Page 142 of Four Fiances & I

“I had these in!” I thrust my hand out to show the two earbuds now resting on it. “If I had heard you, I would have fucking answered.”

“I tried to warn him,” Jason announces as he walks into view. As soon as our eyes meet, he gives me a look, checking to see if I’m okay. I nod subtly before turning my attention back to Terry.

“I was going to come and see you after I finished in here anyway,” I sigh, turning back to the punching bag.

Getting my feet in the right position, I start jabbing at the bag. Terry stands behind it, far enough that if it swings, it won't hit him, but close enough that I will hear him over the sound of my fists hitting the stiff leather.

“I’ve managed to unscramble the footage from the night before the attempted break-in.”

I grab the bag as it swings back towards me so I can give him my full attention. He holds out a small stack of papers, which I notice all have pictures on them.

“Do you recognise any of them?” I ask, taking them from him and flicking through the pile. Each one is time-stamped. It looks like it took them a grand total of five minutes to get the jacks in position. After all, they had a ladder, which conveniently disappeared so Maximus was forced to climb up the wall.

“No, I have run them through our databases, and they don’t match any old employees. I’m going to ask Calvin to give it a go on his system.”

I nod, knowing it’s likely he will be able to match them to a name, and if he can't use his system, then Logan will be able to by hacking the CCTV database or something.

“Chuck me my phone,” I nod towards the ring where I placed it when coming in. Jason throws it to me, and I quickly take a picture of the prints. “Are these on the system?” I ask, flicking through the images to photograph each one.

“No, thought it was best to just keep a paper trail for now until we can clear our people.”

“Good, that’s what I was thinking.” I pull up a contact number and click call. I listen to it ring three times before he answers.

“McIntire.” His voice comes through sharp and stressed.

“It’s me. Have you got a minute?” I listen to mumbled voices on the other end of the line and wait to be addressed.

After a few moments, I hear what sounds like a door closing and footsteps echoing before the squeak of McIntire's office chair sounds out, signalling he's sitting down.

“Hey, how's it all going?”

“It’s okay. Been better, but that’s to be expected.”

“I can imagine,” he sighs. “What can I do for you, Christian?”

“How well do you know Nicholson's men?” I ask nervously. McIntire and Nicholson are not friends, but they do respect each other to a point. If anyone knows who these guys works for, it is the man on the other end of this call.

“I make it a point to know all who pose a threat.”

“Do you have your laptop to hand? We have some stills from our security footage. I would like you to look at it and tell me how worried I should be.”

“Send them over.”

I explain I’m putting him on loudspeaker and hold my phone in my hand as I pull up my encrypted email app.

“You should get them any second.” I click send and wait patiently to hear if he knows who it is. If it is Nicholson, the wedding will be off, and I’ll send everyone home. My brothers and Jasmine will be on a plane within the hour. I’m already planning where to send them when I hear McIntire curse.

“They don’t work for Nicholson.” That should be a relief, but his reaction has me doing anything but relax.

“How worried should I be?” I ask, looking at Terry and Jason, who are ready to follow orders.

“You still on lockdown at the house?”

“Yes,” I answer nervously.

“Is Abigail still there?”

I look to Jason, who frowns, nodding.

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