was clad in siding milled from the trees they’d had to clear. The entrance drive curved through big trees that had been intentionally left standing to mask the actual size of the building. It made bringing bigger supply trucks in and out a challenge, but when that point had been brought up to Josh he had merely nodded and said if the driver couldn’t do it, he shouldn’t be driving for Redstone, and if he wouldn’t do it, he didn’t understand Redstone.
When she’d been interviewed for this job by the great Josh Redstone himself—in a process that had seemed more like a casual conversation than a job interview—he’d concluded their meeting by asking if she had any questions. The one that was obvious to her slipped out before she could stop it.
“Why here?” she had asked. “Why did you build a Redstone facility here, in tiny Summer Harbor?” She loved the little town she’d recently moved back to, but still wondered why a company the size of Redstone had located here.
“You don’t like it being here?” the lanky, gray-eyed man had asked, not in a challenging tone but in the way of someone genuinely interested.
“No, no,” she’d said quickly. “I’m happy you decided to build here. It’s been great, done wonders for the town. I’m just curious. We’re sort of at the crossroads of nowhere and can’t get there from here.”
Josh had laughed, and Kate had found herself smiling at the sound of it. She’d done a little research before she’d applied for the job, and had read that the man didn’t laugh often anymore. Rumor had it that the death of his wife a few years ago had taken the laughter right out of him. That she’d managed to make him do it pleased her much more than she would have thought, given she’d only just met the man.
“Perhaps for just that reason,” he said.
“Whatever your reason, I’m glad,” she told him. “And I would love to be part of it.”
He had gestured at her résumé, on the table in front of him. In what she had since come to learn was typical Josh Redstone fashion, he had chosen to conduct interviews outside. She had arrived for this interview to find one of the richest men in the world seated at an ordinary card table under a large madrone tree in front of the building that was still being finished.
“You’re a bit overqualified,” he’d said.
She hadn’t argued that, she knew it was true and wouldn’t insult his intelligence by denying it.
“But I’m a lot overqualified for any other job in town,” she had said. “And I’m staying here, no matter what, so I’d like the most challenging job I can get.”
Josh Redstone had studied her for a long, silent moment. So long that she’d wondered if she should have been so blunt. Finally he’d stood up and held out a hand to her.
“Welcome to Redstone, Ms. Crawford.”
And so now here she was, she thought as she finally continued on to the parking area on the far side of the building, distribution manager for Redstone Northwest. And while it wasn’t the high-power, moving-millions-of-dollars-a-day job she’d held in Denver, it was enough to keep her mind sharp. Even more important, it let her stay in Summer Harbor, to take care of her grandparents. And right now that was the most important thing in the world to her.
She pulled into her usual parking spot, the one she’d picked at the far end of the lot, although she could have had one with her name on it closer to the doors. She wanted this one to add a bit more exercise to her crowded days. The extra walking, coupled with lunch breaks frequently spent in the small basement gym Redstone had built, kept her in shape and the sneaky extra pounds off.
“Too much stuff,” she muttered to herself, not for the first time as she gathered up her purse and heavy satchel. The canvas bag that held both ends of her record keeping spectrum—her traditional clipboard and her more modern PDA—was a far cry from the elegant leather briefcase she had once carried. But it was far more practical—and less conspicuous—here in the casual Northwest.
She headed for her office, remembering how joyous her first months here had been. In fact, her work here had been immensely satisfying, and the longer she worked for Redstone the more she liked it. And the idea of someone stealing from the company made her very angry.
Furthermore, the idea that what they were stealing was being taken from people who desperately needed the help of Redstone’s newest invention turned that anger to fury. It was a fury tempered only by apprehension; she had some suspicions about who might be involved in this string of thefts—if two could be called a string—and she didn’t at all like the possibility that she’d come up with.
As she turned down the hall and headed for her office, nodding and greeting the staff she encountered, she renewed her determination to put a stop to this. Josh had opened this facility here because he loved the area and wanted to help the local economy, and she didn’t want him to ever regret it. She felt as if the reputation of Summer Harbor was at stake. She would not let what had so far been a small problem become a large one for Redstone.
To her surprise, when she got to her office the usually locked door was already open. She took another step forward. Not only that, but there was someone inside and that someone was sitting at her computer.
The computer where the schedules for the shipments of the insulin pumps were stored.
Chapter 3
Kate stepped into her office quietly. There was no mistaking who the unexpected occupant was; the maroon streaks in her brown hair didn’t leave much room for mistakes.
Kate watched for a moment before speaking. There was a spreadsheet on the computer screen, but she couldn’t see from here which one it was.
“Mel?”
“Oh!” Melissa Morris spun around, clearly startled. “Ms. Crawford, I didn’t hear you.”
“Looking for something?” Kate asked, not taking her eyes off the girl while she set down her purse and canvas bag. It wasn’t unusual for the girl to be there, but Kate was touchy these days.
“Yes. Those old shipping numbers. So I can finish that practice analysis you wanted.” She looked embarrassed. “I lost my copy.”
Kate relaxed. Inwardly, although she knew her critical data password was protected, she was grateful there was such an innocent explanation for Mel’s presence and her actions. Outwardly, she frowned. “Don’t you have a term paper to finish?”
The sixteen-year-old, who had adopted the nickname of Mel for the hated Melissa years ago, nodded. “But I keep getting them confused. If I sit down to work on the paper, I think of the analysis report. If I sit down to work on the report, all I can think about is the term paper.”
Kate, who could remember being in a very similar position in school more than once, smiled. “The brain sometimes sabotages you, doesn’t it? No matter how hard you try to focus on one thing, other things keep sneaking in.”
Mel gave her a look that trumpeted her relief that Kate understood. “Yes, exactly.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
Mel hesitated. “Aren’t you supposed to tell me that?”
Kate smiled. “The mentor program is supposed to give
