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There’s a flash of darkness in his eyes that speaks to the same in me. It’s safe to say that however he plans to get things sorted, it’s gonna be brutal. That mentality is exactly what I need right now.
He eyes me shrewdly across from him in one of his oversized way-too-comfy chairs. I don’t want to be comfortable right now. I need to stay on edge, need to keep the adrenaline flowing.
The chair, along with his desk are about the only things still out and about in the office. The rest of the space is empty, just a few boxes stacked over around the edges of the room. He’s pretty much packed up and ready to leave Crux Security in favor of Thorns. From what I saw of it when I walked in through the lobby and got escorted to his office by one of his colleagues, the place is a fancy-ass building, all ultra-modern and sleek, with top-of-the-line equipment and security.
“Sure you wanna leave a place like this?” I ask him, wondering why he’s making a move. Seems like a step down from all this.
“I’m not down with the way the firm’s been leaning lately,” he says, answering honestly.
But it’s just a surface answer. I’m gonna need way more than that before I’m gonna be convinced to trust him enough to take a risk and bring him in on this mission with me.
“How’s that?” I press.
He sighs and leans back against his rolling chair. “There are some clients using the protection we provide to do things that aren’t above board, bad people hurting the good ones out there. The firm is down with that, so long as we get a paycheck. I can’t be a part of that kind of thinking, that sort of approach. So, I was quitting either way. Neil’s call came at the perfect time. Black Thorns is about family, brotherhood. The club doesn’t support twisted shits, it stands on the side of what’s good and just. Those are all things I’ve got a lot of respect for, things I like to live by.” He scrutinizes me for a moment, then says, “When Neil gave me a heads-up about you coming to me, I never thought it’d actually happen.”
“Yeah? Why’s that?”
The corner of his mouth turns up. “I read people extraordinarily well. You’re not on board with him bringing an outsider into Black Thorns, especially not the SAA role. It makes you nervous, I make you nervous. And when people like you get nervous, you see a threat needing putting down. I suspect the only reason you haven’t made a move is out of respect for your son-in-law. You trust him, yet you don’t outsiders, so you’re conflicted. Also, you’re worried about why I left the military, whether it’s got something to do with that scar you were eyeing on my arm that day at The Cove, and whether that’s fucked with my head.” He smiles smugly at me. “How did I do?”
I can’t help smiling. “Spot on. Impressive.”
“Thought so.”
I gesture to his left shoulder. The scar’s not visible right now, hidden beneath that gray hoodie of his that’s zipped up all the way. He’s wearing the same black tactical pants I saw on him last time with his Desert Eagle nestled inside a holster at his right hip. “So? What’s the deal?”
He laughs, but it lacks humor. “You really don’t pull any punches, do you?”
“I don’t care how personal it is. With what’s coming, I gotta know where your head’s at. Simple as that.”
He holds up his hand. “All right, chill.” He shoves his finger at the site of the scar, telling me, “This was the final push to me leaving the Special Forces. The precision required for that role alluded me after I sustained this wound. But the job was wearing on me before that, and I’d been thinking about getting out, returning to a civilian life.”
“Trauma?”
“In a sense, yeah.”
“You left the military, now this security firm. Then there’s your off-the-books work.”
Realization flashes in his eyes. “I can still take an order or two if I need to. I wouldn’t have joined Black Thorns if I couldn’t.”
“And you still get off on the rush of it all.”
He grins. “Best way to feel alive. I figure you know a thing or two about that.”
All his answers are right on for what I need from him. “All right.”
“We’re in play?”
“Yeah, we’re in play.”
“Good.” He opens his top desk drawer and pulls out a wad of papers, sliding them across the desk toward me.
As I snatch them up, he tells me, “This is what I’ve gathered on Priest.”
“You pulled that up fast.”
“It’s what I do,” he says, with a shrug. Then there’s just intensity coming off him as he tells me, “I know where he’s holding her.”
“Then let’s get to work.”
