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Chapter One
No one was surprised when Ted Morgan and Helen Rogers announced their engagement at the Monday morning staff meeting. Their business partners in their private investigation agency, Carol Adams and Elaine Brown, who were also their friends, had seen it coming and were happy about it.
One of their newest investigators was Kirk Moreland, who they all agreed looked like a Viking on the cover of a romance novel. He was forty-three, six foot-five inches, broad-shouldered, with rusty-red hair and a neatly clipped matching beard. His green eyes completed the picture, making him as intimidating as he was handsome. Their other new investigator was Dixie Ellicott, a petite, natural blonde, with blue eyes. She seemed much younger than her forty-two years without trying. She was always successful in her investigations partly because people always underestimated her due to her looks. Little did they know she was a martial-arts expert and drove a corvette over the speed limit.
The group at this Monday morning staff meeting might have all been expecting the first announcement, but they all were surprised at announcement number two.
As the mundane part of the staff meeting ended, Helen stood and looked at the group, and they knew something else, something important, was coming. And when Ted stood, too, they got a little nervous. But then Helen smiled and put her hand on Ted’s arm. “Thanks to all of you in this room, we have had a good year. We’re on firm ground financially, and we just welcomed Kirk on as a full-time, regular employee. He has proven his worth and then some over the past year working as an independent contractor. Now we want to claim him as ours before he changes his mind.”
Ted nodded and added, “Because of all of the good work done by this group, and well, because Helen took pity on me and agreed to marry me, she and I are going to combine some resources. We’ll make an offer to buy, not just rent, the building at the opposite end of the street, on the corner. As you know, it’s been a real estate office, but their business model has changed. They are merging with another company across town. We thought it was a great opportunity for us to make ourselves a more permanent home and to make our offices more comfortable and efficient.”
Elaine was the first to speak. “Great, and I hope that means I don’t have to work in the reception area anymore!” She tucked her dark brown hair behind her ears, a nervous habit, clapped her hands, and looked around the room, and said, “Not that I didn’t love it.”
Everyone laughed because they knew how she hated to be bothered when she was researching something. Sitting out in the open where everyone walked through made her a perfect target for interruptions.
Helen gave her a thumbs-up. “Exactly, and we can have an actual conference room. Ted is making a firm offer today on our behalf. For your information, Carol and Elaine, the building purchase will not affect the partnership agreement and it’s why we didn’t consult with you. It will be owned by Ted and me. We certainly didn’t want the cost to be added to the balance sheets and affect your financial situation, nor the financial commitment we have made to Dixie and Kirk. Adding property into the mix would have made things just a bit too cumbersome. We just found out about it and had to move fast before someone else bought it. It is prime property right on the corner.”
Ted held up crossed fingers on both hands. “If the offer is accepted, we’d like to move in a month, six weeks at the outside. Our lease is up here in two weeks, as you know, and we have asked to extend it another month to give us time to make the move, and they agreed with an option to extend longer if needed.”
Carol, looking concerned, spoke up. “Six weeks can go by in a hurry. There will be lots to do. When can we see the inside of the new building?”
“Soon as we can arrange it. We have done a walk-through, of course. But I must spend some time with the blueprint of the inside of the building and see what changes are needed to suit our needs. I don’t anticipate any structural changes, so it shouldn’t be anything major that needs changing to accommodate us. I’ll set up a walk-through for all of us today if they accept our offer,” Ted said, taking his ringing phone from his pocket. “Excuse me, a client,” he said, walking out of the room.
Helen looked at everyone and held up her right hand. “Before questions, just to finish what Ted would have said, there are enough offices, a good-size breakroom-kitchen, bathroom, and storage room. Okay, now, time for any questions, concerns. So, how about it?”
“Will you be changing the company name?” Dixie asked.
“Good question, and maybe it’s time to do that. It’s no longer just me and Carol who started this madness. Ted is not concerned with me taking his name or adding his to the door, but I think we need a broader name now, for lack of a better word. I’m open for suggestions,” Helen said.
Dixie nodded. “Did you ever think that when you and Carol started out a few years ago just doing favors for friends, locating missing relatives, following cheating spouses, that you would go on to exposing a corrupt chief of police, dirty politicians, breaking up a cult, and catching a killer?”
Helen chuckled. “Well, when you put it like that … no. We took it one day at a time, case at a time.”
Kirk stood and stretched. “Hey, it all sounds good to me. I’ve had a great year, and love working with this group. I know name recognition is important, but most in town know you’re here now. So, it may not matter so much. But if you are going to change it, now is a good time. You could do a promo thing around the name change and move, giving you another opportunity to get the business recognition. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to head out in a few minutes. As I mentioned earlier, my favorite aunt has arrived in town for this romance writers’ conference or gathering thing they do every year. It happens to be here this year, and I promised to take her to lunch.”
Before Helen could respond, Elaine jumped on this new information. “Your aunt’s a romance writer?” she asked, smiling from ear to ear. “What’s her name?”
“She writes under a pen name, Lily Dodd, but her real last name is the same as mine, Moreland.”
“I have her books!” Elaine announced. “You must introduce me, Kirk.”
“Sure, they are staying at the newly renovated Peachtree Valley B and B. There are four or five of them here all week, so they are taking up all the rooms. I’ll check her schedule and get back to you about a good time,” Kirk said, looking at his watch.
“What kind of conference—I mean what do they conference about? And who are the other writers?” Carol asked.
Kirk ran his hands through his thick hair. “Well, maybe conference is not the right word. These writers are longtime friends and get together once a year to compare notes about their writing careers and plans for the future. But as I understand it, one of them is retiring from writing and has just finished her last book. But it’s supposed to be a deviation from romance, and it’s more of a murder mystery-thriller, and set in a town like this one, and the characters in the story are supposed to be based on all of them. So, it’s a kind of celebration, too. I think my aunt and the others are curious about how true to life those book characters based on them might be. I don’t recall the retiring writer’s name since I am not a romance reader. And even if this last one is supposed to be a thriller, I can’t see myself reading it. Sorry, ladies, I don’t know their names.”
Fortunately, Kirk was still unaware that the female staff thought he should be on the cover of a romance book.
After Elaine gushed over Kirk’s aunt and her books a few more minutes, making Kirk promise to bring her a list of who the other writers were, and which one was writing the mystery, he finally escaped to go meet his aunt.
Dixie left soon after Kirk. She was off to set up surveillance on a local lawyer. His wife, who was their client, Diane Evans, was sure he was having an affair with a local schoolteacher and part time yoga instructor, Misty Chandler.
Helen breathed a sigh of relief as they all went about their assignments, and she focused on the one thing she wanted to get done above all else—consulting Carol and Elaine about hiring an administrative assistant once they were in the new offices. Elaine was doing administrative things, but they needed her free to do more of what she wanted to do, research and online investigation for their cases. Ted had continued to add insurance company clients, mostly catching people who were claiming a disability just to milk the insurance companies, and this was proving to be a time-consuming thing for Elaine, more than anyone other than Ted. The work for the insurance companies, whether tracking stolen objects or fake disability claims, was time and resource consuming. But since it was for now their bread and butter, handling this part of their work well, was vital.
Now, with the office empty except for Carol and Elaine, Helen went out to the reception area where the two of them were still talking about Kirk’s aunt’s books.
Unlike the new building purchase, the cost of hiring another staff member would come out of the operating budget and would affect the bottom line. Since Carol and Elaine were partners along with Helen and Ted, it would need to be an all-partner decision.
After meeting with Carol and Elaine and getting their support for adding an administrative person, Helen set about getting the word out to a few business friends and putting an ad in the local paper’s online outlet. It had been about a year since their company name had been widely reported and the publicity had done them good. They were cited as important to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s ability to bring down a cult and keep them out of their town. Helen was hoping that their company’s good image would bring in qualified contenders for the job, and not those with a wrong idea of what it was to work in the field of private investigation. When some thought of a private detective, they just thought about the glamorized image found in the television and movies. She didn’t want someone in the office who had the wrong idea about the work.
By two o’clock, with no word from Ted, and forced to listen over lunch to Elaine and Carol comparing books that Kirk’s aunt had written, Helen had a headache. She tried to concentrate on writing a job description for the assistant, and it was taking twice as long as it should. For the first time in her life, Helen felt as if she may have bitten off more than she could chew. Between the wedding and honeymoon plans, the purchase of their own building, the upcoming moves, and keeping up with the growing business, she had moments when real retirement sounded good.
A few minutes past three o’clock, Ted finally returned with a smile on his face. “Victory is mine,” he said, coming through the door and standing in the reception area.
Helen had heard the little bell and rushed out to the reception area to get the details. “I was beginning to wonder—so, by your announcement and giant smile, I take it we are all set.”
Ted held up his fingers in the V for victory sign. “Yes, I got them to agree to vacate two weeks earlier to give us more time for any changes we need to make, and that’s what took longer. One of the two owners kept getting calls and leaving the meeting. He’s going through a divorce, and he was back and forth with his lawyer and soon-to-be ex-wife.”
“That must have made for a tense situation,” Elaine said.
“Yes, but in the end, I think it worked for us. He just wanted to sell the building and get one more thing behind him. Besides, I think he wants to hide some of the money from the sale from his wife,” Ted said.
Helen rolled her eyes. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”
Ted shrugged. “Yeah, well anyway, it’s onward for us, and now we need to make a moving plan. Helen, Elaine, Carol, do I have your attention?”
Helen grinned at him. “Don’t be dramatic, we all know what to do.”
Ted sat on the loveseat and pulled a bag of brownies from his briefcase. “What, me dramatic? Here’s why I wanted your attention, direct from the bakery and barely cooled.”
“Brownies!” Elaine and Carol said in unison.
Elaine held up a sheet of paper. “I’ll trade you some information for one. I have the figures for the new office furniture for offices we discussed, Helen. Once you give the okay, I can place the order and get a delivery date.”
Helen laughed. “Wow, that was fast. Not that you are excited about having your own private office space again.”
Elaine clapped her hands and smiled. “Excited doesn’t begin to describe it. I made the office setup for Kirk and Dixie the same but did order the good chairs that are adjustable since Kirk is so tall, and Dixie is petite.”
Ted looked at Helen and shrugged. “I will bow to you ladies on all the interior stuff. If it’s within budget, that’s all I care about, and I know you will all do the rest.”
Helen laughed. “I think he is complimenting us on our taste, but I can’t be sure.”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s right. I’m not trying to skip out on any work. No sir, not me. You know how much I love picking out furniture and fabric stuff,” Ted said, grinning.
Helen rolled her eyes. “Okay, let’s do this, a group meeting over lunch tomorrow. And here is the ad for the admin assistant,” she said, handing Elaine her note. “Oh, and make sure Kirk and Dixie know about the meeting as soon as possible since they might need to adjust their plans.”
After posting the meeting on the master calendar, Elaine sent Kirk and Dixie a text about the lunch meeting and got started on the interview plans for the assistant. “I hope we hire someone who doesn’t need a lot of training. I have a stack of things to follow up on for Ted’s new insurance company clients, so I don’t want to babysit an administrative assistant any longer than necessary,” Elaine said.
“I understand, and I have a good feeling about this. We will get someone good, and who will fit in with our team—which is essential,” Helen said as she went back to her office.
Helen had a good feeling about adding someone to the staff. It would free the rest of them to do what they did best, especially Elaine, but it would also take a load off her as well. The administrative role was just as crucial to their success as their investigators, so she knew they must choose wisely.
The next day brought a blast of what was to come—spring, or at least the southern version of it. Atlanta was just an easy drive away, but a world away when looking at the traffic. Helen took a few seconds to look at the window and notice her surroundings. She couldn’t remember taking time to look at budding trees when she lived and worked in Atlanta.
The trees were beginning to bud, and suddenly, as if overnight, nature woke up and shifted her focus. Helen drove to work feeling a new energy and was looking forward to seeing what the assistant want ad had brought them, if anything. She knew it would be the online ad posted the evening before that would bring the responses. Most younger people didn’t read the actual newspaper but would go online not only first, but exclusively.
Helen found Elaine already in the office and on the phone when she arrived at nine. Elaine waved a piece of paper at her as she walked by. Helen took the paper and her briefcase back to her office wondering why she had lugged the briefcase home in the first place.
She hung up her coat and glanced at the paper Elaine had given her. It was three names followed by the phone numbers and Elaine’s note to the side telling her to see the CVs on the shared office file. Helen wondered if they had more than three or if Elaine had just done some initial screening and picked out three. Either way, it was a good response for overnight.
Helen was just reading the last of the three CVs when Elaine came into her office. “Hey, did you get through all three CVs?” she asked, as she took the seat beside Helen’s desk.
“Yes, just finishing this last one. Have you talked to them yet?”
Elaine shook her head. “No, I wanted to wait on you and the rest of the team, but before you ask, yes, I weeded out two others. Their CVs are up, too, and if you read them and feel differently, it won’t hurt my feelings if you want to interview them, too. Also, all of their online responses to the questionnaire is on the office page under administrative assistant candidates, and you will likely see why I weeded out these particular two.”
“No problem. Do you have a favorite or would you rather not say yet?” Helen asked.
Elaine shrugged. “I am leaning toward one, but I don’t want to influence you.”
“Well, maybe you should influence us. After all, who better to know what the job really is, and who might do it best?”
“Still, she will be part of a team, and I am just one of six, soon to be seven. But I will give my opinion when the time comes, don’t worry,” Elaine said, getting up to answer the ringing phone in the reception area.
Helen sent out a text asking everyone to review the three candidates’ paperwork and give their feedback by lunch. She checked one thing off her list.
Getting back to investigator mode, she made herself focus on their ongoing cases. Two cheating spouses, three insurance cases, two of which were fake disability claims—so the insurance company believed—and one involving an elderly lady who swore someone was stealing her landscape plants and hinting it might be her neighbor. Helen sighed. “Every day can’t be a murder case, I suppose,” she said out loud.
“It’s just Tuesday and you are already talking to yourself,” Ted said, coming up behind her.
Helen jumped. “I really need to turn my desk around so I can see people coming.”
Ted laughed and kissed her on the cheek. “No point now, keep that thought for when we move. So, we have three Elaine-picked candidates to check out, I see.”
Helen opened the candidate file on her computer. “And as she reminded me, the two she did not recommend are also in the file, and she said it won’t hurt her feelings if we decide to see them too.”
“I don’t have a problem with Elaine weeding out the ones she thinks wouldn’t fit. I trust her,” Ted said, looking over Helen’s shoulder. “I guess I could go into my own office and read them and not drape myself over you.”
Helen looked up at Ted, noticing his haircut. “I wish you would, because if everyone will give their opinion, maybe we can set up interviews in the next couple of days. I don’t want to pull Kirk and Dixie off their cases for too long, so maybe one interview a day.”
“Okay, say no more. I’ll go give them a read,” Ted said, sighing and turning to go.
“Yes, Teddy, I see you made another stop before your return. I like your haircut, but it cut a lot of that lovely silver out,” Helen said, grinning at him.
“The silver will grow back. On that note, we need to set a wedding date, you know. I’d like us to be able to actually have the time to get away for a honeymoon. We have the move coming up, and a new person coming in. Let’s not get pushed by the wayside, Helen.”
Helen nodded. “I hear that. Let’s talk over dinner tonight, say seven, my place. It would be a good time for you to look around and see if there are things in my place now, we could use in the office, like the sofa, a side chair, a rug. Also, should we be thinking about donating some of my kitchen stuff—we will have a lot of duplicates.”
“I suppose we need to be thinking about all that. When are you putting your place up for sale?”
“That’s a good question. I suppose we really do need to set a wedding date. If my place sells fast, I will have to sleep in the office until after the wedding,” Helen said, grinning at him.
“How you talk, woman, as my grandmother used to say. But yes, decisions to be made tonight. I’ll bring the wine and dessert if you will do your spaghetti and meatball dish.”
“Do you really like it or is it that you know it’s one of three things I can make that is actually edible?” Helen asked.
“Uh, well, so … off I go,” Ted said, laughing as he went back to his office.
Helen lingered on the candidate questionnaires and the CVs another few minutes, but she had picked her favorite. Gabby Lou Thomas, twenty-three, a Peachtree Valley native who had returned after college with an education degree to care for her mother who was battling Parkinson’s disease. She had but one other question—why work for their detective agency and not teach?
End of Excerpt
