Here With Me

He struggles to lift Marley over his shoulder, and Sawyer steps forward to help him. I’m the last one to leave the hut, giving it a final sweep before I turn, in time to see Taron hit the ground and then cry out in pain.

“Mother—” He rolls to his side, blood soaking his lower back from where he landed on a broken sapling.

“Patton, stop!” Sawyer yells, and I see the trip wire.

How we missed it coming in is anybody’s guess. Sawyer hoists Marley onto his shoulders. He’s strong as an ox from working on his family’s peach farm back home. I throw my rifle over my shoulder and lean down, grabbing Taron’s arm.

“Can you walk?”

His face is scrunched in agony, but he manages to nod. “Get us out of here.”

My jaw is tight, my brow set, and I force the determination we need to finish this rescue mission. Our ATV is down the hill, hidden in the brush, and we follow Sawyer, Taron leaning heavily on me.

His blood soaks through his clothes on

to mine, dripping down to his pants. This injury might send him home, and Marley’s worse. We’re all worse on the inside. We saved our man, but we’re all scarred by what we left behind.

It’s too late to change it. We’ll deal with the scars later.

When the fighting stops.

1

Raquel

Present Day

A hot breeze whips through the streets of downtown Nashville, sweeping my light brown hair off my shoulders and throwing my black blazer open. I catch it, holding my bag and clutching my phone to my ear, hanging on my sister Renée’s words like the voice of God.

“Make friends with Sandra. She’s a good ally.” Renée is encouraging, but my stomach is in knots. “Don’t ask too many questions. If something doesn’t make sense, wait and ask her later.”

“I can’t ask questions on my first day?” The orange hand appears at the crosswalk, and I take the opportunity to straighten my blouse. “What kind of mind reader do they think I am?”

“Trust me, Patton Fletcher doesn’t have time to teach you how to do your job.” She sounds like she might be quoting him.

“I’ve never even met Patton Fletcher.”

“Who hired you? Taron? He’s the only one who could get away with something like that.”

“Ah, yeah.” The walk sign appears, and I hustle across the four-lane street. “I interviewed with Taron Rhodes and Jerry Buckingham.”

“Hmm…” Her skepticism fans my nerves.

“What?”

“You’ll really have to be on your toes, then. If he didn’t pick you, he’ll be looking to get rid of you.”

“Why?” Panic spreads into my chest.

“It’s just how he is. He likes to be in control.”

“So what do I do? You worked here.” I push through the glass doors of Fletcher International, Inc., fresh out of Vanderbilt’s Owen Grad School with a shiny new MBA.

Just like my sister, I graduated in the Top Ten in my class, and as such, I landed interviews with the top firms in the city. I wanted to go to Chicago or Dallas, but my advisor said Fletcher was a great starting point, a real feather in my cap if I could get a good recommendation. I assume this Patton Fletcher knows every CEO in the country… or his dad did.

When I searched Fletcher International, I found pages of articles on George Fletcher, not so much on his son.

“Don’t let him push you around.” Her voice turns thoughtful. “I couldn’t tell if he did it on purpose or if it’s just his personality…”