Sneak Peek of Term of Service

CHAPTER ONE (Aubrey)

I never believed much in praying, but as the end crept closer, I sure found myself doing it a lot.

Dust particles danced in the early morning sun coming through the thick cream-colored curtains that hung in the living room since my mother made them thirty years earlier. I froze in the doorway, the light clinging to his chest without unbending, telling me his breathing stopped. “Dad?”

The silence expanded, a heavy, thunderous stillness growing with every tick of the clock, crushing the air from my lungs as the world closed in on me. “Oh, God. Please don’t do this. I’m not ready.”

I swore to let him go in peace when the time came, but I was teetering on the edge of breaking my promise as my thumb hovered over the emergency button on my phone. “Breathe, Dad. Please.”

The oxygen concentrator sputtered and clanged, its failing motor breaking the silence with a violent jerk. Dad flinched, his chest heaving as he sucked in a sudden, desperate breath.

That man was all I had in the world, and knowing I was so close to losing him terrified me. But having to stand by as the cancer ate him up filled me with so much anger, too, I couldn’t see straight half the time.

Ironclad’s doctors gave him six months to live over a year ago, but that stubborn heart of his just kept on ticking like clockwork.

A flutter started at the corner of his eye as his hand moved away from his lap in search of me. “Aubrey?”

Pulling the coffee table closer to his suede brown recliner, I crouched down beside him. “I’m here, Dad.”

I picked up the remote he dropped on the floor and slid it back underneath his fingers. “Here you go.” A slight shimmer escaped from between his eyelids, telling me he was still awake and watching me, and I smoothed his still almost entirely black hair back from his forehead to kiss him. “I have to leave for work in a few minutes. I put some food and drinks beside your meds on the table, and the phone’s there, too, in case you need me.”

My greatest fear was that I wouldn’t be here when he decided he had enough, but if I missed work one more time, I wouldn’t have a job to go back to. So I bent down to tell him goodbye, in case I didn’t have another chance. “I love you, Dad. I’ll be home as soon as I can. Please wait for me.”

The times he was asleep got longer as he started to realize the dream world inside his mind was better than the nightmare we lived in. So he didn’t even acknowledge me as I backed away from him.

He was as helpless and weak as a newborn baby, and I felt like a hot pile of garbage, leaving him all alone like that. But the power bill was due a week earlier, and I didn’t have any gas left to make him a proper meal if we had any food left to fix.

I loved my father more than anything, believe that. But caring for him night and day that last year ruined me, and I didn’t have a single penny to my name anymore.

I’m not sure how I made it to work at all, crying like that the whole drive. So exhausted and desperate and guilt-ridden that I was ready to jump off a bridge, I wouldn’t be able to focus on doing my job, anyway.

I’d rather be torn apart by a herd of grizzly bears than ever ask my employer for a goddamn thing. But I had a bag of meds to pick up by five o’clock that evening before the pharmacist put them back, so I bypassed my office and went straight to my boss to grovel instead.

Sorting papers as he stood at his desk, Viktor peeked up and smiled when he sensed me in his doorway. “Miss Sullivan. Please come in.”

Only to make sure my day didn’t get any easier, a jolt of electricity shot through my back and down my right leg as soon as I sat in the leather tufted chair, making me whimper instead of saying thanks.

Probably the only halfway genuine person in management, he dropped his papers and leaned forward, concern wrinkling his face as he cocked his head. “What’s wrong?”

Sucking air through my teeth to brace for the pain, I rearranged myself to my other hip. “I took a spill yesterday when I was getting Dad out of his wheelchair, and my back is kind of angry.”

He sighed as he sort of tossed his head back and forth, making the slicked-back waft of white hair fall over his eye. “I realize it’s a shitty thing to ask at a time like this, but have you considered putting him in a facility? All this is taking such a toll on you.”

In the beginning, I was so gung-ho about not wanting anyone else’s help that I smacked away every hand held out to lift me up. So now, when I needed a little support, I couldn’t get a single yes back from anyone. “Yeah. I looked into that. All the local nursing homes have a wait list of six months plus, and the hospice is at capacity right now.”

His eyes sliced back to the stack of papers on his desk, and I followed them until I found the word termination notice written across the top. “It’s okay,” I said as he released a heavy breath from his nose and blinked away. I shook my head as I wiped my face with the turned-up cuff of my ex-husband’s flannel shirt. “You don’t have to say it.” I shrugged back at him when he looked up at me. “To be honest, I’m surprised you’ve kept me on so long after all the time I’ve missed.”

The pen he picked up to calm his nerves flicked back and forth against the desktop. “You’re a brilliant engineer, and it’s a damn shame to waste talent like yours. I don’t enjoy doing this, but my hands are tied.”

I’d been thinking if I lost my job before Dad passed, I’d just divvy up his pain meds between us one night and be done with it all. So I pressed my hands into the chair’s arms and stood, smiling as the constant worry of where my next meal would come from faded, replaced by the peace of knowing it wouldn’t be a problem anymore. “Don’t worry yourself over it.” But another pain shot through me, making me gasp and sending me back to the soft leather again. “Just give me a second.”

Instead of playing golf on Sunday mornings like the other managers, Viktor sat in the pews at church with the workers. No, he wasn’t one of us and couldn’t be trusted, but he always tried a little harder to keep us happy. He pulled another chair from the wall, the faint scent of his cologne—a mix of pine and leather—following him as he sat beside me. “I think I have a solution for us both if you can keep an open mind,” he said, pulling a few tissues from his desk and laying them on my lap. “This company has many interests worldwide, and some are in extremely remote places nearly impossible to staff.”

“Oh.” Nothing in the world would make me happier than escaping the horror show I woke up to every day. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that was exactly where I deserved to be. Maybe, if I saw it through, I’d earn some peace—if not in that life, then in whatever came after. “I appreciate the offer, but I can’t leave my father behind.”

His brows drew together as he flipped his hand from the chair’s arm. “No. I understand that. We wouldn’t expect you to do anything until the time was right.” He nodded toward the old black-and-white photograph hanging on the wall of the original mining camp that once sat there. “You grew up here, so you understand about the whole company store way of life? Don’t you?”

Five generations of my people worked themselves to death for that place, and Ironclad made sure none of them ever owned a thing with their crooked system—paying a dollar an hour to work while charging five to live. “Yes, sir. This company’s employed a member of my family since it opened.”

He jerked his eyebrows at me as he crossed a leg over the other. “Ironclad will front all of you and your father’s living expenses. In return, you’ll be expected to commit to a three-year stint at one of its facilities in those underserved areas.”

I shrugged back at him as I gave it a thought, not that I had a choice but to take him up on his offer. “I guess that sounds alright. What’s the catch, though?”

The edges of his mouth turned down as he picked at the gold stud holding down the leather on his chair’s arm. “Aside from the mandatory term of service, you’ll sign a nondisclosure agreement about anything you might witness. Should you breach it,” — three fingers unfolded — “you’ll be required to pay back three times the amount we front you and any legal fees.”

People where I came from knew how to keep secrets. And for the gift of never having to leave my father’s side again until he died, minding my own damn business wasn’t going to be a problem for me. But three years of my life was a lot of time to be stuck somewhere possibly worse than that dump. “What if it doesn’t work out? Your people don’t like me, or I hate the place? Can I transfer or…”

He gave me a shake of his head to stop me. “In all the years we’ve had this program in place, we’ve never had a single person default.” A finger came up from his knee. “Not one. The workers we send rarely choose to leave.”

My mind swam in the million things I wouldn’t have to worry about anymore until he laid his hand on my knee to seal the deal. “You can stay home and take care of your father. Hire nurses so you can have a break. Take a little vacation when it’s all over.” He tugged at the frayed edges of the hole in my work pants. “Buy yourself a new wardrobe. Whatever you need to be comfortable.” His palm left my leg and flipped up at me as he backed away. “All you have to do is live in a safe little town in the middle of nowhere for a few years while all your bills and necessities are taken care of. Doesn’t sound too bad. Does it?”

Pulling a little leather holder from his chest pocket, he slid a business card from the back of the stack. “This is a good deal for you and Ironclad. So, give it a day or two to think it over.” Only a simple black card with a phone number came from his fingers when he held it before me. “Just give me a call, and I’ll start the wheels turning.”

As soon as he got up to open the door for me, I nodded at him and slid the card into my pocket. “Yes, sir. I’ll do it. Sign me up.”

Honestly, I didn’t give a damn about anything anymore but getting through the day ahead of me. I would have made a deal with the devil himself to take a little of my burdens from me, and I guess when I shook his hand, that’s exactly what I did. “Fantastic. I’ll make some calls,” he said as he laid his hand on my back and led me toward the door.

Pausing outside his door, I turned back, cringing at the thought of having to ask for one more thing after what he’d just done for me. “I don’t guess I could get an advance on that. Could I? I kind of rolled into work this morning on fumes, and…”

Already digging out his wallet, he pulled out all the cash he had inside and held out to me. “Consider this the first day of a better life, Aubrey.” Slowly closing the door behind me, he smiled and popped out his finger gun. “I’ll be in touch.”

Breathing a little easier on the walk of shame back to my cubicle to gather my things, I held onto that cash like it was the answer to all my prayers.

I knew in exchange for all those bullshit promises he gave me, I was about to be fucked over epically by Ironclad. But even if I wanted to change my mind, it was already too late. There was no way out of that deal for me.

CHAPTER TWO (Ezra)

I’d rather be out there in the woods than chained to my desk at the main building any day of the week.

The dirty earth and rotting leaves crunching under my feet reminded me there were still places to go that weren’t ruined by man, and there was hope I might actually walk out of that place someday, free and clear.

I was so lost in those thoughts of a future beyond Ironclad’s grip and a life untouched by the chains of that place that I never saw the danger creeping in. But plans were already in motion that would bind me even tighter to that life I hated so much.

Reaching out to grab the buzzing of the electric fence, I walked its length through the forest as the hairs on my arm bent away from me. Charging the atmosphere as the impending storm built around us, the vibrating wire my palm hovered over crackled the damp air.

Against the smears of Fall colors that bled together behind him, Ritchie stuck out like a sore thumb with his pale white, freckled skin, and a-shade-blonder-than-orange hair. Perched at the foot of the hill above me, he bit into his lip as he cranked down on the nut for the junction box.

That section of the mountain only got attention once a year, and the path I cut down last Fall had grown over entirely. So I had to navigate a path through the thickets and downed trees without zonking myself with four thousand volts to get back to him. When he heard my feet kicking up the leaves, he shot his eyes over his shoulder and lifted his chin at me. “How is it?”

I pulled my leather gloves off and shoved one into each of my jacket’s pockets. “The signal is good all the way to the creek,” I said, eyeing the fence. “Might want to dial it back a bit, though. The goal’s to stop them, not fry them.”

He slammed the lid shut and pushed the padlock back together. “Eh. The amps are low, and no one’s ever made it this far before, anyway.” He glanced at his watch and jerked his chin toward the old green company Jeep sitting on the dirt-and-gravel road behind him. “We better head back,” he said. “The last contestant’s due around two.”

The crescent wrench hit the back floorboard as Ritchie climbed into the passenger seat. I shifted the Jeep into gear and leaned out to back it down the narrow path, steering around branches and rocks. “I don’t like how you talk about them. She’s a human being.”

Holding onto the roof bar as I turned onto the road leading back to town, he fished his pack of cigarettes out of his chest pocket. “Yeah, I know she is. I picked this one out myself. I can’t wait for you to meet her.” Flipping out his old metal lighter, he puffed clouds of smoke as he squinted at me through it. “She’s perfect for you.”

Glancing back and forth between him and the low branches that littered the path, I sank inside as what he was trying to tell me started to sink in. “Perfect for me? What the hell are you talking about?” He looked over at me, his mouth twisting and eyebrows arching to tell me I knew damn well what he was talking about. “Why would you do that?”

Leaning out the door cut-out, he spit onto the ground and took another drag when he returned. “You’ve been here three years. It’s time to get with the program.” I shifted to the next gear and shook my head at him as he stretched out his legs. “They’re getting suspicious about you, Ezra. If you don’t start falling in line, they will make you disappear.” He slapped my arm with the back of his fingers. “And I don’t want that. So, just do this thing already.”

My thumbs drummed against the steering wheel as the gravel road gave way to cracked asphalt. “I will fucking not.” Every year that passed, a little more of my pride and humanity went with it. I did everything these assholes demanded of me, but this one thing was too fucking sick for me to ever recover from. I had to put my foot down somewhere. “They can come after me if they want. I didn’t sign up for this shit.”

Laughing back at me through his smoker’s cough, he sank into the seat and nodded at the windshield. “You sure as hell did.” Pretending to sign across the dotted line, he wiggled his fingers through the air to remind me of just what I agreed to. “As soon as you took their money, you became Ironclad property, just like everyone else here.”

At the switchback at the base of the mountain, I downshifted and whipped the wheel right. They dangled these women in front of us like a glass of water on the hottest day of the year, and the loneliness finally had me licking my lips for a taste despite what my soul thought about it. “And what makes you think this one will make me want to change my mind? Huh?”

He tossed the cigarette out and unraveled a piece of gum from its foil. “Because it’s my job to know everything about the people who work for this company,” he said, popping the gum into his mouth. “And I know you both like the back of my hand. So, as soon as I saw her name pop up on the list of eligibles, I knew she was your girl.”

I turned the Jeep toward the building’s front gate, the crunch of tires on gravel filling the silence. He flicked the little balled-up silver wrapper outside and reached for his hair, giving it a quick smooth-down.

My eyes narrowed as I shot him a quick squint. Ritchie didn’t even work this hard to impress his own wife. Hell, half the time, he walked into the office covered in grease or mud without a second thought. Either this woman was a supermodel, or he was trying to make me think she was. “You want to sit in while I go over everything with her?” he asked, kicking the mud off his boots to try to make himself halfway presentable.

Once we got to the straight stretch through the woods before the parking lot, I quickly checked myself in the mirror when I thought he wasn’t looking, just in case she was as hot as he was pretending she was. “I absolutely will not be involved in any of this,” I said. “My hands are clean.”

He smiled and chomped on his cinnamon gum to let me know he caught me. “Mmm-hmm. I see that.” Hopping out onto the pavement before I finished parking, he shook off his old green field jacket and waited on the sidewalk for me. “You’re a healthy, young-ish heterosexual male,” he hollered at me as I put on the brake. “It’s not normal to be alone all this time.” He motioned to the overhead camera at the corner of the building as the glass doors slid apart for us. “Don’t think they’re not noticing you. I wouldn’t be bothering you about this if they weren’t bothering me about you. Believe me.”

When we got inside the foyer, I opened the north stairway door for him. He jogged ahead of me to go up the narrow staircase, echoing the entire corridor with his deep, raspy voice. “You’re stuck here, Ez. Accept it and make a proper home for yourself before the right woman slips through your fingers.” At the next floor’s entrance, he held the door open for me with his back, his face twisting and his head shaking, as if words couldn’t even do justice to how beautiful she was. “And trust me when I tell you, from her head to her feet, this girl’s alright.”

We rounded the corner toward the office, and I found her full, round ass shifting in her snug jeans as she swayed in front of the window. I spent a second or two tracing the curve of her waist to her long, wavy, chocolate-brown hair that fell halfway down her back. It swished toward her right shoulder as she turned, sensing us coming closer.

Her bright blue eyes met mine, locking onto me and stealing the breath from my lungs. My throat went dry, and for a second, I couldn’t swallow or breathe. I was just trapped in that moment with her. “Damn,” I whispered to myself, making Ritchie softly laugh back at me.

Rushing forward, he intentionally cut in and put himself between us as if he couldn’t wait to be the one to greet her first. “Miss Sullivan, I’m Marshal Littleton. Welcome,” he said as he put his hand out to her. “How was the drive up?”

He whisked her off toward the interrogation room, his hand on her elbow, practically pulling her away from me. She glanced back at me over her shoulder, her lips curling into a faint smile when she said, “Very nice.”

Suddenly, I was only another one of those thirsty-ass men who worked there, longing for a woman to quench me for a while. So, I followed her vanilla cupcake-scented lotion as I held onto the door frame and leaned inside the room, desperate to hear her voice again. “Uh. Do you need me for anything, Ritch?”

I regretted everything I said on the ride over, because Ritchie was enjoying every second of watching me try to steal another look at her. Shutting the door just as she was about to sit at the table, he grinned and shook his head, hellbent on torturing me now that he had me hooked. “Nah,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I know you don’t want to be involved in something as trivial as this.” He jerked his eyes at me and whispered into the sliver of space before he shut me off entirely. “Got to keep those hands clean, don’t we?”

I was in shock there for a minute, I think. She was so damn hot that my brain completely shut down until I remembered every single room in that place had a camera. So, I backed toward my office door and rushed to take my keys out of my pocket.

My heart was thumping so hard I could feel it beating against my throat, my hands shaking as I pushed the folder with her background check across the table to the monitors. “What’s your name, baby?” Flipping through the papers until I came to her badge photograph on the last page, I rubbed my finger across her name. “Aubrey Sullivan, Engineering.” My mind raced with every possibility of what having her in my life would mean. She was there, and that changed everything for me.

The chase was coming, and she was going to be with someone. And I knew one thing for sure—I couldn’t let her belong to anyone else. “Not for long, it’s not,” I said, shutting the folder and claiming her for myself.