Chapter 2
Chapter two
July, Denver
Pilot tuned out the noise of banging weights, the soft chatter of conversation, and the low hum of treadmills in the gym around him and focused on his muscles, feeling them pull and flex.
He slowly lifted the bar over his head, contracting his traps, pecs, and shoulders.
He didn't fully extend his arms before he slowly brought the weights down, tightening his muscles to get the most out of the move.
He ignored the sweat on his brow and the pull along his oblique muscles that stretched under his faded Go Army tank.
Then he saw his best friend, Johnny, walk into the gym. He let the weights clang as he eased them all the way down and grabbed his towel. He wiped his face and pushed the sweaty hair off his brow. “Johnny! Man, what's up?” he blurted out, a little loud so Johnny could hear him.
Johnny raised his hand as he walked over.
“Hey, man. How's it going?” He was dressed in a pair of baggy sweat pants and an old t-shirt with a faded logo of a big green TSS over a trident for Trident Security Services, Johnny’s Uncle's security company, on it.
Pilot could guess he had running shorts under the sweatpants; he usually did when he hit the treadmill or ran in the park, ready to strip down when he got too hot.
“Good. You going to work out with me?”
Johnny rolled his eyes. “I'm going to work out. But, I'm not lifting with you, oh king of the gym rats.”
Pilot laughed. He had to; Johnny wasn't far from the truth. “It's not going to make you pump up like this.” He flexed his arm showing off his guns.
“Yeah, I know. That's why I'm not doing it.” He winked at Pilot and turned to head toward the treadmills like he always did, but then he stopped. His shaggy hair brushed across the top of his glasses, as he turned back to face Pilot. “Hey, Uncle Gary wants you to call him.”
“What?” Pilot reached over for his phone sitting with his water bottle next to the equipment. He flipped it on and watched as the lights flash on the screen.
“You don't have to call now. It's not urgent.”
Pilot looked up at his friend. They'd known each other so long that Pilot couldn't remember them not knowing each other.
Johnny might as well be his brother and Uncle Gary was like a father to him and had supported him in a lot of ways, particularly with his job.
Johnny and Gary were the two most important people in his life.
So, when he said jump, Pilot jumped. He owed the man so much more than that.
“I'll call him now. Could be important.”
“At least take your gym rat ass out of here, Sean,” Johnny said, thumbing toward the front door.
“Yeah. Whatever.” Pilot hated it when Johnny called him by his given name.
He was the only person who did, or could get away with it.
Sometime after basic training, he'd become Pilot, trading in Sean Mahan for good.
He wasn't going to get into all that with Johnny in the middle of the gym, though.
He flipped through his contacts and took a long drink from his water bottle and headed outside.
He found Uncle Gary's number and tapped his screen just as he walked through the front doors. The heat of a typical Colorado July swamped him, and he yanked the legs of his sweats up to his knees, exposing his calves, hoping to cool down some.
“Trident, Gary Killebrew.”
“Hey Uncle, it's Pilot.” He leaned against the cement block wall that stretched out along the sidewalk.
Gary chuckled. “Hey, hey man. Guess Johnny caught up to you?”
“Yeah, he said you needed me to call.”
“Didn't mean drop everything. It's not urgent. I would have called you if it was urgent.”
Pilot shrugged it off. “So? What's up?”
“I know you just got back, but the folks from Apex called and they want you to do the Supercross route again next season.”
“Wow. That's great.” He loved working with the Supercross guys, and they'd given him a nice bonus at the end of this past season, too, which only made him like them more. Johnny invested that money, since he was the accountant. It'd go a long way toward their goals. “That was a decent gig.”
“Doesn't start till January.”
“January through May, right?”
“Right. So, come on in Monday and we'll get you set up on a plan to keep you busy for the next few months. Gotta keep a guy like you busy.”
“What's that mean?”
“Keep you out of trouble and all that.”
“Sheesh. I'm no trouble.” Pilot guffawed, though he didn’t really take offense to Uncle Gary’s teasing.
“Yeah, yeah. Now get back to the gym.”
“How'd you know I'm at the gym?”
Pilot could hear real laughter. His Uncle was always cutting up with him, teasing him, and Pilot loved it. “You're always at the gym, Sean.” Well, maybe there were two people that could get away with calling him Sean.
“Right. I could be lifting a few pounds instead of taking this shit from you,” he joked.
“Yeah, yeah. Get out of here!”
“Later, Uncle G.”
His uncle grunted and hung up. That was typical.
Pilot was happy about the call and not just for the lighthearted teasing.
The Supercross job with Apex would be bank, plus he'd loved working with Davey and Tyler the past season.
He'd gotten along well with them and he'd even been invited to their wedding.
It would be a great job working the whole season.
The traveling that long would wear him down, but he had nothing or no one special to stay home for.