Immortal Games

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The ceiling-high, double-steel door automatically slid open when Ciaran approached, revealing a vast lush office with glass windows opening to the endless horizon of the city. Before the door closed, Lindsay called from behind, “Ciaran!” and trailed into the office with a stack of paper in his hands.

Ciaran turned around. “Yes, Lindsay, did I forget to sign something?”

Lindsay Freeman was in his late thirties and had been Ciaran’s right-hand man as long as Ciaran had been in business. As they were of similar age, Ciaran could talk to Lindsay almost about anything. They were good friends, and Ciaran trusted Lindsay to be the face of the business when it came to dealing with outsiders.

“You’ll want to take a look at this,” Lindsay said and put a computer disc on the desk.

Ciaran glanced at the disc. “Gate security? Shouldn’t Robert be handling this?” He slid the disc into the computer.

“I just checked things over, and this caught my eye.”

Ciaran shook his head. “You can’t keep an eye on everything. Robert’s a very capable man.”

“No doubt about that. But I’ll sleep better checking everything this week because you’re here.”

“I don’t want to be the cause of your sleep deprivation. By the way, how are Liz and Anna?”

“Enjoying their vacation at a warm beach in Bali now.” Lindsay grinned. “Anna finished her exams with good grades and wanted a vacation before entering high school.”

Ciaran stopped looking at the computer monitor. “You’re saying you let your wife and daughter go on a vacation by themselves because I’m here this week?”

Lindsay laughed. “Come on. I know your schedule, and work is important, Ciaran. They decided on the vacation on a whim. It’s hardly my fault.”

Ciaran shook his head. “When they kick you out of the house, you aren’t going sleep on my couch.”

The secretary knocked on the door and walked in with a tray. She put the coffee on the desk. “Double shot, no cream for you, Ciaran. Double cream for you, Lindsay.” She put a plate of four small cookies on the desk. “Mom made these and insisted I take them to work for you, Ciaran. She does this every week. She thinks you’re in the office nine to five, five days a week.” She smiled. “I ate your cookies every other week. But today, they’re all yours.”

Ciaran grinned. “Butterscotch. My favorite. Thank you, Lily.” He reached out for a cookie and his gaze lighted on Lily’s hand. Ciaran dropped the cookies back to the plate. He stood up, walked around his desk, and kissed Lily on the cheek. “Congratulations, Sam is a very lucky guy.”

Lily smiled and twirled her engagement ring around her finger. “Thank you. It was last week. We’re very happy . . . Well, I’d better let you go back to work.” She nodded a goodbye and exited the room. Ciaran grabbed the desk phone and ordered flowers to be sent to Lily’s address. Then he looked up and saw Lindsay shaking his head.

“You haven’t seen me doing this before?” Ciaran arched an eyebrow.

“I only say this as a friend. It’s been such a long time since . . .”

“Don’t start,” Ciaran cut in with a voice so low that it almost sounded like a growl. Then he pointed at the computer monitor. “What did you want me to look at here?” As soon as Ciaran finished his question, he saw the answer. On the screen was Madeline in front of the LeBlanc Pharmaceuticals, walking right in front of a double-decker.

“You see that?” Lindsay asked.

Ciaran nodded. “Yes, I know her. That’s Madeline Roux. She’s a journalist from New York.”

“I’m not talking about her. I’m talking about the guy.”

Ciaran frowned, looking at the man dragging Madeline out of the way of the bus. “He’s no random pedestrian. From this angle, he must have been stalking right at our door steps. We got the scanner data on that, right?”

“Yep, that’s where the ass-kicker stuff is,” Lindsay muttered.

Ciaran pulled out the keyboard and typed in the command and codes to pull up the scanner data. On the screen was the x-ray scanned data of a five hundred meter perimeter outside the gate. Ciaran was about to ask something, but Lindsay said in anticipation, “Robert kept a very tight lid on the scanner. We know it’s not strictly legal. You don’t have to be the only one to keep an eye on everything!” Lindsay smiled to himself as he had evened the scores with Ciaran.

Ciaran’s smile faded as he stared at the monitor.