Page 18 of Line of Resistance

NATE

“YOU’RE AWFULLY QUIET today.” Tyson fell in at his side as they walked from the back of the van toward the double doors leading into headquarters.

“Wasn’t really much to say.” He offered Tyson a grin. “Pierce and Vincent said enough for everybody.”

They’d spent the day cooped up in a conference room, listening to Vincent and Pierce argue over exactly how much assistance Alaskan Security would continue offering the head of GHOST. Apparently, Vincent had figured out how useful they could be and how clean their involvement kept his hands. It must have made him realize the benefits of having another degree of separation between the tasks he had to accomplish and the government that requested them. And now he wanted more.

So what was meant to be a simple training exercise designed to help their two teams work better together quickly deteriorated into a shouting match between the heads of the groups. The only thing they accomplished was wasting everyone’s time.

Tyson snorted. “I thought Pierce was gonna punch him in the face for a minute there.” He pulled open one door, holding it wide. “Vincent definitely thought he would get what he wanted, no questions asked.”

Nate shook his head. “He clearly doesn’t know Pierce very well then.”

The owner of Alaskan Security didn’t get where he was by being a pushover, and he certainly wouldn’t roll over now. Not when there was so much on the line.

A few years ago Alaskan Security was completely different than it was now. Not only in demographics and numbers, but also in goals and objectives. When they first started, everyone was there for money and thrills, and the job offered plenty of both. They took on anything that paid well enough, regardless of who it involved. It led to a pretty substantial financial windfall for all of them since Pierce was good about passing on the wealth, but it also tangled them with some seriously questionable individuals. A few of whom were proving to be difficult to detangle themselves from.

Vincent being the primary one.

Nate turned down the hall leading to the locker room. “You think Pierce will cut him off completely?”

Tyson shook his head. “No fucking way. The relationship is a two-way street. One that benefits both of us.”

“Yeah, but sometimes the risks outweigh the benefits.” It was something he knew firsthand. Was the main reason he agreed to leave Eloise alone. The risk outweighed the benefit. At least that’s what he was telling himself.

“There’s no way we could function like we do without Vincent. He can clean up our messes and make people disappear, no questions asked.” Tyson shrugged. “In exchange, we do a little of his dirty work. It seems like a pretty fair deal to me.”

“Yeah, but he knows he’s got us in a corner. We need him more than he needs us and he plans to exploit that.” It was probably the reason Vincent was in the position he was in to begin with. He definitely didn’t become the head of a covert government-adjacent operation by being nice, but it was still a huge pain in the ass. Especially if it was going to lead to spending entire days sitting on his ass in a conference room listening to two grown men talk over each other.

“I don’t know. It seems like he needs us quite a bit or he wouldn’t be trying to get as much as he can.” Tyson followed him into the locker room, opening the door on his locker before yanking out his coat and keys. “Either way, it’ll be interesting to see what happens.”

Nate grunted. “I’m not sure if ‘interesting’ is the word I would use.”

He used to love everything about his job. At first, being a part of Rogue felt like he’d finally found where he belonged. Finally had the family he’d been hoping for. But lately, their dynamic was changing. Like Alaskan Security, his family was growing. Shifting around in ways that pushed him toward the outer edges.

He couldn’t help but feel like all it would take was one wrong move and he’d be out on his ass. Abandoned and alone yet again.

“You got plans for the night?” Tyson tugged on his coat. “I’m thinking about seeing if Jamison wants to come over and have a couple beers and some pizza.”

“Sounds good.” It definitely sounded a hell of a lot better than his initial plans to hit the gym and take out some frustration on the treadmill before staring at the four walls of his room in the mostly empty rooming house. He opened his own locker and snapped on the badge he used to move throughout the building. “Let me go get changed and I’ll head your way.”

Tyson lifted his brows, looking him over. “Why would you waste time changing? It’s not like we did anything but sit in a fucking room all day.” Tyson jerked his chin toward the door. “Plus, I’m fucking starving.”

* * *

THE UNLINED ROAD flanking the row of two-story townhomes that made up the first portion of Alaskan Security’s housing compound was surprisingly empty. The bulk of Rogue now lived there, so it would stand to reason the place should be as busy as the rooming house used to be. But the two-car garages that took up most of the base level in each unit kept the area from feeling as cluttered and congested as the halls and kitchen at headquarters used to be.

The same halls and kitchen that were now all but abandoned. The place had once been packed to capacity, especially when the men he worked with started to fall like dominoes and their wives and children added to the already overflowing headcount.

And he’d loved every minute of it. Loved the noise. The chaos. Loved always having someone around.

Part of him was hoping moving to the compound would bring that back, but it appeared it might be lost to him forever.

Nate pulled up to the sloping curb in front of Tyson and Naomi’s townhouse, shutting off the engine of the Jeep before stepping out into the icy air. He took a deep breath, letting it fill his lungs. The heat of Florida still wasn’t completely out of his veins and all he wanted was to feel like things were back to normal.

But maybe the feeling had less to do with Florida and more to do with the reality that things were changing. Again. And, like last time, there was little he could do to keep it from happening. To hold onto what he so desperately wanted.

A thin layer of snow dusted the cleared sidewalk as he made his way toward the steps leading to the front door. His boots weren’t the first to grace them though. A set of footprints already marred the glittering flakes, bringing back hope that tonight might bring him a little taste of the boisterous family life that always seemed just out of his reach.

---