The Chilling Deception Read Free Page B

hiring himself out to ride shotgun for executives who saw industrial spies behind every watercooler. He had deliberately structured Free Enterprise Security, Inc. to be a cut above that sort of mundane operation. His firm was a consulting business. He gave expensive advice, conducted highly discreet investigations, and generally aimed for a sophisticated security image. True, he was still Free Enterprise’s only employee, but someday things would change. In the meantime he didn’t want to jeopardize the image.
    Zac was absently swirling the last of the coffee in his cup and wondering how to go about making amends for insulting her when it struck him that there was one irrefutable advantage to accepting Guinevere’s job suggestion. It would enable him to spend a three-day weekend with Gwen at a classy resort.
    Three days on an island with Gwen.
    Stunned by the implications and wondering foolishly why he hadn’t spotted them right from the start, Zac hurriedly fished out his worn leather wallet and matched the amount Gwen had left on the table.
    Three days at a fancy resort with Guinevere Jones at the client’s expense. It boggled the mind. What was the matter with him? He’d been so damn busy warning Guinevere not to go flitting off with another man that he hadn’t even realized she was offering him a chance to be the one she spent the weekend with.
    There was the unfortunate matter of having to safeguard a development proposal, but in his new excited mood Zac could anticipate no real problem with that element of the situation. The briefcase would be an annoyance, but he could deal with that. He headed back toward his office wondering if Gwen would let him handle the room reservations.
    As soon as he reached the tiny cubicle he rented in the downtown high rise Zac threw himself into the new chair he’d bought with the fee from the StarrTech case, reaching for the phone. Guinevere answered on the second ring. Zac half smiled as he heard what he called her office voice – husky, polite, and just distant enough to let the caller know that the lady was professional in every sense of the word.
    "Gwen? Zac. Listen, I’ve been giving your job offer some more thought."
    The polite quality left her voice, but nothing could banish the pleasant huskiness. "Don’t strain yourself."
    "I’m serious. I’ve decided you’re absolutely right. I can hardly afford to turn down the work. Tell Vandyke that I’ll be glad to baby-sit his proposal."
    "You will?" She sounded startled.
    "Sure. On one condition."
    "What condition?" she asked, instantly suspicious.
    "No gold handcuffs for the briefcase."
    "You want silver or stainless steel?" A thread of humor finally melted the ice in her voice.
    "I’ll just clutch it with my bare hands. Oh, and Gwen?"
    "Yes, Zac?"
    He coughed a little, clearing his throat. "Have you made the reservations?" Visions of sharing a room for three days with Guinevere sizzled through his head. He felt his body tighten in instinctive response.
    "No, not yet."
    "I could handle ours," he offered as nonchalantly as possible.
    "You don’t have to worry about that, Zac," she assured him breezily. "Vandyke’s travel department will handle everything."
    "Oh."
    Zac hung up the phone, determined not to let the small setback bother him. He would see this as an opportunity to be creative in the field.
    Sitting in Vandyke’s office, Guinevere stifled the unexpected burst of excitement that threatened to bubble up inside her. This would be a working weekend, naturally, but still…
    She gathered her wayward thoughts and got to work on the problem of how to convince Edward Vandyke that Free Enterprise Security was just what he needed.

Chapter Two
     
     
    Late Friday afternoon Guinevere stood at the window of the Camelot Services offices and moodily contemplated the rain that had evolved from an earlier mist. Rain had not been expected to continue into the afternoon, according to the news report. The forecast had been for