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She shrugged one shoulder. “They never told me, or discussed their business with me. But from the way they talked, I assumed several hundred million dollars.” She swallowed. “They’d loaned my brother Jeff a lot of money when he started his business. And I heard Jeff and my father arguing about the money a few weeks before the explosion. It sounded as if they’d lent him around twenty million dollars. I think my father wanted it back.”
“Your brother’s name was Jeff Stewart?” Mel asked, her pen poised above the pad.
“Yes.”
“And what kind of business did he start?”
“It was a tech company. I think it was about business software for corporations. But I was just a kid when he started it,” Julia said. “I wasn’t interested in business. I wanted to be a chef.”
“How did your parents feel about that?” Mel asked, her gaze boring into Julia.
“My mother thought it was a great idea. When our cook had the day off, I made the meals. Mom loved my recipes.” Julia raised one shoulder. “That’s what a mom would say, right? But it was still nice to hear.”
“What about your father?”
Julia scowled. “He expected me to study business in college, just like Jeff did. I wanted to go to culinary school, but he told me he wouldn’t pay for that. He wanted me to take over his business when he retired.”
“Even though you weren’t interested in doing that?”
“Yeah.” Julia smiled faintly. “He was a force of nature. He expected everyone to fall in line.”
“And your parents and brother were all killed in the explosion.” Mel raised her eyebrows.
“Yes. I would have been, too, if I’d been home.” Her heart still ached every time she thought about it. Of course she was glad she’d survived. But she hated that she’d deceived her parents to do it.
“Okay, Julia, thanks for all those details,” Mel said. “Dev and I are going to talk and figure out who should take your case. He or she will go back to Seattle with you. They’ll have lots of questions. They’re also going to be your shadow until this is resolved. We have a couple of people who’ve done a lot of protection work, and it’ll probably be one of them.”
“Protection? Like a bodyguard?” Julia stared at Mel, appalled.
“Exactly like a bodyguard.” Mel leaned toward her from the other side of the desk. “You’ve been targeted, and you need someone watching out for you. Whoever we assign to you will also do some investigating. See if he can figure out who might be after you, and why.”
“I didn’t think I was signing up for a bodyguard when I came here,” she said. “I thought you’d send someone to figure out what was going on.”
“And that’s exactly what our operative will do,” Mel said smoothly. “But he or she will be watching out for you at the same time.”
A lump settled in Julia’s stomach. “I know this is going to cost a lot of money,” she said. “I still have a little of my parent’s money, but it might not be enough. But I promise I’ll pay you whatever I owe you as quickly as I can.”
“We ask for five thousand dollars initially. We’ll go from there.”
Julia blew out a relieved breath. “I can do that.” She fumbled in her purse. “I’ll write you a check.”
Mel held up her hand. “Whoever we assign to you will take the money and use it for expenses. Devlin and I need to talk and figure out who we’re going to pair you with. You can look around the compound, if you like. You’ll be staying in one of our guest rooms tonight. You and your operative will leave first thing in the morning.”
“Okay, thank you.”
“Dinner is at six in the mess hall,” Mel said. “I’ll show you to your room first, then you’re free to wander.”
“I think I’ll just log onto my computer.” When she saw Mel raise her eyebrows, she added, “The one Zoe gave me to connect with the web. It has no important information on it.” She drew in a deep breath. “And I’ve been taking both the computers with me to the restaurant and locking them in my desk every day.”
“Smart,” Mel said with a nod. “We’ll see you at dinner.”
* * *
Mel showed Julia to a guest room and pointed out where everything was. Showed her the guest wifi password taped to the desk, and the map of the compound in the top drawer. As Julia studied the room, her face an impassive mask, Mel asked, “Any questions?”
Julia shook her head. “I’m good. I’ll be at the mess hall at six for dinner.”
“There aren’t many of us yet, so we all sit together. We’ll see you then,” she said, exiting the room and closing the door quietly.
