Page 5 of Warrior Security
“That’s generous.”
“It’s accurate. Ask Beckett. Ask Coop.”
“I’m not questioning whether the team worked. The team was solid.”
“Then whatareyou questioning?”
I looked at him. Hunter wasn’t the kind of man who needed things spelled out, and I wasn’t the kind who liked spelling them. But he was going to make me say it because he thought I was wrong, and he wanted me to hear myself and reconsider.
“I’m not safe to work with.”
The words sat between us. Hunter’s expression didn’t change, but I watched him take them in. Process them. Decide what to do with them.
“Every operator has rough runs,” he said. “First time with a new team, new protocols, new dynamics. That’s expected. It doesn’t mean you’re a liability.”
“I know what a liability looks like. I’ve worked next to them. I’ve watched good operators become ones.”
“And you think that’s you.”
“Iknowthat’s me.”
He pulled a hand from his pocket and rubbed the back of his neck. It was the most unsettled I’d seen him. Hunter Everett was a man who’d built something real here with Warrior Security, something that mattered, and he didn’t extend invitations casually. When he’d called and told me there was a place, he’d meant it. Turning that down wasn’t something either of us took lightly.
“Something happened last night,” he said.
“I’m not going to get into specifics.” I held his gaze so he’d know this wasn’t evasion. “I’m telling you that I can’t guarantee the safety of the people around me. That’s not a rough first run. And it’s not a problem I can’t train through to get rid of.”
Hunter was quiet for a long time. The sky behind him was shifting, the black giving way to a deep, bruised blue along the ridge. Somewhere on the ranch, a door opened and closed. The day was starting for the rest of the world.
“You know I’m going to push back on this,” he said. “Everybody at Warrior Security has their issues. Hell, Resting Warrior Ranch was specifically built to help people dealing with those issues.”
“I know. But I’ve already made my decision.” Staying here wasn’t an option. Hunter had no idea how close to the edge I was. Nobody did. And I intended it to stay that way until I could sort my shit out. “I know Isaac Baxter vouched for me. I hope you won’t hold that against him.”
“Logan.”
“Decision’s made, Hunter.”
He studied me. I let him. I had nothing to hide except the specifics, and the specifics wouldn’t change anything except make him worry about me on top of losing an operator. I didn’t want that. He had a business to run, a team to protect.
I appreciated that Isaac, an old Army buddy, had set this up. He’d told me Hunter was the real deal. That seemed accurate.
And was all the more reason for me to leave.
What I was giving Hunter was clean. A man who recognized his own limitations and was walking away before those limitations cost someone.
Hunter exhaled through his nose. It was the sound of a man accepting something he didn’t agree with.
“Door stays open,” he said. “I mean that. No timeline, no conditions. Whenever you’re ready, if you’re ever ready, you call me and there’s a place. Isaac wasn’t wrong about you. I hope you’re not ditching me for his Zodiac Tactical.”
I forced myself to chuckle. “No, big cities are definitely not my thing, so no Zodiac. And I appreciate your offer.” Although I wouldn’t be using it.
“I’m not saying it to be kind. I’m saying it because I’ve seen you work. Last night and in the service. You’re good, Logan. Whatever’s happening right now doesn’t change that.”
I didn’t argue with him. There was no point. He believed what he was saying, and I believed what I knew, and those two things weren’t going to meet today.
I slid off the tailgate. Extended my hand. He took it, and his grip was firm and held for a beat longer than a handshake needed to. It wasn’t affection. It was Hunter saying something he didn’t have words for, or maybe didn’t want to say out loud because saying it would acknowledge that he was worried about where I was headed.
“Take care of yourself,” he said.
