Ford Security

by Clara Kendrick

  “Sit down.” Chase’s throat tenses as he points to the lone chair in front of the others. “We need to have a talk.”

  I do as requested, pacing around the lone chair so that I’m able to drop down into it. Whatever is going on, it must be serious. I only hope that Zach hadn’t run back and told the other boys what I’ve been up to these last ten years because that’s a conversation that was supposed to stay private, a conversation I’m not ready to have with the rest of the boys yet. Especially not right now.

  Chase moves around an empty chair beside the twins and takes a seat, folds his hands into his lap.

  “You said this was an emergency,” I say, my eyes trying to read the faces of the three men sitting in front of me but they’re all stoic and blank. There’s a sinking feeling in my gut that something is seriously wrong and all I can think is that Luke’s been hurt or something. “Please tell me what’s going on. Did something happen to Luke?”

  Zach passes Chase an obtuse, haunted look before they both turn their attention back to me. I swallow nervously, my palms sweating against the denim of my jeans.

  And then out of the corner of my eye, I see Luke emerging from the shadows. His body is almost weightless as he steps out of the darkness and into the lights. He’s wearing a severe face like he’s just escaped a war zone or something, and he paces forward eerily slow. “You know,” he begins softly, “for the longest time, I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to see you again.”

  “Where have you been?” I rise to stand, shaking my head. “You left without saying a word.”

  “It’s complicated. Everything’s complicated.” He shakes his head as he circles around to sit in the last open seat, all the way at the end of the row of chairs and beside Chase.“But you know that more than anyone.”

  “You told them, didn’t you?” I grind out and pass a quick look to Zach, who can’t even look me in the eyes. “You are unbelievable.”

  “Don’t blame him!” Luke shouts, probably the first time in his life he has ever yelled at me. Even when he came to see me about why my fingerprints were on the threatening letters addressed to his girlfriend, he still didn’t raise his voice at me. It’s like he’s seeing me completely different now and has no problem kicking me when I’m down. “You did this. All of this.”

  It’s time for me to shut up and listen. There’s nothing I can say or do to defend myself right now and maybe this is my comeuppance. I’ve got away with far too much for far too long and my reasons for why I’ve done the things I’ve done, at the end of the day, are nothing more than excuses.

  “Let’s start from the beginning,” Marcus says from the side as he approaches out of the shadows, adjusting his glasses on his nose as he steps behind the other boys. “We have you on tape with Mason Cartwright just before he kidnapped Taylor Smart.”

  “My god…” I say lowly, almost in disbelief. “You’re in on this too?” I grit my teeth and shake my head. “What is this, some kind of intervention?”

  “It’s time for you to shut up,” Zach finally speaks up but he still can’t bring himself to look at me. It’s almost like he’s feeling guilty for his part in this. “It’s time for you to listen.”

  Chase caresses his palms over his thighs before rising to stand. His teeth sink into his lower lip as he scratches nervously at the side of his face. He too is having difficulty looking me directly in the eye and I can’t exactly blame him. “How did you know Mason Cartwright?”

  “The same way I know anyone else.” I shrug. “He worked underneath a man named Mark Chambers.”

  “And Mark Chambers worked for an associate of Seth Grimm, correct?” Chase questions, takes a quick glance at me and then looks away.

  But I’m not interested in Chase right now. I’m more interested in Zach betraying me when he knew how fragile I’ve been lately. I stare him down and force him to look at me. “Was there anything you didn’t share with everyone in the Goddamn world?”

  “That’s not fair,” he chides me back and exhales sharply. “I didn’t do this. I didn’t do any of this. You did.” He finally manages to make direct eye contact with me and it sends a shiver down my spine. “Now answer the damn question.”

  “Yes,” I huff. “Mark Chambers worked for Seth Grimm.” And then I just decide to get it all off my chest. I turn my attention to Luke next. “I’m sorry for the hell I put Ella through but I thought I was doing the right thing.”

  “The right thing?” he scoffs and chuckles, not because it’s funny but because he simply can’t believe the words coming out of my mouth. His chuckles eventually turn into a huff before he forces himself to his feet and prepares to storm out but not before wagging a finger in my face. “I should have stayed away because you’re not the man I thought you were.”

  “Sit your ass down,” I command him and jump to my own feet to meet him face to face. He stares at me blankly and doesn’t even flinch when I take another step towards him. “I would do anything for the people I love.”

  “Yeah,” he scowls. “Like backstab them.”

  “Don’t you dare—”

  “It’s the truth and you know it, Dominic.” He takes a step back and shakes his head wildly. “How long has this been going on? In the last year, you have directly been involved with almost every single thing that’s happened to us.”

  I push him hard against his chest, push him hard enough that he stumbles backwards into his chair and then looks up at me with anger stewing in his eyes.

  “I’m guessing that Zach didn’t tell you all the whole story.” I pass Zach a quick glance. “Right?” When he can’t bring himself to look at me, I already know the answer. “He didn’t tell you that I had a sister that was taken by Seth Grimm ten years ago, did he? He didn’t tell you the reason I’ve done everything I’ve ever done is because I was told if I did what I was told to do that I would get my sister back.”

  The mood in the room changes in an instant. Suddenly nobody has anything to say.

  “I’ve fucked up,” I continue, “but you’d all do the same if someone you loved was taken away from you. I handled it badly.” I look to Chase. “I’m sorry that I had anything to do with the Taylor Smart kidnapping, but you weren’t supposed to get involved.”

  “Well, thank God I did.” He rises to stand and brushes past me, heading straight for the elevator. Before he gets there though, he twists to face me once more. “You can make excuses all you want but at the end of the day, you’re no better than the people we protect people from.”

  I say nothing to him. Instead, I just let him walk out. He’s going to need some time and there’s nothing I can say to him right now to change anything. When I look back to the other boys, Luke is already back on his feet, preparing to flee himself. “While I was away, Ella told me she knew you from her hometown, that you graduated years ahead of her.” His lips roll over each other and then he quietly adds, “You knew her and you didn’t try to stop what was about to happen to her.”

  “I didn’t know…” I say softly, but deep down I think I did. “I’m sorry.”

  “No, you’re not.” He nods at me once before averting his gaze from me and then rushes past me, nudging his elbow against me before he joins Chase in the elevator.

  Zane follows him immediately and then it’s just Zach and I left alone. I move my lips to speak but the words don’t come out. He looks at me with pity embedded in his eyes and it just about tears me apart. I’ve ruined the one family I’ve ever had, a family that I built to replace the sister I had lost.

  “Just give us time,” he says softly, almost as low as a whisper before he drops a palm onto my shoulder. “Time heals everything.”

  “No…” I shake my head. “It doesn’t.”

  “Maybe.” He releases his palm from my shoulder and then shrugs. “Maybe not.”

  And then he, too, is on his way to the elevator.

  I turn around to watch him as he walks away. It feels like the last time I’m ever going to see any of them again
and though my soul is weary and tired, it just gives me all the more urge to fight to save my sister. He joins the other three men in the elevator and when he does, it’s like all four of them are staring at me.

  And when the elevator doors close I’m left standing alone, and inside I’m feeling more alone than I’ve ever felt before. For as long as I can remember, the family I’ve created here at Ford Security has been my safety blanket and now it all seems to have vanished before my eyes.

  I stand motionless, my eyes trained on the elevator even when I’m sure the four of them are long gone from the building. When I hear footsteps behind me, I drop my hand to my side and grab my gun, spin around and aim it squarely ahead.

  Marcus flinches backwards and throws his hands over his face as if his hands could protect him from a gun. I drop the gun to my side and exhale sharply as I try to catch my breath.

  “I forgot you were here.”

  “Yeah…” He throws his hand against his chest also trying to catch his breath. Poor thing, I’ve probably scared the shit out of him. “Everyone seems to forget I exist on occasion.”

  “That’s not true, Marcus.” I take a measured step towards him and then come to an abrupt stop. I remember that he was a part of the ambush—intervention—and since I wasn’t able to get any answers from anyone else, I figure I might be able to get a few from him. “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure.” He shrugs, pushes his glasses higher up his nose.

  “How long did you know about Mason Cartwright?”

  He pushes his tongue against the inside of his cheek, hesitation to answer my question for a short period of time before he finally gives in. “It was a few days after Chase and Summer found Taylor.”

  “Right,” I chew against my lip and nod, and then I have another question, “Do you think I’m a bad guy?”

  “No,” he says quickly like he doesn’t even need to think about it. “I think you just got caught up in something that was over your head.”

  I nod at him once more as I take his words in.

  “They’ll forgive you,” he says before he steps past me, to leave like the rest of them.

  “What makes you so sure?” I turn around and latch a hand around his arm. “What makes you think they’ll ever forgive me?”

  He forces an uneven smile. “Because you’re all family…”

  CHAPTER NINE

  KATIE

  It's late in the night and the loft is dark with the only lights coming from the computer screen before me and Tosha. We're sitting in an office down by the bedrooms.

  I'm not much of a tech girl, so Tosha is doing all the heavy lifting as we try to encrypt the location data of the live feeds displaying the security footage where Shelby Ford is being held.

  On a separate monitor, that same security footage plays. She's in the kitchen right now, dressed in a different dress but with the same kind of flowery prints as the night before. I don't know this girl at all, but I would imagine that she's a good girl. I imagine that she's had a hard life since being kidnapped but somehow she has managed to keep her composure.

  Since I turned on the security footage, I haven't seen my brother. That's not much of a surprise to me though because I don't expect that they would be held together. What I would expect is for them to be on opposite ends of the country or globe. Since the paper I found only listed thirteen names, I have no idea how many people Seth has had kidnapped and held for leverage. I would imagine it would have to be at least twenty if not more.

  A part of me wishes that Dominic wouldn't have pulled the trigger. That same part of me wishes that I could've gotten my hands on Seth myself. In my darkest fantasies, I manage to subdue him and then take him to a dark bunker where I torture him until he gives me the information that I need. It would be the easiest way to find Victor but that is no longer a possibility because Dominic sent a bullet through his skull. And I can't blame Dominic for pulling the trigger because just maybe I would have done the same thing.

  So often we like to pretend or believe that we are stronger than we really are. Our emotions, however, often define us and make decisions for us. It's the hardest thing in this world to control.

  On the screen, Shelby breaks up spaghetti and drops it into a boiling pot of water. I can't help but to get lost in the footage before me. It's like looking into a window and watching a complete stranger. And the more I watch her, the more I feel like I know her. If Dominic isn't going to be with me in this, then I'll have no choice but to take matters into my own hands. Once I have a location, I will go and rescue her on my own. And maybe then, Dominic will finally trust me enough to help me.

  At the end of the day, I'm not doing any of this because I'm a good person. I'm doing this for my own selfish reasons because I want and need my brother back. I miss him but more than that, I feel responsible for his kidnapping.

  Tosha leans back in her chair and crosses her arms over each other. There's an annoyed look on her face as she shakes her head gently from side to side.

  "What if we do all of this and it’s for nothing?" She cocks her head to me. "What if when this is all over, we still haven't found Victor? What if all of this is for nothing?"

  "I wake up every day and choose to believe that that's not a possibility," I sigh and bite into my lip. I look back to the screen where Shelby is now pulling a cookie pan filled with garlic bread out of the oven.

  "What are you going to do if you find him?"

  The question seems to take me back. To be honest, I've never even really thought about it. To be honest, I've never been able to think about that. It’s like there's this mental block inside of my head that won't allow me to think of anything other than saving him. It seems like such a foreign idea at this point, especially after eight years, that I'll ever see him again. And still, I have all the hope in the world and I don't know if that makes me a strong person or if it makes me an idiot.

  "I don't know," I say slowly. "I haven't really thought about it and to be honest, it's been so long since I've seen him that I wonder if he’ll even remember me."

  She looks to me with a warm smile and uncrosses her arms. She reaches behind my back and caresses me softly, comforting me. "Of course he’ll remember you. Family isn't something you just forget."

  "The truth is that I don't even know if I’ll recognize him." I break away from her touch and shrug my shoulders gently. "I mean, I know him like the back of my hand, but what if I don't recognize who he is? What if whatever he's been through has changed him so drastically that I can't connect with him?"

  She smiles again, and it's more than comforting. Her smile and the way she looks at me is anchored by our long history together. For all this talk about family, it's ironic that I'm looking for my last living relative. All of this time, I've had family with me. Tosha and Alice are my family in all the same ways that Victor is except by blood.

  "I think you're worrying about things best left not worrying about." She looks back to the computer screen as an indicator flashes on the screen. She moves the mouse and clicks into another folder but there's more encrypting to do. "This is probably going to take all night."

  "I've been waiting eight years so one more night is nothing."

  She sighs heavily and crosses her arms over each other as she waits patiently for the files to be unencrypted. "What about Dominic?”

  "What about him?"

  "You know what I'm talking about."

  “I'm also not thinking about that either." I climb to my feet and circle to the back of my chair so that I hang over it as I watch the computer screen.

  "Don't you think you're taking advantage of a vulnerable man and using him?" She cocks her head over her shoulder and glares at me.

  I push myself backwards and shake my head. "We're not talking about this."

  She shrugs and clears her throat. "It’s just something that I think you need to think about."

  "I said drop it," I scold her and then drop my head low and push my tongue against the in
side of my cheek. "I'm doing everything that I'm doing to see my brother again. And if I can help Dominic find his sister, I don't think it matters much that I'm using him, right?"

  "I just think you should consider the collateral damage." Her eyes shift back on the screen and I get the sinking feeling that she is ignoring me on purpose.

  "The collateral damage?" I purse my lips in contemplation. "There's always going to be collateral damage."

  "That's exactly what I'm talking about…" Her words are so cold and they almost make me feel ashamed of myself. But I have to force myself to remember why I'm doing this.

  Knock. Knock. Knock. Knock.

  I grunt out in frustration, twist around on my feet and throw the office door open. I race across the open space of the open loft and to the front door. And when I rip it open, it's Dominic that’s standing at my front door. I swallow nervously as our eyes tangle with each other even if I know I've got nothing to be nervous about.

  I know why he's here.

  I push one hand firm against his chest and take notice of how strong he is. Even through his T-shirt, I can feel the absolute steel beneath the fabric. I push him gently backwards, just enough so I can squeeze through the door and close it behind me so that we’re standing in the hallway. I'm not concerned about anyone seeing or hearing us because my loft is the only apartment on this floor.

  I cross my arms over each other and shift my weight to one foot. "What are you doing here?"

  "I think you know why I'm here." He nods. "I'm not saying I want to be here, but I don’t exactly have a choice in what I want anymore. To be honest, it's been so long for me to actually have a choice in anything I've done that I don't know what it feels like to make a choice anymore."

  "This is what it feels to make a choice." I take a quick step to the side of the door and lean back against the exterior wall. "You made the choice to come here tonight."

  "Did I?" He cocks his head curiously at me. "I don't really feel like I had a choice."

  "You always have a choice," I point out to him. "It doesn't always mean that we want to make that choice, but we always have it. We can always choose to say yes or say no. We can always choose to go on with our lives. But you can’t go on with your life and I know that all too well because I can’t go on with my life either. Every day I wake up and I make a choice to never give up hope that I'm going to find my brother. You've made that same choice every day for the last ten years."