There were rumors about the new guys in town. They’d been here long enough to raise suspicion, mostly because there were so many of them, and they all seemed to work out of that building on the edge of town. But there was something else there that not many people knew about. An old missile silo was abandoned in the exact location where the building was. That couldn’t be a coincidence.
I’d done my own research on Cash after I met him. The man was former military, a sniper. Until last year, he ran a security company out of California that burned to the ground. According to his website, they were rebuilding the site. Yet, he was here with a bunch of retired military guys. There was no way that was a coincidence.
I pulled into the lot of the small building and chuckled to myself. He might have everyone else fooled, but I wasn’t buying that the office was just an office. I shut off the truck and got out, checking out the surrounding property. There was a house in the distance, an old mansion that hadn’t been used in a long time. And wouldn’t you know it, there were a shitload of vehicles parked outside it.
I pulled the door open and nodded to the woman behind the counter. “Can I help you?”
“I’m here to see Cash.”
“You must be Duke,” the woman said, picking up the phone.
I walked away as she spoke to him, looking at the pictures of the town on the wall. They were all from years ago, probably around the early 1900s, and then through the decades after that. It was interesting to see how the town had grown over the years. Growing up here, I’d never really paid attention. I remembered when the old factory shut down. That’s when the town really started to die, but people found work, going to surrounding towns for jobs. Then the highway came through, which boosted the economy in this small little town. It saved the town from shutting down and becoming a ghost town.
The door to the office opened and Cash poked his head out. “Duke, thanks for coming in.”
“Sure,” I nodded, pretending I wasn’t half asleep. Whatever this was about, it’d better be good to keep me from getting some real sleep.
“Come into my office.”
I followed him and took a seat as he shut the door behind me. I took a quick glance around the room, noting the filing cabinet in the corner. Cash was old-fashioned, liked to do things the old way. Maybe he didn’t trust technology. Or maybe it was just his way of doing things.
Honestly, I preferred paper to computers also, but you had to move with the times. Besides, it was easier to store records on the computer and search for them when customers brought their vehicles in for service.
I glanced at the corner and saw a glass gun case with a single rifle. “Is that your sniper rifle?”
He shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. I lost Sally a while back. This is Sally 2.”
“That’s just sad.”
“Tell me about it.”
“So, what can I do for you?” I asked, wanting to move this along.
“I have a proposal for you.”
“Shoot.”
“I’m sure you’re aware that I have quite a few people working here for me.”
“The whole town has noticed.”
“Right. I run a security company. We were originally based out of California, but after an unfortunate…explosion, we decided to relocate.”
I smirked at his choice of words. “Unfortunate?”
He rolled his eyes slightly. “One of my men blew up the building.”
I chuckled at that. “I hope you fired him.”
“Not a chance. He’s the best EOD ordnance specialist I know.”
“But he blew up your building,” I said sarcastically.
“Well, in his defense, there were…” He cleared his throat, shifting in his seat. “It’s a complicated situation.”
“They always are. I’m guessing this has something to do with a job, and not just a rogue employee.”
“You’d be correct.”
“So, you moved out here to the middle of nowhere and set up shop. Except, you don’t have a building other than this office, and that’s not nearly big enough to house the kind of equipment you need on standby.”
He stared at me for a moment, trying to decide what to tell me.
I sighed heavily. “Look, I haven’t gotten a lot of sleep in the last twenty-four hours, so if we could cut the bullshit, that would be great.”
He nodded. “Fair enough. You’re correct. We’re moving operations out here, but we’d prefer to keep that under wraps for as long as possible. When we were in California, we had some problems with a job gone wrong. One of our guys was taken. It was a sticky situation that ended okay. But after the building blew up, I saw the opportunity to move the company.”
“And the one in California? Your website says that you still operate out of there.”
He grinned at me. “You’ve looked me up.”
“I spotted you the moment you drove through town. That don’t fuck with me face told me everything I needed to know. The rest was pure curiosity.”
“Yes,” he answered. “According to the rest of the world, we still operate out of California. All clients call that number and are rerouted here.”
“And how long do you think that will last?”
“Hopefully, a long fucking time. Over the last year, we’ve managed to gain a few enemies and get wrapped up in some things that have proved more than a nuisance.”
“And you’re using the silo to accomplish this.”
His face turned hard at my theory.
“Look, you called me here. Either you level with me, or I walk. I’m not interested in getting involved in someone else’s shit.”
“Fair enough. We have a facility underground. It’s quite large, but obviously, the number of men I have working for me, and the constant coming and goings would draw attention. I need someone on the property to detract from that.”
“You want me as your lookout?” I said in surprise.
“I want you as my FO. We would build a garage on the property for you, large enough to take care of your current clients and all the maintenance and…other fixes on our vehicles.”
“You’re minivans,” I grinned. “I saw them as I pulled up. I gotta say, I didn’t see a protection company driving minivans.”
“It wasn’t by choice. They came with the property.”
I laughed, picturing his guys driving around in women’s vehicles while trying to protect people. But I had to admit, it was ingenious—an easy way to blend in on a job. Usually, people watched out for SUVs, but a minivan was driven by soccer moms.
“So, are you in?”
“Let me think on it. I’m not looking to get involved in anything like this.”
“It doesn’t have to be like that. You can strictly be the front end of the house. I’m just looking for a little deflection so the whole town isn’t looking into my business.”
“Trust me, they already are,” I said as I stood. “Your men eat more food than anyone in town. People have noticed.”
“Maybe I should get some cows,” he joked.
“Wouldn’t be a bad idea. I’ll get back to you,” I said, heading for the door. I had my own shit to deal with. Moving a business wasn’t exactly in the cards right now. Then again, if they were offering to build and move me, that was another story.