“Someone’s been in my house,” I inform him while I fix my mussed-up hair.
Shock and confusion mar his face. “How the hell? There are cameras everywhere,” he tells me, perplexed. Looking like I feel right now.
I laugh, but it’s anything but for a comical reason, as I stand dusting myself, righting my shirt. “The one fucking camera we have pointed in this direction was,” I pause, pointing to it, “was put on a loop. Someone was able to get into my system.” My ears become hot from my anger, and my blood pressure rises. Pacing to the edge of the house, my eyes roam through the trees, needing to spot something, anything.
I pace back to the porch; Weeks' eyes bounce from me to the camera. “That’s not possible. We’ve made sure of that. We have everything locked down.”
“Well, someone did, and I have to find out who.” I sink into the chaise lounger, and the smell of Rowan and her tanning lotion wafts up, invading my nose.
How the hell can I let Rowan come back to this place knowing it’s not as safe as I thought it was? “I can’t let her come back here, Weeks. I can’t put her in danger,” I tell my friend, hoping he’ll give me some clarity about what to do.
Weeks sits on the edge of the fire pit, his eyes not showing any emotion. “You know she won’t let you do that, right? It’s Rowan we're talking about. She runs to the fucking danger.”
He’s right, but I was hoping he’d tell me what the hell to do. I can’t have her stay at the funeral home; I don’t enjoy knowing she’s in such proximity to Catherine. Or that I don’t have my own two eyes on her.
“Look,” Weeks stands, “let’s spend the next few days searching the property, make a plan, and try to set something up to catch whoever is brazen enough to try something. You have toget a plan into motion, and making Rowan stay away isn’t part of that plan. Both you and I know that.” He’s right, but hell.
Roxy jumps on the lounger and stretches out. “You were supposed to protect this place,” I tell her, but all she does is wag her tail.
“I have to get this all sorted out before I leave; I can’t have this and her on my mind. This is the biggest job.” I pause, ready to let him in on what I’ve been keeping from them. “This is my last job, Weeks.”
His eyes pop out of his head. “Do what?” he coughs out, taken by surprise.
“I’m ready to be home full time, let someone else take the lead and me just be the man behind everything. I’m tired; I’ve been doing this for so long. One day, my luck will run out, and I must make sure I’m not on a job when it does.” I tell him honestly. The only reason I’ve kept doing this for how long I have is that I had no one at home worried about me, waiting for me, and praying for my return. Now that I do, I can’t keep putting her through the stress. But knowing Rowan, she’ll blame herself, and that can’t happen. I’m just ready to step down. It’s time.
“Well, fuck. I wasn’t expecting that one. But I agree with you. I do think it’s time. But who are you going to trust with it?” We both know it’s not Weeks; he has Gabriela to worry about, and she needs her daddy.
“Damian. I think he’s ready, and he’s been training for this for such a long time.” Losing Lauren altered something in him, made him the man he is today, and molded him into a person, like me, who can do this job without blinking. It’s only fair that I pass him the torch because I know he wants it.
Weeks smiles widely, showing his white teeth. “Fuck yeah, he is. I know he’s been chomping at the bit.”
“I want to still keep you and Thomas on; you’ll be working alongside me gathering everything we need, like you do now. Iknow you want to stay close to Gabriela, and I can give that to you.” This isn’t when I planned to have this conversation, but I’m glad I could finally tell someone. A weight feels lifted.
“I need that and want that. I’m ready to have her in her own place with me. I’ll never be able to thank Raven and Will enough for protecting and keeping my daughter, and I know soon, she’ll be back home with me.” He has a look of excitement on his face, but he wipes it off quickly. Weeks isn’t one to show his feelings, but I saw them.
I have a proposition for him, but I’ll bring it up later. Our property is so vast, I want to give Weeks a few acres of his own, for him and Gabriela.
“I’m glad we had this talk. So, I think we should scour the grounds, looking for anything out of place or a sign of someone.” I say changing the conversation for his benefit.
Getting up, Roxy lets out a little growl at my inconveniencing her. “Don’t move on my behalf,” I tell her.
“Let me grab my gun and we’ll walk. I’d prefer taking the side-by-side, but I want there to be as little noise as possible.”
Walking through the threshold of the back door, Weeks calls for me, “I can have Raven send one of her men to come and look at the security system; Zion is the best around,” he says as he pulls out his phone, not giving me the option to say no.
“Okay,” I throw over my shoulder.
Roxy follows us, sniffing the ground and constantly running ahead and then back to us. The canopy of trees blocks the sun, giving us only minimal light. The woods surrounding my house are enormous. Walking it on foot and checking out every singleinch of it will not happen, but at least we can get some of it covered.
Fallen branches crunch beneath our booted feet, but we keep trekking. Both of our eyes scan every inch we can see, but come up empty.
“Why the hell did you have to get so much land? Good God,” Weeks pants out.
I give him a disgusted look. “There is no fucking way you’re already tired.”
Raising his hand that clasps his gun, “Hey, I sit behind a desk, remember. I don’t get in the ring either. This is one hundred percent god given physique.” He says as his gun trails down his body.
Laughing, “You’re an idiot.” I grind out to him.
