That may have been true on paper, but there was no way that it was true in reality. I had been there far more than my father would ever want to know; although I had not personally encountered much danger, the guys had. If I had to guess, someone was deflating the numbers on paper or failing to record incidents when they happened.
As it was, I still had recurring nightmares from what had happened on Monday. I had never seemed to be a target of the criminals, but had I been, it wouldn’t have mattered what Brock had done. He’d been heroic enough rescuing my sister from a mugger, but with three of them in the store, they could have easily killed him. I owed as much to the mysterious man with the gun as I did to Brock; it was too bad I was even less likely to see him again.
I would have nightmares I’d be doing anything with Brock—a few things which I was a little embarrassed to admit out loud—and then, at some point, three robbers would break in. Brock would do his best to fight them off, but inevitably, they’d win. And then they’d turn their attention to me.
Sometimes, I didn’t even need to fall asleep to have stress. Whenever I found myself in a small room, hell, even a corner, in any place other than my home, I wondered what would happen if someone came in and robbed the place. It didn’t matter if it was the Target a few blocks from my house or my favorite BBQ spot; if I found myself in a tight space, a creeping anxiety rose.
If there was anyone I trusted to protect me, though, it was the same man that had nearly died doing so.
“Our employees will be under strict guidance not to interact with any of the locals within Santa Maria,” the board member said. “And that is final, Mr. Rogers.”
“But—”
My father cut himself off. Unfortunately, both Elizabeth and I fully understood how the politics game in a big company like NME Services worked. My father could fight like hell against the board, perhaps attempt to defend us, but the board was more than willing to find someone else who would do their bidding.
“Very well,” he said.
Elizabeth and I traded a look. We both understood the other without saying a word; it’s what being twins allowed us to do.We can’t protect ourselves, and the company won’t protect us.
Maybe eventually, as we hired more employees, NME Services would hire some local security guards, but I doubted they’d have the same authority and rights that, say, a cop or soldier would have. I couldn’t rely on them, and while I was fierce and willing to stand up for myself, I wasn’t delusional enough to think that I, a lithe woman, would stand any chance against a robber. And, again, this was only an “eventually,” not a “right now.”
I needed someone I trusted, someone who would do whatever it took, not whatever the law said he could do.
Did I even need to say who I was thinking of?
“All right, that concludes our meeting, thank you, everyone.”
The line went dead. Elizabeth sighed and put her head in her hands. I hoped that she didn’t wonder why I suddenly seemed a little more optimistic than I had twenty seconds ago.
“What the fuck…” she muttered, her voice trailing off.
“It’s bullshit,” I said.
But I said nothing else as I stood up, looked at my sister for a moment in consideration of consoling her further, and walked out of the office.
I made a beeline straight for my bedroom. I needed as much privacy as possible. I would not make this call in my bedroom, though; I would do it on the balcony of my room.
I stepped out into the Friday afternoon heat, letting the oven-like temperatures hit my face and arms. Once my body adjusted, I looked over the balcony, making sure Elizabeth had not stepped outside or that my mother was not gardening. Once I knew I was alone, I pulled up my phone, found his number, and called.
“Tara?” Brock said.
He sounded surprised but happy to hear me.
“Hey, how are you doing?” I said. “How’s everything?”
“Well, I’m back at the gas station,” he said with a hearty chuckle. “Does that answer your question?”
“No,” I said, smiling to myself. “You could hate it and have no choice but to go back there.”
A brief pause came.
“You know me better than I ever give you credit for, Tara Rogers.”
The way he says my full name…
Steele never said it like that.
“Well, I spent plenty of time around you for a couple of years,” I said. “I would hope that in all those drunk two a.m. conversations that I listened to you a little bit.”
