Page 53 of Theirs to Take

“Sorry, Mr. McTavish,” Ruby apologized.

“Not a problem,” Alex assured. “You take all the time you need, in fact, feel free to head home early. I have an appointment at the doctors with Nova, so I’m going to skip out early too.”

“Thank you, Mr. McTavish,” Ruby said.

“Alex, Ruby,” he insisted. “I told you to call me Alex.” She nodded and disappeared down the hallway to the restrooms, turning back to smile at Luke as he watched her walk away.

Luke crossed the hallway and walked past Alex into his office. “Thanks for seeing me on short notice,” Luke said. “I didn’t mean to come up here and barge in on you.”

“It’s not a problem,” Alex promised. “Honestly, it’s a slow day. I knew that I was going to have to leave early today for my wife’s OB appointment.”

“Oh, yeah—I heard that Nova’s pregnant, congratulations,” Luke said. “Rod told me about him becoming an uncle when we went out for a beer last week. Is he around today, by chance?”

“Sorry, no,” Alex said. “He’s been in meetings all day.”

“I guess I can fill him in later. Listen, I need to take a leave of absence,” Luke said.

“Everything all right?” Alex asked. This was the tricky part. Did he tell his new boss that he had a feeling that someone was watching him and that he was in danger, or did he come up with something that sounded a little more believable? Luke hadn’t felt this way since he was being followed while stationed in South Korea, and nothing had ever come of that investigation.

“I’m not sure,” Luke admitted. “Last night, I found this note on my truck’s windshield on my way home.” He pulled the wrinkled piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Alex.

“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll leave town now, and no one else has to die,” Alex read aloud.

“Who has already died?” he asked Luke.

He shrugged, “The only person that I can think of is my older brother, but he’s been dead for almost five years now. He died in a hiking accident.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, but this note makes it sound as though someone was murdered. Do you know of anyone who was murdered?” Alex asked.

“No,” Luke admitted. “No one that I’ve known personally. I’ve also had a feeling like someone’s been watching me for weeks now. I can’t pinpoint one instance, it’s just a feeling. But now, with this note, I’m starting to feel that maybe my instincts were right.” He was being honest with Alex—he didn’t know anyone who had been killed personally, but he had seen many men and women killed during his time in the Navy. He just didn’t think that their deaths were pertinent to their conversation. The only person from his personal life that had ever died on him was his brother, Jack, and he wasn’t murdered.

“Anything else?” Alex asked.

“Nothing tangible. I just think that it would be best for me to take some time away from the office to try to figure this all out,” Luke said.

“Did you go to the authorities about this note, yet?” Alex asked.

“No,” Luke admitted. “I mean, I thought that I’d be able to handle this since I am in security. I just don’t want my trouble tracking me down at work. Whoever left this note had to come on company property to do so. I hate that my problems are touching your firm, Alex,” he said.

“First, you need to check the security cameras to see if we got any footage of the person leaving this on your truck. Second, you’re not taking a leave of absence. That’s bullshit and I won’t let you walk away from the firm to try to save us. If someone’s coming for you, we’ll figure this out together. Hell, I’ll increase your security staff to help out with this issue, Luke.”

“I can’t ask you to do that, Alex,” he insisted.

“You didn’t ask, I’ve offered. Consider it a done deal, Luke. You’re my brother’s best friend. I’ve known you for years now, and I won’t let you handle this problem alone. I say we call in the cops and give them this note as evidence,” Alex said.

“Be sure about this, Alex. You have a lot of employees and I’d hate to put any of them in danger,” Luke said.

“I’m sure,” Alex said. “I’ll help you put together a larger security team in the morning. Until then, call the cops and tell them about this note. I can’t stick around. If I miss this appointment, my wife will kill me.”

“No, you should go. I’ll turn the note over to the authorities in the morning. I’d like some time to comb through our security footage before involving them. Maybe we’ll be able to take care of this issue in-house and not have to involve them at all,” Luke said.

“All right,” Alex said. “Fill Rod in when you see him next, but don’t spread this around the company. I don’t want mass hysteria about having to come to work every day from the employees. Keep this quiet.”

“Right, boss,” Luke agreed. “Thanks for listening,” he said.

“Any time, Luke,” Alex said. “Keep me in the loop.”

Luke nodded and left his office only to run into Ruby again. She had her bags and was ready to leave for the night. “Heading home?” he asked.

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