Epilogue 2 #2
Aforementioned break room area consisted of a few round tables and chairs, a kitchenette, and, lo and behold, some gym equipment farther in.
I spotted a basketball hoop closer to the center of the far back. A set of stairs leading down too.
Interesting.
Next, I stuck my hands down my pockets and glanced up toward the second floor along both sides.
Those spaces seemed to be off-limits. Private offices, something called “The Lab.” Some sections of the glass walls were transparent, some frosted.
All of them had writing in big, bold black letters.
Words like “Engineered for the future,” “Private defense,” and “MadCo Sec” stood out.
Instead of names printed outside the office doors, they’d opted for things like “Head Engineer,” “Cyber Unit,” “Red Team,” and “Top Aggressor.”
Whoever the owner of the company was, one thing was certain.
They were former military. They were former Air Force, more precisely.
It was an energy. Something in the decor, the use of “aggressor,” focus on technical engineering, the aircraft hangar itself, how people walked, the sleekness of the interior design, the gym equipment, and even the vending machines.
One by one, nothing much could be said. But all put together?
We should send our recruits in here and see how they would profile the joint.
As I glanced back at the vending machines, I determined those were one of the more telling features.
I remembered bitching about my base until I’d visited an Army installation.
I’d been fucking horrified. One meal served in their DFAC, and I’d been ready to run back to my own base.
Or, as I’d gotten older and I’d been to various bases on Hillcroft assignments, the glimpses I’d gotten into the soldiers’ lives these days…
Booze, energy drinks, trash food, and snacks.
Smokes had been replaced by nicotine pouches.
We’d always had less of that in the Air Force. I had two cousins who’d become lifers as airmen, going on twenty-plus years in the service now, and they would like this place. They’d approve of the vending machine selection. High-protein, fibrous, low-sugar… Some candy too, of course.
They accepted cash, cards, and “Mad” tokens.
I faced forward again when I heard someone approaching.
The young guy was back, taking quick steps behind someone much older who took longer strides.
“Sorry to keep you waitin’, Mr. Hyatt. Looks like we have a mix-up on our hands. The guy you’re supposed to meet is out on a call, so I’ll be helpin’ you today.” The man reached me and extended his hand. “Colt Carter—welcome to our playground.”
I shook his hand firmly. Had I been blind, I almost would’ve thought I was talking to Kiera’s old man. They had the same Texan accent. Kiera’s was more subtle and polished.
“No problem. Good to meet you,” I replied. “It sure looks like my kind of playground too.”
“Excellent.” He smirked and gave the younger guy’s shoulder a squeeze. “How about you get us some coffee. We’ll be in the showroom.”
“Yes, sir.” The guy turned to me. “How would you like your coffee? We also have water, soda, and tea.”
“Black coffee would be great, thanks.” I nodded with a dip of my chin, then followed Carter toward the other end.
The showroom was more of a boardroom, but they’d set up catalogues on the table, and they had a bunch of items on display along the side.
A selection of their security doors, cardboard cutouts of checklists to go through when choosing your alarm system, self-defense gadgets, offers of personal security for businesses, and rundowns of software options.
I wanted as little software as possible.
“Have a seat. If memory serves, you already ordered a new door?”
“I did, yeah.”
He sat down in front of me and opened a laptop. “Lemme find your order real quick, and we’ll get started. Do you have anythin’ specific in mind already?”
I tipped my head, weighing my answer. “At the young age of almost forty-nine, I’m about to be a dad for the first time, so I need gadgets that will eliminate most of the sprinting if someone poses a threat to my family.”
Carter grinned without taking his gaze off the screen.
“First of all, congratulations. Second, fuck sprintin’.
” He nodded at the screen and sat back a bit.
“Okay, here we are. That’s the best door you could’ve ordered.
I have one myself. It’s literally my job around here to detect flaws throughout the product development, and our engineers had this in the bag from the get. ”
I liked the sound of that.
“Does that mean you’re leading the red team as top aggressor?” Sue me, I was curious.
He glanced at me briefly, a little surprised. “That’s right. It’s an inside joke to most people.”
I inclined my head. “Former Air Force here too.”
“I’ll be damned. Well, then. Yeah—I was born to be an antagonist.”
“Yes, you were, boss!” With perfect timing, the young guy entered with a tray. “By the way, I’m supposed to remind you to wear your reading glasses when you’re working with screens.”
My mouth twitched.
Carter furrowed his brow. “Did Luke put you up to this shit?”
“He did, and he’s right. Enjoy your coffee, gentlemen. I’ll be at my desk.” The guy smiled impishly and walked out again.
I deduced they had a fairly chill work environment here.
“Kids these days,” Carter muttered to himself and dug out his glasses from a case. “Not only do they think they know everythin’, but they get to enjoy twenty-twenty vision too.”
“Tell me about it.” I’d had contacts for almost two years, but I was shit at wearing them. So far, they weren’t necessary. I was supposed to wear them, but my vision was good enough to manage without.
I reached for my coffee and smirked when I spotted the plate of sugar cookies. They were all shaped like fighter jets.
Hell, at this point, even our recruits would profile the place correctly.
Carter put on his glasses before grabbing his own coffee and a cookie that he promptly dunked in the mug.
That looked good, I had to admit, so I did the same.
“All right, Hyatt. Let’s talk. You have the door already. What else do you want? Security windows? Alarm system? Manned patrolling?”
Fuck yeah, let’s go. “I wouldn’t mind hearing more about those windows,” I said.
“But, uh, before we go there—is it possible for me to switch payment options? The door’s fine on the credit card I listed, but I’d like for my future fiancée to become my actual fiancée, and she wasn’t a fan when I told her about my budget for all this.
So if I can put that on another card, that’d be great. ”
“No problem,” he chuckled. “We can start a new order for you.”
Fantastic.
The important part was that Kiera was never going to find out.
After forty-five minutes of the best shopping experience I’d ever had, I stood outside in the sun and scanned my order confirmation while the MadCo guys went to get my door.
MadCo was surrounded by fields on three sides and the nearest highway on the fourth. If it hadn’t been for the sound of traffic, I could’ve sat here for a while. Possibly to get my shit in order and be able to present an ironclad defense for dropping a fortune here today.
Such as, Carter was an excellent salesman—because he didn’t try to push anything down my throat.
Hell, when discussing my alarm system, he’d even recommended a cheaper one because I wasn’t looking to use their personnel if anything went wrong—at least not yet.
I’d been straightforward about that from the top, no security guards, no gadgets that required internet, no AI, and nobody who talked to me from a device.
“Don’t worry about it. AI is not a safe tool for security, and we don’t recommend a smart-home setup for private citizens. Too many things can go wrong, and too much information passes through third-, fourth-, and fifth-party vendors.”
My first demand, not wanting security guards, wasn’t set in stone like the rest on my list, but I had to see how things worked out.
I was granted a level of protection as an operator at Hillcroft, and I had to sit down with Quinlan to flesh that out before I looked at outside options.
For instance, MadCo was closer to our new house than Hillcroft, but we deployed faster at work.
We had to be able to be out the door, so to speak, within ninety seconds after dispatch gave us orders.
Most of our junior operators flew out to a sister company in LA at some point and received training to handle home invasions.
It was the most tedious job you could be tasked with in your early years at Hillcroft, but the bonus pay was great.
I looked through the list once more and decided I hadn’t gone overboard. I wanted every damn item I’d purchased. From the alarm system and bullet-resistant windows to the surveillance and—
The door to MadCo swung open, and I folded the printout and stuck it into my back pocket as someone I hadn’t seen before wheeled out my new door.
Fuckin’ A.
“Where to, Mr. Hyatt?”
I pointed to the Sprinter. “The black van over there. Thanks.”
At the same time, my phone buzzed with a message, so I checked it quickly.
Finally, it was from Kiera.
Guess who’s a new Hillcroft employee? And guess who will gain access to a certain operator’s file to see how stubborn he is about physical therapy?
Well, fuck. That hadn’t occurred to me before. She’d see everything from the past five years, at least. Good thing I hadn’t gotten injured in the field in ages. These days, my mandatory checkups were focused on eyesight, reflexes, and managing occasional nerve pain.
Another text popped up.
Btw, where are you? I miss you!
I winced and raked my teeth across my bottom lip.
Right…about before, when I said I was going to the dentist…