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I froze as Trevor and Alex both chuckled in my direction. What the hell was Maggie doing here? Maggie glanced over the group, her gaze barely skimming mine, but pausing with both Alex and Trevor as she smiled at them.
“Guys, this is Maggie Valor. She’s a reporter withThe Rising Sun. I know you know Greg, and I think you met Trevor Vaughn and Alex Miller the other day. The other two guys are Harvey Melton and Mike Johnson, and you just met Alice.”
Maggie acknowledged everyone, and only then let her focus fall on me. Her face was devoid of all emotion, and I had no clue what was going on in her mind. What the hell was she doing here? And why was she giving me the cold shoulder?
“Maggie reached out to me late last night and said she was aware of the situation with the Med Scan clients and wanted to know if she could help.” Jake directed his next words to me. “Thanks for that, by the way.”
Was he serious or joking?
“How is Ms. Valor going to be able to help with that mess?” Alex asked.
“Maggie. Please call me, Maggie, Alex. I want to write an article on the trouble you are having. I’ve already done a little research on this, and I am aware that your proposal is proprietary information. If they were to implement any, or all, of your plan as it is laid out in your one hundred and eleven-page proposal, they would violate the original contract. They could be held responsible for punitive damages. I’m pretty sure that they could not do at least seventy-five percent of the delivery without using your proposal.”
Alex turned to me, and I raised my brow. How the hell had she figured that out?
“What I want to do is write an article about how they are using your proposal to facilitate their project while hiring people who are not equipped to handle such a situation to save money and line their own pockets. The public would be outraged to know that they are willing to take a chance on losing all those medical supplies.”
Harvey frowned as he spoke. “You’re going to print that?”
“I’m going to draft the article, and then I am going to send it to the politicians that just nixed your contract and request a comment before publication. I already have the company here in the US ready to give me an interview about how much these supplies are needed.”
“What do you hope to get out of this?” Trevor asked.
“What I hope to get is your company running the operation. I have a feeling once they see that you could sue them and that you have quite a backing on this, they might reconsider their decision to use the civilian contractors that they were telling you about. I don’t think they will want the bad press, not with a humanitarian cause. I also hope to get exclusive rights to publish the story on how the medical supplies are transported and received.”
“No,” I said as Jake also responded.
“That would require you to travel with the shipment, Maggie.”
She glanced my way, ignored me, and turned to Jake. “Yes, that is exactly what it would require.”
“That would be dangerous for someone who isn’t trained.”
“What, trained to use a firearm? I am. I also have a carry permit and a loaded nine-millimeter in my bag. I am not a stranger to weapons, and I do not scare easily. I work well under pressure and think that I could be helpful to your company over there.”
My brain was going to explode. There was no way she was going to travel with the shipment. No. Fucking. Way.
“Would you be willing to run through some safety training classes?”
“Absolutely,” she said to Jake.
“Jake, can I speak to you—alone,” I growled, and Maggie turned her chair slowly toward me. Behind that emotionless face was a smile waiting to explode out. What the hell was she doing?
Jake laughed slightly. “Sure, let’s entertain your erratic thoughts in the hallway, shall we?”
I pushed out of my chair, glaring at Maggie the whole time I walked toward the door. She held my stare, never once showing emotion. Damn her, and damn, her poker face was better than ever.
I went straight to the lobby so we wouldn’t be overheard as easily. “You can’t let Maggie do that.”
“Give me one damn reason.”
“Because she’s not trained, Jake. She’ll get hurt or get someone else hurt.”
“Are you worried about her getting hurt because she’s a woman or because she’s Maggie Valor?”
“What difference does it make?”
“It makes a lot of difference, Greg. Last night, you said nothing was going on with you two. At almost midnight, she calls me and wakes my drunk ass up, telling me that you told her about the project. How the fuck did she know about that?” He held a hand up. “Oh, wait, you went to see her the minute you got off the fucking plane—that’s how.”
