Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 106839 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106839 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 534(@200wpm)___ 427(@250wpm)___ 356(@300wpm)
“Oh, come on, Amon.” Collin slaps me on the back. “Sorry I didn’t tell ya, but I just found out myself.”
“Well, what are you looking at in my kennel?” I jut my chin at Clipboard’s little checklist. “What’s that?”
“Just basic stuff. Mostly about safety and—”
I’m just about to lose my shit when Collin grabs my arm, turning me. He calls over his shoulder. “You look at whatever you want, Sawyer. We’ve got nothing to hide here. If you need us, we’ll be up at the office.” Then Collin gives me a little push towards the back door and we leave.
Once outside, I turn to him. “What the hell is going on? Why is that man here passing judgment on us?”
“Forget him. It’s just… Charlie. He’s…” Collin sighs. “Well, you were there when we rescued Lowyn. You know I had to promise Charlie I’d work for him, right?”
I shrug. But I do.
“Well.” Collin shoves his hands in his pockets. “This is part of that. There’s no point in arguing. If Charlie wants to inspect the place, then he gets to send a man to inspect the place. It’s no big deal, anyway. We’ve got nothing going on here but what’s on the paperwork.”
I side-eye the door we just came out of, then meet Collin’s gaze. “Yeah. For now. But it could take a turn at any time.”
“This Sawyer character, he’s only gonna be here two weeks, so he’ll be long gone before any turning starts happening.”
I blink. “Two. Weeks? Who the hell needs two weeks to do an inspection!”
Collin grabs my arm again and starts walking up the driveway towards Nash’s house, which is also where the Edge office resides. “Keep your voice down. And forget that guy. Charlie’s just nervous about the contract. He wants to see how the men are getting on. And they’re gettin’ on good, so let’s show them off, ya know?”
I huff.
“Anyway, we’ve got bigger problems, Amon. Because Mr. Martin back there showed up with a delivery for us. And I was just coming to get you so we can have a discussion about it.”
“What kind of delivery?”
Collin stops walking to look me in the eyes. “The kind that brings four stainless-steel canisters inside a cooler of dry ice, that’s what kind.”
“But…” Once again, I am confused. “We already got our delivery for this week.”
“Exactly.” Collin starts walking again. “Like I said, we’ve got bigger problems than an impromptu inspection.”
Inside the Edge Security office, Ryan, Nash, Collin, and I all stand round a small table looking at the cooler with trepidation. The four of us are the same in some ways, but different in many others. Obviously, Collin and I come from Disciple, West Virginia and grew up together, so we’re more the same than different. But Nash is a West Coast guy who came up in big money and Ryan is an East Coast guy who came up in… well, the mob, actually.
But for some reason, it works. At least when it comes to ‘security’.
Nash walks over to his desk and picks up a large white envelope, then hands it to Collin. “It came with a package. I opened it because it was addressed to Edge. But it’s for you, Collin.”
Collin takes the envelope when Nash offers it, then peeks inside. A moment later, he’s pulling out another envelope, this time red.
Red is never a good sign.
“Ah, fuck,” Ryan says, flopping down into a chair. “Ah, fuck! What the hell is this shit?” His eyes are a little bit wild as he looks up at Collin. “They said we were good, Col. They said we were fine. A cooler showing up with a red envelope doesn’t sound fine to me.”
Collin puts up a hand. “Just… relax. Don’t jump to conclusions.”
“Well”—Nash laughs, then takes a seat at the table as well—“he’s not wrong, Col. This does not look promising.”
I pull out a chair and sit as well. In my experience, red envelopes that come with coolers are never a good thing.
Collin stays standin’. He unseals the red envelope, pulls out a thick stack of papers, and scans the cover letter. Then he sighs and drops the whole stack onto the table. “They’ve got a new protocol for us.”
“No!” Ryan stands up. “No fucking way. I’m not drinking that shit! I’m not doing it!”
Collin rubs a fingertip against his temple like he’s got a headache. “It says there’s been some complications with other teams, Ryan. And this protocol is just precautionary.”
“We haven’t experienced any complications,” Nash points out. “So why do we have to drink it?”
Collin looks at me and I shrug with my hands. “If it ain’t broke, ya know?”
“I know. But…” Collin stares at the cooler for a few seconds. “But we don’t have much choice, guys.”
Ryan is pacing the room now. “We absolutely do, Collin! We absolutely do.” He looks at me. “We’re just gonna pretend we’re drinking them and not do it, right, Amon?”