“Did you run his background?” I asked.
“Yes. Just like the company does.”
“But did you run it the way I do it?” I asked.
“Sam, for fuck’s sake I ran the man’s background.”
“And how did it look? Because right now, he should be heading for a team meeting. He’s new. He’s going to want to make a good impression, so where the fuck is he?”
“I don’t know, all right? But do you really think the new guy’s trying to kill Mr. Steele?”
“That was the whole fucking point of this meeting, John. We have to figure out where he is. We have to assume the worst,” I said.
“So, what’s the plan?”
“I’m following all the guys in. I’m waiting for Derek’s head count to come through my phone. Then I’m supposed to go in and start questioning the guys. You backtrack and see if you can spot Reggie. With him not being here and this threat looming over Derek’s head, he’s going to need backup he can trust.”
“He’s got fourteen fucking men in there he can trust.”
“Right now, I don’t trust anyone,” I said.
“Not even me?”
I turned my gaze to John as I drew in a deep breath. I did trust him. With my life. But this situation was spiraling out of control, and now we had a missing new guy who was nowhere to be seen. For all I knew, Jacob was the one who put Reggie up for the job by paying someone off in the fucking company.
That man could get anywhere if he wanted to. He had already proven that.
“Now that we know who’s missing, we need to call the police and get them on their way,” I said. “I’m heading up to the team. I want you to backtrack and case the perimeter of the building. See if you can’t find Reggie.”
“Do you trust me?” John asked.
“With my life,” I said. “But right now, I’m on a special sort of high alert. Now go. This stops today. We all need to get on with our lives like you said.”
“Finally, something I can get behind. Keep your radio on you. I’m heading out. And Sam?”
“Yeah?”
“Be careful.”
“You, too, John. You too.”
Once the last body was in the house, John and I parted ways. We hurried from the forest as I made my way for the house, listening as John’s footfalls ran down the driveway behind me. I shook my head, snickering as I bit the inside of my cheek. It was disgusting to me that someone could be a traitor like this. Our line of work was important. Substantial. People’s lives were on the line every damn day, and we were saving innocent people from harm. How could someone jeopardize that for a little money? Jacob was wealthy but not like Derek. And most of his accounts were frozen. Even if he had some sort of secretive account he was drawing from, it couldn’t have been much.
I had a hard time thinking these men were being paid millions of dollars to betray anyone, much less me.
This was going to be a huge hit to my reputation. Word would circulate quickly that I allowed a traitor to sneak in onto my team. I personally vetted everyone before I hired them. I used tactics other companies didn’t use to learn about the other person. I drew up psychological profiles and ran their bank accounts. I looked into their medical history and fucking found out who their parents were. Why John would suddenly rip that from me just to hire a new guy quickly was beyond me.
It was very unlike John to do something like that.
But even though my reputation would take a hit, losing a client would be even worse. So whoever the fuck this Reggie guy was, he had to be found and neutralized. Losing Derek was not an option today.
Not for my professional life, and not for my personal life.
My phone vibrated on my hip, and I stopped to pick it up. It was a message from Derek, and the number made me cringe. Fourteen. Just like John and I had counted fourteen men walking up the driveway, Derek only had fourteen men in his office.
Down one guy.
One lone threat who could ruin this for everyone.