Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 122097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
“Then why would they do this to me?”
“I told you why, Collin.” I’m still giving him that smug I-told-you-so smile when he glances over at me.
“Just play along, Col.” Amon is sure taking this in stride. “It’s actually a cool role. I’ll round up a script for you so you know what to expect tomorrow. That one you got yesterday? Throw it out. The whole thing’s been rewritten.” And with that, Amon Parrish blows out of my tent, just as quick as he blew in.
Ileave Lowyn’s tent and head straight into town to confront Jim Bob. That’s what he was yellin’ about when I was in there the other day. ‘The programs,’ he said. The printer must’ve been in Revenant because Jim Bob was threating to cut off a percentage of profits if they didn’t have them delivered by six a.m. this morning.
I wasn’t paying much attention at the time—didn’t know that whole program change was about me in that moment, did I? And I was maybe a little preoccupied. Not a good thing to be when you’re supposed to be running an elite security team.
God, coming back here has affected me more than I figured. Seeing Lowyn again has put me all out of sorts.
But I’m laser-focused now and I’m gonna have it out with Jim Bob before this day is over. He knew he was gonna do this when he slid that contract across his desk at me. And he deliberately left this part out.
In my world, willfully withholding information counts as a lie. And I only give liars one chance. One. That’s it. And little lies, like the one Lowyn told about my bedroom to spare my feelings about how my daddy hates me and thinks of me as trash, that’s nowhere near enough to make Lowyn my proper definition of a liar.
That was different.
What Jim Bob did—while not completely unforgivable, this was my first business dealing with him as an adult after all—is setting a very bad precedent. And unless he does something really spectacular to gain my trust back, I will never make a deal with that man again.
He burned a bridge with me.
When I get to the tiny stone building where Jim Bob Baptist does his government business I barge right in, making the door slam as I enter. But it pops back open again because I slammed it too hard.
Then I stand there in the doorway to check things out before I make a scene.
Ester is type-type-typing away on her keyboard. Doesn’t even look up at the commotion. Just keeps goin’. “He’s expectin’ ya. Go right in.”
Expecting me. What a dick.
“And don’t you dare leave that door open, Collin Creed. You were not born in a barn.”
I kick the door closed and stride across the reception area, entering Jim Bob’s office without knockin’.
His considerable body is sitting in his substantial chair with his feet up on the desk like he hasn’t got a care in the world. “Have a seat, Collin.” He points to one of two chairs in front of his desk with an unlit cigar.
I don’t sit. I walk right up to his desk and slap the paper and the program down on the wooden top. “You didn’t think to mention this when I signed that fuckin’ contract?”
Jim Bob straightens up, puts his feet back on the floor. “See, Collin, I kinda know you a little bit better than you seem to think I do.”
“I guess. Since you’ve been spying on me all these years.”
He gets a real serious look on his face. “Son, I am not spying on you. Who do you think got you and Amon those jobs?”
“What?”
“You never asked yourself, ‘Why me?’ Never once did you wonder how the hell you got so lucky?”
“Lucky?” I almost snort. “Lucky? Jim Bob, I spent the last decade killing assholes all over the fuckin’ planet. That’s not my version of luck. Lucky is winning the lottery. Lucky is gettin’ in a motorcycle accident and living to tell about it. Lucky is—”
“I get the point. But you’re missing it entirely.”
“Please.” I laugh. “Enlighten me.”
“Boy, do you have any idea what life in the regular Marines would’ve been like for you? And ask Amon if he feels lucky to have learned how to train military dogs.”
“Well, I’m not Amon. And I didn’t spend the first two years playing with the world’s best dogs. I spent the first two years doing counterintelligence and learning fuckin’ secrets I never asked to know about. Secrets so deep and disgusting, I went back to my room that first day and puked up my fuckin’ lunch.”
“But now you know. And that can’t be undone.”
“You need to get to the point, Jim Bob. Because you are seriously starting to piss me off. And if you know me even half as well as you seem to think you do, then you should be shaking in your fuckin’ boots right now.”