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“No,” FNG shook his head, staring at me funny. “I was drugged and taken to a location outside the city. They thought Paris would be with me and were looking to make a quick buck. And when they realized I was telling the truth, that we had broken up, they stole what money I had on me and my passports, then stranded me on the side of the road.”
“You know, for an ex-military guy, you sure do let people get the drop on you a lot.”
“Did you not hear the part where I was drugged? When I came to, I was still swimming from the effects of the drugs. And I was tied to a chair.”
“Oh, well, if you were tied to a chair, that explains it all,” Dash rolled his eyes.
FNG glared at him. “Anyway,” he continued. “I had to find work, so I walked until I came upon a winery. I figured I could get a job picking grapes or something, and then I could work on getting my passport back. It just took longer than expected.”
“And where does Rupert Hughes come into play?”
“He was making deals and moving product through the winery. That’s how they stayed open and thriving with such a small list of clientele. I’ll never forget the day I met him. It was by sheer coincidence that I ran into him, and it changed my life forever.”
34
FNG
A long time ago,in a land far away…
Before OPS. Many hours. Many minutes. Many seconds…
I wipedthe sweat from my brow as the midday sun beat down on my head. Sweat stained the front and back of my shirt as I hauled yet another basket of grapes onto my shoulder and walked the dusty path back to the wagon we were currently filling. I nodded to another worker who had been here just as long as I had.
The work was brutal but oddly fulfilling. I was constantly alone with my thoughts, which should have made moving on even more difficult. I thought I really loved Paris, and that she loved me. But when it came down to it, she was only interested in the money she would inherit when her father bit the dust. Maybe in another life, I would have been enough for her.
“Hey, Dean!” my boss called me over.
I set the grapes on the top of the wagon, then dumped them in and set the basket down. Wiping off my hands, I made my way over to him and the owner of the winery.
“Dean, we have a job for you. It’s a few more hours, but you’re the most reliable worker we have.”
I found that hard to believe. There were plenty of other men who worked here and showed up for all their shifts. “What’s the job?”
“We need a man to help out with special orders. You would still work here during the day, but after hours, you would work in packing, specifically in the back room.”
The way he said it didn’t sit right with me. It was almost as if he was trying to avoid saying what the job really was. I wasn’t interested in getting involved with anything illegal. I was finally happy, enjoying my life as much as I could while picking grapes in a foreign country.
It wasn’t anything like the jobs I was used to, but I’d left my old job behind when I asked Paris to marry me. She didn’t like the danger. And when I lost all my money and my passport, it seemed like this was a good place to regroup and get my head on straight while I earned enough money to get home.
“We would of course give you a substantial raise in pay for the extra hours,” the owner said quickly. A little too quickly.
As much as I wanted to say no, something twinged in my gut, telling me to take the job and find out what was really going on. While I didn’t want to be in the middle of this job, the thrill of being on the hunt was enticing me back.
“When do you need me to start?”
“I’ll take you over there now,” my boss said.
He jerked his head at me to follow him, and as I passed the owner, I could have sworn he was assessing me as to whether or not I was a threat. It was times like this that I wished I still had my gun on me.
We walked across the property to the distribution center. It wasn’t a very big building, but it connected to the warehouse where all the barrels were stored. My boss nodded to men as he passed, each of them studying me as well. What the hell was going on here?
Once in the back, my boss shut the door and turned to me with a stern expression. “There are things that happen in this warehouse that I expect to be handled with the utmost care. I would be very unhappy if I were to discover that secrets were revealed to anyone. Do I make myself clear?”
I nodded. Now I had to know what was going on. Also, why did this guy think I would be so easily manipulated?
He turned on his heel and continued through the large room until he reached the back where several boxes were lined up. “Every week, we receive special orders for some of our most important clients. As a courtesy to them, we sometimes transport items that are of a sensitive nature.”
“Like what?”
