Page 1 of The Stalker

1

The Contract

Tatiana Swanson notedthe location of the Powell Management offices as she drove past them in her rental car. She chose a parking space half a block away, so she could assess the area as she walked back.

The office was in a street of downtown Chicago, amongst other office buildings. It was a little after twelve in the afternoon, and people were walking around in business suits, talking and laughing. Tatiana saw nothing of interest or concern, which was good.

She opened the door to Powell Management and walked inside. A young woman sitting behind the reception desk looked up as Tatiana entered, smiling at her. Instinctively, Tatiana’s eyes swept the room as she walked toward the desk.

Again, nothing of interest or concern, just her and the receptionist.

“Hi, my name is Tatiana Swanson. I’m here for a meeting with Cooper Powell and Hayden Vega at half past twelve.”

“Excellent, take a seat and I’ll let Cooper know that you’re here.”

The woman picked up the phone and pressed a button.

“Hi, Cooper, Tatiana Swanson is here to see you.” There was silence for a moment, and then she said, “No, not yet.”

Another pause.

“Okay, will do.”

She hung up the phone and smiled at Tatiana.

“Cooper will be out in a few minutes.”

Tatiana nodded her acknowledgment, then sat down. She was five minutes early for their meeting anyway, so she’d expected to have to wait. Both she and the receptionist looked up as the door opened and a man in a black suit walked into the room.

Tatiana could recognize a personal bodyguard at a glance, but she also had a picture of Jesse Howell in the dossier that she had put together on this contract. Jesse did the same thing that she normally did, his gaze immediately sweeping the room as he entered, and he caught her eye. Obviously, she must have arrived before her prospective client.

It wasn’t Hayden that walked through the door next, though; it was a tall man with black hair, bright blue eyes, and chiseled good looks. He had an air about him as though he owned the world, and Tatiana was surprised to see Sebastian Fox here today. He was the lead guitarist for Cruise Control and Hayden Vega’s bandmate.

He was followed into the room by Gabriel Knight, Cruise Control’s lead singer. Tall, blonde, and equally as handsome as the man he was following, but without the arrogant air about him. Next came Hayden Vega, the drummer and the man she’d assumed she would be meeting alone with his manager.

Like the others, Hayden was a very handsome man. He had strong, masculine features and well-defined muscles, but unlike them, he had brown hair and eyes. His hair was messy and he had a friendly smile on his face. Tatiana’s curiosity was piqued by his appearance, and she watched him continue into the room, interested to see him in person for the first time.

Next through the door came Harrison Fletcher, the bass guitarist. He was taller than the others and had brown hair and eyes, like Hayden. Tatiana thought that the pictures she had seen online of these men didn’t do them justice at all. Each was incredibly handsome in his own way, and it was like looking at four male models.

They moved further into the room, and another three bodyguards followed them inside as Hayden walked over to the reception desk and smiled at the receptionist. “Hey, Stephanie, we’re here to see Cooper.”

“No worries, I’ll let him know.” After another phone call, she informed them, “He’ll be right out.”

“Thanks, Stephanie,” Hayden said to her.

The group of men didn’t move to sit down, and while the bodyguards had noticed Tatiana at once, it was a minute before Harrison saw her and mumbled something to the others that made them all look over at her.

She purposely didn’t catch any of their gazes. Tatiana had long ago perfected the art of watching people without being seen doing it, and she did that now. Keeping her face completely blank, she observed them as they talked in an undertone to one another while occasionally looking over at her as they did.

Tatiana knew what they were seeing and had some idea of what they would be saying about her. She was five-foot-five, with ice-blue eyes and long, blonde hair that she regularly braided, but was currently out and hanging to her waist in loose waves. By virtue of her line of work, she put in hours at the gym, keeping her body toned and ensuring that she knew she had the strength to perform any of the tasks she might need to perform in her line of work.

Tatiana might have been lying on a beach in a bikini in Australia two days ago, but today she was wearing jeans, ballet flats, and a tight t-shirt. All in all, she looked like a woman ready to go for a coffee with her friends and nothing like the bodyguards standing nearby, in their black suits with big, obviously beefy bodies. Right now, she expected that Cruise Control were trying to figure out how she could possibly be the security specialist Hayden was considering hiring.

“Welcome, everyone. If you could all follow me, we’ll get started,” a voice called from a hallway to her left, and Tatiana looked up.

Cooper Powell was in his fifties, wearing an expensive suit, and he looked about as friendly as Tatiana had thought that he was when she’d spoken to him on the phone, which was not very friendly at all.

Tatiana waited until the men had begun to walk down the hallway before standing and following because it was her natural instinct to keep a client in her line of sight as much as she possibly could.

---