Chapter 134: Warehouse
*I survived because the fire inside me burned brighter than the fire around me. – Joshua Graham*
The plane was on the tarmac, and they were waiting for their turn at the gate. Neo was texting Shelby who was not responding and Willow who was being very vague. He then texted several of his guards who were strangely radio silent.
He trusted his instincts enough to know that something was wrong. Completely, totally and utterly wrong.
Finally, the chartered plane moved to the gate, and they all moved to the door. for being such a large party, it did not take them long to get off the plane. The extended gangway opened to the county’s municipal airport.
Most of the planes that came through were for the local flight school and the parachute company. As they walked out, Neo saw three of his guards. Childs, Nelson and Joshua stood there waiting on them. Zack was supposed to be the one picking them up. Zack and Nichols.
The cold stare had Childs cringing and Neo saw that Nelson and Joshua were both looking for escape routes.
“First, let me start off with, no one was hurt.” Childs said nervously.
Neo clinched his jaw and looked at his employees. Jolene clutched his hand and felt him relax slightly.
“Shelby is fine, and Zack is with and will take her to get a new phone.” Childs continued. He swallowed hard as both Neo and Reese glared at him. Having one of them look at him like he was going to be the next meal was bad. He wasn’t sure he was going to survive this conversation.
“Where is Shelby?” Jolene asked quietly.
Childs glanced at his phone. “She’s um… she’s at Mercy.”
“Why?” Neo asked.
Childs swallowed hard again. “The warehouse caught on fire.” He answered with a quiet voice.
“My company did that building.” Reese said and Childs nodded.
“It was not an accident.” He said quietly.
“Let’s go.” Neo growled.
The silent drive over to the IGYS warehouse was tense. The fire trucks were still on location as they pulled up to the barricade. There was a firefighter standing near the yellow tape. Ty walked up to the line and tapped him on the shoulder.
“Parker?” Jolene asked quietly.
Familiar eyes turned to her in confusion. “Yes, ma’am. Stephen Parker.”
“Not Donald?” She asked.
“He’s my brother.” The man smiled.
“Hey, Parks.” Ty smiled at the other firefighter.
“What’s up, Freaky?” Stephen asked.
“Hey, can you tell me what happened?” Ty asked.
“Arson.”
“Is that your official cause?” Ty pressed.
“Waiting on Douggie.” Parks replied.
“Why are you waiting on the state police?” Jolene asked.
“Because one of the men arrested was Henry Fargo.” Parks answered.
“Why?” She asked with her voice cracking.
“Not a clue.” Parks admitted. “Are you on duty?”
“If I need to be, I can be.” Ty offered.
“Negative.” The captain answered as he walked over. “You’re too close to the investigation.”
“How?” Ty asked as he watched Neo speak with Parks as he tried to get in.
“We think that he was trying to get to your sister-in-law.” Douggie answered as he approached the tape. "She's been guarded by some of the IGYS men."
The captain moved the tape and Douggie crossed over into the crime scene.
“Where is he?” Neo demanded loudly and the rest of the family moved towards him.
“He was taken to the County Hospital for the gunshot wound.” Parks admitted. “You need to stay away from him and his family.”
“He needs to stay away from me and *my* family.” Neo warned.
“Considering that your employee shot him dead center in his chest, I don’t think that’s going to be an issue.”
“Which guard?” Reese asked as Jolene was clinging to Neo. Reese wasn’t sure if she was seeking comfort for herself or trying to calm the other man down.
Parks shook his head. “Your secretary.”
“Shelby?” Dean asked. “That bitch is kick ass!”
Parks chuckled. “She is. As far as we’re concerned, she is not facing any charges. Everything that we saw was self-defense and protection.”
“And she’s at Mercy?” Reese asked again.
“Yes.” Parks looked at Neo. “You can leave guards here, but they cannot cross the line.”
Neo nodded and pulled Jolene closer. “I’m okay, Jo.” He murmured into her hair.
“We need to go check on Shell.” Jolene told him.
“Let me get some guards -.”
“We’ve got it, boss.” Childs told him. “Go take care of our Shell.”
“Thanks.” Neo told him and the other man nodded.
“Shelby doesn’t need all of us up there. We’re going to go home.” Reese told his friend and kissed Jolene on the top of her head. “Call us if you need anything.”
“Thanks, Reese.” Jolene whispered.
Reese smiled at her as Helen hugged her daughter. He then guided his new enlarged family back to the cars and Neo’s guards drove them to their respective homes. Once he was certain that the guards were set for the next few hours, Neo put Jolene in one of the IGYS vehicles and they went to Mercy.
As soon as they were on the road, and his phone synced with the car, he told the car to call Zack.
“What’s up, Bossman?” Zack asked cheerfully.
“You still at the hospital?” Neo demanded.
“No, sir.” Zack replied, almost to happily. “We’re at the phone store. Nate wants to know how your trip was.”
Neo realized that the reason that Zack was being so cheerful was because the little boy was there. Shelby was probably trying hard to keep her son from knowing about what happened at her office.
“Do I need to come by?” Neo asked.
“Nope, nope, we’re all good. Shellby dropped her phone at work. She said she can’t wait to move into the new office. Wanted to know if you would be okay with her working from home for a few days.”
“Whatever she needs to do.” Neo told him. “And tell Nate that it was great. We brought him a present.”
“I’ll tell him. What, hon? Yeah. Hey, you want to come over for burgers this weekend?”
“Why don’t you guys come over to our place. Shelby can figure out what she wants in her office.”
“No can do, Bossman. She has her heart set on doing it at *our* place.”
Jolene reached over and grabbed Neo’s hand. He glanced at her to see her grinning and nodding.
“Yeah, let us know when.”
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