Ghost Run (closed for Vailyn)

The clock had just passed 9:30 AM on Monday morning, and Daniel Tolliver was starting to get worried. It was an emotion that didn't fit the tall, fairly buff German man - definitely not in his title as the Chief Operating Officer of Piper Technologies - but he was doing everything but pace a circle in the floor as he lingered outside the meeting room. This wasn't like his boss at all, and the people inside the conference room nearby had already been waiting half an hour. It looked like the man should have been sweating stains into his jacket and suit, but thankfully he didn't perspire. He just looked nervous, in stark contrast to the short, black haired woman next to him. With her folder in her hand, dark purple business suit and knee length skirt perfectly pressed, looking like she'd just been pulled out of a magazine, Hazel was always the portrait of composure.

"Where is he? He should be here." Daniel pulled his phone out for about the third time. "Maybe I should text him-"

"Don't do it." Hazel looked around, perching her glasses on her nose, as Daniel wondered again if she actually needed glasses or if she wore them for show. It definitely wasn't his style to ask his employees to do things like that, but Daniel also knew everything he did was deliberate. "I'm sure he's read your messages already and has a reason for not responding."

Which was why his being late today was so odd. In the room sat five representatives from Olsen Industries, a company that had been a customer of Piper Technologies (formerly Piper Security) up until four years ago, and all year he'd emphasized the importance of getting this account back. Olsen was big, sure, but it was more then that to him. To the company. It stood for getting back what you'd lost, and the more. What in the world was going on?

"That's it." He started, with purpose. "I'll run the meeting without him."

Hazel put her manicured hand on his arm as Daniel started to move. "Just wait. I know he's coming, and we can't do this without him here."

"I'll manage." With more purpose, Daniel brushed past her, and soon the clack of his shoes were followed by the quicker tempoed click of high heels; at just over five feet, it took Hazel more strides to match his pace. She opened her mouth to speak, but frowned, both of them slowing down in time as they heard some commotion from across the office. The tall man couldn't help but notice that even through the clear walls of the conference room, it seemed their guests had noticed as well, and he muttered a epithet under his breath.

"Wonderful. Hazel, could you go tell them we'll be with them shortly? We can't have them seeing...whatever this is." Although she technically did not answer to him directly, she nodded, and strode with purpose towards the conference room while Daniel walked towards the source of the noise and talking. The conference room wasn't in the middle of the floor, but neither was it in an enclosed corner; there was a hallway on the other side near the window that faced the west. THe room had a large, wooden oval table, several rolling chairs and several walls that could be made opaque for displays if the need arose - was perfectly transparent on all sides at the moment, a feature that the man behind this company had insisted on.complete honestly and openness within the company, or at least the appearance of it. They had nothing to hide from their employees, in good times and bad, but Daniel couldn't help but wonder whether a little more discretion would have helped here.

At least the sounds weren't audible into the room, and Daniel eventually made his way into the carpeted office area; there was still work done on this floor in a series of cubicles, and it looked like several employees weren't at their stations, watching what looked like a fairly heated exchange between two men. One had light brown skin and was wearing a grey suit, was fairly well built...and agitated. The other had a light blue button up shirt and brown slacks, and was all but withering under the other man's assault.

"Look, I've been here for an hour and a half and you're telling me that you still can't get my access reinstated?" He ran a hand through his black hair, bearing down as the accused man shook his head.

"N-no, sir." His voice was thick and accented.

"What? Unfuc...." Apparently, the man - who Daniel now recognized as Marco, one of the firewall coders and a man who'd been with the company for seven years - and everyone else on the floor had seen Daniel coming, and while he wasn't the big boss, they were all aware of the power he yielded. For all intents and purposes, he might as well be here, and the nervous man of earlier had disappeared as he sternly glanced at both of them. "What's going on?"

Well aware of Daniel's intolerance for cursing in the workplace, Marco stepped forward, still flustered, albeit not as much as the man behind them. "This incompetent IT guy - " Daniel's eyebrows raised at that description, but Marco seemed to be too worked up to care "-is telling me that he can't get my access reinstated to the core servers." The click of heels behind him told Daniel that Hazel had arrived, too, and was watching the scene unfold.

Antonio - said 'incompetent' IT guy - moved forward, hands trembling as he stuttered. "I-I've tried to reset it three times, but he still can't get in. I don't know why."

"I can tell you why."

The voice carried clear across the set of cubicles, and striding out of the elevator was the big boss, so to speak. Shawn Piper, the young, often called brash head of Piper Technologies. He was walking alone, an unusual sight since if it wasn't Hazel or Daniel flanking him (or both, usually), it was someone else. The man loved to be demonstrative, and walking alone was not the way to do that.

The way his eyes bore holes into Marco's, however, gave everyone pause, and the coder visibly huffed. "I cut it off."

That brought Marco pause. "Why?"

At this point Shawn was well within everyone's view, and he sighed. Although the company dress code was usually pretty lax, it was clear Shawn had dressed to impress today; subtly striped suit jacket, tie, white shirt and pants that went with - although did not match - the jacket. "You know why." Although he was no shortie at just a hair over six foot one, Marco was bigger and larger, so Shawn had to look up to meet his gaze. "You could tell everyone now...or maybe these two guys will make it clear for you."

So entranced he was by his boss' sudden arrival that Daniel -and a few standing, watching employees- were bumped aside by two guys who were about as large as Marco- and unlike him, not built to mess with - as they stood beside him. "What...what is this?"

"We know you were going to sell the code for Blitz, Marco." There were a few assembled gasps, and even through his bluster Shawn could see the other man falter a bit. "That's why these two are going to let you get your personal belongings and get out of my building."

After a moment - where he seemed to bite back another retort - Marco responded. "You can't prove that."

A shrug. "Probably not. Not in court, anyways." Shawn walked through him, almost, looking down as if he was lost in thought before turning back to him. "The fact we've sabotaged all six information packets you tried to email them, so once they find out the code you've sent them is useless, I imagine I might not need to prove anything." He didn't quite smirk, but the tilt of his head meant the same thing - Daniel and Hazel both knew that.

He wasn't manhandled, but the two men took places on either side of him and Marco was half shoved towards his office. "I'll sue! I'LL SUE YOUR ASS OFF!"

He didn't bother to match Marco's volume, but his words were cutting. "Read your employment agreement. Better yet, have a lawyer do it. I'll get one of ours to. Free of charge." He was back in between his two confidantes then, Hazel gracefully stepping aside, a smile on her face as Shawn got one last parting shot. "In the meantime...the door may or may not hit you on the way out." As Marco was 'escorted' away, Shawn looked at everyone. "Sorry you all had to see that. Back to it."

Murmurs and whispers went on behind them as the three of them - Daniel to his right, and Hazel to his left - walked to the office. "What was that all about?"

"Something I've been wondering about for a while. Sorry." Even with his casual tone, Daniel could tell he meant what he said as Shawn continued. "Had to keep it under my chest in case...well, in case it got ugly."

"Plausible deniability?" suggested Hazel.

"Yeah. Something like that."

"Or exactly that." said Daniel. "You should have told me. We could have dealt with this quietly, and gotten to this meeting on time."

They were about fifteen feet away from the meeting room - with five sets of eyes on them - and Shawn stopped, shuffling his feet, looking around absently. "Oh, no, this was never going to be at nine AM."

"Wait, what?" Now both Daniel and Hazel looked confused, and Shawn smirked.

"Just..." he looked at his phone. "..evening the scales." Daniel was back into nervous mode, and he glanced between his boss and the meeting room, seeing the confusion and curiosity on the faces of the four men and one woman who awaited them.

"Uh...sir, not to question you, but-"

"Not yet...." He held up his hand, glancing back at his phone, the view of the western horizon, then his phone again. "...and now." He turned on his heel, and his two companions followed him in. The lead man, a redhaired, older gentleman, stood up, the smile barely holding on his face as he went to shake Shawn's hand.

"Mister Piper, thank you for seeing us...now that you've finally arrived, maybe we can get down to business."

Shawn returned the gesture in earnest, gripping the man's hand firmly as Daniel took his place on the left side of the head of the table on the far side of the room while Hazel started to hand out draft copies of the contracts. "Absolutely. You all know that since you dropped Piper Tech four years ago, that instances of data loss, breach, and information exposure has increased by fifty percent. That's not to question the value of..."

Two hours later, they had the deal, and while Daniel escorted them out of the building, Hazel smiled. "Well, that would have been easier if we hadn't started later, I think..."

Shawn frowned absently as he saw something on his phone. "When did we start?"

"Um, nine forty...one." She had long stopped calling him sir, a title that Shawn had long detested.

"Good. Forty one minutes late." He stood up. "Exactly how long the left me standing when they dropped us four years ago."

Hazel could only shake her head, smirking as she gathered her things and followed her boss out of the meeting room, taking the elevator up to his office. When they got there, Daniel was waiting, somehow having escorted their guests out and made it up there in a shorter span of time then it'd taken them to go up two floors.

"Your plane for Chicago leaves in three hours." He said, and Hazel couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't steal my job, cowboy."

As Daniel frowned in mock confusion, Shawn clapped him on the shoulder. "There's plenty for both of you to do - it takes a lot to make me look good. " Hazel settled in behind her obnoxiously large front desk, and Daniel into his office right next to Shawn's - it had a door into it and a door into Shawn's office as well, although it was lockable from the boss's side if he had work to get done. "I need to make a call, so hold until I give the okay."

With only a silent nod, Hazel settled in front of her computer as Shawn closed the glass door, turning on the opaque setting for privacy as he hit a button on his office phone to turn on the voice control.

"Call Vincent."

As the phone dialed out, he looked back at the screen of his cell, seeing the text messages from his friend, ones that were vaguer then he would have liked. Shawn dealt in information, and the fact his friend had fallen out of his view for the past few months was somewhat troubling to him, at least in combination with his recent requests to 'call him'.

Tessa Rose Daniels

All the bright stars that shined on the rare cloudless sky turned into an indistinct blur of white in a whirl of darkness. Joyful, unfettered laughter sang out in whooping cheers of delight!

A small figure clung to the merry-go-round bars as it spun about quickly. Legs and arms braced for balance, torso held precariously out of bounds and head tilted back to watch the heavens above as dark hair streamed like a banner of triumphant.

"Faster, Vince! Faster!" demanded the woman, her voice a tapestry of laughter.

"As you wish!" Vince called back as he continued the catch, push and release pattern to keep the merry-go-round spinning. He never tired of looking at her. No matter how long he watched her, there was something new to see and experience. The first time he saw her smile, he knew that he was done for and it would be no burden to spend the rest of his life making sure that she smiled. He always thought that love at first sight was an unlikely fairy tale. Then Tessa came into his life and it was like he was struck stupid by a fat cherub's arrow. She made his whole life different and new. As if she cast away a secret veil that kept the world removed and bridged his life to everything. Because of her, he felt more alive, grounded and strong. He couldn't imagine a life without her.

Timing it just right, Vince jumped onto the merry-go-round, cradled her with his body and yelled into her ear, "Got you!"

Fresh laughter rumbled out from Tessa and he grinned as he felt her happiness move against him. She leaned her head back on his chest to look up at him with impish blue eyes. "I guess you have to keep me then, huh?"

He pretended to think about it. Mock frowned as though it was an important question. "I guess. Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe."

"What?! I guess that means I should go home now." She started to move away but Vince wrapped his arms around her tight as the merry-go-round slowed down. He crowded her smaller body into the metal arms with his larger form, pushed her hair aside and tipped her head back to take his kiss. Her little moan of need and immediate surrender to the kiss made his gut clench. She eagerly matched him, her arms stretched up to anchor around his neck and stood on her tip toes to conquer the distance between their heights. His hands sprawled up her sensitive ribs, swallowed her moaning giggles and almost forgot the plan. He was ready to take her then and there but not yet.

He forced himself to lighten the kisses, to pull away to rest his chin on top of her head and just held her for a moment. All he heard was the thunderous pounding of his heart and their shaky, heavy breathes of air. Vince pulled away, turned her around to face him and looked deeply into her eyes. Voice rough with passion, Vince asked, "Tessa Rose Daniels, will you marry me? I promise to never let you go."

Tessa's expressive eyes immediately filled with tears and her hands moved to cover her lips. Her sweet voice trembled as she asked, "A-are you sure?"

Vince leaned down to give her a soft kiss and placed his forehead against hers. "Of course I'm sure. I love you, Tessa. Will you marry me?"

She strangled the sob that tried to get out, wiped her eyes with clumsy hands and tried to not cry. "I-I--" She swallowed, wiped her eyes, trickles of tears leaked and left star lit trails on her cheeks. Her whole face scrunched up as she closed her eyes, held her breath for a count of ten and calmed down. Steady blue eyes looked into Vince's soulful brown eyes. A glimmer of tears laid over them but did not fall. She whispered, "Yes--"

Anything else she may have said was stifled away by his bear hug and passionate air devouring kisses. She agreed. Now, he will have her forever. He couldn't ask for more.


Tessa did one more check around the house to make sure she got everything she should have gotten. She didn't need much. The most important things will be in her laptop bag and shoulder bag. Everything else was pieces of materialism that was convenient to own and not vital. All of it was replaceable.

She just needed to do two more things and then she could leave. She had to leave. That wasn't a choice. It never was.

It wasn't like her to dither like this. She's never failed to follow the plan. The details, choices and actions to get to the goal may change but the bare bones of the plan never altered.

Again, she checked the piles of clothes, jewelry, shoes, toiletries and electronics. Got annoyed with herself and packed it all away with efficiency born of long repeated patterns. Everything fit into the navy blue Burton suitcases: one large suitcase and a carry-on.

Tessa stood in front of the full length mirror and tied her auburn hair up in a ponytail. Locks of hair escaped the scrunchie to fluff around her face. In place of designer clothes, she had on a blue tank top under a baggy off the shoulder blouse, old blue jeans that hugged her slim legs, slouched ankle boots and her favorite black leather aviator jacket. Comfort clothes. Travel clothes. The two could be the same but they're not.

Reluctant steps took her over to the antique vanity that Vince had bought for her. It's an amazing piece of handmade artistry that she fell in love with when he showed it to her. She stared at the ring on her hand. A beautiful white gold ring with a shining sapphire center stone and a multitude of glittering diamonds. Tessa slowly took the ring off and placed it in the exact center of the vanity desk.

Quick, definitive steps marked Tessa's stride as she gathered her bags and took them down to the front door. A look outside confirmed that the taxi she ordered has arrived and waited for her. She went to the waiting car, greeted the driver, packed the suitcases in the trunk and asked the driver to wait five more minutes.

Tessa made her way to Vince's home office. He tends to do most of his work from there. For someone who owns their own business and makes their own hours, Vince was an orderly man and dedicated to keeping his business at the cutting edge of their finite niche. She walked in without announcing herself. She watched him from the doorway and focused her entire attention on taking in each detail.

"Vince," she called him.

Absorbed in his work, Vince paused long enough to flash a smile at her and said, "Hi, Tessa. Do you need something?"

Tension filled the room. A frown hovered on his face as he looked back up at Tessa and realized that something was up. It wasn't that her clothes were different or the fact that she still stood by the door. It was the lack of emotion on her face. Tessa's expressive face looked blank and distant. He's never seen her like that. He's never seen her closed off. "Wha--"

She cut him off.

"I'm sorry, Vince. I'm leaving. I can't marry you. Please don't look for me. I'm leaving town and I won't be back." Pain flashed for an instant in the blank coldness. But it was too brief. It could have been wistful thinking. "Be happy, Vince. You deserve someone who loves you. Someone better than me."

Tessa stepped back and closed the door. Then she ran. She ran as fast as she could and slammed into the waiting taxi. "Go! Please go!"

She didn't look back.
She refused to cry.
She didn't deserve to cry.


"Welcome to Hale O'ola Hotel. My name is Candace, how may I assist you?" greeted the dark haired beauty at the reception desk.

"I'm here to pick up keys for a villa. My friend Deacon Rhodes made arrangements for me. I should be listed as an approved guest. Here's my ID." She handed a California driver's license to Candace.

Candace smiled as she took the ID and checked the computer records. She confirmed the information. "Yes, I see you are listed here. Mr. Rhodes noted that he's not sure how long you would stay with us but you are welcome to use his villa as long as you like. Do you know how long you are staying with us, Ma'am?"

She asked the usual drill of courtesy questions as she programmed two keys for the her. "There's a complimentary breakfast between 6 to 9am every day. A live performance is scheduled for Thursday to Saturday nights. If you are interested in sightseeing, our concierge is very knowledgeable and can give you great tips. The villa you are staying in has a full kitchen but you can order from the main kitchen until 2am. Is there anything else I can do for you, Ma'am?"

"No. You've been very helpful. Thank you. I'm here on a private retreat. I'm not sure how long I will stay and I really would like to be left alone. I will be here for at least two weeks. Please keep housekeeping to once a week. Tuesday morning would be great." she said as she took the villa keys.

"No problem, Ma'am. Is there anything else I can do for you?" Candace asked as she noted the guest's requests into the computer. "No? Please let Andrew take your bags. He will help you with your luggage and show you to your villa. Enjoy your stay at Hale O'ola Hotel and please give us a call if you have any questions or need anything."

She nodded. Quiet and withdrawn, she only spoke to say thank you to the bellboy and to give him a tip. The door closed with a barely perceptible click of automatic locks. With a sigh, the woman pulled the scrunchie off and shook her dark auburn hair loose. Wavy layers poofed around a heart shaped face and settled in a shaggy mess.

She tossed her bags onto a couch, dropped the leather jacket on a chair and peeled out of her boots and jeans. The blouse piled on top of the jeans and she padded bare foot to the back of the villa. Each villa had a beautiful, private pool. She stepped into hers and sank into the velvet embrace.

It had started off just like any other phone call he made to his best friend. Anyone in his inner circle, really; a group about six people big where he could drop the formality, the pretense of having to act a certain way as he did in the business world. Inside this company, and outside of it, he was the famous Shawn Piper, heir to the famous Wayne Piper. The man who'd taken his father's company, changed it, made it better yet somehow without forsaking his dad's legacy. A young genius, someone too young to run things yet brash and brilliant enough to have the respect of people twenty years his senior in experience (both in life and work). A bit eclectic at times, yet someone who always got the job done.

Here, with his friends - and especially with this one - he was just 'Shawn'. Not said with reverence, admiration, or jealousy. But with a kind of love; the platonic type that friends always had.

It was the same tone he used on his friend. "V." He said, the smile coming to his face despite his misgivings about the call. "I'm here." Again, despite himself, the words were said with a bit of flair, as if he was announcing his audio arrival.

But his attempt to bring levity to the conversation was met with only silence, and some breathing - he could tell his friend was nervous, and unsettled, even over the phone. "Talk to me." Even though they couldn't see each other, the smile was still in Shawn's voice, knowing he'd need to draw out his friend gently.

He needn't have bothered. Over the next hour, his friend spilled everything to him, and while he interjected at first, it was like trying to hold back a breaking dam with two hands. Eventually, he just let it flow out, and Shawn started to pace around the office. It would have been a worrying sign to those watching, as pacing usually meant bad things, and he was grateful he'd put on the privacy screen to start the call. Turning it in during the middle would have sent the wrong message to his employees, a worse message then his usual abandonment of open communications. He didn't mind it when his employees saw him angry or upset, even if it was only Daniel or Hazel who would hear him angry. It showed them he was human, too, and most of the time he was expressive, animated, almost anxious as he moved his hands, walked around the room during meetings.

A broken heart was the hardest thing to heal from, but it wasn't the hardest part of the call. "I need your help, Shawnie." A female name, almost, but one that his friends called him - although not one any of his subordinates dared try; Hazel did once and walked out of the room felt like she was going to get fired.

"I know." It wasn't just the emotional support he'd always offer to his friends, colleagues, even the people who worked for him. "But what you're asking me...." It wasn't unethical, exactly. The type of information gathering and usage Shawn's company involved themselves in did skirt the line of ethics, but Shawn was adamant about never misusing the information. Privacy was a big deal, and he preferred to focus more on securing information rather then using it to find people. It wasn't that he didn't, or that his company didn't, or even wasn't hired to do just that.

But this wasn't business. It was personal, which left him in an uncomfortable position.

"I just need to know, Shawnie. I need to know...."

Vincent didn't need to specify what he needed to know. Shawn could tell.

And in the end, that's what swayed him.

"Okay." An agreement. "I'll see what I can find out about her."

"Thanks, Shawnie." A beat on the other end of the line. "I owe you one."

"No you don't." The smile came back to his face as he went to his computer.

"You'll tell me when you find her, right?"

He managed to bite back the sigh that almost escaped him. "Send me what you have, V." Another moment. "I'll be in touch."

With that, he ended the call, answering his friend's question without answering it. This was personal, but it wasn't about that, as Shawn started to pull up some information. Within seconds, he had Vincent's email with all of the relevant information on his ex-fiancee, and Shawn couldn't help but let a whistle out.

"You did good, V." Mostly good, he corrected himself, as he had left him heartbroken, and that's what had struck him about the entire story. The pieces didn't fit.

Why would one person so madly in love with the other break it off suddenly with no warning? The answer was simple, yet incredibly complex. She was clearly hiding something.

But what?

Shawn started to pull up whatever information he could about Tessa Rose Daniels, his custom search algorithm poring through the databases of information his company had legitimate access to. Various places and dates started to come up on the screen, and yet his thought process was interrupted as his privacy screen came down, and his office door opened, revealing Hazel - leather folder in hand - and Daniel walking through.

"Sorry to interrupt you, sir." It was Daniel. "But your flight leaves soon, and we'll need to take you-"

"I'm not going." He stood up, the search program not really needing his input anymore as he met their gazes. "Something's come up."

Hazel frowned, but her confusion was quickly dispelled. "It's not business, exactly...Daniel, I'll need you to go to Chicago instead." As his chief of staff stiffened, Shawn smiled. "I'll straighten it out with Andy."

After a moment's hesitation - and Hazel and Daniel exchanging a glance - Daniel folded his hands behind his back. "Well, tonight was going to be my anniversary dinner with Leesa..."

"Oh shit..."

"...but I'll leave immediately, sir."

"Uh-uh." While Shawn's tone was not direct, both Hazel and Daniel knew well enough not to challenge him. "Leave tomorrow morning. Andy can live without showing you to dinner tonight." He smiled. "Go see your wife."

"A morning flight will leave the timetable somewhat...tight...for the discussions you were set to have."

He shrugged. "I wouldn't be pushing it forward if you couldn't handle it."

"Perhaps I can leave late in the evening, sir, after my dinner is finished..."

A compromise. One, in the end, that Shawn could live with. "Play it by ear, Daniel. Work can always wait...if your evening's done, go. If not...go in the morning." He walked forward and slapped his shoulder. "You can always sleep on the flight down."

With a nod, Daniel turned on his heel and left the room, knowing he'd have to prepare to present the material that his boss was supposed to be handling. Hazel lingered, however, and Daniel went back to his screen, looking at the information scrolling in. There was a lot to this Tessa, but even as Shawn looked at it, he frowned. He'd wait for the complete picture to come in, but something about her birth date, the way her information was presented, it was....

He looked up, pretending to not have noticed his assistant lingering. "Yes?"

"Sir, if Daniel will be heading to Chicago, we will need someone to oversee his material...specifically, the update on the-"

"Oh yes. How could I have forgotten?" He quickly walked away from his desk, and Hazel matched his stride as they left his office. The security measures locked his computer and office to his DNA (although Hazel and Daniel could get into his office, they could not access his computer without his okay). "I was going to look in on that anyways, although I thought this meeting was going to happen later."

"It was, sir, but then you delayed the meetup with Piper so..."

"Right." Despite his brilliance, Shawn was known for losing track of time more then once in a while when he went off on a tangent. "We're in room B, right?"

"Yes, sir." After a moment of silence, Hazel turned to him as they were walking. "About that delay-"

"They made us wait that long."

She wasn't looking at him, but still she eagerly awaited his answer as Shawn continued, needing to finish the explanation before they got into the meeting room.

"The day they dropped us as their security company, we were left waiting for them to tell us. And we sat in that meeting room for forty one minutes before they came in, wearing the insincere smiles of friends who didn't want to see you any more." Shawn stopped as they were outside the room - one minute before the start - and looked at her. "It's about keeping things even. Ensuring debts are paid for pound for pound. Now that we're even...we can start having a working relationship again."

Hazel's presence in the meeting was not a surprise, but there were a few shocked faces at Shawn's presence as he took his place. Not at the head of the table, as he was not running the meeting in practice, although now that he was here, everyone looked at him, asking if it was okay to start.

And so he did with a nod, and a statement. "So, tell me about this 'Ghost' we've been trying to track down..."

Hale O'ola Hotel Resort & Villas

She blinked. She didn't know how long she's been staring at the screen. The browser page was full of images of women of different ethnicity with varying features, colors and styles from all over the world. The plan was to return to the list and figure out how to layout the next step. Instead, memories of Vincent crowd her mind and she felt like she was drowning in a sea of emotions.

She knew in a clinical, unbiased fashion that she wasn't going to be happy to end it with him. No matter what happened between them, they were never going to get married and have a happily ever after. She knew that.

The plan was to insert herself into his life and gain access to the information she needed. What she didn't expect was the attraction that grew between them, growing to care about Vincent, being asked to be his wife and to wish that everything he offered was something she could keep. It was like she betrayed herself with the lie. Except, the best lies are the ones paired with truth.

Lying to others was easy. Lying to herself? Not so much.

The world was full of lies and she needed answers that can lead her to the truth. She's closer to it. To finding out what she sought for so long. But instead of working on the next part, she's wasting away precious days mourning something that was never hers to begin with.


“Make the logo stand out more here and make more of key feature of the page. When this page comes up, this part should be noticed first and then the menu. I like how you incorporated the company colors on the site. This is great work. I—you know what? Go to dinner with me, Tessa. I don't normally do this sort of thing but I'd like to see you outside of the office.”

Tessa flashed a smile at him as she worked on her laptop. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

“I. Yes. Yes, I am. Have dinner with me tonight.”

Tessa didn't stop working, the smile still on her lips and her fingers flew over the keys as she made adjustments. “How highly inappropriate, Mr. Michelson. You're my boss during this project. I don't date my boss. It's bad policy.”

Vincent asked, “You won't change your mind?”

Dark auburn waves flared around Tessa's shoulders when she shook her head in response. “Nope. No dating co-workers or those who sign the paycheck.”

“Are you saying that you don't feel the attraction between us?”

Tessa stopped working for a second. She didn't look at him but the smile faded away as she became serious. She rarely looked like that. It was easier to count the times she didn't smile than when she did. She started moving the mouse. “No, I'm not. I like how blunt you are, Vince. But I can't date you because you're my boss.”

The silence that settled between them felt forced and misshapened. It was full of wants. A shouting demand that wasn't given voice. Then it vanished. “Alright. No dating while we work together. So, I'll take you out to dinner when the project is done. I won't take no for an answer.”

The project was completed ahead of schedule by two weeks, and Vince whisked Tessa away on the most elaborate first date she's ever experienced.


She clicked on several images that had potential and popped them open in a new tab. She enjoyed having shoulder length to long hair but it may be time to go for something short and edgy. Perhaps if she changed all of the outside parts, the memories of her time with Vince will ease away faster and the yearning to go back to what he promised will lapse into echoes of wishes left behind.

She gave herself three days to muddle in her feelings. To mourn Vince, herself and the dreams that she should have never wanted to become real. It's not like she hadn't been mourning before she left. She knew she had to leave him. That she would break his heart and the promises she made to him.

He didn't deserve that.

She never meant to break his heart. Vince is a good man. He deserved so much better than her. Though, her heart ached to give him everything he asked for and more.

She's in paradise. A place of temperate weather, amazing seas, vistas, beaches and colorful environs. She thought if she was in a place she loved, it would be easier to let go of the things that were hers for only a while. Only when she was with Vince.

“Okay. One more day. One more day to feel sorry for myself. To miss him. To miss the life I had with him. Just one more day...” she whispered. The last words fading into the playful wind that blew about the villa. She closed the laptop and put it away in the house. The beauty of staying by yourself in a secluded villa was not having to care if you wore clothes or not. She thought she needed silence and time alone. Maybe what she needed was noise to drown out the memories that wouldn't let go.

She padded barefoot to the walk in closet attached to the room she's been using and slipped off the brilliant blue, peacock embroidered silk robe. She had bought beachwear outfits the other day. A little retail therapy that only served to remind her of Vince and wonder what he would think of her wearing them.

She pulled on the halter style bikini set. It was a pale seashell pink and had an art deco design that made it stand out from the usual triangular patches attached to strings. It molded her curves and hugged her body.

She had bought several sarong styled wraps that had thin spaghetti strips that go over the shoulders. She enjoyed the versatility. It could be used as a skirt, shawl or worn as a dress by using the straps and crossing the material in the front. She pulled off the bright blue sarong dress with huge flower print. The cool silk slid over her skin as she crossed the dress in the front and slipped the straps over her shoulders.

The sun was setting into the sea and the skies looked like a warm fire of soft reds, yellow and orange. She headed towards the hotel beach bar and restaurant. There's usually live entertainment and dancing there at night. She found everything she wanted to keep herself busy for the night. A delicious Hawaiian meal, tasty liquor laced fruity cocktails, driving music to listen to and dance. She lost herself in the music. Letting the hard, rapid beats of the drums lead her body on the dance floor. She danced the whole set and let the music cleanse her of all the emotions that warred inside her.

The band leader gave a shout out of the band members and called for a DJ break. Reluctantly, blood pounding with the adrenaline of dancing hard and covered in clinging sweat, she returned to her table and gratefully drank the last of her cocktail and water. She motioned to the waitress for another and smiled her thanks when they responded with a nod. Her eyes roamed aimlessly around the room, taking in the happy chatter, drunken jests, catcalls, shouting and the general roar of a crowd having a good time. A tall man with dark hair caught her eye. Something about him seemed familiar but she could only see a part of is features. She waited and watched. He turned to speak to someone across from him and she saw his face.

She stilled.

Shawn Piper.

What's Shawn Piper doing here?

He'd actually seen her several moments later among the revelers and concert goers, and even in his peripheral vision Shawn had to catch himself as his eyes widened. The guy he'd been talking to - one Travis Wrola - frowned as he turned back and saw only a crowd of people moving too and fro, sipping his martini as he looked back at his friend. "Something wrong?" A beat passed, and he smirked back at Shawn. "Someone you know?"

It pained him that he was being read so easily, but Shawn knew that Travis could easily just be speculating, and he shook his head. "Nothing's wrong." He leaned in, gripping the beer he'd been nursing for the past half hour. It was his second (and last) of the night, and he wanted to be alert and aware, not losing himself to mindless passions and pursuits like many of the people here were. It wasn't that he looked down on them for indulging; a man of his wealth could have more then his share of expensive habits and he certainly did. Getting drunk wasn't usually one of them.

He'd wanted to stay alert and focused, but not for...this. Seeing Tessa here was a stroke of luck, to be sure, but he'd always believed in making his own luck. And he most certainly had.

****************

They'd settled back into his office - or at least Shawn had, almost back into full 'working mode' - Hazel lingered around his desk, which meant she had something she wanted to talk about. This also meant Shawn was going to let her bring it up, since she knew that he wasn't one to draw anything out of his closest confidantes. They knew he trusted them to speak their minds, and she didn't disappoint him.

"The meeting."

"Hmmm?" He was furiously typing away, whipping up a new program to sift through information.

"You weren't entirely happy with our progress on the 'Ghost'."

Shawn bit back a sigh. "Andre's got it well in hand. The right people are in the right slots, they've got efficient processes for sifting through the data..."

"But it's still not enough."

Hazel's blunt statement was enough to draw him back in his chair, and Shawn sighed. "They're doing all the work they can, Hazel. It just seems strange that we haven't come up with more on whoever this guy is." He saw something on one of his screens - he had five monitors on his large desk, which seemed obnoxious given the larger monitor on the far wall near the window, or the laptop that sat unused.

A moment passed, and after a moment of seemingly considering saying something, Hazel turned on her heels and walked out, although not without getting the last word in. "You *do* know it's possible that there's someone out there smarter then you are, right?"

He shouted out after her with a smile. "That's why I'll find them. Because I *know* I'm not all powerful or all knowing."

The amount of data currently scrolling through four of Shawn's monitors about Tessa Rose Daniels would certainly led credence to any illusions of divinity. While going over the information Vince had sent him about Tessa, Shawn had been running an algorithm to search through all of the databases he had access too in order to track her down. It wasn't as if he was the CIA or NSA and could track people with their phones or anything. That was beyond his...well, not his means, exactly. But there were more then enough questions about it morally (to say nothing of legally) that Piper Tech had been under strict edict by from his father and Shawn himself to never delve into it any further.

There were moments, though - like right now, as he saw the information about Tessa's flight into Hawaii - that he'd almost wished they'd at least developed it. Shawn could put in grunt work as well as anyone, having often been known for working dozens of hours in a row when working on a huge project. From what he could tell, Tessa had only a few acquaintances in the area, and nobody she'd stay with, so it wasn't as if he could go knocking on their doors to see if they'd seen her...

But Vince had also told him about what Tessa had liked, and he'd mentioned drinking, dancing, and beaches. Three things in ample supply in Hawaii. It was about five in the afternoon by the time he'd gotten up, hitting his desk phone.

"Hazel?"

"Yes sir?" A quick, curt reply, as he knew it was near the end of her hours (if not her day, most likely; with Daniel gone she'd have more to do) and he wasn't about to task her endlessly just to make her work hard. He knew she would without being pushed, it was why he hired her.

"Get me on the next flight to Hawaii."

**********

He'd gotten his share of ribbing about it, about taking a vacation even if those who poked fun at him also knew that he could fly anywhere and be busy in meetings for a week. Whether it was to sell, buy, talk, network, or just trade information, Shawn was the kind of man who could make himself busy. But the things he busied himself with - the kind of thing all businessman had to do to keep themselves visible.

But it hid his true intent. He'd told Hazel it was a personal project, which meant so many things that she didn't bother pressing him on it. But it was during a conversation on the second day of his trip when he'd asked a seemingly innocuous question - where he'd gotten his break.

"If you were looking to get away, Jake, where would you go?"

And Jake - his friend and colleague from Schmidt Industries - smiled. "Well, there is a set of villas along the coast...if you're looking to disappear, it's perfect." His eyebrow raised. "Have you ever heard of Hale O'ola Hotel?"

Shawn raised his eyebrow in response.

**********

It had taken another day after that. It wasn't as if Shawn was about to go from villa to villa trying to find her, but he wasn't a man prone to wasting his time doing one thing, either. He was a multitasker. So instead of going from place to place searching, he simply went to where the crowds were. It was the best place for meetings, or at least the informal kind he'd be indulging in here.

His reverie was interrupted as he realized he hadn't been listening to what Travis had been saying to him. Shawn responded with a sip of his drink - almost to the bottom of the his bottle, he noticed with dismay - and leaned in as if to reassure his friend that he was listening to him, and not the boisterous crowd around them.

"You weren't listening to me, were you?" The tall, skinny blonde laughed with another generous swig, but Shawn didn't give in.

"Of course I was." He smiled. "The XT-6. The prototype's going to be ready for testing in September. Shipping early '17." He tilted his head. "Although what you really meant to say was Christmas..."

Travis cackled. He was dressed in an off-white shirt and brown pants, which was only a slight contrast to Shawn in his dark blue shirt and white pants. Both with sandals, since this was the beach, but the dancing, drinking, and partying around them let them talk in relative peace. This was networking.

Eventually, Travis called it a night, but Shawn lingered, his gaze falling back to Tessa. She still seemed lost in her thoughts; had it only been a few minutes since he'd seen her? Or her him?

Did she know who he was?

Only one way to find out. He called a waitress over who had two cocktails on her tray with rather obnoxious drink umbrellas, and lemons on the rims. The cocktails were orange on the top and red on the bottom. He took them both - leaving fifty dollars in compensation for the poor table who would now be boozeless for a few more minutes - and walked over towards Tessa's table, where she was alone, and facing away from him.

It would have been easier to employ someone else, a private investigator to act as his eyes and ears while he provided the information. But this wasn't just another business deal to check someone out; this was personal. Shawn knew he wasn't the best at everything. This was a case, however, where he just couldn't live with himself if someone else screwed something up that a friend had asked him to do. Especially when it was his broken hearted best friend.

So he didn't think about how she might just run away when she saw him. She might know exactly who he was, what he was there for, but Shawn didn't let himself think about any of that. It might blow up in his face. It couldn't go any worse then it did the last time he was in this bar, he smirked to himself as he casually placed one of the cocktails on the table. The other stayed in his hand, as he examined it, carefully, deliberately, moving into Tessa's view.

"Do you know what this is?" He was asking her, but in his way, Shawn wasn't looking at her even as he spoke clearly to her, examining the cocktail in his hand. "I...well, this isn't usually my kind of drink." A Tequila Sunrise certainly wasn't, but this wasn't Shawn acting differently then usual. He was saying exactly what was on his mind; speaking truth even if his intent was hidden.

"Just thought you'd like one." He shrugged as he sipped the drink, not needing to act surprised at the fruity flavors that lingered on his tongue and that went down his throat. "Or if not, I might leave it here and come back for it." An easy smile came to his face, and even in the noise and the rancor of the bar, his eyes locked onto Tessa's. He could see how Vincent had gotten lost in those eyes.

But for now he was focusing on not losing sight of his goal. They were both playing a game, and his goal now was to find out hers without her finding out his.

"I'm Shawn...." He lingered near the table, almost leaning on it but wanting to see how she reacted first.