“That was Striker. I’ve decided not to accept K19’s offer.”
“Why not?”
“You can drive,” he said once we were in the car.
“Why not?” I repeated without turning on the engine.
“I gave it a lot of thought, and I’m just not ready to make that kind of commitment.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know yet, but maybe some PI work.”
Striker had called me a few days ago. I told Halo to say the same thing I had. “Tell him you need more time.”
“Have you given them an answer?”
“No.”
“What about you? What are you going to do?”
“I’m thinking about working for my dad.”
My dad owned a construction company and had made it clear that if I wasn’t ready to go back into intelligence either now or in the future, he had a job waiting for me.
“Is that what you did, told them you needed more time?”
I nodded.
“Nothing like surviving a plane crash to make a guy reassess his life,” Halo mumbled.
“Listen, I’m sorry I’ve been so distant.” It wasn’t his fault his sister had had sex with me once and then decided she didn’t want anything to do with me.
“We okay?” Halo asked.
“Always.” When we walked into the terminal, Striker was waiting. I shook his hand and told them I’d be at the bar.
“How’d it go?” I asked when Halo came and joined me a little while later.
“He gave me a side job.”
“Doing what?”
“Missing person. Apparently, Tara Emsworth disappeared shortly after Thanksgiving.”
“Name sounds familiar.”
“She’s one of Razor’s wife’s best friends.”
“That’s right. Mercer’s wife’s too.” Both men were guys we worked for at K19 Security Solutions.
“So your job is to find her?”
Halo nodded. “Wanna help? And by that, I mean come up with a plan.”
“Sure, I can do that.” No way in hell I’d take a mission, though. Maybe never again.
When I drove up to Halo’s parents’ house a couple of hours later, he invited me in. Instead, I told him I’d come by that night. It was obvious it bugged him. No other time that I could remember had I refused to at least say hello. However, my reason for not wanting to now, was something I couldn’t admit or explain.