“Couldn’t hurt.” I shrug. “You’re sitting around here anyway, may as well make yourself useful.”
He moves his gaze to the wall behind me, staring off into space as he thinks about what I just suggested. While he sits there like a robot, I stand up and collect the new devices, placing them in the box that I have for them. The outside is a sleek black that feels and looks like plastic but it’s actually a safety box, complete with a code so that nobody but me can get in to it.
I make sure all of my devices are locked away safely. Even though we live on a compound that is surrounded by an electric fence and a safety gate, it doesn’t mean that if someone wanted to get in, that they couldn’t. I’m always prepared for anything, which is why these babies will be going into my safe room in my cabin.
None of the guys know that I have a safe room. It’s something I installed myself, and it’s bigger than my actual cabin. It’s basically a basement, only this basement is full of equipment, weapons, and devices, covered in reinforced steel. Not one person but me knows it’s there, and that’s how I intend for it to stay.
Most people would see a normal cabin when they look at my home, but it’s what they don’t see that is important. I have bulletproof metal lining between the two layers of wood: nothing and nobody can get through the walls or the main door without me wanting them to.
I stand up, ready to go back to my cabin, but as I do, Ty comes out of the office and looks around the wide expanse of the warehouse.
“Evan?”
“Yeah?”
“I need a word.”
I push the box inside my pocket as I slap Dean on the shoulder, bringing him out of his daze. “Having fun where you are?”
He chuckles and shakes his head before I spin around and walk across the mats and into the office.
I make my way to the sofa that sits on the left and thro
w myself down onto it, bringing my hands behind my head as I turn to face Ty where he leans on the desk opposite the sofa.
“Sup?”
“I need your help.”
“Such a hard life being needed all the time.” I wink.
Ty snorts and pulls the beanie hat off his head, running his hands through his hair as his brown eyes sharpen.
I can see that something is about to go down, but I don’t let my body portray that I know. I’m this easy going, fun loving guy; at least that’s what I try to portray. I don’t want any of them to know just how messed up I feel inside. It’s not for them or anyone else to know. It’s my burden.
“I had a call from someone important.”
“Okaaaaaay.”
“He needs some help with something he’s working on. He needs surveillance equipment.”
“So, tell him to go buy some,” I answer, lifting up from the position I’m in and sitting forward as a frown starts to form the longer I watch Ty.
“The kind of stuff he needs you can’t get from the store.”
I tilt my head to the side, wondering what the hell is going on. Ty has never asked me to let outsiders use my equipment before.
“What’s going on?” I ask, standing up and widening my stance. I may not be as ripped as Luke, but I match Ty in height and I work out regularly; I know that people only see the nerd but underneath my slogan t-shirts and trendy jeans, there’s a hell of a lot more to me than that.
“He’s coming down to explain. I told him that I couldn’t just hand him over the equipment he’s asking for without knowing what’s going on. He’ll be here within the next week or so.”
I stand there for a couple of seconds, watching Ty and spotting something else in his gaze. He knows something already but he’s not letting on what it is. I go to open my mouth so that I can ask him what’s going on but then I decide not to.
When this dude gets here, I’ll find out what’s going on. Ty may own MAC Security, but all of the equipment is solely mine: I buy it, I make it, I adapt it, and most importantly—I keep it in my safe room.
“That’s it, ladies!” I shout, walking between them all as they practice their self-defense moves. “No,” I say when I get to a couple of ladies that aren’t blocking the hits right.
“Stand like this, shoulder width apart… yeah, that’s it, now bend your knees slightly.” She does as I tell her. “Now when she comes at you, you hold your hand out, palm facing towards the ceiling and fingers curled in.” I point to where my palm meets my wrist. “This is the part of your hand that you will use. Put enough force behind it to injure the person enough so that you can run away.”