Chapter 3
Tobias
“You need how many jeeps?” There is no way I heard right. It’s impossible the owner of Alaskan Security would expect me to—
“Twenty. For now. I will also need that many more in two months.” Pierce says it plainly. Like he just asked me to buy him a pack of gum, not completely deck out a whole fucking fleet of vehicles.
“And you want me to get them to you by, when?” As if the number of SUVs he wants isn’t a big enough issue, Pierce’s timeline is also leaving a hell of a lot to be desired.
“A month. I have a team expanding their presence in Nashville and they are in desperate need of additional vehicles with the security upgrades only you offer.”
Pierce has always had crazy high expectations for what I’m capable of accomplishing. Normally, I bend over backwards to meet those expectations. Not just because he’s one of our best clients, but because I might as well meet someone’s expectations.
My eyes lift to look out the windows giving me a view of the warehouse-sized garage where my teams work. “You know I always do my best for you, Pierce. But this is—”
“I’ll pay double.” He doesn’t hesitate.
Which is fine, but… “It’s not about the money, Pierce.
It’s about the time. I can’t magically create more hours in a day.
” I know Pierce is used to throwing around cash to get what he wants, but cash can’t fix the thing keeping me from making this deal.
“Not only that, I don’t know that I have enough space to bring in the amount of people I would need to accomplish that on top of all the other orders I have to fill. ”
Sometimes I don’t think Pierce realizes he is not the only person we provide with aftermarket vehicle modifications.
In the years that McKinley Security Systems has been offering specialized, retrofit upgrades like bulletproof windows, advanced suspension, and high-end digital communication centers, we’ve accrued a significant number of customers.
Customers just like Pierce, who think they can buy their way into being first in line.
“I have complete faith in you.” Pierce still doesn’t seem willing to acknowledge my limitations. “Do the best you can, and keep me in the loop.”
I hang up the phone and groan, already exhausted over how hard I’m going to have to work to make this happen.
And I will make it happen. Because what else do I have to do?
I’m just waking up my computer so I can place the order for the Jeeps Pierce has requested, when something weird happens. I don’t quite know what the fuck it is, but the room rattles around me. The ground under my boots seems to vibrate as a rumble that almost sounds like thunder fills the air.
My administrative assistant pokes his head into my office, brows pinched in confusion. “Did you feel that?”
I’m already on my feet, striding past him. “I’ll go find out what’s going on.” As I leave the office tucked into the back corner of the building wing that serves as my domain, I scan every inch of it I can see, seeking an explanation for the strange sound and vibration.
Because it sure as hell wasn’t an earthquake.
Some of my employees seem to have noticed it, but considering the specialty ear protection they’re wearing—and the pneumatic tools they’re using—many of them are oblivious.
I pick up my pace, cutting past the vehicle lifts where a large portion of my staff continues working.
I reach the heavy door leading into the main portion of the building, but the second I shove it open, all the lights dim and sirens fill the air.
Something’s on fire.
I turn back into the warehouse, waving my arms to get my employees’ attention.
The flashing lights aren’t as obvious in the cavernous space, and the sound is all but lost, forcing me to personally alert them.
It feels like it takes me forever to get everyone out the closest exit, but once they’re all finally outside, I go in search of what the fuck is going on.
Running back through the shop, I once again shove my way through the door connecting to the rest of the building.
I pull in a deep lungful of air, but don’t smell any smoke, which makes me feel slightly better.
Surely if something was actually on fire the smoke would have reached me by now.
I know the building is big, but on a clear day, I can smell a campfire burning miles away from my back deck. That shit permeates.
The alarm continues to wail as I run for the area that serves as our main entrance. It’s where our security hub is, which will be the fastest way for me to get eyes on everything. But just as I round the corner cutting to the long corridor leading to my destination, it hits me.
Smoke. And not just a little of it.
A billowing cloud leaks out of the hall leading to one of our storage areas.
Loud voices and panicked yells draw me in that direction.
I reach the scene to find Titus holding Mariah close, both of them looking like they just walked through an inferno.
Their skin is covered in soot. The fabric of their clothes are singed in a few areas.
The sight of Titus like this stops my heart.
It’s so close to the way I saw him the day he lost Kara and the baby.
For a second, I’m pulled into the loss of his past instead of the loss in mine.
When he staggers, I snap out of it and start moving even before Mariah yells for help. Managing to catch him as he drops, I ease Titus’s path to the floor. I look him over, searching for injuries. “What the hell happened?”
“There was an explosion.” Trevor looks just as mangled as Titus as he rakes a hand through his hair.
His eyes snap to a set of newly arriving EMTs.
One immediately starts attending to Titus.
Trevor stabs a finger at the second. “You.” He barks out the word before pointing at the temp serving as our supply clerk. “Make sure she’s okay.”
I expect my older brother to continue ordering people around—that’s sort of his thing—but instead, his eyes linger on the medic and Maren, gaze narrowing as he watches her being examined.
I can’t tell if he’s angry, or still simply running on adrenaline, but something about Trevor seems even more edgy than normal.
Maren glances up, catching Trevor as he stares at her. She lifts her brows, holding both hands out as the medic tries to strap an oxygen mask to her face. “What?” She snaps the question at him, clearly annoyed by his attention on her.
Trevor’s pointing finger is back in action, this time swinging to the end of the hall. “Why in the hell were you in that supply room with him?”
Maren grabs the mask the medic finally managed to get in place, pulling it down so she can yell back at my brother. “Are you trying to victim blame me?”
There aren’t many people in this world who give my brother the shit he deserves, but the tiny brunette is doing a pretty good job. I’m impressed.
I think I’m going to hire her.
Trevor rakes a hand through his hair again, proving just how upset he is.
I don’t think I’ve seen a hair out of place on him in years.
“No I’m not fucking victim blaming you.” He seems to take a breath, and I almost feel like he’s trying to calm down, which is not something I’ve seen him attempt before.
“How did he get in the supply room with you?”
His rephrasing of the question seems to slightly appease Maren, smoothing down a few of the feathers he’d ruffled. “The prick must have stolen somebody’s badge, because he let himself in.”
“Who the fuck are we talking about?” I glance down, checking on Titus as he starts to come around. “And what in the hell exploded?”
“A bomb.” Mariah is now sitting on the floor at my feet, cradling my brother’s head in what remains of her lap.
Surely I didn’t hear that right. “A bomb?”
I hope to God she’s wrong. Otherwise I’m gonna have to call Pierce back and tell him there’s no way I’m gonna make his deadline this time.
I’ve got to call Pierce. And I really, really don’t want to.
Because he’s not going to be happy. He’ll be in good company, because I’m not very happy either.
For a myriad of reasons.
He picks up on the second ring, but doesn’t greet me in the normal way. Instead he shocks the shit out of me.
“How much damage was done?”
“I guess word travels fast.” I grab my foam cup and tip back what remains of my coffee, along with a collection of aspirin I don’t bother counting.
“I pay a lot of money for word to travel fast.” Pierce stops talking, and I know it’s because he’s waiting for my answer.
“We all went down and looked the area over earlier today. Tucker says it’s structurally fine, but if we want him to get those rooms back up and running right away, it will put his team behind on all their contracts.
We opted to temporarily block the rooms off instead.
” In the week since the explosion, everything we used to keep inside them has been moved to a secure area.
A really fucking secure area. As in, an only our family knows where it is, secure area.
“Was anyone hurt?” Pierce’s voice carries genuine concern.
“A few minor bumps and bruises.” I tip my head, reconsidering. “And the guy who set the bomb did explode along with it.”
I’ve always thought of myself as a nice person. The type who would be upset at any loss of life, regardless of who it was.
Turns out, I’m not a nice person after all. Because if I could reassemble all the bits and pieces of Dan—or whatever his real name was—I would. Just so I could blow him up again for what he almost cost my brother.
Titus would have never survived losing Mariah and the babies. And I can’t say that I’d blame him. On a very tiny, minute scale, I understand how that sort of loss can feel. The pain. The sadness. The way it haunts you every day, leaving you second-guessing every choice you’ve ever made.