Second Chances (Athena Group Novel Book 1) (6 page)

She had been back in the US for several days and it was time to go back to work.  Liz told her they had a case to work on, but it could wait until she got into the office on Monday.  She was ready to get back to work.  She had fun in Mexico, but now it was time to push all of that aside. The spontaneous Shelby was now gone.

She walked into the conference room for their Monday morning meeting. Liz was already there as usual.

“Hey Shelby, you look really good.  It looks like Mexico agreed with you.” She grinned.

Tabby and Jo walked in and as per her usual display; Tabby squealed and ran up to her to grab her in a big hug. “We are so glad you are back. You have to tell us, what happened. Did you meet anyone and was he HOT!” How could Shelby resist that? Jo was just shaking her head behind her.

“Hey Shelby, welcome home you look good with a suntan.” Jo smirked at her.

“Thank you, it’s good to be home. It was fun and very relaxing, but I missed all of this too.” Tabby was still looking at her.

“Ok, Tabby Yes! Yes!” she said exasperated.

“Sweet!” She screeched dancing around in a circle. Tabby could be so annoying at times, but they all loved her.

Liz laughed. “Ok, spill it.”

“We did the tourist thing and all that fun stuff.  But there was someone next door.  You said no one was ever there.” She looked at Liz suspiciously. “Anyway, when I first saw him the klutz in me came out and he offered to help.” She looked pointedly at Tabby as she said it.

“Oh, I knew it. I knew you could do it!” Tabby was clapping. “So? Where is he? What does he do? When do you see him again?”

“Tabby” Liz warned. She could see the distress on Shelby’s face as Tabby pushed.

“I don’t know, I don’t know, and I won’t answer any more of your questions Tabby.”

“Are you kidding? Shelby you don’t do one night stands of any kind.” Jo said before Tabby had a chance to.

“Well it would appear she did. What happened?” Liz tapped her fingers on the desk.

“I left him in bed, sound asleep, skipped out and flew back to the states.” She shrugged.

Liz raised an eyebrow at her. “I don’t believe it. You are not a spontaneous woman.”

“This time I did something different and was selfish and just did something without thinking about it first, no big deal.” Who was she kidding, it was a big deal? She had slept with Amanda’s father. Liz didn’t even know the whole story.

“So, how was it?” Tabby chimed in.

“None of your business, that’s how it was.” She laughed.

“I’m glad that you took my advice and went on the vacation.  I’m sure that Amanda was happy as well.” Liz said.

“Yes, she was. OK – back to business. What is this case?” She was tired of talking about her love life or one night stand as some would call it.

“We have a meeting this afternoon with the bureau. They want our help with a case of theirs. John wouldn’t tell me what it was or why they needed us. He’s still mad that I wouldn’t tell him we’d help until you were back.”

“You’d think that he would understand that by now.” She sighed.

“They will be here at 2:00 and we’ll meet downstairs in the main conference room. The feeling I get is this isn't going to be good. I have a feeling it involves Roger Hawk.  How are you coming on the Alcon Virus?” Liz asked her.

“It’s almost complete and will be ready to launch whenever you are ready.”

“Good let’s all meet downstairs at 1:30 in the lobby.” Liz dismissed them as she got up to go back to her office.

Shelby walked into her office and sat at her desk. She had the state of the art computer network. She looked at the wall of monitors, and she still smiled every time she saw her masterpiece. Liz gave her cart blanch to design her system. She pulled up her main monitor and watched as the algorithm continued to run. The virus was almost ready, and with a few more tweaks it would be ready for distribution. The virus was designed to infect the mainframe and slowly spread throughout the system. It would take at least two years before there was any evidence that something was wrong. It would piggyback off of other programs and replicate throughout the system. She had been working on a Trojan virus to infect Roger’s network. Roger Hawk was their biggest client. What Roger didn’t know is that there was a reason that TAG took him on as a client. He was big into corporate espionage and had his hands in several illegal activities, ranging from money laundering to arms dealings. She smiled just knowing that something she created would be able to destroy something that Roger Hawk had worked hard to achieve.

She looked at the clock and saw it was time for their meeting. Wrapping her corset around her ribs, she put her jacket on and made sure her weapon was secure. Even though it had been a week, she never lost the feel of the weapon against her body. They were what kept her company in the US, not a man’s hands like the ones in Mexico. She shook her head and walked out to the foyer and got on the elevator.

She arrived in the lobby and saw Tabby, Alex and Jo all waiting. They went into a side room and waited for Liz. TAG’s headquarters had seven floors and a small lobby that was guarded at all times. No one was allowed up onto the upper floors without prior authorization from one of them. The lobby was designed with black marbled floors and a black security desk. There was a state of the art camera at all angles. Each camera was angled so that all aspects of the lobby were visible by security. Each entrance and exit were monitored as well as all bay doors down below. The security guards were former military and required to go through the same training as the group. Liz required everyone to be up to date on the latest techniques and training that was available. The second and the third floor were the TAG offices. The fourth and fifth floor housed apartments that were available to all TAG members. The sixth and seventh floors were Liz’s personal residence.

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Max walked up to the TAG building and noticed it was architecturally appealing. TAG was located in Harbor Pointe, Texas. A rural community outside of Downtown Dallas situated on a hilltop. The building was a modern design that appeared to have seven stories. The bottom floor was surrounded in glass with white columns at each corner. The top floors had double columns that led out into an opening. The other floors all looked like normal office floors. He walked into the lobby of the building and noticed it had state of the art surveillance. It was decorated in modern style with black marble and the security desk in the center wrapped in a round black marble counter. There was a wall fountain directly behind the desk. Two men were behind the desk checking people in as they entered the building. He could tell by their mannerisms they had to be former military. He noticed a small waiting area to the right of the security area that had two red chairs and a red couch. A small glass table with a vase with purple and white orchids in the center was situated between the chairs and couch. John Callahan was standing next to the security desk waiting for him.

“John, I’m impressed.”

“They have the most secure building in this city. It’s impressive, especially if you see their security room. Which hopefully we can get them to agree to take this assignment and if they do you will see Shelby’s computer system.” He told Max.

“John, does she know that I am a part of this and that I found out who she was in Mexico?”

“No Max I didn’t mention it to Liz. If I had, we wouldn’t be having this meeting.” He glanced over as Liz walked off the elevator.

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She heard the voices and realized that their guests had arrived. She walked out just as Liz was getting off the elevator. Liz greeted John and two other men. Instantly she recognized Max Taylor. Her body turned to molten lava the minute she laid eyes on him. She would never forget the way his hands felt on her and how he had rekindled the old spark he had ignited so long ago. She took a deep breath as she closed her eyes to maintain her composure. She turned back around and motioned for Tabby, Jo and Alex to follow her to the conference room. They entered the room and waited for their guests. The conference room was white with a glass table embedded with monitors that allowed them to pull up any resources they may need during a meeting. She was standing behind the table facing the door. Her back was to the window, which overlooked the street. The glass in the building was made of privacy panes and was bullet proof, so there was no danger by having her back to it. They made it a point to always have their back to the wall, never with anyone behind them if at all possible.

Liz walked in, followed by John and two men in business suits. She had a moment of clarity as the second man walked in and stood across the table from her. She understood at that moment he knew who she was in Mexico. He looked at her and gave that little quirky smile of his. She knew that smile! As she lived and breathed Max Taylor was standing right in front of her. What in the hell was he doing there? She never lost her composure, but damn if he wasn’t the one person that could make that happen.

Liz stood to her right and John Callahan was standing opposite of her at the table. He never took his eyes off of Liz, but with a hand, introduced Special Agent Maxwell Taylor and Special Agent Ross McCade.

Liz turned, held out her hand, “I am Liz Colbert and this is Shelby Matthews, Tabitha Stewart, Alexandra Collins and Jody Prescott.” They each nodded in acknowledgement. Shelby kept her cool, she had too, but she never took her eyes off of Max.

Liz noticed the looks exchanged between Shelby and Max.  She gave no indication, but she just watched them. “John, you said this was important. So what is it that the bureau needs that they had to come to us?” No one missed the sarcasm in her voice.

He cleared his throat, “Liz, we have been working on a case around Roger Hawk for several years.  You know this, but at every turn he seems to slip through our fingers. He seems to be one step ahead of us at all times.” He was clearly frustrated.

“And that’s my problem, why? You have to be precise with what you want us to do, John.” Liz was getting snarky. She was really good at it too. You could see the exasperation in John’s face.  Of course with these two it was almost like foreplay.

“Liz, I know he is a client of yours.” He quipped.  If she was surprised she didn’t show it.  Liz had never let anything ruffle her feathers.

“John, you know that I don’t divulge my client list to anyone. So I highly doubt that you know anything.  But if he were, how would we be able to help you?” she asked.

“We had an undercover agent investigating activity involving human trafficking operations go missing. She turned up dead a few days later. Her death wasn't an easy one. Another agent was working with Le and she has not contacted us since Le’s death. We would like your help finding her.” John said pointedly at Liz.

Shelby looked at Max and he never took his eyes off of her. She couldn’t get over that he was here right in front of her.  Did he know who she was all along? She began to glare at him and couldn’t help but get the sinking feeling that he had known before she left who she was and that this meeting was inevitable. He just raised his eyebrows as if to say “What?’ as if he was innocent, but she couldn’t help it he was so damn handsome. She took a moment to look at him. He was dressed in the standard business suit, black with a white shirt and black tie. He was clean shaven and too damn sexy. She could see the distinct bulge under his jacket that told her he was carrying his weapon. He was watching her as her gaze remembered what he looked like under those clothes.  What he had felt like while he was buried deep inside her. She was getting hot. She heard Liz ask her a question.

“I’m sorry, Liz, what?”’ She pulled her eyes away from Max, but not before she saw the satisfactory grin come across his face. Oh he would pay for that.

“Shelby, you can help Max with some computer surveillance without being detected.” Liz instructed.

Shelby flinched, well crapola she lost track of the conversation, ogling mister hot buns over there and didn’t have a clue what they were talking about.  She never lost her concentration.  This was not good, not good at all. “Liz, I don’t know that that is such a good idea.  We don’t want them in our computer room and giving them access to our data.  We’ve never done it before.” Why was she so argumentative? Oh she knew why, it meant spending countless hours in Max’s presence. She had been able to avoid the connection between Amanda and Max. But with him right here it was going to be a struggle. She had noticed the recognition between them for the brief moment they had met.

Aware that Liz was waiting for a response, “Liz, of course I'll help and provide any resources they need.”  If Liz asked her to do something she never questioned it. Liz raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. She swallowed and saw that Max was grinning. She mumbled, “Jerk” under her breath.

Liz stood up “Gentleman, if there is nothing else you need Shelby will get Max settled in.” John shook his head. He wanted to say something more but Liz dismissed him and walked out the door leaving everyone to follow.

Chapter Nine

She walked out of the conference room and right into a wall.  She ran into the back of Max Taylor.  He turned around “Hello Shelby.” Why did she have to be so clumsy around him?

“Hello Max.” Her chin raised in defiance.