So that was the reminder that played in his mind as he went through each day now:Do it for God.
And because of his desire to honor God, his favorite verse was Colossians 3:17.And whatsoever you do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.
Some might say his life was stark and too rigid, but it was what worked for him. His focus, of course, was on his job, and he wanted to do his best and never give Duncan a reason to question his decision to give him the job of head of security.
Now, his focuswas on Angela and Kiara. At Duncan’s request, of course. He needed to remember that.
After he finished his breakfast of bacon and eggs with a side of avocado, he took a few minutes to clean up the kitchen before he headed to the security building.
The morning was cold, and the UTV barely had time to warm up before he pulled into the garage of the building.
“Morning,” one of the men in front of the monitors greeted him. Andrew was Benji’s primary bodyguard and would be leaving shortly to take the teen to school.
“Good morning,” Jude replied. “Any updates?”
He already knew that nothing major had happened, because if there had been a significant issue, he would have been called. He was never truly off duty.
“All good,” Andrew reported. “We need to check a couple of the perimeter cameras, though. They’ve been flickering.”
Jude frowned. “Someone trying to hack them?”
“We did a scan, but nothing showed up,” one of the other men present stated.
“Where are they on the maintenance schedule?”
“They’re due for maintenance in the next round.”
“Move that up,” Jude said. “I want to make sure that they’re operating as they should.”
“Will do.”
Jude went to his office and put his duffel bag on a chair. It contained the clothes he’d change into for the self-defense training. Shrugging out of his wool peacoat, he hung it on the coat rack in the corner of the room.
He rolled up the sleeves of his long sleeve button down as he settled into his chair. The first thing to do was check his email fora report from the people he’d hired, at Duncan’s request, to keep an eye on Jim and Craig.
Finding the expected email, he skimmed over it. His gaze snagged on a portion.
Vincent went to a bar where Craig was hanging out and made contact with him. The more Craig drank, the more he talked, expressing great frustration that his sisters had disappeared. It seems at this point that he doesn’t know where the women are.
We’re hoping that Vincent will be able to continue the contact. He gave subtle hints that he was interested in the same things as Jim and Craig — weapons, homesteading, living off the grid.
Jude allowed a rare smile to cross his face. It was good to hear that they seemed unaware of where Angela and Kiara were. Jim probably had a good idea of who they were with, given Annie’s recent appearance in public. Hopefully, he didn’t knowwhereshe was.
Jim wasn’t dumb. He’d proven that when he’d worked on the security team. But he lacked Duncan’s resources, so it was possible he hadn’t figured out where Angela and Kiara were.
The best-case scenario would be if Vincent could strike up a friendship with Craig that would give them an insight into what was happening with the two men. So far, Jim hadn’t been spotted off the homestead—the fortified homestead—and Jude was sure that was because the guy was lying low.
The question was… would he hunker down on the homestead? Or would he go on the run?
They were working with the police and the FBI to see about having Jim arrested for kidnapping. Given that he hadkidnapped a minor and never released her, there was no statute of limitations.
He had a feeling that the feds would also be interested in pressing weapons charges.
Jude didn’t care about that. He just wanted to make sure that Jim was behind bars for the rest of his life.
If Jude had his way, Jim would just… disappear. There was no question about his guilt. As far as Jude was concerned, there was noinnocent until proven guiltyin Jim’s case. He was guilty. End of story.
But he wouldn’t take things into his own hands. That went against everything he believed in.
