Victoria Colby-Camp sat at her desk and stared at the neat
pile of manila folders Mildred had placed in the exact
middle of her clean blotter pad.
It was the same each Monday morning. Mildred gathered the
assignment and status reports from each investigator and
brought the bundle to Victoria at nine sharp for her
perusal. At ten, a standard staff meeting would take place
in the conference room. New assignments would be dissected
and doled out, old business would be discussed. The work
week would continue from there.
The routine never varied.
Victoria sighed, the sound echoing softly in her empty
office.
She had no right to feel this way. Life had been extremely
good to her for months now. She certainly could not
complain....
And yet, she felt...bored.
Her brow furrowed deeply in denial of her last thought.
Perhaps bored was not the proper word. She and Lucas had
celebrated their first wedding anniversary a few months
ago with a long weekend in the Cayman Islands. Her son was
happily married and anticipating the arrival of the first
Colby grandchild.
What else could she ask for from her personal life? The
Colby Agency continued to thrive. The cases that walked
through reception's doors included the most intriguing and
challenging from right here in Chicago as well as all
across the nation โ ones that no other agency seemed able
to solve in addition to those of longtime, loyal clients.
Still, Victoria felt restless.
She pushed up from her chair and walked across the room to
look out at the city she loved. A city pulsing with life,
filled with magnificent and innovative architecture. A
place rich with colorful and turbulent political history
as well as vibrant cultural venues.
There was no other city in the country quite like it. No
other place she'd rather be.
Dozens of memories filtered through her mind, warming her
heart. It seemed so long ago now that she and James, her
first husband and the father of her only son, had started
this agency. She had known even then that the Colby Agency
would be something very special. How could it be anything
else? James Colby had orchestrated its creation.
But now, more than twenty years later, something was
missing. She concentrated hard in an effort to pinpoint
the motivation for the fleeting sensation.
This odd emptiness had started almost one month ago.At
first she'd considered that, with her highly trained and
efficient staff, maybe she was bored with her level of
participation in the business of private investigations.
Her right-hand personnel oversaw most of the day-to-day
operations. Though she came to the office each and every
day and reviewed all activities, she was not personally
involved with the execution of assignments.
But her role had always been in oversight rather than
execution. Why would she suddenly feel unsettled in that
role now? Admittedly, change could be a good thing. With
that in mind, and much to the dismay of her staff, she'd
launched a complete overhaul of the agency's decor. A
smile tilted one corner of her mouth. Unquestionably the
renovations were a nuisance, but she'd hoped that the
transformations would fulfill this sense of lacking she
suffered.
The distraction had not worked.
Victoria turned to view her elegantly decorated office.
Though the new gold and red tones were quite exquisite, as
were the rich jewel tones of the rest of the offices, the
relief she'd hoped for had not come.
Nor had the carpet. Her gaze dropped to the beige
carpeting on the floor. The contractor had apologized
repeatedly for the error. The wrong color had been ordered
and, of course, returned, leaving the floor rather bland
amid the rest of the opulent decor.
Her attention moved back to her desk and the stack of
files. She really should get on with her Monday morning
review, but the usual anticipation proved glaringly absent.
There was always the chance that her lackadaisical
attitude wasn't work-related at all.
She'd toyed with the idea of a personal makeover. Nothing
elaborate. A new hairstyle perhaps, and possibly a color.
Victoria smoothed her hand over her firmly coiled French
twist. Never one to bother with such trivialities, she'd
worn her hair the same way for half a lifetime, never
bothering with touching up the multiplying silver strands
that gave away her true age.
Was it time for a personal change?
Lucas appeared more than happy with her hair just as it
was. She traced the tiny lines accentuating her eyes and
wondered why she'd never worried about those, either. Most
women her age and of her social standing had undergone at
least one facelift by now.
No, she decided, that wasn't the problem.
As simple as it would be to pretend a new wardrobe and a
visit to a salon would cure her restless feelings, she
knew deep down that it wouldn't help.
Her working life lacked the edge and excitement of the
past. Though it was certainly true that the Colby Agency
worked many, many intriguing and exciting cases, that
wasn't what she meant.
When she and James had first started the agency,
everything had been new, including the investigators they
hired. One or two had had previous experience in the
field, but most learned from the master, James Colby
himself. Time and experience had honed this agency to a
gleaming, precious jewel among its competition.
No more rough edges, no more raw exhilaration. Affection
tugged at her lips when she thought of Trevor Sloan and
his untamed surliness. He'd been a man with more rough
edges than most, and yet the best damned investigator any
agency could hope to retain. He'd been young and so had
Victoria.
On the heels of that thought came an epiphany. That was
the missing ingredient that had her out of sorts.
Youth.
It wasn't that she resented growing older. On the
contrary โ her life was everything she wanted it to be and
more. This was strictly business.
And no one knew better about the business of private
investigations than she.
Victoria stepped over to the phone on her desk and pressed
the intercom button.
"Mildred, find the date and location of that job fair we
talked about last week. I'm considering participating."
Anticipation surged in Victoria's veins. She was on to
something here. She could feel it all the way to the pads
of her feet. "I have it right here, Victoria," Mildred
said as she shuffled through her calendar. "Embassy Suites
downtown, this weekend."
Perfect. "Sign the agency up ASAP. I don't want just a
booth, I want a conference room. Get it in tomorrow's
edition of the Tribune."
"It may be too late to sign up," Mildred warned. Victoria
grinned. "Talk to Lyle Vandiver at the Chamber of
Commerce. He'll get us in. Pull out all the stops,
Mildred. I want to make a big splash."
"The usual employment requirements?" her secretary asked.
There was no need to mull over the question; Victoria knew
what she wanted. "No. This is going to be different. No
experience necessary. Drop the age requirement to twenty."
"Pardon? Did you say twenty?"
"Twenty," Victoria repeated. That was a far cry from the
twenty-five guideline the agency generally used. It had
been a very long time since she had considered an
applicant too young to have any real job experience. And
there was no time like the present to see what she'd been
missing.
Still sounding befuddled, Mildred assured, "I'll get right
on it."
Victoria sat at her desk and began to review the case
files with a new sense of purpose.
That was what she'd been missing โ just exactly what this
agency needed โ new blood. Young blood. Raw talent.
The unexpected.
AT 10:00 A.M. on the dot that morning Victoria moved to
the conference room where all not on assignment waited.
Ian Michaels and Simon Ruhl sat on either side of her
vacant chair at the head of the long polished mahogany
table. Ian's wife, Nicole, as well as Ric Martinez, Ryan
Braxton, Pierce Maxwell, Ethan Delaney, Doug Cooper-Smith,
Daniel Marks and A. J. Braddock, one of the agency's
newest investigators, were present. Patrick O'Brien, the
other new member on Victoria's staff, was currently on
assignment, as were three other investigators.
AsVictoria took her place at the table, ElaineYounger, the
agency receptionist, poked her head through the door.
"Victoria, the gentlemen are here to install the carpet."
A litany of groans and sighs went around the room. Elaine
looked worried, as if she feared she'd somehow done the
wrong thing by making the announcement no one in the room โ
other than Victoria โ wanted to hear.
"Excellent," Victoria said with a nod of approval in
Elaine's direction. "Let them know they can start in my
office."
Elaine nodded eagerly and quickly closed the door to carry
out her orders. "Victoria."
Victoria turned to Simon and waited for him to proceed.
"Mildred mentioned that you had decided to join in this
weekend's job fair."
He didn't have to say the rest; Victoria read the question
in his eyes. Why on earth had she lowered the usual
standards for hopeful applicants?
"That's correct." She surveyed the table. Judging by the
expression on each face, all present had heard the
news. "I felt the need to venture into new territory." She
clasped her hands and placed them on the table in front of
her. "I'd like to sample the raw talent out there," she
added bluntly. "Any questions?"
Victoria didn't miss the smile that flirted with Ian's
lips. "You have someone in mind for heading up the event?"
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