Chapter 4 #2
I exited the building without further incident and headed to the small garage that housed the golf carts provided for management and security personnel.
I entered the security code into the digital keypad, and the red light above it turned green.
The door unlocked with a whir, and I pushed it open.
The exterior of the building was as grandiose as the rest of the structures on the campus, but I expected the inside to resemble a typical garage.
Instead of oil-stained concrete floors and cheap metal shelves lining the walls, Silver Maple’s service garage was a gleaming showpiece.
The contractor had painted the concrete floors a warm beige color with decorative flakes in multiple hues of gray.
The sunlight streaming through east-facing windows made the silvery chips look like glittering diamonds.
I stopped in the center of the room and studied the cedar shelves lining the walls.
They weren’t random pieces of wood haphazardly screwed together and shoved into place.
Someone had put a lot of care into their construction and finished them with a clear varnish to show off the natural color of the wood.
The shelving was better suited for a living room instead of a garage.
“Hell, these are nicer than the bookshelves in my loft,” I mumbled.
Tidier too. Someone had arranged everything by size and purpose, with not a single dirty shop rag in sight.
I might’ve bet my next paycheck that the shelves would pass a white-glove test if someone had been there to accept the challenge.
I took in the rows of shiny golf carts and acknowledged I had truly stepped into another world.
That was nothing new for a soldier, especially one from an elite force, but somehow, getting dropped into the middle of a war felt more natural than stepping into Silver Maple’s fancy garage.
And what that said about my personality was disturbing, but I shook it off and pushed the button to open the rolling garage door.
I climbed aboard the first golf cart and turned the key in the ignition.
The electric engine fired right up, but I noticed the battery was only charged halfway.
“Great.”
Climbing off, I located the charger and connected it to the port before moving on to the next cart in the row.
Second verse, same as the first. That battery had less than a quarter of juice.
I plugged it in to charge and moved on down the line.
Again and again, each time finding that no one had bothered to charge any of the golf carts.
If the employees at Silver Maple polished the wooden shelves in the garage, they likely took excellent care of everything else.
“Sabotage,” I groused. “I knew it.”
I texted the intel to Archer and received laughing and eye-rolling emojis in return.
Archer: I’m sure it was just an oversight. No need to call out the National Guard.
Me: Fuck you.
Archer: Buddy, I’m all game if you think it will help you out. Just know I don’t do repeats and I don’t catch feelings.
Me: Better save this speech for Bobby later.
Archer: Fuck you right back.
We could’ve gone on like this for hours, so I tucked my phone away and chose the golf cart with the most juice.
I didn’t have to be out long, so surely it would do.
Caitlyn’s tour had been brief, mostly consisting of the administrative and community buildings.
I just wanted to get a feel for the layout of the entire campus and check on our team to make sure they had everything they needed.
Sure, I could’ve just called them on our walkie-talkies or phones, but I liked the personal touch.
And I fucking needed fresh air. What was I supposed to do all day in that building?
Take turns at the desk with Archer? Hell to the no.
I drove the golf cart out of the garage, parked it long enough to lock everything back up, and then headed out to explore.
The fancy driveway material continued throughout the campus, winding around the multilevel buildings that housed apartments for the residents in assisted living, and through the mini subdivisions of cottage-style housing for the independent residents.
A woman stepped out onto the front porch of a villa and waved me down.
“Yoo-hoo,” she yelled over the hum of the golf cart.
Slowing, I turned into the driveway and cut the engine.
The woman stepped off the shaded porch and into the sunlight, smiling at me like we were old friends.
She wore her hair parted down the middle, with one side completely white and the other black.
It reminded me of a Disney cartoon character, but I couldn’t remember which one.
She had to be at least five ten in her flat shoes and carried herself with ramrod, almost military precision.
It was hard to gauge her age. I knew from Silver Maple’s bylaws that she had to be at least sixty to live there, but she looked at least ten years younger.
“Good morning, ma’am,” I said, meeting her at the top of the driveway. “Did you need help with something?”
“I’m Veronica Poole, one of the Silver Maple board members.” She extended her hand, which I promptly shook, noting the strength in her grip. “Are you one of RAVEN Securities’ owners?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said, then introduced myself.
“It’s nice to meet you, Ray.”
“Likewise. We’re certainly grateful for the opportunity to provide security services to the residents.”
“Thank you,” Veronica said. “That’s lovely to hear, but you don’t have to be so formal. I’m just being nosy, and you should probably get used to it. All the residents will be curious about the new crew.” Her eyes swept over me again, this time a little slower.
“Are all A-through-N guys just as handsome as you are?”
“More so,” I replied.
She laughed and shook her head. “Doubt that. I don’t want to keep you from your tasks.
I just wanted to introduce myself. My friends call me Ronni, by the way.
” She leaned forward and lowered her voice as if paparazzi were loitering in the flowering bushes along her porch.
“You’d make my day if you called me Ronni in front of all the other residents. ”
I shrugged. “Okay.”
“Great. Now, be on your way. I need to make a call that will trigger the gossip chain. When the phone rings around here, you know it’s going to be a prayer request or juicy gossip.” She made shooing motions with her hands, and I complied with a chuckle.
“See you around, Ronni.”
“If I weren’t old enough to be your grandmother, I’d swoon right here on the spot. Say,” she said, perking up, “I’d love to introduce you to one of my single nieces or nephews.”
I lifted a brow at her open-mindedness. “I’ll just be going now.”
She laughed and took a few steps backward. “He plays it close to the vest. I like it.”
Shaking my head, I wheeled the golf cart around in the driveway and headed out onto the street.
I passed the rehab facility, the residents’ fancy dining hall and banquet center, and a large community recreation space that was supposed to have a state-of-the-art gym, including an indoor and outdoor pool with spa areas for both recreation and therapy.
The campus was beautiful, and I understood why someone would want to live out the last decades of their lives at Silver Maple.
There was a parking area near the community recreation area, which sat toward the far edge of the campus.
A tall stone fence provided privacy from people driving down the nearby public road, but the rows of trees on the other side were a vulnerable entry spot for someone who didn’t belong there.
The pool had to be a temptation for punk-ass kids who could easily climb the trees to jump the stone wall.
The unexpected sound of metal crashing against metal caused me to lift my foot from the pedal to hear better.
What was that, and where was it coming from?
The noise got louder, helping me identify the direction, and I smashed my foot against the accelerator.
Archer liked to joke about my sensitivity to energy, but my alarm bells were ringing.
Something was wrong. There was no reason for metal to be crashing against metal.
I’d checked the maintenance schedule, and there was no planned activity that would account for the sound.
Clang, clang, clang! Crunch!
The last noise sounded like glass shattering. My pulse escalated, and I pressed the accelerator all the way down. “Come on, come on.” The little golf cart bucked but then lunged forward.
The clanging and crunching continued, and I wondered why no one had run out of the recreation building to see what the hell was going on.
Okay, running might’ve been a stretch in a senior living community, but at least someone could power walk to check out the disturbance.
As I drew nearer, I understood why the building occupants hadn’t heard the noise.
Music blared from the rear of the building, probably the outdoor pool area.
Clang, clang, clang. Crash!
Rounding the side of the building, I saw a hooded figure wailing away on a grayish hatchback car with a crowbar.
He’d already knocked out one of the windows on the side I could see and had likely knocked out one on the opposite side too.
I ripped my walkie-talkie off the belt and radioed for help as I willed the stupid golf cart to go faster.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” came Archer’s tinny reply.
“No, damn it. I need backup at the community recreational building. Call the police.”
“Police? What’s going on?”
“Just get here.” Thinking of the sabotaged batteries, I added, “Better drive our SUV.” As if to prove my point, the electric motor sputtered and whined. “Shit.”
Clang, clang, clang. Crash!