Page 14 of Embattled Return

“Hey,” he protested. “You’re supposed to be building me up, not agreeing.”

“Sorry, baby,” she laughed.

John grinned and pulled her across his lap, fitting her ass into his groin. “I know this isn’t the time or the place, but we really need to make time for us tonight.”

“I completely agree,” she sighed. “It was only a week but it felt so much longer. I can’t wait to see my boys.”

“They’ll be all over you.”

She rested her head on his shoulder. “Let’s get this meeting out of the way and see if we can slip out early. Marigold did an excellent job keeping up. I don’t have nearly the work I expected to.”

And that was an understatement. The woman was a dream. She was very mature for her age but there was an inherent sadness to her personality. Several times over the past month Shannon had seen her watching the men a little oddly. When she’d asked her about it, Marigold had explained about her father. He would have been a little younger than Duncan. She watched the men because she could almost imagine one of them could be her father. Shannon had teared up, then, and wrapped the girl in her arms.

“I’m so sorry you lost your dad,” she whispered.

Marigold had taken the hug, then pushed away, seeming a little embarrassed. Shannon wasn’t quite old enough to be her mother but in that moment she’d felt like the younger woman had needed a hug from a parent. Shannon had been on the verge of asking about her mother when Marigold had sent the conversation into another direction.

Shannon had a feeling that she would be around for a long time, though, so they would have another chance to talk.

When they rolled into the conference room, it was almost packed. Duncan was seated in the middle of the far long side, with Parker Quinn to his right. There were stacks of paperwork in front of him. Lost and Found’s attorney, Calanthe Kemp, sat on Duncan’s other side, looking beautifully reserved throughout the chaos, pointing out things with her Mont Blanc pen. Shannon liked Calanthe a lot, but she seemed a little lost when it came to interpersonal communications. The rest of the LNF crew sat along the length of the table, ready to plan the expansion. The guy that Parker had brought with him sat on the other side of him, rocked back in the chair, face under shadow. If she was asked what the guy looked like, she was sure she wouldn’t be able to give an answer. His name was Brady? Brody? She would need to pin that down before he left.

Duncan already had a lot of the cogs in place for the business set up. Shannon knew he’d been planning this expansion almost as soon as he’d spoken to Parker last year, he’d had that much faith in him. There was plenty of work in Columbus. Statistically they were the larger city. Yes, the area had other investigative companies, but with Parker’s connections to the prosecutor’s office, he had a bit of an in with a lot of work. And as of right now, he was swamped. Even this meeting today was a quick trip. They would have dinner with the group tonight, then take the red eye home.

Shannon had worked on the details of the contract with Duncan and Calanthe, and Parker had been sent an early copy. It was potentially profitable for both sides, and she didn’t think there would be any sticking points. Parker was being given a very large amount of company money to procure office space, a couple of vehicles and hire several investigators. Parker and Andromeda already had a lead on the office space, as well as two investigators they wanted to hire. They also had an office manager in mind.

Then he got to the section about buying LNF out. His silver eyes narrowed and he looked at Duncan. “Are you serious about this?”

The older man snorted. “Well, since it’s in the contract...”

Parker’s mouth worked, like he was trying to control his emotions. “Thank you, First Sergeant.”

LNF Columbus would hire veterans, just like the Denver office, and Duncan would like some input into the people hired. If any of the guards at the Denver or Vail office wanted to transfer they would be given the option, on a short-term basis. If they wanted to stay long-term it would be up to both branches to agree.

Shannon knew that everything in the contract had been worked out ahead of time and the meeting itself was just a formality, but it was important to observe the protocols. Parker would need a lot of support when he did eventually start the company, which should be within the next few weeks. Parker already had a couple of clients lined up for when they did get to open their doors.

“I took the incentive and had some stationery printed up for you,” John said suddenly, his dark eyes twinkling.

Oh, John...

Chad moved to the corner of the room and collected a white, cardboard box. He set the box in front of Palmer, then returned to his chair.

“We were thinking up names for the Columbus division of LNF. You know, a way we can differentiate between the groups. Officially you’ll be called Lost and Found- Columbus, which is just incredibly ingenious,” he rolled his dark eyes, “but un-officially, we thought we needed something a little more... interesting.”

Duncan rocked back in his chair, smiling. Shannon knew the guys wouldn’t have done anything without his knowing about it.

“We went through a bunch of options,” John continued. “There was Arch City Investigations. Union Blue Security. Did you know Columbus was known for blue jackets because they manufactured so many Union jackets during the war?”

John looked at him expectantly, and Parker shook his head, a bemused smile tilting his mouth. “I had no idea.”

“But that wasn’t quite right either,” John told him, removing a stack of something white from the box. He held it in front of him as he posed thoughtfully. “We thought about calling you Chapter Three, or Cbus Brigade. But that just didn’t sound right. Then someone came up with the Olentangy Pansies.”

Zeke raised his hand, grinning crookedly. “T-that was mine.”

John gave him a golf clap. “Excellent suggestion, Zeke. But Dunc said it has to be PG, so we settled on this.”

He slid the bundle down the table to Parker. The other man looked at the stack of notepads in front of him, brows quirked over his dark grey eyes. “Seriously? The Buckeye Brigade?”

Snorts and laughter rippled up and down the table. Shannon grinned, straightening the papers in front of her. She might have had a small hand in ordering the stationery.

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