1
Nate
Abreath heaves from my lungs as I stare at the ceiling, my arms crossed over my chest.
“You know this is huge for Nash. We can’t have just anyone on this job. And most of our employees are too new or are already on other jobs during all or part of the tour,” Jack Sanders, my business partner and one of my best friends, reasons with me.
We have spent the last seven years growing Nash Security into one of the elite security firms in Nashville. Our company provides personal and event security, and we help design and install home and business security systems.
Our business exploded during the last year, which has been great, but that means Jack and I have been working more jobs than we usually would as the owners. Even though we’ve been hiring and interviewing new employees, it takes them time to get up to speed. We have expectationsfor our staff and for ourselves with how we conduct business, and we never want to rush that and put someone on the job too soon.
This contract is pivotal to the future of our company. Three months ago, we received an email from the management team of one of the most popular country music singers. They explained that they had a falling out with their previous security company and were looking for a new one for an upcoming nationwide tour. The meetings were extensive and numerous, but they eventually told us they wanted to hire us to provide personal security for the artist.
It’s a high-profile job and doesn’t allow for any mistakes. Unfortunately for me, this means we need the most experienced people assigned to the tour.
I hate the idea of being back traveling for months on end. Jack and I both got out of the military and other lines of work that forced us to be gone for extended amounts of time, for a reason, and I’m not looking forward to doing it again, even if it’s temporary.
“Fine, but I’m taking Ian.”
Jack and I may own Nash Security, but Ian might as well be our third partner because of how much work he does for this company. He also happens to be one of our best friends.
Jack scoffs. “You can’t take Ian.”
“You said yourself how important this job is for our company. We need the best guys on it. And that, my friend,” I pause for dramatic effect, “is me and Ian. Technically, you too, but I’m assuming you won’t go because you’re about to be wifed up.”
Jack throws me an annoyed glare. “My wedding has nothing to do with this. Someone has to stay behind to run this place.”
There’s no way that’s true, and my facial expression tellshim as much. “Please, you know Ella could run this place without the three of us here.”
He huffs out a laugh. “You aren’t wrong about Gisella. Pretty sure a couple of the new guys are scared of her. But I will begrudgingly admit that I’m a little hesitant to leave her.” Leaning forward in his chair, he puts his elbows on his desk while running a hand roughly down his face. His hard stare locks with mine. “After everything that happened, I get anxiety from the thought of leaving her for long periods of time.” Shaking his head, his face falls. “She also still has nightmares sometimes about being taken.”
Ella, or Gisella, as he calls her, is Jack’s fiancée as of a couple of weeks ago. Jack has refused to call her by her shortened name since the day they met. He only calls her by her full name because of some cheesy notion he has about how special it is, just like her. As the romantic of the group, I’m all for it. So she’s Ella to everyone but him. They’ve been together for over ten months now, and I couldn’t be happier for them.
She was kidnapped by her psycho embezzler of a boss and his son last year, and it was pretty traumatic for all of us. While she has done a lot of work with her therapist, she still has days when she struggles. I hate to hear that she has nightmares about it. And I certainly can’t fault Jack for wanting to stay close. I would feel the exact same way if I were him.
After she recovered from her injuries, she decided she didn’t want to go back to corporate accounting, so we offered her the job that was left vacant by our retiring receptionist. She accepted the position, and it has slowly morphed into her being our receptionist, office manager, scheduler, and bookkeeper. She also is a damn good baker and supplies us with weekly homemade treats.
“So…I get Ian?”
Jack sighs. “Fine. It’s you and Ian.” He rolls his shoulders. “Maybe it’ll be good for him. Get him out of his funk.”
Ian has always been on the serious side; he and Jack have that in common, but it’s gotten worse over the last year or so. He refuses to talk to us about it.
“I hope so,” I agree.
“Go give Ian the news and have Gisella start reassigning all the jobs you both were scheduled for during the tour.”
When I leave Jack’s office, I walk down the hall to tell Ian that the plans for the next couple of months have changed. I rap on his half-open door and step in without waiting for a response. He’s staring at his computer screen, looking more severe than usual.
I didn’t know Ian before he came to work for us, but he and Jack were close when they served together in the military. He stayed in longer than Jack or I did, and from what I’ve gathered from snippets of stories he’s told, he’s still haunted by some things that happened during his deployments. But there’s one mission in particular he doesn’t talk about that I think eats at him the most.
“Why do you look so pissed?” I ask as I drop into the chair facing his desk.
Ian looks up from his computer screen with a scowl. “I’m not pissed.”
“Huh. Could have fooled me.”
His scowl deepens.
