Page 5 of Protected By West (San Antonio S.W.A.T. #1)

WEST

As expected, the men in the fancy three-piece suits had zoned out as soon as he started talking about actual thefts or new protection features for financial institutions. They weren't the ones who were going to put any of these practices into effect anyway.

They'd sign the contracts and hand things down to the underlings to implement.

They were already looking forward to a liquid lunch or something like that. They would definitely be the ones heading for the bar later on for the networking reception.

They seemed to work on the misconception that the drunker and louder they were the more than were doing.

It was their badge of honor.

They'd spend a small fortune on alcohol and find a way to write it off but spend most of their time eyeing the women at the reception or talking about how much money they had, the kinds of cars they drove.

West didn't have much patience for men like that.

Men more interest in show instead of working hard.

Looking up, West found the faces that were still directed in his direction and smiled. He gestured at a man in the second row of tables. "Sir? What institute do you represent?"

He answered and West filed the information away in his head. He'd make sure to find the nearest Ranger office to the man's credit union and send someone over to check on their safety measures. "You're near to Wayland Savings in Houston, right?"

The man smiled. "That's us."

West nodded. "Recently, Wayland had a break in."

More faces in the crowd turned to listen in.

"The moveable panels in the ceiling were used.

Two men went into the restroom and climbed up into the ceiling and waited until the staff had gone home.

" West shook his head. "There were a number of things that went right for the institution.

Most importantly the ceiling panels held.

Those panels are made to hide the pipes and ducts from public view but they're not strong enough to hold two adult male bodies for extended periods of time.If they’d fallen through the ceiling tiles while the bank was operating they might have decided to ‘wing it.’ When plans go awry in a robbery like that, they do desperate things.

"Later, when the staff left, they climbed down into the lobby of the bank and made their way to the safe. We later found out that they had an inside source. Someone who had been let go from the bank. They found the code written down in the bank manager's office."

There were noises in the room that said people were listening to his words.

"They hadn't anticipated that changing the code when an employee left was their policy."

He put his hands on the podium they had placed in the center of the raised stage at the front of the room.

"I'd like to suggest that leaving the code written down anywhere is a bad idea."

There were a few murmurs of agreement and a couple of laughs.

He looked up and saw Tracy at her table shaking her head and smiling.

"It's never a good idea to leave that kind of information written down anywhere."

"It feels like you should be preaching to the choir on that one."

There she was. That kind of dry humor had made him laugh more than once the night before.

Still, there seemed to be a kind of wall between them.

He wasn't quite sure how it happened, or maybe she didn't want to show him any familiarity in front of other professionals in her field.

He already knew the kinds of things the bankers had to say about people in credit unions, laughing and their 'quaint' businesses and their lower salaries. He'd also heard what most of the men said about their women counterparts. That is, when they had any.

She was likely trying to protect herself from anything like that being pointed in her direction.

West nodded at her words. "You'd think so, but there are a lot of people, some of the staffers with the most seniority who make the mistake of becoming the most lax with their safety. Once you start thinking that you've got things down to a science-"

"Hardly good policy."

The man who spoke was in the front seat, his three-piece suit open and his posture one that begged people to look at him.

West managed a nod and what he hoped wasn't a sour look on his face.

Sometimes the beard and mustache helped to hide his actual thoughts.

"True, but over confidence comes with its own set of problems. Just when you think you know everything, the universe likes to show you just how much.

.." He paused, not sure what kind of language they would tolerate.

Around his team they could say pretty much everything. Language wasn't an issue.

But this was different, and he knew he had to hold back on using certain words.

"Well, the universe likes to humble people."

"And the men that broke into the bank?"

Weston turned to look into the crowd and saw the women sitting beside Tracy lean her forearms on the table. She'd been the one to ask the question.

"They hadn't planned on a new combination being used and the quick in and out theft of the several hundred thousand in small bills in the safe was stopped before it could have really started.

They went back up into the ceiling before the morning staff came in and exited around the lunchtime rush, but the security monitoring company was sharp.

And even though they wore masks when they were trying to break into the safe, they didn't as they came and went out of the building.

"The security monitoring company isolated the faces of the people going in the day before and the people leaving the day of the break-in.

Even though they lowered their faces and hid the bulk of the features from the camera.

We were able to access cameras up and down the street to find out which car was theirs.

It took a few hours of fast forwarding through videos, but they had the car's license plate.

From there it was putting the evidence together to get the two responsible for the break-in and after they had statements from those two, the former employee of the bank was also brought in.

The case is currently working its way through the court system.

I've read the case file from start to finish and gone through the evidence.

If the defense attorneys are smart, they'll get their clients to plead to a lesser charge. "

The rest of his talk was okay. The same people who didn't seem to care tuned in and out at will, but those in the crowd that were interested in smart safety and more recent safety innovations were actively listening and asking questions.

It helped to pass the time and kept his mind from drifting back to the woman in the third row.

When he was done, he walked down the aisle created between the first row on his left and the second one.

West smiled as he walked up to Tracy's table.

The woman sitting beside her gave Tracy a wide-eyed stare and came just shy of elbowing her to get her to turn her head in his direction.

When she didn't, Tracy's friend gave him a wincing smile and mouthed the word SORRY at him.

He put out his hand and smiled. "I'm Weston Cooper."

She nodded and took his hand, shaking it. "Jaime Wells. I'm the Customer Service Manager for Military City Credit Union. Nice to meet you."

When she took her hand back, she gestured at Tracy. "Our president, Tracy Fagan is here with me."

West nodded and smiled.

He could tell by the tone of Jaime's voice that she knew there was something between them. There was a hint of humor in her tone, but it was tempered by affection.

He reached across toward Tracy, and he saw the way Tracy's shoulders tightened in reaction.

When she didn't take his hand in hers, he hesitated before lowering his hand back down to his side.

"I was wondering... Tracy."

There were little changes in her face that he watched carefully. Looking for an indication of what had gone wrong.

Nothing he could see.

Nothing he could remember.

"Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"

He almost expected her to continue with the silent treatment.

Instead, she gestured up at the podium. "Sorry, the next speaker is going to start."

West didn't look at Jaime, but he could see her reaction out of the corner of his eye.

Her expression was full of sympathy, like the way you could look at the sight of a minor car crash on the side of the road and think, 'I hope they make it.'

Jaime didn't hold out a lot of hope for him to get through this without getting burned.

At least, West thought to himself, there had to be fire to get burned.

If she didn't care about him, that would be different.

Indifference meant that there was nothing pushing them together or pulling them apart. The fact that she was actively trying to avoid his gaze was on the other end of the spectrum.

"I have to head back to San Antonio tomorrow on the first flight. I'd like to talk to you before I leave."

He watched as her eyes moved across the table, back and forth as if she was reading something fascinating.

The next speaker had started the preamble to his presentation and that was likely the only reason she turned to look at him rather than let him stand there and block the view of the podium where he was.

Her gaze met his, but he didn't see any of the warmth he saw the night before.

It looked like she was focused on a point on the back wall, looking right through him.

"I want to apologize for whatever it was that I did."

Her gaze lowered to the table again before she looked up again. "I'll meet you during the lunch break and explain."

He nodded. "I'll be waiting for you in the lobby."

He walked out wondering if she'd meet him there or not show up.

Either was possible.

But either way, he'd find a way to talk to her. He wasn't going to give up without trying.

TRACY

Tracy had to give Jaime the prize for patience.