Page 2

CHAPTER TWO

David

I stepped off my private plane and took a deep breath of the cooler air. I missed Boston. Despite it being my primary residence, I had spent the last few months in New Mexico. Ever since I discovered I had a thirty-one-year-old daughter, I wanted to spend every minute with her that I could.

I was met on the tarmac by Boston's team leader, Matthew. Most people referred to his team as my black ops team, but to those on it, it was Cobra. They were fast and struck without warning.

"Thanks for meeting me."

"Anything for you. I'm just glad to see you're back up north."

I was glad to be back as well, even if the reason for my return was a depressing one. I wasn't particularly fond of funerals. Truthfully, who was?

"What's the status of the team?"

Cobra worked mostly by themselves. Matthew was great about keeping me in the loop about their operations, but the day-to-day stuff was worked out amongst themselves.

"The guys are getting antsy. This is the longest we've been stateside in years."

Matthew's team did the majority of their work overseas. They never spent more than a few days at a time in the States, but this time, they were going on nearly two weeks.

"Be on standby to travel to Pennsylvania. I just dropped off one of the Phantom guys to take care of a personal problem and something tells me it won't be the quick visit he’s hoping for."

Gage was bailing his high school girlfriend out of jail. He thought I wasn't aware of his history with her before asking me for a lift, but I never hire someone without fully knowing their past. Dani, the ex-girlfriend, had a rough past of her own and there was no way Gage was going to be able to walk away from her.

"You got it. Anything we should know?"

"You're stateside, so please try to keep the messes to a minimum. I prefer to have people owing me favors, not the other way around."

Matthew chuckled. "Fair enough, but I meant about the situation we’ll be walking into."

I knew what he meant. There was nothing Cobra couldn't handle, so the need for information was strictly for Matthew to gauge how bored they would be. My request that they don't make a mess was my way of telling him not to get carried away.

"I'll let you know when I have something more concrete to share."

"Works for me. I brought your vehicle, like you asked. Are you headed into headquarters or stopping home first?"

Cobra rarely stepped foot inside the Boston headquarters, but if that was where I chose to go, Matthew would follow me, despite it not being part of his job description. He was loyal like that.

"Neither. I'm going to get changed. I'm already late for a funeral. No need to follow me. I can handle this one on my own."

I headed straight for the small bathroom inside the hangar. While I could've flown in my suit, I much preferred not to wear it when I was in the cockpit. The damn thing was too stuffy. I got used to either jeans or cargo pants while in New Mexico. It was a drastic change from the three-piece suits I wore while I lived in Boston.

Yes, I was still the boss of the Phantom team, but their headquarters were less rigid than the Boston office. Boston was my main headquarters and people expected to see me in a suit. Phantom didn't care either way.

By the time I changed and emerged from the bathroom, Matthew and whoever picked him up were long gone. I should've at least asked which of his team members it was. My current situation had me floundering a bit to get my bearings in order. It wasn't every day that a person hears their former best friend committed suicide.

I couldn't remember the last time I spoke to Michael. It didn't matter that we lived in the same city all our lives. We were no longer in touch, and that was fine by me. Michael wasn’t the same person I knew years ago.

On the drive to the cemetery, I did my best not to think about the phone call I received yesterday.

I had been so surprised by the name on the screen that I almost didn't answer it.

Kassandra Long.

Well, Kassandra Bennett now since she married that prick.

At first I thought it was some cruel joke. But the more I looked into Michael's life, the more I realized everything she told me was true.

Then she asked if I could fly out today. She wanted to speak to me after the funeral. How could I say no? There was a time when I would've done anything for her and maybe that was still true; I did just fly halfway across the country, after all.

The cemetery was one of the most prestigious in Boston. I should know, it was the one my parents planned to be buried in. Only the best for them. Anything less would be sacrilege. Michael was always of the same mindset, even though he didn't have the finances to back it up. It took me years to realize he resented that part of my life. A part I never asked for, nor wanted. Money wasn’t important to me like it was to Michael.

Sure, I enjoyed the wealth my grandparents left me but only to help others. It was because of them I could start Blackguard Security and make it the success it was today.

Outside of the company jet I purposely learned to fly, I didn't live extravagantly. The SUV I drove was the same as the rest of the fleet my employees used. My house here in Boston was average sized at best, considering I lived alone. I didn't wear thousand-dollar suits because that was a ridiculous amount to spend on any article of clothing.

The money my company made went right back to those who worked for me. They were the reason I was successful, so it was only fair I paid them in accordance. I had an inheritance. I certainly didn't need to take a dime from the company as well.

I parked my SUV and walked up to where the service was being held. Despite my best efforts, I was late. I despised tardiness but there was nothing I could do, and it wasn't like Michael cared. He was dead and I doubted Kassandra minded. Not after what she told me about his death and certainly not after what I learned from my research.

Not wanting to disturb anyone, I stood off to the side and looked around at the sea of mourners, all dressed in various degrees of black for a man who didn’t deserve it. There was a time in my life when I would’ve considered him a good friend, but that changed when the man stole my best friend from me.

I glanced to the side where Kassandra stood with her two sons. My best friend since middle school. In high school it was the four of us. Madalyn, Kassandra, Michael, and me. We did everything together. Then I went to the Marines and it all changed. Madalyn disappeared, taking a daughter with her that I didn’t know existed, and Michael made sure Kassandra slowly stopped communicating with me.

The letters I once received weekly became few and far between until they ceased to come at all. My visits home, that I once looked forward to because I could see Kassandra, were no longer happy occasions. Suddenly, she was too busy for me.

It wasn’t until one specific visit that I managed to corner her at the local grocery store and begged to know what happened to our friendship. I learned that day that she was forced to choose between me and Michael. Of course she chose her husband, and I couldn’t even blame her. Like the gentleman I tried so hard to be, I stepped away, and stopped trying to contact her.

I wouldn’t know until nearly two decades later the mistake I made.

I left her vulnerable.

I let Michael isolate her.

Just like so many others in her life, I missed the signs. Until it was too late.

Or maybe not. Because today we weren’t just burying Michael. We were burying her piece-of-shit husband. She managed to save herself and her two sons, but now it was my turn. After twenty years she called me. She needed my help and I wasn’t about to let her down again.

Kassandra and her boys were now mine to protect from the crapshoot her husband left behind. I would make sure his shitty decisions never touched them again.