Page 160 of Mountain Men Heroes
Once we’d all eaten enough to take the edge off our hunger, the talk turned to business. I took a heavy pull on my beer and glanced around the table at the men who’d been through the trenches with me and vice versa. My brothers and my closest friend. Eeli practically lived at our house growing up so when I said brothers that meant him, too. Add in our ten-plus years in the marines and another four as special forces, and another three in working private security you could say we were tight for life. And the latter being where we made the bulk of our millions. Now it was time to branch out on our own and put those funds to good use.
“So, we’re doing this, right? You’re not going to leave me hanging?”
Mac raised his mug. “I’m in.”
Dyson and Eeli each gave me a chin tip.
“Kratos Securities?” I asked.
This time I got a round of nods. Really, we’d already worked out the details. I just wanted to see their approval one more time before taking the final plunge.
Outside this group, I hadn’t shared the news with my family yet, but after years of being kept away from everyone in my life I was home to stay and so were they.
About a month ago, I started kicking around the idea of owning my own time. At thirty-five I was done working for others and I had enough in the bank to back up the desire to step away from the private security firm I managed to create my own. All with their blessing.
Naturally, I invited my brothers to join. As men in their late to mid-thirties with prestigious careers in the marines, not many doors were closed to us. If we wanted to go the big city route.
But the second the air of Wilde Ridge hit my lungs I knew my small mountain town was where I would stay. But truth of the matter, this town didn’t have the kind of jobs we were looking for.
So I would create them with the help of my brothers.
None of us had any interest in catering to tourists since all of us had spent the bulk of our adult years as soldiers. But there were plenty of other people who needed men with our special set of skills. Cherry Falls, Kissme Bay, Sin City. All three places were growing and more people in need of security were showing up every day.
Starting this security firm seemed like a no-brainer. Not entirely unique, but there never was enough security in the growing world of social media insta-famers, YouTube stars and politicians. All who seem to love our slice of pie in this world. And there were others looking for investigators in parts of the country they couldn’t get to.
With the skill sets we’d developed, running a security business would be the best way to keep us sharp and the bank accounts fat.
So Kratos Securities was born. Now all we needed to do was set up shop somewhere and take care of all the bureaucratic shit.
I sighed.
“I vote we hire some help. I don’t feel like spending your first days home bogged down in paperwork.” Mac shook his head, disgust pulling the corners of his mouth down.
“You read my mind, brother.” I clapped him on the back. “But maybe we need to find some office space to put all that paperwork in before we hire help.”
I sent a glance toward Dyson and Eeli. Dyson lifted a shoulder in a negligent shrug. Eeli didn’t say a word.
Not much for talking most of the time, I figured if they had a problem with any of our plans, they’d speak up.
Mac flexed his shoulders and got back down to business. “I say we hire an office manager. We can give a local a job, and they can help us find office space and take care of all the red tape involved in getting the business set up. None of us ever liked the paper-pushing angle and we knew that from the day we drew up this plan. I’ve done enough of it in the last couple of years with my parent’s hardware store that every night I go to sleep dreaming of days I never see another piece of paper.”
I looked across the table at Mac. Okay. That was a little more truth than I expected. “I can run by the Cherry Falls Gazette in the morning and place a help wanted ad.”
I loved the idea of having a business without the headache of all the tedious office crap. The less time I had to spend behind a desk, the happier I would be, too.
My mind quickly turned to the next item on my mental agenda. I scratched the back of my neck. The last thing I wanted to do was bring this up with these guys, but I needed their help. “I think I have our first client, too.”
“You’re shitin’ me. Already?” Mac tipped his chair back, balancing it on just two legs.
Dyson reached out and shoved him back down so all four legs hit the hard wood floor with a clatter. “What’s the case?”
I resisted cracking the joke I wanted to about Dyson making a good mother. I was about to get enough grief without poking the bear across from me. “I need your help finding Trinity.”
Three sets of hard yes shot to me with the precision of sniper sights. These guys knew Trinity. More than that, they knew who she was to me. That didn’t make asking for help finding my girl any easier.
My fucking soul mate. Something deep in my gut clenched at just the thought of the curvy beauty with her masses of long brunette hair and enormous green eyes. I fought down the urge to drop everything and take off looking for her. No way she stayed in this small mountainside town. Not for the three long years I’ve been gone that is. Being this close to finally claiming her as mine brought out my fiercest and most primal instincts to the surface.
Mac grinned and slouched back in his chair.