Sebastian

by Lagomarsino, Giulia

  “Revenge is an awfully good motivator.”

  I pursed my lips. There was no way he was going to get me to talk. Time to put my theater skills to work. I stumbled slightly and sank down into the chair I had been standing next to.

  “Are you alright, miss?”

  “Yes, I think…I think it’s just a little too much right now. I think I just need to rest for a little bit.”

  The officer eyed me skeptically, but relented. “Alright, well I’m going to need your name and contact information. I’ll talk to the officer outside and we’ll get a crime scene unit in here right away to find out what we can. In the meantime, you need someplace safe to stay for the night. Are you alright to go on your own, or would you like an escort?”

  “I’ll be fine on my own. I think I just need to sleep.”

  “Right.” He didn’t sound too convinced, but he let it go. “We’ll just get your information and you can be on your way. I’ll expect you down at the station tomorrow to give a statement.”

  “Of course.”

  He walked closer to me and leaned down, his mouth next to my ear. “Next time, try acting a little more shaken up earlier. No officer would buy the bull you just pulled.”

  He pulled back and gave me a smile. I gave the officer my information, then grabbed my bag from the floor. While the officers were outside talking, I quickly grabbed my pertinent files and laptop, shoving them into my purse and heading back out to my car.

  With a quick wave, I headed to the office, figuring that might be the safest place to stay tonight. Darren was still at the office, big surprise, so I headed over to fill him in on the latest.

  His eyes went big when I walked through his door for the second time in just a few hours. “Maggie, what are you doing back here? Don’t tell me that you broke into someone else’s office tonight.”

  “No, but someone knows that I’m investigating the Mayor.”

  “Oh, shit. Alright, lay it on me.”

  “I got home and someone threw a flash bang threw my front window. The crime scene unit is working there now, so I can’t stay there. I thought I’d just hang out here tonight. I can sleep on the couch out there.”

  “You can stay on my couch in here. It’s more comfortable.” I nodded. “Other than that, you’re okay?”

  “Yeah, it just threw me off balance for a little bit. I think I’m just going to look over some documents for a while. Don’t mind me.”

  I walked over to his couch and pulled out the information I had been going over earlier in the day. As much as I wanted to start researching the new documents I found at the Mayor’s office, I needed to finish what I had already started.

  Before I knew it, hours had passed and at some point Darren had gone home. Looking at my watch, I saw it was well past midnight, so I turned out the light and spread out on the couch. It was comfortable, but I rarely slept well anyplace other than my own bed. I used my sweatshirt as a blanket and finally dozed off after closer to sunrise than I would have liked.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Sebastian

  REED SECURITY WAS located in a small city an hour from Pittsburgh. We needed to be close to the city where we could be noticeable, but we also needed space to let the business grow. I chose to be outside of Pittsburgh because I wanted to have a gun range on the property and a training course. Being outside the city made all of that easier. There were less regulations outside the city.

  I was the owner of Reed Security, but several of the guys bought in and were partial owners in the company, though I still owned the lion’s share. The other owners chose not to be known so they could remain just one of the team. It was amazing how people changed when they saw you as the owner of the company and not one of their teammates.

  In all fairness, I didn’t usually participate actively on that many assignments. When I was in the military, I got too close to an explosion and lost some of my vision in my left eye. While it didn’t prevent me from doing my job, I couldn’t be certain that it wouldn’t hinder my performance. Relying on your senses is vital when in the field and being partially blind in one eye could get someone killed.

  Not willing to take that chance, I had chosen to run the business and not be part of the teams. The guys never let me forget that they completely trusted me and would gladly go on assignment with me, but I didn’t know if I could trust myself and that was the crux of it all.

  I was usually the first to arrive at the office every day, but this morning, first thing, I was called over to Sarah’s house. She was a friend of mine that was in WitSec, living life as best she could while hiding who she was from everyone around her. A couple people did know who she was, which was against WitSec policy and if they ever found out, she would be forced to choose between staying with WitSec and moving or leaving the program.

  I recognized her pretty much right away because I had been following her case. When she moved to town, I thought she looked familiar. I snapped a picture and ran her through my facial recognition software. Sure enough, she was the woman that testified against Giuseppe Cordano, an Italian crime boss, and put him in jail for life. Since then, the Cordano family put a hit out on her and she had to remain hidden the rest of her life.

  She called me whenever she was feeling overwhelmed and needed to vent. This morning had been one of those times. I gladly went to her and helped her whenever I could. I understood that she needed to talk to someone she could trust with her secret. For now, that was me.

  Derek “Irish” Cortell walked into my office and took a seat. He was the team leader for Team 1 and secretly one of the larger share holders in the company. I had been wanting to bring him in to take on more responsibilities for a while now, but he had yet to show interest.

  “Hey, Sebastian. We got a call from The Pittsburgh Press. They want you at their office ASAP. Something about protection detail for a reporter.”

  “Shit. I haven’t even started the day yet.”

  “I would go in your place, but the editor, Darren Hughes, specifically requested you.”

  “Can you handle things around here? That’s probably going to be an all day trip.”

  “I can handle one day. Give me a rundown of what needs to be done and I’ll take care of it.”

  After thirty minutes of filling Derek in on everything going on at the moment and calls that needed to be returned, we finished up and I was preparing to leave.

  “You know, if you would consider taking on a little more at the company, it wouldn’t be so difficult when I need to go for meetings,” I told him in frustration.

  “You know I don’t like dealing with people. Security I can deal with. Fielding calls day in and day out and dealing with administrative bullshit is not my thing.”

  “Then consider taking over the logistical side of the company. I know that planning ops was in your wheelhouse in the military, so it’s definitely something you could do here. There’s also organizing the training sessions and recruiting. At the rate we’re going, I’m going to need to hire on at least two people to help me with all of that. I would rather it be someone that I already trust than someone I newly hire.”

  “Sebastian, you know why I don’t want that responsibility.”

  Irish suffered guilt from his days in the military. He was in the army, serving as an Infantry Team Leader. His team went on a mission and he was the only one to come out alive. The intel had been bad and he had had a bad feeling about the situation from the start, but followed orders and proceeded.

  His team was ambushed and two of his teammates were killed instantly. He and two others survived three days evading insurgents, but his two teammates were killed on the fourth day on their way to the extraction point. Derek had walked away with a bullet to the shoulder. His teammates were recovered later and though the higher ups admitted that they had gotten poor intel, it weighed heavily on Derek that he hadn’t trusted his instincts.

  “I would never put you in that situation if I didn’t trust you,” I said, trying to make
him understand that I had full faith in his abilities.

  “Yeah? Look what happened to Hunter and Lola.”

  “That wasn’t your fault and you know it. If anything, that responsibility lies with me, but you and I both know that there was no way we could have predicted that one of our own would turn on us.”

  “And he’s still here,” Irish bit out.

  I hadn’t yet decided what to do with Cal. His wife and kids had been taken hostage by the serial killer that was after Alex, my friend Cole’s wife. He hadn’t come to us and had worked behind our backs to get his wife and kids back. They had died anyway and Cal lost everything, but I didn’t have it in me yet to get rid of him. He was on administrative leave for six months and was now working strictly on desk duty. He had no access to records or important documents. He was basically a glorified secretary until I could figure out what to do with him.

  Sighing, I rubbed a hand over my face. “Irish, I wish I could cut him loose so easily, but I feel partially to blame for what happened. What would you have done if that psycho had your family?”

  “I would have come to you.”

  “Easier said than done. Look, I don’t know what his role will be in the company in the future, but right now he’s hurting and he’s lost everything. He was a good man and still is. He just made a really bad judgement call.”

  “One that severely hurt members of our team.”

  “And if you chose to take on a larger role with the company, you would have some say in what happens with him. Until then, he remains a part of this company in whatever capacity I choose for him. I won’t cut him loose when he needs us most.”

  Irish scowled at me but said no more. I stood and grabbed my bag that had all my office materials for this meeting.

  “I have to head out to Pittsburgh. I’ll have my phone on me if anything comes up.” I headed for the door, but turned back to Irish one last time. “Think about what I said. You have a lot more to offer the company than you realize.”

  Walking past the lobby where Cal sat, I nodded to him before stepping on the elevator. The man was miserable and didn’t feel he had a place here, but I had bullied him into staying. I told him he didn’t have a choice, that he owed it to his teammates to stick around and help where he could. Granted, he wasn’t offering much at the moment and the man was in such a state of depression that I wasn’t sure he was even working most days, but I just couldn’t turn my back on a brother. He hadn’t willfully turned against us and that was the heart of the issue.

  The hour drive to Pittsburg grated on me as I thought of all the work I still had piled up waiting for me at the office. A call from Pittsburgh Press probably meant a reporter that had stuck his nose somewhere it didn’t belong and now I was going to have to send someone to babysit. Derek could have easily handled this assignment, but since they requested a meeting with me, I had no choice in going.

  I spent twenty minutes sitting in the waiting area because the editor was in a meeting. It rankled that I was forced to sit and wait after I had been summoned here so quickly. I must not have hid my irritation well because the secretary kept peering over her computer at me in what looked like fear. I was a tall guy at 6’ 4” and had quite a bit of muscle. It was a requirement at Reed Security that everyone work out regularly. If my staff wasn’t in shape, they couldn’t properly do their jobs. Even though I didn’t go into the field much, I had to lead by example and be sure that if the occasion ever arose, I was capable of keeping up with my team.

  Finally, the editor’s door opened and a tired looking man walked out. He was skinny and about average height, but what really showed his age was his graying hair and lines that framed his eyes. Probably from late nights and reporters that drove him nuts.

  “Mr. Reed. I’m sorry about keeping you. Please step into my office.”

  He walked back in and walked around his desk. I followed and sat in one of the chairs across from him, wincing at the uncomfortable chair. Springs dug into my ass and I thought standing would be more comfortable, but he spoke before I had the chance to move.

  “That will be all, Stacy. Hold my calls.”

  Peering over my shoulder, I saw the secretary pull the door shut with a nod.

  “Mr. Reed, I have a somewhat unfortunate situation going on that requires security for one of my reporters. A story is forming that seems to be pointing to some rather serious allegations about the Mayor of Pittsburgh. Two attempts have been made already to put a stop to our digging, but the story can not be stopped now that certain information has come to light.”

  “I can have one of my men here in a few hours-”

  He waved his hand, cutting me off. “No. That won’t work for us. We would like you to be the security detail. I’ve read up on you and I’m very impressed with you.”

  “Mr. Hughes, all of my team members are impressive. I run the administrative side of Reed Security. I very rarely go into the field anymore.”

  “Still, I wouldn’t want anyone else protecting-”

  “Darren, you have got to see what I found. I was looking over..oh. Sorry, I didn’t know you were with anyone.”

  A woman of average height with strawberry blonde hair and green eyes was standing in the doorway of Mr. Hughes office with a handful of papers. They were all crumpled just like she was. She looked like she had slept in her clothes and her hair looked like it needed a good brushing as it lay over her shoulders. I also noticed that she had smudges of something on her face and as I looked closer, her clothes also.

  “Good, Maggie. I’m glad you’re here. This is perfect timing.”

  “Perfect timing for what?” She asked warily.

  “This is Sebastian Reed from Reed Security. He’s going to be on protection detail for you until you finish the story.”

  “Wait a minute, Darren-“

  “I never agreed-“

  We both started talking at the same time and it seemed that we were both on the same page.

  “Mr. Reed, I’m sure you’re very good at your job, but I don’t need a mall cop to watch over me.”

  I narrowed my eyes at the judgmental little hussy. “I’m a far cry from a mall cop and if you don’t feel you need protection, I’ll gladly head back to my firm. I have other clients to attend to. Good day, Mr. Hughes.”

  “Now hold on just a minute, Mr. Reed.” He turned to Maggie with a stern look. “Maggie, if you don’t take this threat seriously, I will pull you from this story so fast and hand it over to Daniel.”

  “Daniel! You can’t be serious! Darren, he couldn’t shit in the toilet without proper instruction. If you hand this over, the story will go nowhere.”

  “Then I suggest you let this ‘mall cop’ protect you. I can’t afford to have you end up dead because you’re too busy chasing a story to watch your back.”

  “I’ve stayed alive this long, haven’t I?”

  “How about we tell Mr. Reed what has happened so far and let him be the judge of whether or not you need protection? If he says no, I will gladly send him on his way.”

  “Fine.” She sat down in the chair next to me and crossed her arms in a childish pout.

  “Okay, lay it on me. What’s happened so far?”

  “Maggie went searching for some information last night in a rather..unorthodox way. When she was seen, gunshots were fired and she was grazed.”

  “Did they recognize you?”

  “No.”

  “That’s what she says, but then she went home and someone threw a flash bang through her front window.”

  “It’s a scare tactic,” I said. “Obviously, someone wants to keep you from investigating.”

  “And yet here I stand today, still able to do my job.” Her voice was condescending and it was apparent that if I took this job, she would be quite the handful.

  “So, Mr. Reed, what do you think of our little predicament here?”

  “Well, as much as I can see, this little ray of sunshine is able to take care of herself, but if she’s work
ing on a story, she’s not going to be watching out for herself. That’s a one way ticket to the graveyard.”

  “I’ve dealt with dozens of stories that could have gotten me killed and nothing’s ever happened to me.”

  “Sure, if that’s what you call a broken arm, bruises, cuts, almost being run over by a train..”

  “Alright, fine. There may have been one or two incidents.”

  He raised an eyebrow at her and I began to question the sanity of taking this assignment. She would obviously be a handful and test me at every turn.

  “How long do you expect this story to take?” I asked.

  “Well, considering I just got the information a day ago, it could take a few weeks. It all depends on how fast I can connect the dots.”

  “Mr. Hughes, I can send someone here to take care of her, but-”

  “Take care of me? I hardly need a babysitter.”

  “I run a security firm and I’m needed there to run the day to day operations.”

  “Mr. Reed, may I call you Sebastian?” I nodded. “I run a very popular newspaper here in Pittsburgh. As I understand it, you’re from a small town, correct?”

  “Our base of operations is out of a small town. That doesn’t mean that we only operate there.”

  “Of course, of course,” he said, waving a hand in front of his face dismissively. “I’m simply saying that the paper is in the position to send a lot of business your way. All I ask is that you personally see to the safety of my employee.”

  He leaned back in his seat and steepled his fingers.

  “Look, I can check and see if I can shuffle some things around, but I make no promises. There are commitments that I need to keep and if this case takes too long, I’ll be forced to have someone else take over.”

  “I completely understand. Why don’t you make the necessary calls and we’ll talk again in a few hours after you’ve sorted everything. There’s a conference room down the hall to the right that’s available. Once we have all the details sorted, all I ask is that you call and update me daily so that I am assured that my employee is still safe.”