Facade (Billionaire in Disguise 1)

“And what statement is that?”.

“That they have the resources to get to you, sir.”

A chill ran up my back as I headed out with my security guard. We raced down the stairs, and he practically threw me into the limo. I was shaking with anger as my house receded in the rearview mirror. I had built my home piece by piece, just like my damn company. This asshole was proving to me that he could make me run from my own home. From my own creation.

Just like he was trying to run me out of my own company.

“Griggs? What the fuck happened?” I glared ahead of me.

The stoic man sitting at the other end of the limo finally turned his head toward me. There was a laptop on his lap as his chubby fingers flew across the keyboard. I waited for him to answer me, growing more agitated by the second as we approached the security gate. I groaned as we passed through it, leaving the only place I had ever truly called home as we all fled for my safety.

What a fucking way to wake up.

“Not gonna lie, sir. This is bad,” Griggs said.

“Why?” I barked. “What the fuck happened? The south side of the compound is the part that’s heavily guarded because of the damn highway.”

“They didn’t come through the south side,” Griggs said.

“But Hulk here said the south side was triggered,” I said as I tapped my security guard’s chest.

“It was triggered, but that wasn’t the entry point. Take a look at this.”

Griggs turned the laptop around, and I watched the screen. There was a man coming out from a hole underneath the damn gate. Like some kind of dog that had carved his way into the neighbor’s yard. The cameras followed him all the way to my damn doorstep where he laid the note down and ran, scaling the side of the house and ducking into a blind spot the cameras couldn’t reach.

Then, I watched as he ran back across the property, slammed himself into the hole he’d dug, and closed it back up with the original dirt.

“What the fuck?” I said.

“The south side was triggered one minute and forty-two seconds after that man filled the hole. It wasn’t triggered, Mr. Steele. They ran a program that triggered it for them. After that guy escaped.”

“What the hell is going on? I hired you to protect this place.”

“Sir, if I may be bold,” the security guard asked.

“I don’t give a damn what you are right now. All I want is answers!”

“Well, sir. It’s not an answer.” He paused and cleared his throat. But it is a suggestion.”

“Listen to the man,” Griggs said. “He’s good.”

“Apparently, not good enough,” I glared, arms crossed. I was pissed.

“It wasn’t his job to catch this guy. It was mine. You wanna be mad at someone? Be mad at me. His job was to get you into this limo, and that’s what he did. Now, I suggest you listen to him since your life is literally hanging in the balance,” Griggs said.

I turned to the security guard and raised my eyebrows.

“I suggest some personal supplemental protection. I know a security firm that contracts personal security guards out to high-risk and high-value targets. At the moment, you’re both. I think you should hire them for one-on-one protection until we can get this all sorted out. You can put all the shit on your lawn you want, but nothing’s gonna help you if that asshole gets inside your home.”

I nodded as I sighed, leaning into the seat of my limo. “I appreciate your candor, Mr. ...?”

“Deacon. Call me Deacon, sir.”

“Mr. Deacon. I appreciate the suggestion. And while I think it is a bit of an overkill, some might argue that electronic gates infused with electric charges are a bit overkill as well,” I said.

“Some would say that, sir. Yes.”

“Do you happen to have their number on you?” I watched Deacon pull a card from his pocket before he handed it over to me.