LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter Three

      Mark cracked his knuckles and swigged a gulp of his beer. Sitting behind the bar of a local dive, he kept his eyes glued to the television screen above him. An old football game was running, but he wasn’t paying much attention.

      He’d had one heck of a day, if he said so himself.

      The construction manager had come in early with a mood that matched the unexpected storm that would mean no work for the next two days to a week. Then the concrete pourer—who had never driven in rain, it seemed—had backed up into Mark’s Jeep, breaking a taillight and denting his bumper. The cherry on top was that when he decided to de-stress from an unproductive, unprofitable workday with a drink or two, he’d picked the bar from his past.

      “Sorry, I had to take that call.” Nikki Waters, founder of the Orion Security Group and his former boss, sat back on her bar stool and reclaimed her drink.

      Mark smiled but felt no mirth. He didn’t dislike Nikki. In fact, he had once considered her a great friend. However, the past two years had put a weight on the friendship. One that hadn’t affected just their relationship but his entire life.

      “It’s fine,” he said, trying to keep his tone light. He remembered meeting Nikki for the first time when she’d been a secretary at Redstone Solutions and he’d been a low-ranking security agent. She’d been quiet, unobtrusive, yet clever and kind. The latter two traits she had held on to, but the first two? Well, he knew from experience that if she was quiet, it was only because she was finding the right words to tell you exactly what was on her mind. And unobtrusive? If she thought people she cared about were making a mistake, she’d tell them.

      She’d had that talk with Mark several times already in the past year.

      “So, how are you, Nik? It’s been a while.”

      The 33-year-old looked surprised he’d made the first conversational move, but she recovered quickly. She straightened her short, dark red ponytail before answering.

      “Good. Busy, but good.” She motioned to the bar around them. “I would actually still be at the office, but the storm knocked out our power. Jonathan told me it was a sign we needed to ‘capitalize on Friday night.’” Mark mentally winced at the mention of Jonathan. Along with Nikki and Oliver Quinn, Jonathan Carmichael rounded out friends with whom he had all but severed ties since he left Orion. “I’d heard him talk about this place on more than one occasion, so I thought I’d give it a try.”

      “The service isn’t great, but I can’t complain about the price.”

      Nikki laughed. “I’ll drink to that.” And she did.

      “What about you? How’ve you been?”

      “Good,” he lied. “Not as busy, but okay. Working with a decent construction crew on a neighborhood south of the hospital. Keeps my muscles working,” he joked. Nikki laughed again, but it was laced with concern.

      “Listen, Mark,” she started, but he cut her off.

      “I don’t want to come back, Nikki. I told you then that I was done with being a bodyguard, and I still mean it now.”

      “But, Mark, you have also told me before how much you love it,” she pointed out. “You can’t let one incident deter you.”

      “Incident?” he repeated. “A man died, Nik.”

      “It wasn’t your fault. I don’t know how many times everyone has to tell you that.”

      “My one job was to keep him safe, and instead I let some punk kid burn him alive.” His voice rose as he said it, and the bartender shot him a look that clearly asked him to settle down. Nikki didn’t flinch. This fight was an old one by now. He couldn’t help it, though. Every time he thought about Darwin McGregor—the firebug—and his floundering admission to the cops that he had set fire to the cabin for fun, Mark’s mood instantly turned heated. The nineteen-year-old had said that blowing up the large propane tank had been nothing more than an accident. He’d thought the tank was empty. He’d thought no one would be hurt, just scared. It didn’t change the fact that Victor had died.

      Or that Mark didn’t believe him.

      Images of the dark figure running away from the house flashed through his mind. He had been too tall and too wide to be Darwin. Though the cops, Nikki and everyone else had blamed this accusation on Mark’s overwhelming guilt.

      It was another reason he had quit Orion six months later.

      “Yes, it’s our job to protect people,” she said, lowering her voice in an attempt to get him to do the same. “But that doesn’t mean we can be everywhere at once.” She stretched her hand out as if to touch his but stopped. “It was a horrible accident, yet even Mrs. Crane agreed that her husband’s death wasn’t your fault. You saved a woman and her unborn child. That has to count for something.”

      Mark took another swig of his beer.

      “Don’t you think we’ve talked about this enough already, Nik?” he asked, adjusting his voice back to a tone he thought was pleasant.

      Again she started to say something but caught herself before nodding. She reached into her pocket and pulled out an Orion business card. There was a number already written across its back in pen. She slid it over to him.

      “You’re right. I’m sorry. This will be the last time I bring any of this up,” she promised.

      “What’s this?” He nodded to the card. He didn’t recognize the number.

      “Let

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