Page 1 of Kevin's Destiny

CHAPTER 1

Kevin Lassiter scrubbedhis face before he tossed his pen on the papers on his desk and sighed heavily. He was sitting in his home office, and going over the list he had made to finish up his life in Seattle. He settled back in his chair, picked up his glass of bourbon, and stared into space.

He reached for the phone on the corner of the desk, picked up the receiver and dialed. Only then did he notice the time and hoped it wasn’t too late in the evening for his call.

“Riceman,” came the clipped female voice over the phone.

“Erin, it’s Kevin. Kevin Lassiter.”

“Oh, hey, Kevin. How is everything?”

“Good. Quick question. Do you still need a security officer?”

“I do, I actually need two. Are you available?”

“I will be soon, but yes. I’m getting my life in order here. I need to meet with HR next week to discuss my retirement, then I need to report to my captain. I want to make sure my current cases are closed, or at least close to being closed before I walk away for good.”

“Do you have a timeline as to when you might be here?”

“Not really, maybe a rough estimate of two months.”

“Perfect. You’ll see it you when you get here, but I’m having a security office built at New Double. That’s where your office will be. Hopefully, I’ll be getting information for the people that Clem will send to me for RRR. I would like them to work at New Double until RRR is ready. You’ll be doing background checks on them, also you’ll be making sure the people that will be coming to New Double to see the racehorses for sale aren’t bad.”

“Background checks on them too? What type of people?”

“Yes, there would be buyers, trainers, jockeys.”

“Doesn’t New Double already have a jockey and trainer?”

“Yes, for Naomi’s horses. However, if someone wants to purchase one of her horses she’s going to sell, then the owner will probably come with his trainer, and the trainer will want to bring their jockey. You know, have the jockey ride the horse to see how it races, and the trainer can watch.”

“Got it, now I totally understand.” Kevin nodded, even though she couldn’t see him. He chuckled after he took a sip of his bourbon. “You’re not going to expect me to ride a horse, are you?” He grinned when he heard Erin’s laughter.

“Nope, you’ll be security, just like Duane is. Oh, and in case I didn’t mention this earlier, I have someone else that’s coming to do the same thing as you. They also have to clean up their lives. The two of you will be working together until RRR is at the point that it needs security. It will be up to the two of you to figure out who wants to work where. I don’t care, as long as someone stays at New Double, and someone transfers over to RRR.”

“How are you doing with the construction on the new ranch, and have you figured out what you’re going to name it? You keep saying RRR, or Triple R, do the R’s stand for anything?”

“Riceman Rodeo Ranch.”

“Nice, I like that. I’ll keep you posted with my timeline for my arrival. Don’t laugh at me, but do you need to do a background check on me?”

“Nope, Duane and Jake did one when you came to visit Caleb when Katherine came here.”

“Got it.” He shook his head and smirked at how thorough Erin was. It was going to be good to work for someone like that, and he couldn’t wait to get there.

“Do you want me to mention anything to Caleb? Not that I see him every day, but I don’t want to mess up a surprise or anything.”

“Please don’t. I’m not going to not tell him, but I still have several things to do here, and when I get closer to the time, I’ll reach out to him.” He chuckled and shook his head, though she still couldn’t see him. “After I clean up my work, I have to clean out the house. I’ll be calling Caleb to see if he wants me to bring the stuff he left here when he moved to Colorado.”

“Ah, I totally understand. This is none of my business, what about Ryan? Do you want me to tell him?”

“Again, no. I’ll reach out before I leave. What I’m about to tell you is just between the two of us for now.”

“Okay, I can keep your secret, but only as long as it doesn’t harm anyone.”

“It won’t. You know about my divorce, and how my ex-wife, Karen, went to prison.”

“Shit, that’s right. I’m sorry.”