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CHAPTER1
Laura
Always know where the bottom is, so then you can know when you hit it.
Sitting on the other side of plexiglass, watching my sleazeball of a stepfather sit shoulder to shoulder with his lawyer, I knew I’d hit a brand new low.
I thought I had been the lowest I could possibly ever sink to, that night in the basement of my fancy upstate childhood home - with its five floors and indoor pool. A pretty little prison. I’d thought then that jail might be a relief from my life, when the police and ambulances had arrived, sirens screaming, and I’d sat beside the body, hands covered in blood, horror playing before my eyes. At least I wouldn’t have to live here anymore. At least the trauma of the whole thing had forced social services to take my younger brother, Benji, away from Brian.
Brian was my stepdad and Benji’s father. I stared through the smeared glass at the man I hated more than anyone in the world.
“Did you hear what I said, Laura?” Brian snapped at me, forcing me to take part in his conversation when I just wanted to ignore him.
His wishy-washy light brown eyes were irritated, shrewd, and pissed off at the same time. He hated to repeat himself, so not being able to reach through the glass and slap me, or ring my neck with his meaty hand, was probably frustrating him.
“I said that your bail hearing was set for tomorrow morning,” he said. Bail? I didn’t want to make bail. I had no intention of it.
His eyes narrowed, and I wondered for a moment if I’d spoken out loud. “Now, I don’t have to remind you to be a good girl and say what I told you to, do I?”
I stared at him, a feeling of fight rising in my chest that I rarely allowed myself. Usually fighting ended badly for me, but in here? I was untouchable.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ll see how I feel tomorrow.”
Brian’s hand curled into a fist. Of course, he wouldn’t like the idea that I was in here, unreachable, when I was full of secrets. Secrets that could ruin a man like him. Maybe he’d have me killed in here and that would solve all his problems.
No, I didn’t think he would. If Brian ever ended me, he’d want to do it himself. He liked the power to make, break, and end things.
He folded his arms across his chest. “Don’t force my hand, Laura. You won’t like it when I take matters into my own hands.”
“What are you going to do? You don’t exist to me anymore. Not in here.” My voice was full of goading and victory. Then Brian smiled, and my courage deserted me.
“But not everyone you care about is in here, are they? Did you hear Benji is coming home at the weekend? I passed the review with flying colours.”
A dull roar filled my ears, and I heard nothing else. Benji was going home? He would be home alone with Brian, in that house of horrors. I sat and watched the lawyer and Brian get ready to leave.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Laura. Be a good girl in court for me,” Brian said, smiling like a doting father. No one could see the monster beneath. I nodded, my head bobbing like a puppet. I had no choice now. Staying in jail was impossible. I had to get out and protect my younger brother. It didn’t matter what happened to me when Brian got me alone again.
Just when I thought there was no lower to go, I burrowed deeper. Everyone needs a life skill, I guess. Finding a new depth was mine. What can I say?
I was just born lucky.
CHAPTER2
Bennet
When my alarm went off at 5, I was already out of bed and moving toward the bathroom. Five minutes for my morning wood to subside as I brushed my teeth, then took care of business, and hit my home gym.
It was indulgent. I could admit that. No one really needed so much workout equipment at home, and no-one’s gym should take up so much space, but I had the room, so why not? Now, if I ever had a wife and family, sure, I’d change all this up. A dressing room for the Mrs., if she wanted it, a nursery, or four. I was flexible and open to ideas.
As I did a quick round of chin-ups, sweat lashing off my face and dripping down my chest, I felt my phone go off in my pocket and grimaced. As soon as the irritation hit me, another feeling followed it. Guilt. If I was so hell-bent on becoming a family man one day, I shouldn’t be dodging interested females.
Despite knowing that, I left my phone unchecked as I went to shower. My reflection met my dispassionate gaze in the glass of the walk-in shower. My body was my greatest weapon, and one I wielded with precision. Height, nature had taken care of, but the muscles and strength were my own hard work, and the ink, well, that was just for fun. Besides, it helped to intimidate smaller skips into coming with me when I looked like a hardened bruiser.
I stepped into the shower and lathered up, mentally reviewing the day’s schedule. I’d started my bail bond company when I came out the marines and realized I had stepped into another world. There was before the military, and after, like a one-way portal that could never be walked twice. I had money. My father, a former senator, had made sure of that. But when I got out and saw so many of my former buddies struggling hard, I’d given a lot of it away.
Slowly but surely, as the small loans and rent help failed to turn anything around for the guys, I’d started the business. Sigma Squad Bail Bonds was born.
Nearly six years in, and I didn’t need the senator’s money anymore. I was a self-made man, and best of all, the business we’d built had saved the lives of so many, through our employment opportunities, internships, mentoring and charity work.It wasn’t always combat that killed you. Sometimes, the darkness came later, when you failed to find a world to go home to. People needed purpose and community. They needed to matter to someone, and at Sigma Squad Bail Bonds, they did.
