Held Hostage: An MM SWAT Suspense Romance (Sin City Uniforms Book 4) by Morticia Knight

Author:Morticia Knight [Knight, Morticia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Knight Ever After Publishing LLC
Published: 2023-08-17T18:30:00+00:00

* * * *

The store hadn’t miraculously returned to perfect order while he was gone. In his fairy tale perfect world, he would’ve arrived at the mall, and everything would be as if nothing horrible had ever happened there. Brett tried to ignore the roiling in his gut, tried his best to put on his capable, reliable manager mask. So far, he was failing miserably.

“Brett, the hazmat guys are here to remove the carpet.”

Brett regarded Myron, his assistant manager, who was spared the nightmare that the rest of them had gone through. He’d lost half of his full-time team. The only other staff he had left were the high-school kids and one retiree who only worked ten hours per week. He’d be forced to keep borrowing managers from the North Vegas store for a while.

“Right. I’ll go out and greet them.”

His legs were like jelly. It was humiliating. He was sure that neither Myron nor any of the other staff he’d been loaned could tell how shaky his legs were—at least he hoped they couldn’t—but it still annoyed him. He was usually so on top of everything.

On the other hand, there wasn’t much doubt in his mind that all the associates there were highly concerned about him. They would glance in his direction when they thought he wasn’t looking, worry etched on their faces. When they spoke to him it was with an unnaturally jolly tone. Their pasted-on smiles were even worse than the ones they used on the customers.

After he spoke with the hazardous materials crew then glanced down at the stained carpet as if compelled to look, he’d gone to the restroom in the back and vomited. In his mind’s eye, he didn’t see the blood. He saw two dead men. The security guard with the vacant stare who he’d had to heave out of the entry way to close the door. The customer who’d had no idea his life would end that day.

In a shitty clothing store.

Brett splashed water on his face. Jon Martin was actually a nice place, made a good product. Almost all of his own clothing was exclusively from the brand. But they were corporate down to the core—no gray areas, very little room to be a part of creating growth or change. The company provided a decent salary that promised next to nothing in the way of personal fulfillment or job security. In the fickle arena of the economy, many worthy retail brands had gone under.

He’d been with the company for over five years and had never really thought about changing direction again. His original career in business administration hadn’t worked out the way he’d hoped. All he’d ever wanted to do was run a non-profit. It had never been his intention that his daily grind would be a job that meant nothing to him personally.

The three years he’d worked as the director of a charity that provided temporary housing for homeless people had been some of the best times of his life.

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