Page 10 of Ricochet

CHAPTER FIVE

Colin stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around his waist, and pushed the heels of his hands into his eyes. Maybe he was more tired than he realized. He half yawned, half groaned as he wiped away water rivulets dripping from his hair. The showers were running. The guys bantered. Some got dressed. He checked the clock on the wall then pulled open his locker. Fifteen minutesto get upstairs. Easy.

Colin pulled out a change of clothes and finished toweling off, deciding that a pit stop in the kitchen for a large coffee was needed before debriefing.

He quickly dressed and ran the towel over his hair before tossing it into a laundry chute.

“Colin,” Brock’s voice echoed off the locker rooms walls. “Upstairs. Now.”

Well, shit. Guess he was going to find out what earlierwas about—without coffee.

Trace walked by, slowing at Colin’s row of lockers. “Good luck, buddy.”

“Thanks, I might need it.” He had no idea what he was walking into. Colin grabbed his phone from the back pocket of his dirty pants, and there was a screen full of notifications. Brock, Jared, Parker, and… his father?

Dad, he could deal with later. As he hustled upstairs to the war room, he scrolledthrough Titan group and Delta teams’ leaders. The messages were all the same.

“Get upstairs.”

“Where are you?”

“Hurry the hell up.”

It wasn’t like they didn’t know where he was. But apparently, it was time sensitive enough to send his boss to the locker room. This didn’t bode well.

Colin passed through the retina scanner, thumbprint scanner, voice analysis, and used an ID card.The war roomdoor was closed, and here went nothing. With a quick shove, Colin strode in with his shoulders back and chin up, ready to take on whatever came his way.

Surprisingly, Parker wasn’t there. Only Jared and Brock sat at the long table with Jared at the head and Brock to his right. Parker had access to everything, and Jared used him for every team and every project—and problem—Colin had ever seen.Everything had documentation, even things that didn’t exist. Parker had everything. That he wasn’t in the room threw Colin’s balance off even more.

“I was in the shower. I didn’t see your messages.” He took the seat opposite Brock, clasped his hands like normal, and eased back as though this meeting were cool. But the silence was about to give him away. “I have no idea why I’m here. It mighthelp if you clue me in.”

Jared pursed his lips together, nodding. “Fair enough.”

How could silence press Colin to the ground? He couldn’t take a deep enough breath while he waited and feigned casual calmness.

“When I decided to found Titan group, I didn’t envision this building.” Jared placed his elbows on the table, clasping one hand over the other and cracking his knuckles. “I didn’t see,decades later, absorbing other companies that had failed, having a direct line to the White House, the CIA, the DIA, the NSA, whatever acronym you want to come up with in whichever country you choose. But I did know what we would accomplish: good things in horrible situations. I knew that plans were for shit, but planning was everything. I wanted a team I could trust with my world.” He looked atBrock and then back at Colin. “And if a problem with that trust ever came up, I needed to know that person had the integrity, deep down to make it right. No one is perfect.”

Colin was aware of what had gone on with Jared and Brock, though he’d only heard about it secondhand. “I’d own up to a poorly handled move on that ship—or any op—and have, I think. But I don’t know what you’re asking of me.”

Brock chewed his cheeks and nodded. “I think we agree.”

“Then…” Colin was lost.

“We’re not here because you messed up.” Jared leaned back at the head of the table, eyeing Colin. “More to see what you want from Titan.”

Colin paused, too spent to have the wherewithal to think through a meaningful career discussion, and maybe that was why they were having this talk now. Or maybe they understoodthe team was coming off one of their worst jobs ever, and they were shoring up who was in for the long haul. The men and women on Titan’s main team had been with Jared for years, some more than a decade. Delta was new compared to them, though they were pushing several years now.

“In what way?” He took a chance that it was better to ask for more intel than to rely on the expectation of mind readingof a notoriously unreadable strategist.

“Good question.” Jared rocked slowly in his chair. “Everyone in this company is the best of the best. No question.”

“Agreed.”

“Every team I’ve built, there’s been a reason for the strengths because everyone has a weakness, and I need technical experts who are able, fluid enough, to assist company-wide as much as they do for their team.”

Again, Colinagreed.

“You’re not always the loudest,” Jared continued.

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