Texas Lightning. Gerry Bartlett
out for a woman you just met.” Conchita glanced down the hall. “Not that she doesn’t seem nice.” She smiled. “And very pretty.”
“I’ve got a lot invested in Zenon. Ron Zenonsky should have done a better job protecting that investment.” He frowned because he sounded like an asshole.
“Is that what Anna is, an investment?” Conchita stared at him like she didn’t know him.
“She’s the brains behind one.” King gave that lake view one more look. Yes, he lived well and made a lot of money, but he’d never been obsessed with the bottom line and wasn’t now. “Okay, it pisses me off that he didn’t protect Anna like he should have. It was careless. He knew damned good and well that what she was working on was important. Not only is she valuable to the future of the company, but what she’s creating can save lives. Now we know other people want her program bad enough to steal it. What if she’d been home when those thieves came after her computer?” He shook his head, trying to imagine Anna and her little .38 against professionals who could have been ruthless to get what they wanted.
“They could have hurt her. I’m glad you brought her here, King.” Conchita sighed. “So many bad people in the world. It’s a shame.”
“Yes, it is.” He opened the door to the attached garage and realized it had cooled off since they’d come in. “I’m thinking Ron must have a leak at Zenon. As soon as I get this computer stuff inside, I’m calling him back.”
“Oh, you won’t have to do that. He’s outside, talking to Doug. He brought the computer system himself. A security crew as well.” Conchita smiled. “I think he’s finally taking Anna’s safety seriously now. I will see about dinner. I have plenty if you want him to stay.” She headed for the kitchen.
King grabbed the keys to a four-wheeler from by the door and punched the automatic garage door opener. So Ron had come to see Anna. About damned time. He backed out and headed down the driveway. Doug and Ron were standing next to a pile of boxes right inside the gate. He didn’t think Doug’s own four-wheeler would hold it all. It looked like Ron had brought an entire freaking computer lab.
There was a parked car outside the gate with two men keeping watch. The security team. They should have been out, patrolling the fence line. Maybe they were waiting for instructions. Ron’s Tesla, black, with all the bells and whistles, was parked behind them. His old friend wouldn’t drive his car down King’s gravel drive, afraid rocks would damage his precious undercarriage. King pulled to a stop next to the boxes and climbed out.
“We were about to call you to come help. Let’s load up.” Ron reached out to shake his hand. “Where’s Anna?”
“Taking a well-deserved nap. I think she’s in shock.” King picked up a box. “I should make you walk to the house. What were you thinking, leaving Anna unprotected until something like this happened?”
“Surely you don’t think I could have predicted a move on her place.” Ron hefted a box. Doug was right behind him with the biggest box. “We’ve intercepted some attempts to hack our servers but they were easily blocked. There was no reason to think any major players were going to do something like they did today.”
“But someone had made a move.” King settled behind the wheel and Ron got in the passenger seat. “Where are you going?”
“To see Anna, of course. To make sure she’s all right, personally, and to put this computer system together for her. She’s a valuable employee. I thought I made that clear.” Ron sighed. “You were right to ream me out. I should have provided security for her sooner. Trouble is, Anna is quiet, works hard, and I just assumed she’d be okay. I had other things on my mind.”
“Like digging yourself out of a bad marriage. I get it, pal. But that’s no excuse. You have a lot of investors, me included, who are counting on you to take care of business. And a woman who could have been hurt because you took your eye off the ball at Zenon.” King was glad he’d never been trapped by a manipulative woman like Ron’s ex. It could have dire consequences.
“At least I got a beautiful daughter out of that fiasco.” Ron turned when Doug made a noise. “I’m sure you’ve heard the story, Doug. Everyone has. Lesson learned, my man, a very expensive lesson learned. I’ve sworn off marriage. Never again.”
Doug was a man of few words, his wife doing most of the talking. He just rolled his eyes as he loaded the last of the boxes into the back of his vehicle.
“Wait. Are you paying those men in that car to sit and drink coffee?” King gestured at the black car and the two men inside. “They should be doing something.”
“What?” Ron frowned. “I told them to watch the gate.”
“They should take turns walking the fence line.” King turned to Doug, a former Marine. “What do you think, Doug?”
“I’ll talk to them, tell them Mr. Z wants them patrolling. That okay with you, Mr. Zenonsky?” Doug waited by the gate.
“Sure. Whatever you think will keep Anna safe.” Ron watched as Doug punched in the code to open the gate then approached the car. “Man, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you bringing Anna here, King. I sure couldn’t take her to my house. I get Lea every Wednesday and alternate weekends. If the creeps try to come after Anna again, how could I risk my baby girl?” Ron held on to the roll bar when King started the vehicle and Doug shut the gate again. “You’ve got the right setup here. Isolation, security fence. I can’t match that.”
“You should have done something about Anna’s security sooner.” King stopped the vehicle in front of the garage. “Seriously, Ron, looks to me like she’s the key to the success of this billion-dollar program and you did nothing to protect her.”
“You’re right.” Ron stared at the closed garage door. “If she’d been hurt, or taken… Shit, man, I’m not used to thinking like that. You’ve known me a long time. I’ve built this company on my brains. Those two goons by the gate? I hired them from the same company that wired my headquarters for security. Found it on the internet when I started Zenon years ago. I have no idea if they’re any good or not because no one’s ever come after us before. I sure as hell don’t own a gun, and don’t want to. Certainly won’t have one around my daughter.”
“Then it’s a good thing you didn’t invite Anna to come work at your place. She packs a .38 Special.” King would have laughed at the look on Ron’s face if this wasn’t so damned serious.
“You’re shitting me.”
“Nope. She was going to shoot me before I called you to verify that I was one of the good guys. The woman is not to be trifled with. Keep that in mind, boss man.” King climbed out of the four-wheeler. “Let’s unload.”
“She obviously has more to her than I realized. A dangerous woman. Am I crazy to think that’s hot?” Ron grabbed a box and followed King inside. “Obviously my brain doesn’t work where women are concerned.”
Doug laughed as he carried his own load inside. “I can tell you, strong women can be a handful.” He shut up when Conchita came out of the kitchen and directed them to the library.
“What is so funny, mi amor? I am worried about Anna. We must keep her safe.” She took King’s laptop when he handed it to her. “Look at all of this new equipment. Don’t scratch King’s desk. Wait! I will put a tablecloth over it. That is zebra wood. Very expensive.” She hurried out of the library.
Doug pulled out a knife and began cutting open boxes. “She means it. Don’t scratch the wood. She takes pride in everything in this house being perfect.”
“Was that sarcasm, Douglas?” Conchita was back and covered the desk with a snowy tablecloth. “There. That’s better. Anna won’t have to worry about what she does here.” She walked over to her husband and patted his back. “Of course I take pride in my work. And I expect every bit of that packing material to be taken out to the garage to the recycle bins when you