packed up.
“Just a question, Jasper, but when you actually retire and leave this place, are we leaving your offices set up as shrines to the four old men, or are you planning on clearing out so we can do something useful with the space?”
Jasper’s mouth twitched and the other men chuckled.
“Can’t speak for my brothers but my shit’s staying as a reminder.”
“What’s the reminder?”
“Anyone thinks to slack off, I can and will be back.”
He was full of shit. Not a single man who worked for the company would ever slack off. For most of the employees, it was their birthright, their legacy. The rest of us were loyal through and through, so Jasper was absolutely full of shit and it was he who couldn’t let go of his baby.
“Levi said you needed a minute. I told him, and now I’m telling the rest of you, I don’t have much time. Hadley’s waiting on me.”
That earned me another twitch of Jasper’s mouth that led to an out-and-out smile.
“Right, then I’ll start,” Clark said and I braced. “And in the effort to save time I’ll say it straight. Before today, we knew you were close to Wick and we’d suspected what that relationship was. That was one of the reasons we recruited you.”
“And what relationship did you suspect I had with Wick?” I asked even though I didn’t want to have this conversation.
“Exactly the one you confirmed,” Jasper said, and that tightness in my chest intensified until it compressed my heart, making the muscle work double-time. “Wick was your handler and you were running ghost ops for him. You were the best on your team. Natural talent. Wick wouldn’t let that go to waste. He’d see it, recognize it, and use it. And we recognized it because we’d seen it before. That’s not what Triple Canopy does—the company will never descend into the darkness—but that doesn’t mean when we were looking to bring a man on, we didn’t want the best. You ever wonder how we got word your enlistment was up, you weren’t staying in, and how we knew where to find you?”
A dull roar in my head started at the knowledge that Jasper knew exactly who I was and all the things I’d done.
“I figured you had friends in high places,” I answered Jasper.
And that was the truth. I’d never thought much beyond the men’s connection to the Army and Triple Canopy’s proximity to post meant they probably still shared an occasional beer with someone in my chain of command. It wasn’t top-secret information that I was getting out of the Army.
“Wick.” That came from Lenox and my back snapped straight. “Told us he knew someone getting out. Someone who understood teamwork, commitment, and loyalty. Told us you were the best and he was worried about how you’d transition into civilian life with no family at your back and without the Army giving you a purpose. He spoke highly of you and did it for a good long while. So we looked into you.”
What the fuck? They’d taken me on because they felt sorry for me that I had no fucking family?
“Get that look off your face,” Jasper commanded. “We hired you because Wick was right. You were the best. Not only the best on your team but the best of any school the Army sent you to. You’re one of the few men I know who’s as good as you are, yet has no ego. You don’t brag about it, you don’t draw attention to it, you’re still a team player even though in any given room you’re probably smarter than the rest.”
He motioned to everyone else. “And looking around this room with all the talent and experience we got, that still holds true. We know you scored a ninety-eight on your ASVAB and you could’ve done anything inside or outside of the military. But you chose to serve because you had a shit family, no money, and no options, and there is no shame in the reason why you enlisted. You had to get away from what you had to get away from.”
Jasper’s voice actually softened. “Before we approached you we knew about your father and what he’d done to your sister. We also knew about your mother’s issues. None of those we cared about beyond the fact they were tragic events in your life. We didn’t judge you for their deeds. We brought you on and you proved to be more of an asset than we’d thought,