freedom of working her own hours, whether at home with her spectacular lake view, or in the tastefully appointed Coeur d’Alene office, was exhilarating.

Another factor that nudged her to make the switch to a civilian lifestyle was that Wil had discovered she had a talent for cold cases. The military cyber cold case had been a one-off, though, at least for a Marine. She’d not likely have another cold case while on active duty.

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When the local Hartford girls cold case had fallen into her lap, it validated her decision to leave the Corps and come home to the Pacific Northwest, PNW.

“As much as I want you to solve hacking and cold cases for us, we need all hands working the agency’s front line right now. Face it—you’re the only one of us with personal security training, thanks to your time in the Corps. You know that, sis.” Toni O’Malley’s chiding tone reminded Wil of when they were kids and Toni convinced her that she was the only one who could climb onto the counter—Wil had always been more athletically inclined than Toni—to steal cookies from the jar for all of them. Which usually meant she was setting up Wil to take the heat while placating their younger siblings with the sugary treats. “Like I said, I hope to have someone to relieve you before the end of the weekend, by Monday at the latest. We’re strapped on manpower until the Seattle aerospace conference is over. Honestly, Wil? I don’t know if I’m coming or going these days. Late summer’s turned into early autumn and our workload shows no signs of letting up,” Toni said.

“You’re an expert at juggling, Toni. Look at what a good mother you are, and how much you do for the community, too.” She left out the part about her elder sis running CC, a multimillion-dollar business with over two hundred permanent employees and thousands who were on a contract basis.

“Thanks, Wil. I’m so relieved you came home. I’m lucky you’re my sister. You’re my lifeline.”

“So you tell me.” Wil considered herself the lucky one. For twenty years, she’d served in the United States Marine Corps, both Stateside and abroad. While in uniform her only concern had been her mission and completing it. Politics, local events like an aerospace industry conference simply hadn’t been a concern. But now, every large-scale gathering of people in the Pacific Northwest, from rock concerts to sporting events to political campaign rallies, could affect Wil’s workload.

Every public event was fraught with security concerns. Local law enforcement, be it police, sheriffs or state troopers, couldn’t keep up with it all. Nor should they, in Wil’s opinion. Law enforcement had enough on its shoulders than to act as crowd control. There simply weren’t enough bodies in uniform to handle it all. Hence private security firms like her family’s were inundated with requests for large-event security year-round. It meant a boon for their firm’s coffers, but also was a drain on her and her four siblings as their firm had expanded.

“You’re the only one I can trust with this on such short notice, Wil.” Toni must have interpreted Wil’s silence as disagreement. She never doubted her sister was still on the line, as they had always enjoyed a close relationship and were comfortable with long periods of silence in their conversations.

“You’re the boss.” Wil spoke as she maneuvered through an S curve. And she meant it. It had been bittersweet to leave the Corps and the many troops she’d led. But it was nice to not have to make the big decisions, too. While all of their siblings got together via a monthly conference call to handle CC strategic initiatives, Toni was their CEO for day-to-day operations.

“I’m not feeling very in charge lately, but you know how it goes.”

“I do. Hey, Toni?” Wil accelerated past a slow-moving tractor trailer hauling a full load of logs, recently harvested, as the damp, rough bark illuminated by her headlights looked fresh. A whiff of fresh cedar aroma reached through her air vent. She’d missed this distinct scent of her childhood for too long on too many overseas assignments. Any job in the Pacific Northwest at any time of day, even at o-dark-thirty, like now, was better than being away from her home and family roots.

“Yeah?”

“You know I’m on your side, right? You’re the best boss, no matter how chaotic it feels to you right now. We’ll push past this.” Wil meant it. She had missed their sisterly banter that only frequent communication nurtured. Being stationed on the other side of the globe had prevented her and her siblings from the welcome repartee. “Please don’t mistake my reluctance about this case for unwillingness. I don’t want to disappoint you, is all. Marine Corps basic training, combined with the short class you sent me to last month, is the sum total of my bodyguard experience.” Which in her opinion meant zilch. Nada.

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“Got it. I know I can count on you, sis.” Toni’s relief doused some of the frazzled nerves Wil detected in her sister’s normally honey-smooth voice. “It’s been insane since Mom and Dad retired.” The timing of which had propelled Willow’s “someday” about working for the family business to turn into “right now.”

“Yeah, the nerve of them wanting to enjoy their golden years.” They both had a good laugh at the expense of the parents they adored but whose help they could really use right now. “How dare they leave us all with a booming business and escape to their forever home in Montana.” Wil’s stomach dropped. “Oh no! Their party is less than a month away. I need to put in in my phone. I keep forgetting.” She’d been so deep in launching the Idaho satellite office and working on her pet project that she’d lost track of time. Again. Their parents were hosting a housewarming of the gargantuan “cabin” they’d built at the base of the mountains outside Bozeman. “But seriously, do you think they know what we’re up to, with the surprise party?”

Toni snorted. “Are you kidding? Mom’s too busy putting the last touches on the house, and Dad’s been spending all of his time doing whatever Mom tells him to.” She chuckled. “They’ll be surprised, all right.”

“I can’t imagine being with anyone for fifty years. Not to mention having five kids over a span of fourteen years like Mom did.” Wil’s words were certain, but her breath hitched as her heart beat in silent regret. It wasn’t that she never wanted a family, but that she’d been too busy to ever seriously consider it, save for one brief time when she’d been dating someone she’d thought was the perfect man. “Not that I could be married for five decades, at this point. I mean, Mom and Dad met so young.”

“You’re only thirty-eight! Give me a break. You never know what’s just around the corner.” Toni’s positivity had to be overcompensation for both of their sad love lives.

“Statistics are pretty consistent, Toni. It’s going to be you, Aubrey, and me all the way until we’re nonagenarians, sis. Let our brothers worry about carrying on the family name. We’ll be the aunts who spoil their kids.” Wil was the middle of the siblings, with two older sisters Toni and Aubrey–the VP of operations–both working in Seattle, and their two younger brothers Kevin and Jake handling forensics and surveillance, respectively. There was seven years between Wil and their oldest brother, Kevin.

“Whatever.” Toni’s crisp professional tone was back, shutting down the topic. “I’ve got to go. Text me when you’re on-site and keep us apprised of your status, as always.”

“Copy.”

Toni disconnected, and Wil switched the car audio to her favorite playlist. Hard rock, loud and fast. It was her go-to in the gym when she’d had to stay in shape through combat tours and still a great motivational set of blood-pumping music. She belted out the lyrics to a crankin’ Guns N’ Roses oldie, thankful no one else could hear her. She figured it was her last chance to not be bored out of her mind for the next seventy-two hours. Sure, Toni had promised another security agent would relieve her by Monday, but Wil knew better than to count on it. If Toni had to tap her for the glorified babysitting contract, odds were there wasn’t another decent prospect for the job, even after the aerospace conference ended. CC had a long pipeline for new hires, which included months of background checks, rigorous training both physically and in classroom settings, and a final certification exam that involved a week at their remote safe house location. It was why CC had the reputation it did and could command the fees that gave even their most wealthy clients pause. But as their motto said, foolproof security was priceless.

It might very well be her only assignment for a week or so.

She snorted as she took the exit onto a winding mountain road and turned the music down to a dull roar. At least this contract would be a break from the insane pace she’d been keeping since returning home and joining CC full-time. She knew she was a high-energy person and thrived on working several cases at once. But setting up the Coeur d’Alene office, along with digging into the decades-old cold case, had left her pretty well spent. She couldn’t help it; once she was down the gopher trail of research—of a cold case or cyberattack—only a direct order from her superior to cease could pull her out.

Toni’s encouragement to “remember, your first priority is to get the Idaho office going and to bring in new customers in the area” had shown her there was a hell of a lot more criminal activity in western Washington and Idaho than she’d ever expected, much of it going back to the last century.

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Wil’s mind began to race with all the possibilities for the cold case that involved the disappearance of three young girls in the early 1990s. While she knew the chances were slim that the kidnapped girls would still be alive, at the very least she wanted answers for the families who suffered from the loss to this day.

The girls’ last location had been in western Washington, falling under the Coeur d’Alene office’s territory. Since then, Wil had done some digging of her own to familiarize herself with the historical facts. Coincidentally, the girls had disappeared within a few miles of the logging company’s headquarters, where Wil was headed. No matter, as right now it had to take a back seat to keeping a corporate employee safe.

“You’re my lifeline, Wil.”

Recalling Toni’s words, she refocused on the pertinent details of this spur-of-the-moment job.

Apparently a logging—or was it manufacturing, maybe both?—company outside Spokane had been the target of some recent threats, all of which the business’s private security had so far handled. Except over the last several days, there had been not one but three death threats aimed at the most significant members of the staff. Wil couldn’t help suppressing a grin as she remembered Toni telling her that her particular person to protect was the company’s accountant. Not the sexiest position, in her opinion.

A number cruncher.

In the Marine Corps and Navy—its sister service—finances fell under the Navy’s supply branch, unceasingly teased for its cushy living conditions compared to Marines assigned to operational units. Yes, every Marine was a combat soldier, but there was perceived status among various military operational specialties.

She shook her head, thinking of the raucous laughter retelling this assignment to her former colleagues would elicit. How, after years of stalking and breaking the backs of the most challenging and subversive foreign military hackers, Wil was now getting paid almost three times as much…to protect a numbers geek.

The circuitous route to the company’s headquarters turned steep, and she engaged the SUV’s four-wheel drive. GPS showed another half mile to her destination. There was nothing out here except rough road and trees. Lots and lots of trees.

Yeah, the next few days were going to be very, very quiet in comparison to her usual pace.

End of Excerpt