Debra Webb - A Colby Christmas

Mildred was right about that. Cancelled and delayed flights were par for the course around the holidays in Chicago. Thankfully most were traveling this evening or very early in the morning. Even Angel Parker-Danes and her enigmatic husband Cole were coming. Jack and Katherine Raine. And so many others. Victoria’s pulse skipped with the mounting excitement. This would be the very best Christmas ever.

“You’ve touched base with the caterers one last time?”

Mildred nodded. “And the entertainment folks. In fact, they’re coming in tonight after hours to set up their instruments and equipment in the big conference room. Elaine has kindly offered to stay and oversee their work.”

Elaine Younger, the agency’s receptionist. She was very good at her job. Very pleasant, very dependable. But untouchable in so many other ways. Despite having been with the agency for more than two years already, she hadn’t bonded with the rest of the staff as most new members did.

“I worry about that girl,” Victoria said, voicing her thoughts to her closest confidant outside her husband.

“She’s asked for tomorrow off again,” Mildred commented, a note of concern in her tone as well. “She does it every year. It’s as if she doesn’t care for Christmas in the least. She never volunteers to help put up the decorations, but she’s always more than happy to help take them down. I don’t understand it.”

Decorating the agency was a bit of an undertaking, Victoria wasn’t so sure she could blame Elaine or anyone else for avoiding that task. Mildred required perfection. Still, it did seem odd that Elaine had no desire to join in any of the holiday traditions. The rest of the staff had welcomed her warmly when she’d come on board.

There appeared to be no rhyme or reason for her distance. And it certainly wasn’t as if Elaine’s parents lived far away, requiring that she leave the city early on Christmas Eve in order to be home for the holiday. She clearly didn’t want to be a part of the agency’s celebration and that saddened Victoria.

“I’ll speak with her,” Victoria offered. “Perhaps I can persuade her to drop by for a few minutes anyway.”

Mildred lifted her shoulders in a noncommittal shrug. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try.”

A rap on the door drew Victoria’s, as well as Mildred’s, attention there. Ian Michaels, Victoria’s second in command, waited for an invitation to enter. He looked elegant as always in his black suit. Black shirt, black tie. The man always wore black. It was his trademark. Tall, dark and incredibly handsome as the saying went. There was just one difference in Ian’s appearance today. He wore a little Rudolph pin on his lapel and the famous reindeer’s nose flashed like a beacon. Victoria was entirely certain that one of Ian’s children had insisted he wear it.

“Pardon me, ladies,” he said in that charismatic voice that kept all the female employees swooning, and Victoria and Mildred were no exceptions. “May I have a moment of your time, Victoria?”

“I’ll call Santa to make sure nothing’s come up that would prevent him from appearing on time tomorrow,” Mildred volunteered as she headed for the door. She smiled at Ian as she passed him. “If he’s looking for Rudolph, I’ll tell him to give you a call, Ian.”

Victoria put her hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh at Ian’s unamused expression. When Mildred had closed the door he strode straight up to Victoria’s desk, his countenance turning infinitely serious as he neared.

“We may have a problem with Gibson.”

“Please.” Victoria gestured to a chair. “Sit. Fill me in.” The last she’d heard all was a go with the selection of the newest member of staff. Bradley Gibson had completed the series of interviews required, each done on his lunch break since he worked such long hours with Welton Investments down on the second floor of this very building.

Victoria and Ian had gone out of their way to facilitate the young man’s schedule. Truth was, they wanted him that badly. Though he would be an investigator in training, Victoria had offered him a starting salary that he couldn’t easily ignore. The agency needed a man with his caliber of expertise in the area of high finance. So many of their clients were snared into scams within that complex world it made perfect sense to employ the very best in the field to work on those cases. Hence Bradley Gibson had been wooed away from Welton. Victoria wasn’t the least bit apologetic. The young man had admitted to being unhappy in his present position for some time. She would hate to lose him at this point.

“A friend from the local Bureau office called to warn me about an imminent announcement that could possibly affect us if the media discovers Gibson is connected to our agency. Apparently they’ve been watching him and are aware of his visits to our offices.”

Victoria let the frown tugging at her brow have its way. “What sort of announcement?” She’d been extremely impressed with Bradley Gibson. She couldn’t believe her instincts had failed her so completely. Only once in her entire career had she misjudged a new hire and even that one time had turned out for the better of all concerned. The idea that the FBI had been watching didn’t faze her. It was the new millennium; with terrorism at epidemic proportions, vigilance was essential.

“Apparently the FBI has had Welton Investments under surveillance for months now. My source wasn’t at liberty to disclose the suspected charges, but I can hazard a guess. Money laundering, perhaps embezzlement. In any event, it appears our Mr. Gibson may be one of the top players involved in this distasteful business. The warrants will be served late tomorrow afternoon, ironically at approximately the same time that our holiday party is scheduled. That’s as much information as he could give me and I doubt I would have gotten that much had he not owed me a tremendous debt.”

Victoria could see where he was going with this. “You think we should withdraw the invitation we made to Mr. Gibson that he join our holiday celebration? Let this play out without our involvement?”

Ian propped his elbows on the arms of the chair, steepled his fingers and considered his response a moment. “I believe we should do what’s best for the agency. If the media gets wind of this sting, they’ll be right behind the arresting agents. You know there’s always a leak to the press. The Bureau likes every move they make to be high profile.”

A former U.S. Marshal, Ian was married to a former FBI agent. But Victoria didn’t need Ian or his lovely wife Nicole to spell out how this would go down. She’d been in this business long enough to know it wouldn’t be pretty.

“Tell me, Ian.” She sat back in her chair and studied the one man she felt with absolute certainty could run the Colby Agency every bit as well as she. She trusted his judgment implicitly. “It’s not that I’m dismissing the Bureau’s assessments, but did you get any sense whatsoever that Mr. Gibson was anything other than what he presented in our interviews?”

Ian moved his head from side to side. “This feels exactly like a setup. Of course, there is always the risk that I’m wrong, but I believe Mr. Gibson may need us far more than we need him just now.”

“We can’t exactly warn him,” Victoria confessed, more for her own benefit than Ian’s. As much as she’d like to help Mr. Gibson with his coming woes, the agency fiercely protected its many sources. Without those sources they could never accomplish the results Colby Agency clients had come to expect. However, she felt obligated on some level to the young man.

“No, we can’t warn him.” The glint in Ian’s eyes told her he had a plan. “We can, however, bring him in early for one final test in an attempt to preempt tomorrow afternoon’s untimely episode.”