Page 4 of Unmade

It was so stupid. I’d flunked out of every sport I’d tried because I had shitty coordination skills and spaced out too easily. Why the fuck would I become a soldier? I’d get distracted by some random thought or trip over a rock in the desert, and I’d blow myself up somehow the first day of my deployment.

“I honestly thought she told you the truth eventually,” Aunt Laura added. “I wish she and I had been closer the last few years. Maybe if I’d known, I could’ve made a difference.”

I wasn’t sure. My mom had always been overprotective of me. Case in point, Jake had died in 2008 or something like that, according to the article, and Mom had waited another few years to tell me he’d died in a “work-related accident.”

I feared it was going to make me angry. I could already feel sparks of resentment when I thought about how she’d sheltered me sometimes. But I didn’twantto be mad at her; she’d been all I’d had. And, I mean, Aunt Laura… There hadn’t been any animosity between her and Mom or anything. They’d just been busy with work, and Aunt Laura had moved back to DC from Houston shortly before Mom got sick. Which changed everything. Rather than catching up and whatnot, every conversation had centered around chemo, preparations for worst-case scenarios, and hospital visits.

“Mom must’ve held back from searching too much,” I said. “She had the card. Why didn’t she just go over to that Hillcroft place and ask?”

“Maybe she did?” Aunt Laura offered. “The card doesn’t exactly say much. And these private military agencies are so secretive. It’s highly possible they wouldn’t have given her any information.”

Maybe. Either way, I was gonna give it a go. “I’m heading over there after this,” I admitted. “I have to try.” Even though it’d been close to nineteen years since that business card had been given to my dad for whatever reason.

Aunt Laura nodded in understanding and slipped the business card back to me. “Do you want me to come with you? My shift doesn’t start till four.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s okay. I doubt I’ll be there long. I’ll just ask if a Bo Beckett works there.”

She pursed her lips and tilted her head a little. “You know, if I were you, I’d approach the matter a bit more assertively. I wasn’t kidding when I said they’re secretive at these places. So, rather than asking if the man works there, simply tell them you’re there to see him. It’ll give off an impression of you having business there.”

Huh. That wasn’t a bad idea. I’d do that.

“Yeah, okay. Thanks.” I picked up my coffee mug and took a sip even though I didn’t like it. They’d put way too little sugar, caramel syrup, and creamer in it. “What are they so secretive about? Do you know what they do?”

“I mean, I know the gist, not much else,” she chuckled. “There are a few of those agencies here in the DC area, and they essentially take on assignments much like soldiers. Only, sometimes it’s a regular security guard job, sometimes they’re delivering sensitive information, and sometimes they deploy combat units with specific tasks.”

Basically what I’d read last night, then.

She leaned forward and put her hand over mine on the table. “I really wish you’d come stay with me, Leighton. It would give you time to study more. Take a couple college classes…?”

I chewed on my lip and shifted in my seat. She was super nice and all, but I couldn’t. Right now, I was stuck in limbo, where one part of me wanted to retreat and never see another person again, and the other part was itching to find a place where I belonged.

Regardless, it wasn’t with Aunt Laura. Now that Mom was dead, my aunt was literally all I had left, and I didn’t want her quirks to annoy me to the point where I caused friction between us. I’d rather visit from time to time and subtly convince her we get takeout. And that we ate on her balcony where her vicious ferrets weren’t allowed to roam free. Lastly, the fresh air on the balcony would mask the strange smell that followed her around like a cloud. It was one portion hospital smell, one portion ferret, and one portion of a way too sweet perfume.

“I wanna see if I can make it on my own first,” I said. “I’m gonna try to find a second job.”

I’d done the math. I’d stay afloat in my new apartment if I could find a way to make another four hundred bucks a month. Granted, I’d be working, like, ten to twelve hours a day, but…

* * *

There was no logo outside the building, but this had to be it. The Hillcroft Group had its own building wedged in between two others, with an empty plaza of some sort in the front.

I didn’t know if it was a plaza. What was the difference between a plaza and a square?

A narrow street for cabs went through the plaza slash square, and that was all.

I walked toward the entrance and looked up at the building. All glass that no one could see through. Maybe six or seven floors…? I wasn’t sure since there was nothing but glass squares to count.

Two men were coming out of the revolving door as I approached, and they sure looked like they could survive in a combat zone. They were also definitely twins. There was no telling them apart.

“Danny looked way too smug,” one of them muttered.

“Because he doesn’t think anyone will retire,” the other replied. “Mark my words, we’re done here.”

Yikes. I guessed they were done with the Hillcroft Group and had no plans on leaving a five-star review on Yelp.

I ducked my head as I passed them, and I already felt out of place. But my dad had belonged here, hadn’t he? It wouldn’t be weird if a soldier worked at Hillcroft, and my dad had been a sergeant. He’d probably been all kinds of big and badass. Meanwhile, he’d unknowingly had a son who could be described as gangly at best. I was even pushing it when I called my height average at five-eight.

The glass inside the panel of the revolving door was the first place I saw a logo. Or a partial logo—it was just the griffin, not the name or those Latin words.

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