Page 7 of Hemmed

“Damn, that fucking sucks,” said Hex.

“I think it says something that I was okay with it,” he nodded. “I’ve got about sixty days left, but I’m just trying to have something worth coming back here for. I loved being a part of the brotherhood and serving my country and my community. I’m not a guy that wants the spotlight. In fact, I prefer anonymity. I want to stay in the area. I’ve fallen in love with Louisiana, but if I don’t have a job here, I’ll move on. I’m not originally from here. My ex-wife was.”

“Well, you’ve got skills we can use, brother. We’d love for you to join us,” said Cam. He smiled, nodding at the men.

“Just one question,” asked Gaspar. “What’s with the nickname? Sor?” The younger man laughed, shaking his head as Abe laughed.

“I got this one. I used to run into Sor all the time. He’d kick ass on the other spec ops teams during testing. They’d be pissed that he scored higher, ran faster, shot more accurately, and he would always just say ‘sorry.’ When he took the IQ tests, there was an asshole lieutenant that bragged he had an undergraduate degree from Princeton. Sor’s IQ was higher – and he just said…”

“Sorry,” said the entire room.

“Yep. Always better, always smarter, always top of the class, and all he could say was sorry.”

“Not always smarter. I damn sure never saw my ex-wife cheating on me.”

“Anything we can do?” asked Luke. “We’ve got the best legal team in the country, in my opinion.”

“Nope. It was easy to end. No kids, no shared property. Done.”

“Well, welcome to Voodoo Guardians. When you’re fully out, come on back, and we’ll do all the paperwork and shit, but you’re hired, brother,” said Hex.

“Awesome,” he smirked.

“Dad? Anything interesting happening at Gray Wolf?” asked Cam.

“We’re interviewing a couple of women today who said they were filmed while changing in a dressing room or something.” Sor stared at him.

“That sounds eerily like something that happened to a woman I know. It caused her divorce. Someone filmed her from the bottom up, like the camera was between her legs, beneath the floor. Her husband accused her of doing it intentionally and selling it. Poor woman was distraught. She’s staying in my fishing cabin, trying to get her life back on track.”

“Do you think she’d speak with us?” asked Luke.

“I can send her a message. I’ll let you know and give you directions to the cabin if you need it. I’ve got to get back to Texas for my last sixty days. I’ll be seeing you all soon. Abe? Thanks, brother. I owe you one.”

“You don’t owe me shit,” he smirked. “You saved my ass once. I don’t forget things like that.”

“See you soon.” He waved at the room, exiting to head back to Texas and finish his time in the Air Force. He felt lighter than he had in years, knowing that he would be one of the famous Voodoo Guardians.

“He seems solid,” said Ghost, looking at Abe.

“He’s one of the best. Dude was one of those guys that when shit happened, you’d look around praying for someone to help, and then suddenly he was just there. We’ll be glad we got him.”

“What about you guys?” asked Eric. “What’s with these women complaining about being videoed?”

“Don’t know yet,” said Ghost, standing with the rest of the Gray Wolf team. “But we’ll fill you in later.”

“I’m so nervous,” said Jade.

“I am too,” nodded Meredeth. “My friend said they helped her, and they’re the best. That’s all we can hope for right now.”

“Meredeth? Jade?” said the man at the door. “Come on back, ladies. My name is Jean, and I’m part of the team here.”

“Thank you for seeing us.”

“Of course,” he said, opening the conference room door. “These are the men of Gray Wolf. We’re here to help you.”

“We appreciate this. Jade and I met at a tailor’s shop,” said Meredeth. “We were both having custom suits made for work. But we noticed something weird.”

“At first, the tailor was touching in places he shouldn’t,” said Jade. “Gliding the back of his hand along the neck of my shirt, feeling as much flesh as he could. Then, gliding his hand between my thighs. I thought he was gay when I met him, but apparently, he wasn’t.”

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