SEAL for Her Protection (SEALs of Coronado Book 1) (10 page)

Of course, talking to the subcontractors was part B of today’s plan. Part A involved having a one-on-one interview with the owner of Alpha One himself, a man by the name of Jack Yates. Hayley didn’t exactly expect the man to break down and confess to everything the moment they confronted him, but she was definitely interested in seeing how he reacted when she openly accused him of collusion with a city councilman.

If they’d wanted to talk to Yates six months ago, they would have needed to drive about an hour north to the company’s corporate offices in Escondido. But soon after winning the Imperial Beach contract, Alpha One had moved a huge part of its operation down to San Diego. Hayley supposed winning a billion dollar project was a good incentive to rent yourself some new office space.

“By the way, what’d you stop by for?” she asked Brad when it struck her he hadn’t mentioned what his visit had been about.

He steered his way through the morning congestion, ignoring her for the moment as he cut across three lanes of traffic.

“No big deal. I know you haven’t liked hanging around the house alone since what happened in Africa. I figured I would stop by and see how you were doing.”

Hayley smiled. Could there be a better friend in the whole wide world? Brad was absolutely the best. She leaned over the console and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing so hard he grunted. “Thanks. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

He laughed. “Whoa. I’m all about the free hugs, but driving in psycho San Diego traffic here.”

“Sorry!” She grinned and sat back in her seat. “But seriously, thanks. I do get a little freaked out now and then when I’m by myself, but it helps knowing my friends are watching out for me.”

He glanced at her, his expression suddenly serious. “That’s what friends are for. Remember, you can call me anytime, okay?”

She nodded. “So you know all about my weekend. What’d you do?”

He shrugged. “Nothing much. Just hung around the beach taking some pictures. Spent a lot of time in my darkroom.

Hayley chewed on her lip, feeling a twinge of guilt about having such an amazing weekend while her friend sat alone in a darkroom essentially watching paint dry. She wondered if now might be a good time to mention Jillian wanted to go out with him, but quickly rejected that idea. Brad and Jillian had already met several times, and if he found out Hayley and Jillian had been openly discussing his unattached status, he’d lay an egg. No guy on the planet wanted his female friends playing matchmaker for him.

That really only left her only one alternative. If she wanted to get the two of them together, she’d have to arrange a blind date. Of course, she’d have to make sure Brad didn’t figure out what she was trying to pull or more egg laying would ensue. Maybe a whole chicken.

She was still thinking about how she’d pull off the blind date when Brad turned into the parking lot of Alpha One Construction.

“How’d you wrangle a personal interview with Jack Yates on such short notice anyway?” Brad asked as they got out of the car and headed for the front door.

Hayley shrugged. “It actually wasn’t hard. I told his office assistant how much I would love to talk to Mr. Yates about the new facility he’s building out at Imperial Beach.”

“And he said okay, just like that?” Brad asked with a dubious expression on his face as he held one of the big glass doors open for her.

“Pretty much.”

“Any chance that during your conversation with Yates’s assistant, you happened to mention your personal connection with the local SEAL Team?”

She smiled at her photographer sweetly. “Nope, I never had to say a word about it.”

“Because the assistant already knew exactly who you were,” Brad finished.

“Maybe,” she said. “I might as well get some use out of my fifteen minutes while it lasts.”

“Uh-huh. Remember to throw a crumb down to all us little people now and then,” Brad said as they approached a receptionist counter positioned across half the lobby. There was a well-dressed young man behind it and Hayley tried to imagine if this guy could possess the voice of the office assistant she’d talked to earlier this morning. Before she could ask, Brad interrupted.

“Hayley Garner to see Mr. Yates,” her friend intoned dispassionately.

The man behind the counter hit her with a megawatt smile. “Ms. Garner, such a privilege to meet you. I’ll let Mr. Yates know you’re here.”

The guy turned and darted down a central corridor leading back deeper into the office space. Hayley guessed the man was the receptionist she’d arranged the interview with.

She turned and gave Brad a look. “What was that all about?
Hayley Garner here to see Mr. Yates
?”

Brad tilted back his head and looked down his nose at her then sniffed. “A woman of your station does not go about introducing herself.”

Hayley laughed then punched Brad in the arm. “And don’t you forget it.”

A few minutes later, they were seated in Jack Yates’s very comfy office with its indoor water feature, putting green, and a scale model of the new SEAL facility that was twice the size of a pool table.

Brad had already taken a few public relations photos, standing in front of the facility model, Yates’s desk, etc., etc. He’d probably delete half of them the moment they left the man’s office.

There had been the requisite small talk, with Yates asking about her rescue and her heaping all the praise on the Navy SEALs while not actually telling him anything.

“I can certainly understand why you would want to get involved with the local SEALs,” Yates said. “I doubt they have a better cheerleader for how important this new construction project is for the Department of Defense.”

“I certainly have a special place in my heart for them, that’s definitely true.”

There was one particular SEAL who had the potential to find an even more special place in her heart, but she’d keep that little tidbit to herself.

She started with easy warm-up questions, like whether this was the largest contract Alpha One had ever been part of, what it was like when the Navy had told him his company had won the bid, and how long the entire project would take.

Yates seemed like a relatively warm, charismatic business man. Hayley had to admit her sleaze radar was barely registering anything at the moment. That would change soon enough, she was sure.

When she had Yates completely relaxed, she shifted gears into the area she and Brad had really come here to talk about.

“That’s some excellent background information for my article, Mr. Yates, but of course my readers are going to be much more interested in hearing your side of the story on all these rumors swirling around.”

Yates suddenly looked confused, which was the exact moment Brad snapped a picture of him. They really had been working together for a long time.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” Yates said, his face starting to take on a guarded look as he realized he’d been set up. “What rumors?”

“That you and Councilman Nesbitt have some kind of kickback deal going where you slide subcontracting work on this Imperial Beach project toward his most ardent political supporters in return for services rendered.”

Hayley deliberately kept it vague because they still didn’t know what was going between Nesbitt and Yates. The first part of the equation seemed simple enough. The odds were good the subcontractors were slipping Nesbitt money through his political campaign structure, which was still very active even though the man wasn’t even close to the end of his first four-year term. It was the second part that had her and Brad really stumped. What the heck was Yates getting out of this situation?

The moment that greasy smile slid across Yates’s face, her sleaze radar started pinging off the charts.

Here comes the bullshit.

“Ah, now I see,” Yates said, that patently fake politician smile stuck on his face like fly tape. “You must be talking about those vicious rumors being spread by those nasty Internet mongers. What do they call themselves…
The People
?” His smile turned patronizing. “As a journalist, I’d expect you above all others to understand how important it is to vet your sources.”

Brad snapped a few more pictures, which earned him a nasty look from Yates.

“Oh, I definitely value a good source,” Hayley said. “Since there are currently about a half dozen city politicians under investigation due to the information provided by
The People,
I figure if they say there’s smoke, I should start looking for the fire. I thought you might want to get in front of all this, get your side of the story out before everything breaks.”

“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you, Ms. Garner,” Yates said, irritation creeping into his voice. “
The People
are wrong in this case. There’s no story here.”

“Really?” Hayley lifted a brow. “So, it’s pure coincidence that nearly ever local subcontractor you selected is a known political contributor to Councilman Nesbitt? Do you really think anyone is going to believe that? You don’t think these Internet hacktivists are going to find the link between you and Nesbitt?”

“There is no link between Bill and Alpha One,” Yates snapped, getting to his feet.

“Bill?” Hayley said, giving Brad a quick look. “So you and the councilman are on a first name basis? No link between you, huh?”

The man’s face darkened. “Get out! Or I’ll call security and have you dragged out.”

Both Hayley and Brad stood at the same time. They knew when they’d worn out their welcome.

“Okay, we’re going,” Hayley said. “But remember, if you ever decide to get in front of this before it’s too late, you can always call me.”

It looked like Yates was about to say something in reply—or explode. But then Brad turned and clicked off about a dozen shots of the man as they were leaving, and Hayley thought Yates might detonate right on the spot. She grabbed Brad’s arm and hurried him the rest of the way out the door, not wanting to get covered in sleazy business stew when Yates blew.

The guy at the front desk looked confused as they passed him, apparently not sure if he should scowl at them or wave.

“Was there a point to all that?” Brad asked as they headed for his Camry. “Or were you poking him for fun?”

“I’m hoping accusing him like that will provoke some kind of reaction and get him or Nesbitt to make a mistake.”

Brad shook his head as he climbed behind the wheel of his car. “Yeah, it will probably provoke a reaction all right…as in a lawsuit.”

* * * * *

Hayley looked through her handwritten notes then tapped out a few more lines on the draft article she was putting together on her laptop. In between reading her notes, doing searches on the net, and writing her article, she did her best to eat, but the truth was, even though it was late in the day and she hadn’t had a thing to eat since breakfast, she didn’t have much of an appetite right then.

She and Brad had stopped at the small grill for a late lunch, early dinner after a seriously long morning and afternoon of getting doors slammed in their faces. She’d told Brad it was too beautiful a day to eat inside, so they should sit on the patio, but she doubted he’d believed her. In reality, she’d taken one look at the gray concrete block walls in the café and her heart had nearly jumped out of her chest in the panic attack that followed.

Okay, no more gray concrete block walls for her. Ever. Again.

She finished the article she’d been reading on
The People
, closed the search page she’d had open on Jack Yates, then took a small bite of her chicken quesadilla and forced herself to eat it. That little flashback she’d gone through had done a number on her.

“Find anything good?” Brad asked, acting like he didn’t see the effort she had to put into chewing food she normally would have been wolfing down.

“Nothing we didn’t already know,” she admitted. “If there’s direct connection between Yates and Nesbitt it’s well hidden.”

“Maybe one of the people we talked to today will call us and that one tip will change everything.”

She took another bite of food and shrugged. “Maybe.”

She and Brad spent hours going from one construction company to the next on their list of Alpha One subcontractors. From excavation and heavy equipment specialists, to cement and brick masons, to carpenters, metal workers, electricians, heating and air people, even simple laborers, the reception had been the same everywhere. They’d tossed her and Brad out as soon as they figured out what she wanted to discuss. Every one of them claimed Alpha One had selected their particular company because they had long track records of getting jobs done right, on time, and on budget. According to them, the fact that every one of the subcontractors was apparently in deep with Nesbitt was purely coincidence.

After a couple of hours of that, they’d changed tack, instead spending some time visiting those companies who’d lost out on their attempts to get on board the subcontractor gravy train. They’d ended up learning a whole heck of a lot more from the “losers” than the “winners.” According to them, the fix had been in from the beginning.

“I know it sounds like sour grapes,” the manager of an electrical supply house told them. “But I heard guys from some of those other companies crowing about getting the jobs before I even put our offer in. The only way that happens is if Alpha One already knew who they were going to use before the process started. As the prime contractor, they have the right to use anyone they want, but they sure as hell went to a lot of effort to make it look like they were going to make it a fair and open competition.”

Quite a few people told them similar stories, but at the end of the day, other than some interesting background data, they didn’t have anything solid to go on. Everybody might know that only companies with a solid connection to Nesbitt had gotten those jobs, but no one had any proof. Worse, not a single person could offer up even a theory on why a major contractor based out of Escondido would do favors for a councilman in San Diego.

“Man, I wish we knew how to contact
The People
,” she said in frustration. “I bet they know something.”