Senior glared, but slowly released Susan’s hand, then gazed back at her. “I’ll lock up the front and join y’all out back in a few minutes.”
“No rush, Aiden,” Tink said. “We’ll be at the tower.”
He laughed when Senior flipped him off behind the women’s backs. Abby gave him a questioning look, and he shook his head. “Just giving Senior crap.”
They walked into the main office area. “This is where we do all our office work. Paige and Graham Junior are the owners, and they have offices here. Angie has a setup in the corner where she does all her computer voodoo, and the rest of us are spread out at the desks.”
“This is a lot of space. How many work here?” Abby asked.
“About a dozen or so. There’s a few that are on jobs overseas. I know Graham bought the building with intentions of expanding. There’s an entire lower level with a garage, storage, and a gym.”
“Wow,” Lindsey said. “What is it you do?”
“Security, mostly.” Tink turned left down the hall that took them to the back lot.
“What kind of security?” Lindsey asked.
“Personal protection, event security, corporate espionage, military contract, rescue—if it falls under the definition of security, we probably do it.”
He pushed through the door at the end of the hall and stood aside for them to exit.
“Look, Mama, a helicopter!” Will jumped up and down next to Abby.
“I see that,” Abby said.
Tink scanned the Back 40, what they sarcastically called the training lot behind their building, trying to imagine how it would look to a civilian. Or a four-year-old boy in this case.
The observation tower, where they were going to barbecue, stood in the near right corner. A large, paved area, about forty yards by sixty yards, acted as the landing pad for the company’s UH-60 helicopter and separated the office building from the training village.
He looked at Will’s wide eyes and back at the TLC operations zone. Yeah, he’d have been excited when he was a little boy too if he’d been taken to a place like this.
“Can we go for a helicopter ride?” Olivia asked.
She stood beside Susan, one leg crossed over the other, the sleeves of her zip-up hoodie pulled over her hands, and her long hair partially obscuring her face.
He hated to disappoint her, especially since it was the first thing she’d said since she’d gotten out of the car. “Not today, but I’ll talk to Graham about arranging something. His daughter, Sierra, has probably already asked.”
Olivia nodded but didn’t say anything else. He looked at Abby, who gave him a quick smile.
“Who’s ready to climb some stairs?” He led the way to the observation tower and up the external stairs.
“You made it!” Angie threw up her hands and cheered when they reached the top.
Tink looked around the platform and looked at Will. “Is he going to be okay up here? I didn’t even think about that.”
The space was big enough for the barbecue, several tables and chairs, plus folding camp chairs. It was bordered on all sides by a four-foot-high slatted railing except for the stairs. The space between the slats were too small for Will to climb through. But what did he know? Who knew what a four-year-old could fit in?
Abby glanced around, then knelt in front of Will. “No climbing on the railings and no going near the stairs, okay?”
“Okay, Mama.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise,” he said.
“I’ll keep an eye on him,” Susan said.
“We’ll all keep an eye on him,” Angie said as she joined them. She squatted down in front of him. “Hey. You must be Will. I’m Angie.”
