Page 45 of In The Trenches (Owens Protective Services)

“Edu, it’s a fucking checkup—”

“Not gonna happen.”

“And if you fall over?”

He shrugged, looking away. “Then I guess it’s my fucking fault.”

I glanced at Lock, wondering if he knew more than me. He shook his head, telling me not to push it. “Fine, go with Lock and get checked out.” The door opened and the ABC men strode in as if they owned the place. “Rock, make our guests comfortable in the conference room. Make sure they don’t touch anything.”

They all dispersed while I went in search of Rae. She was in the IT room as expected, laying under the desk. It wasn’t something I had seen before, but these were strange times.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to get some extra power to the system. Do you know how hard it is to use only one computer?”

I quirked an eyebrow at her in the dim light. “Do you know how hard it would be for me to even attempt to use two computers at once?”

She slid out from under the desk, brushing herself off as she stood. “What do you need from me?”

“I have some guests with me.”

“Guests, good? Or guests that you’re going to beat up?”

“A little of both,” I grinned. “And we’ll have to see how the rest of the day goes.”

“What do you need from me?”

“A background check on everyone that walks through that door. Except Rafe,” I added quickly.

“Rafe?”

“Tall guy in charge. Trust me, you’ll know him when you meet him.”

She looked at me inquisitively, already smelling trouble. “And why am I not running background on him?”

“Because I already know him, and that information stays with me.”

Amusement filled her gaze, along with a hint of curiosity. “Anything you say, boss. But how do you want me to get that information? I don’t exactly have a lot to run on right now. And with the power outage, who knows how long it will take to get up and running again.”

“For now, I want you to join us in the conference room and do your thing.”

She nodded, understanding what I wasn’t saying. Rae had a bit of a gift, one that we all possessed on some level, but Rae was fucking great at it. She read people like a book, picked up on their ticks, and could almost always tell when they were lying.

“Without technology to help us out at the moment, we’re going to have to do things the old fashioned way.”

“Pens and paper. Got it, boss.”

I stopped by my office and walked over to my wall safe, pulling out my pen. It was actually a recording device, something I didn’t think I’d ever have to use with today’s technology, but now would come in very handy. I grabbed another magazine, emptying the one loaded in my gun. This shutdown left me feeling unprepared, so I was going into that conference room loaded with anything to make me feel more at ease. The only thing left for me to do was take Sally in with me, but bringing a sniper rifle into a meeting probably wouldn’t put people at ease.

I walked into the conference room, ready to get this meeting over with. I smirked as my guys all lounged around the table, not leaving a single chair empty for the newcomers. I took the head chair, sitting down to face my teams.

“As you all know, we picked up some ABCs at the hangar. For now,” I said, looking pointedly at their leader, “we’re working together to figure out if Grady’s target was only the substation, or if he had a bigger plot in mind. Rafe, care to fill us in on what you know?”

The tall asshole at the center of the pack stepped forward. Still wearing his mask and all his gear, he looked like he was prepared to go to battle. “We’ve had our eye on Grady for some time now. Various intel suggests that he’s not the mastermind behind the operation, but the man charged with carrying out the plan.”

“Various intel?” Slider asked. “What does that even fucking mean?”

“It means it’s above your pay grade,” Rafe retorted.

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