‘Ratchet?’ I repeat in confusion.
‘Callan’ the reclusive man mutters, ‘we called him Ratchet in the squad.’
I tap my fingers on my desk, that’s one of the downsides of joining up away from my brother and best friend, I don’t know what their teammates called them. None of us have ever been forthcoming about our time served nor have we pushed each other to speak about it.
‘Look, do you need me or not’ Hallick growls, ‘cos I got shit to do and I’m only here because Ratchet asked me to be. I owe that guy so if he wants me to work here, I’ll work and I’ll do a damn good job at it. If he’s just trying to throw me a bone because he thinks he should then I can find my own way out, no hard feelings.’
My gaze zeroes in on the ex army soldier, a man who is a straight shooter, and has darkness in his eyes of a man that’s seen and suffered more than he should have. I see a reflection of me in him, and, hell, there is no way I’m not giving this guy a job.
‘When can you start?’ I offer, a little pleased at the look of surprise on the man’s face.
‘You offering me a job?’ he asks in turn.
‘Yep’ I reply.
‘Why?’ Hallick is one of those guys who doesn’t just accept a good thing, he wants to know the catch, yeah, he’ll be perfect in our line of work.
‘Because you don’t give or take bullshit’ I say firmly, ‘you speak your mind, but you also give off the vibe that you can take an order without questioning it. You got the build to be intimidating but I have no doubt you can also blend yourself into the background. Callan vouches for you and that holds a lot of sway in my book, but even if he didn’t I’d still take a chance on you.’
Hallick blinks, studying me closely as I wait, ‘I can be here tomorrow, eight am’ he finally mutters.
I nod, ‘OK, we’ll head to the range when you get here, see how you shoot.’ I laugh as the man rolls his eyes, yeah, he’s going to have no problem here.
Standing up, I extend my hand toward the man, shaking his firmly before I show him out of my office.
‘Hallick! You f*cker! What are you doing here?’ my brother yells, storming out of his office to wrap the other man in a one armed hug as they thump each other’s backs.
‘Job’ the man replies grumpily, ‘Ratchet told me I had to come.’
Gage laughs, ‘I can’t believe he managed to dig you out of that hole you crawled into man!’ He turns to me, his face darkening, ‘you better have given him a job Cale, he’s one of the best, I won’t hear a word against him.’
‘Cool your beans Avalanche’ the man soothes my brother, ‘the man gave me a job, says I gotta go to the range though, show him my marksmanship.’
I ignore my brother’s incredulous look, raising my own eyebrow at the nickname.
‘Recon mission, Avalanche here fell off a damn snow ledge, nearly pulled us all over with him, the asshole’ Hallick explains as my brother thumps him in the arm playfully.
‘You were the one guiding us, how close did we need to be to the damn edge? It wasn’t my fault the bastard ledge cracked under me’ he retorts.
Hallick shrugs unconcerned, ‘no one else took a tumble’ he responds.
‘Whatever’ my brother huffs in annoyance.
‘Hallick’ Callan rumbles as he too now joins us in the reception area, ‘get the job?’
The sullen man nods, ‘start tomorrow.’
‘Good good, you need something to keep you out of trouble’ my best friend replies jovially.
Bidding our newest recruit goodbye, I leave my brother and best friend to catch up with their comrade and head back to my own office to get back to work.
A few hours later Iris appears again, this time, her notepad is in her hand and she smiles brightly at me.
‘Lunch order Caleb?’ she asks happily.
‘I already have lunch’ I reply without looking up, pointing the pen in my hand toward the Tupperware beside me.
‘Oh, sorry I forget’ the woman mutters, ‘can I at least get you a treat? A cupcake maybe? Or some of those new raspberry and white chocolate cookies that the chef is trialling?’
I shake my head, ‘no, I’m fine’ I reply abruptly, wishing she’d just leave, I’m currently elbow deep in blueprints of a building, looking for any access routes that we might not have picked up on yet.
‘Are you sure? They are really good? I could also get you one of the coffee’s you like’ she continues.
‘I said no, now leave!’ I snap angrily, glaring up at her as she blinks in shock before quickly withdrawing from my office and shutting the door.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.