Page 3 of Being Bold (Tactical Operations & Protection (TOP) Security #1)

Ten Hours Earlier

Selene

Okay, so she hadn’t made the move heedlessly.

Selene liked to make lists, specifically pros and cons.

She’d done her research, made her list, and the move had made sense on paper—the pros outweighing the cons.

Of course, it was one thing to write “driving in snow” on a con list and a completely different thing to experience it firsthand.

“Eeeeeek!” she squeaked when her tires lost traction in the packed precipitation, pulling her car to the left. She gripped the wheel at two and ten as if her life depended on it. “Please don’t let me hit anything,” she prayed as she finally found the grooves in the snow made by other cars.

She inched forward at five miles per hour until she located an empty spot in the parking lot where she could pull in without the risk of hitting another vehicle. When she put the car in park, she let out a sigh of relief. At least she didn’t have to do that again for another eight to nine hours.

She would’ve rolled her eyes, but seeing a salt truck with a plow improved her mood considerably.

“Please let that last until I get off work.” She hoped the road back to her apartment in Big Sky would be plowed, too, or she’d have to put on her big-girl panties and figure out how to put chains on her tires.

Sighing, she adjusted the radio station. The words “heavy” and “snow” piqued Selene’s ears. Her stomach cramped as she turned the volume up.

“. . . snow coming down. We can expect eight to sixteen inches of snowfall, with more accumulating in the higher elevations. Watch for periods of blowing and drifting snow starting around six o’clock this evening and continuing into the overnight hours with lows dropping below zero.

I’m Cindy Weiks from the Eagle Weather Command, Montana’s weather leader. ”

Selene let out a groan. “Great, Cindy. Just what we need— more snow.”

Not thrilled with the meteorologist’s prediction, she turned the radio volume back down.

If this job didn’t pay what it did, she’d be on the first plane back to Southern California.

She’d taken the position of translator for the technology company because she wanted a change.

Her job in Santa Barbara had grown stale.

She loved being near her parents, but the routine of an office job had started to wear on her. It was a new concept for her.

The first part of her twenties, she’d lived in different parts of the world, moving every six months to a year.

Her life had been one grand adventure after the next, using her language skills to soak up different cultures in countries across the globe.

But then she’d turned twenty-five, and her dad got cancer.

She’d spent the last two years in the city where she’d grown up, taking care of her family.

Now that her dad was in remission and doing better, he’d urged her to follow her dreams.

Only, she wasn’t sure what those were, except to travel.

Something this job had promised but not yet delivered.

Thinking about it, she drummed her fingers on the steering wheel.

At least her dad understood her wanderlust. He’d joined the Navy and spent his twenties traveling as much as possible. It was how he’d met her mom.

A smile softened Selene’s face as she thought of her parents.

Still in love after nearly thirty years.

Her dad had been stationed in Souda Bay when he met her mother.

Selene was born two years later in Crete.

Her first language was Greek, then English, German, and French.

She had a natural knack for languages and had mastered all those by age seven.

Even though they’d moved to Southern California after that, she’d continued studying and adding new ones to her repertoire.

An alarm beeped on her phone, reminding her she had fifteen minutes until her shift started. She shoved her fingers inside her GORE-TEX gloves and stared at the office building through her front windshield.

This Saber Tech location was only a couple of years old. They’d gone modern for the construction. It boasted five stories but sported one sleek concrete face, broken up by tall glass windows with unadorned metal frames. The pale concrete almost blended into the snowy scenery.

Perhaps that had been the architect’s aim since the company was the most secretive she’d ever encountered.

She understood protecting intellectual property and not disclosing proprietary information, but Saber Tech took those concepts to the extreme.

She signed no less than six non-disclosure agreements before they even gave her the job.

Once she’d fastened the snow strap on her gloves, she grabbed the wool beanie off the passenger seat.

Just getting dressed to go outside here was a chore.

You needed so many layers, and even then, she knew she’d be freezing before she made it the fifty feet to the front entrance.

Grumbling about the weather, she turned the engine off and braced herself to step outside.

A blast of icy wind assaulted her as soon as she closed the car door. “Holy mother of God.” She raised her eyes skyward. “Eighteen degrees wasn’t bad enough on its own? You had to add in the wind chill?”

Teeth chattering, she picked her way across the slippery parking lot in her still-new snow boots.

She had work flats in her bag that she’d change into as soon as she reached her desk.

She’d learned the hard way that there was no chance her feet wouldn’t wind up wet and freezing if she wore them across the lot.

Her face was half numb by the time she made it.

Double glass doors opened automatically to a vestibule with heated air curtains.

The vaulted space was as warm inside as it was cold outside.

She shivered and soaked in the warmth before stepping into the modern glass revolving door to enter the central part of the building.

The entrance gave the illusion of openness.

A long hall stretched half the length of the building.

It was wide enough to support five glass retractable wing turnstiles, which controlled access to the interior offices.

Below them, wall-to-wall nylon carpet in a muted gray and blue pattern reduced the noise of foot traffic.

To the right, a low security desk in stained bamboo added a bit of imposing authority but didn’t block the view through the space.

The open plan extended to the upper levels, where a curved balcony wrapped around the wall to Selene’s left.

“Hi, Henry.” She waved to the older man who was always on duty during her shift.

He looked up from his computer monitor and smiled, bright white teeth shining against his chocolate skin. “Afternoon, Ms. Selene.”

Stopping in front of the turnstiles, she tugged off her right glove with her teeth.

Then began the struggle of digging her access badge out of her coat.

She was paranoid about losing it, so she kept it on a lanyard around her neck.

Only now, it was buried under multiple layers of clothing.

Lifting her chin, she used her ungloved hand to unsnap the closures at her throat.

With those free, she tugged at the zipper. It didn’t budge.

She heard a chuckle from Henry, who watched her daily struggle with amusement.

Giving him a mock stink-eye, she freed her other hand and used both to unzip the outer shell of her coat.

Next came the fleece inside liner. That zipper moved a lot easier.

Past the outer layers, she patted the lapel of her dark blazer for the lanyard string she wore over a flowy blouse she’d tucked into black dress pants.

She’d almost found it when someone cleared their throat behind her.

Turning around, she automatically stepped aside, assuming they needed the gate she blocked. “Oh, sorry. You can . . .”

Something about the lean Asian man staring her down stole the words from her mouth. A primal alarm bell went off, sending wariness buzzing along her skin. Gulping, she moved further away from him while he continued to assess her silently.

“Miss Coleman?”

Confused why he knew her when she had no idea who he was, she answered, “Yes?”

He extended a manicured hand. “Gang Dao. I don’t believe we’ve been introduced yet, but I make it a priority to know all my employees.”

Surprised, Selene blinked her light green eyes at him, then accepted his hand. “Mr. Dao, oh, um”— stop stumbling and say something clever —“pleased to meet you,” she finished in Mandarin and managed a smile.

He levered one back at her and spoke in his native tongue. “Your tone is impeccable for a non-native speaker.” He gave her hand a squeeze, then released it.

His touch gave her the urge to wipe her palm against her coat. To stop herself, she used it to push her shoulder-length ebony hair behind her ear.

“I see my team’s trust in you is warranted.”

What a weird thing to say.

“Thank you.” Cupping her hands together, she kept her smile in place and hoped he’d move along. Surely, the head of Saber Tech had more important things to do than creep her out.

With another long stare, he nodded at Henry and breezed through the turnstile.

Watching her boss’s bosses’ boss walk away, she asked, “Is he always so . . .”

“Perceptive?” Henry supplied.

“I was going to say intrusive,” she muttered under her breath, but she nodded at the security guard.

The ever-cheerful man grinned. “I don’t suppose you make it to his position without being a little . . . direct .”

“Hmm,” she hummed in agreement and worked to put the meeting out of her thoughts.

Grasping her access badge, she swiped her way through the turnstile, absentmindedly told Henry to have a good afternoon, and headed for her desk on the second floor.