her to paradise if she consented to ditch the party and go with him to one of the rooms upstairs. Of all the young men who’d approached her that night, he was the only one who’d gotten close enough to make her consider his offer.
What was it about him? All swagger and confidence. Hardness, heat and hormones. He wasn’t the typical Texas boy that she’d known. Something set him apart. Something about him that night caught and held her attention. The moment she’d laid eyes on him, something about him said, “That’s the one.”
Was this the same person? Phaedra was torn between wanting and not wanting to know for certain. Was this that Louisiana boy from her college days? Maybe it wasn’t. He wasn’t calling himself Bastien then, but some stupid football inspired nickname. And his friends were all calling him by an initial. B? T? She wasn’t sure. Maybe she wasn’t remembering correctly. He certainly didn’t seem to remember her. Small wonder. It was fifteen years ago. Why would he remember her? It was only one party. She wasn’t even giving her real name to any of those guys at the party, either. Or her right phone number. It was all a game back then. Play the boys before you got played.
Phaedra snapped back from her reverie to respond to Bastien Thibeadaux’s question. Enough traipsing down memory lane; this was business. A potential client.
She set the newspaper aside, folding it carefully in half and placing it on the table next to her coffee.
“Time is money. Not necessarily. In my book, time isn’t money. But my time is precious. So, tell me what you need from me, Mr. Thibeadaux, or cut the conversation short.”
“Solly tells me that you get paid to keep people safe.”
“That’s a simplistic way of putting what I do. The same can be said for bodyguards, Mr. Thibeadaux. I’m not in the body-guarding business, if that’s what you’re looking for.”
“Workplace safety,” he clarified. “I’ve got some trouble at work. Some…let’s say…behaviors…that I want to nip in the bud before somebody gets hurt. Really hurt. You know what I mean?” He paused.
“And…” she encouraged.
“And Solly seems to think you can help me solve them. Can you?”
“I have to be honest with you, Mr. Thibeadaux, I don’t know. I need to…” She couldn’t make an assessment without knowing more details about his situation, but he didn’t give her the chance to finish her sentence.
“Then what am I doing wasting your time and mine?” he snapped.
“I didn’t call you. You called me. I’m not in the habit of wasting time. So why don’t I hang up and save us both continued irritation?”
Phaedra noted the considerable pause. She listened carefully but could only hear his breathing. Rapid and shallow at first, then slowing as he clamped down on his anger. When he spoke again, it was with a more conciliatory tone.
“I think maybe, Ms. Burke-Carter, we got off to a shaky start.”
“I agree. Shall we start again?”
“When can you come out to discuss my particular problem?”
“This week?” She consulted her PDA, calling up the calendar. “How does Thursday suit you, Mr. Thibeadaux? Thursday at two o’clock.”
“I guess it’ll have to do.” He didn’t sound pleased that she couldn’t immediately accommodate him.
“Your address, please. And a number where I can best reach you.” Phaedra tapped the stylus against the PDA screen, keeping up with the information that he rattled off.
“CT Inspectorate,” she repeated back to him the name of the company and the address. “What type of inspection company do you work for, Mr. Thibeadaux?”
“Grain, primarily. Wheat. Sorghum. Rice. Why? Does it make a difference?”
“I can’t tailor a solution for you if I don’t know what you do, can I, now? I’ll see you on Thursday.”
“One more thing, Ms. Burke-Carter.”
“Yes?”
“How much is this going to cost me?”
“I’m not ready to discuss figures with you, Mr. Thibeadaux. Not until I’ve had a chance to assess your situation.”
“Give me a ballpark.”
“Not even a ballpark.”
“An hourly rate?”
“It varies.”
She heard him give a sigh of irritation at her stonewalling tactics, but Phaedra knew better than to toss out a number that would either lock her into a rate she could accept or would scare him off if he figured it was too high. “You know, Ms. Burke-Carter, Solly told me that you can be a bit difficult when you want to be.”
“Mr. Thibeadaux,” Phaedra said crisply, clamping down on her words. “Is there something that you need to tell me? Something before we meet on Thursday?”
“What do you mean?”
“For someone who claims to need my help, you don’t seem very accommodating.”
“You mean willing to fall over and let you shove your hand into my wallet? That’s what you consultants do, isn’t it? Rattle off some crap trying to convince your clients that you’re needed. Then inflate the hours on the invoice to charge ridiculous fees. Or skip out before finishing the work?”
“I have no intention of putting my hand anywhere near your wallet,” she assured him. “That’s what electronic transfers are for.”
Here we go again, Phaedra thought to herself. Another one who didn’t trust her profession.
“How about making my first consult free for old time’s sake? PV alum-to-alum,” he eased the question by her smoothly. He was trying to get by with something for nothing. Well, her services didn’t come cheap. There was true value to what she did.
“What value do you put on the safety of your employees, Mr. Thibeadaux?” Phaedra responded to his question with one of her own.
“There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for them if it’ll keep them from getting hurt or killed.”
“I’ll tell you what, Mr. Thibeadaux. Because Solly suggested that you speak with me, for old time’s sake, my first consult will be free. It won’t cost you anything for me to listen. So, let’s meet. I’ll listen to you. You listen to me. And if I can’t convince you that I can help, then we’ll go our separate ways.”
“Then, I’ll see you Thursday at two o’clock. Anything I need to do to prepare for the meeting?”
“Yes, I need you to gather all of your employee incident reports for the last two years. Especially those related to accidents and those involving lost work time.”
“I’ve got copies of most of them sitting on my desk.”
“An
