31 - Brock
Brock
Something felt off the instant I pulled up to the Cornerstone lot.
Artie Vance wasn’t even waiting for me in his office, which was the first sign that something bigger than I thought had gone wrong. He was standing outside of the open warehouse door with a tablet in hand, looking pissed as hell. I got out of the Chevy bracing myself for impact, my jaw set.
“Vance,” I greeted, my boots echoing against the concrete as I approached and tried not to think about the last time I brought Lauren here. “It sounded urgent.”
“You tell me, Brock,” he said, jerking his thumb in the direction of the warehouse. “You’re late, by the way.”
“I was on a job,” I pointed out.
He grunted, not happy but unable to hold that against me, either. When we walked into the back room of the warehouse, I immediately knew what was wrong. There were gaps in the inventory, the empty spaces on shelves and allotted square footage of concrete noticeable for any worker worth his salt.
“Shit,” I hissed.
“You tell me how ten grand in Milwaukee power tools and equipment walks out a locked door without a single ping on the server,” Vance said grimly. “I checked the logs. No forced entry. Just someone who knew the back entrance was unmanned.”
There were very few men at Cornerstone who knew about that vulnerability, and I was one of them.
I knew that I had an alibi. I was with a client that night and therefore completely above reproach even if my honor wasn’t enough for Vance to eliminate me as a suspect right off the bat.
Most of us who’d been working at Cornerstone since we were practically kids had Vance’s trust, I knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt. But there was one, a new man on the clock who didn’t have that same history.
And what history he did have didn't exactly inspire any confidence in this situation.
“You vouched for the Merrick kid. Tell me I don’t have to regret listening to you,” Vance said, just ripping the band-aid clean off.
My stomach dropped. “Do you have any proof linking him to what happened outside of his record?”
Vance’s frown deepened. “Not as of right now, no.”
“Look, I can vouch for him. I’ve been working with him for months now and he’s never violated his parole even once.
” Where the hell were these words coming from?
“Wasn’t he accused of stealing from Lauren Wolfhaardt just a month or so back?
She cleared it, didn’t she? She wasn’t even the one who filed the report. ”
“He’s the most likely person to do this,” Vance said.
“I trust him.” Did I really? That was something I had to figure out when he wasn’t at risk of being arrested. “He gets a bad rep. But if I thought he was capable of something like this, I would’ve said something. You know I would’ve.”
Vance sighed heavily. “Alright. But if it turns out that he was behind this…”
“Yeah, yeah. You can roast my nuts over a spit, I promise,” I said, waving my hand over my shoulder as I turned to leave.
The brevity that I used to dismiss the issue was what finally seemed to convince the boss that Merrick was innocent, but inside I was fuming. I knew damn well that he was most likely guilty.
For what reason I didn’t know, but I was going to find out. I slammed into my truck and tore away from HQ.
*
I stormed into the firehouse, making a beeline straight for Rafe.
He was still standing near the scaffolding and I moved straight past Lauren and Cal, ignoring their questions until I was face to face with him. I think he knew the second he saw my expression because he paled, but to his credit he didn’t take a step back. Not the smartest idea.
“Did you do it?”
It didn’t sound like a question, just a flat statement.
An observation that if he lied to me right now, in front of Lauren and Cal and everything we’d been building in this house, then he was officially a lost cause.
Especially when I’d just staked my word and honor on a lie. I needed to know. She needed to know.
Merrick opened his mouth to say something, and judging by how fast he shut it again, he probably was going to try to lie. But then his eyes flit past me and without even checking I knew that he was looking at Lauren.
I shoved his shoulder. “Answer me, Merrick.”
“Brock,” Cal said and I heard him take a step closer.
“Stay out of this,” I snarled. “I just lied to the man I owe my career to for him and now I wanna hear the reason why.” I turned my focus back to Rafe. “You owe me that much.”
I expected him to deflect with his usual asshole tendencies. Or maybe he would just run away again, leaving us to deal with the mess he made. But to my shock, he didn’t do any of that.
“Yeah. I stole the equipment,” he said, sounding dead. “I did it and I betrayed everyone’s trust and made you break your own code. Is that what you wanted to hear? In fact, I’ll do you one better….”
“Rafe,” Lauren said in soft disbelief.
He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’m not…Nick promised to leave me alone if I did one last job for him. I said no at first because I learned my fucking lesson by now but then he threatened to hurt Lauren.”
My eyes flew open.
Merrick grinded his jaw and I saw a genuine flash of terror in his eyes. “I couldn’t let that happen. The things he said he’d do to her…” he clenched his fists at his side.
“I would’ve killed him,” I said instinctively.
“I would’ve helped,” Cal added.
“And that’s part of the damn problem, don’t you guys see that?” He threw his hands up in frustration. “All of you were going to get hurt because of me. I didn’t have a choice so yes, I stole from Cornerstone. I took the coward’s way out again.”
He looked from me to Cal and then to Lauren. When he got to her, his eyes softened. “I’m so sorry, Lauren. I’m sorry to all of you. You guys were right, I’m a good-for-nothing piece of shit and I brought this to the firehouse but I swear to all of you, I’m gonna make it right.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cal asked.
“I’m turning myself in,” he answered.
“Stop fucking around,” I said, but somehow I knew he was actually serious about this. I looked at Lauren and she seemed on the verge of tears, her chest heaving with what must’ve been panic.
“I’m not. It’s the one noble thing I’d be doing with my life, Lawson,” he replied.
To that, I couldn’t say anything. I’d been prepared to beat the shit out of him. But now I found myself giving him the one thing I thought I never would—my respect. I stepped back, giving him his space. He nodded tightly at me, then moved to collect his bag.
Lauren stopped him just as he tried to leave, pulling him back by the arm. He turned to look at her.
“Hey, wait. You’re not gonna stop to hear if we accept your apology?” she asked.
He tilted his head. “Would that make a difference?”
“Yes.” She moved closer to him, sliding her hands up his arms until they came to rest on either side of his face. “I can’t speak for the guys, but I accept your apology. And for the record, I never thought you were a good-for-nothing piece of shit. An asshole, yes, but not a piece of shit.”
A smile wavered on his lips and then Lauren stood on her toes to kiss him. The force of it caused him to drop his bag and he stumbled off balance a bit before his arms wrapped around her waist.
I knew then that this fucker wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. And I didn’t know what to make of the relief I felt.