My Everything - Seth & Amber (18 page)

Okay. What do I do?

Amber's mind was spinning and she felt
herself start to panic. She heard Seth’s voice in her head saying
“the most important thing to remember is stay calm.”

OK, good advice. She took a deep breath and
tried to calmly assess the situation.

She was alone in a deserted parking lot at
night. Her windows were smashed. She felt like someone might be in
her shop.

It was a whole lot of bad.

She grabbed her phone and dialed.

“Harper’s Crossing 911, what is your
emergency?” the operator asked.

“My car's been broken into,” Amber tried to
remain calm and also stay alert and be aware of her
surroundings.

“What is your name and location?”

“My name is Amber Webb, I’m in the back
parking lot of the Cranston Center behind Bella.”

“I have officers on the way, Amber. Would you
like me to remain on the phone with you until they get there?”

“Yes, please,” Amber said, her heart beating
rapidly in her chest.

They talked for about five minutes until
Amber saw lights flashing as a police cruiser drove into the
lot.

“They’re here,” Amber relayed to the operator
as relief rushed through her.

Officer Williams, who was one of the
policemen that had come out when the shop had been broken into,
stepped out of his squad car and Amber felt such a wave of relief
that she had the urge to run to him and throw her arms around his
neck. She could honestly say that she had never been so happy to
see someone in her life.

Sure, he wasn’t the friendliest cop, but she
was glad as hell that he was there!

He had her walk him through the events that
led up to finding her car. Another squad car pulled up and they
took photographs of both of the broken windows. He asked to see the
surveillance footage and she realized that she had no idea where
the feed from those cameras went to.

Amber was so mad at herself. She was
not
handling her business the way she should be – and, more
to the point, the way she normally
did
. Since Seth had
returned to Harper’s Crossing, Amber felt as though she had been
walking around in a cloud. Almost like she was trying to see
everything in a fogged up mirror. Nothing was clear.

Well, time to clear things up and get back to
normal.

After informing Officer Williams that Seth
had installed the system, and she wasn’t sure if the video feed
went straight to Titan Security or if Mr. Cranston controlled it,
she answered all of his questions. A lot of them were the same
questions that he had asked her the night of the break-in, or
variations on that theme.

Did she see anyone suspicious tonight, either
inside Bella or in the parking lot?

Did she have any enemies?

Were there any disgruntled employees that she
thought might be capable of this?

Did she have any exes that she thought might
be doing this?

Amber truly did not believe that anyone she
knew would do this to her. Officer Williams did not seem so
sure.

“I’m sure that whoever broke into the shop
was just looking for money. The car windows were probably just some
bored kids playing a prank. I'm sure they're random coincidences,”
Amber explained to him.

He stared at her, his expression hard and
unyielding, “I don’t believe in coincidences, ma’am.”

His tone was so stern that it sounded like a
line from a movie. She had to stop herself from asking him if that
was the tone he normally reserved for informing people that there
was a new Sheriff in town. She didn't think he would appreciate her
humor.

Amber shook her head. God! These last few
weeks had been so ludicrous, what else could she possibly
do
but laugh?

Her Mystery Man was Seth Sloan. Her shop had
been broken into. She had realized she was falling in love with
Seth. She was asked to be in a wedding…with Seth. And now her car
was broken into and she was standing in the back parking lot with a
cop saying ‘I don’t believe in coincidences, ma’am,’ in a tone that
contained a level of gravitas that Moses probably didn't manage to
achieve when doling out the Ten Commandments.

What the hell. She needed sleep.

No, wait. First, she needed wine. Then, she
needed a hot bath. Then, and only then, she needed sleep.

Seth rolled his shoulder and tried to
stretch his arm as he glanced at the clock in the dashboard of the
truck. It was almost 11 p.m. He and Cam had had a meeting in
Chicago and had gotten roped into going out for dinner and drinks
with the potential clients they had met with. If there was one
thing Seth hated it was networking.

Cam was great at it. He worked the room,
laughed at all the right times. As a team they balanced each other
out. It had worked well in high school and it seemed they were
still on a roll. Since Seth had come onto the Titan team they had
signed every client they met with.

Cam turned the radio down. “Alright, dude, I
wanted to talk to you about something.”

Seth looked at him.

“How would you feel about coming on as a
partner in Titan?”

Seth had no idea what Cam was talking about.
Titan was a family business started by Cam’s father, Charlie. They
had never had a partner outside the family.

“I want to expand the business into several
different divisions, one of them being private security. I’m not
talking about Paul Blart Mall Cop security, I’m talking about
guarding the president security.”

“The president has secret service,” Seth
pointed out.

“I know the president has secret service.
Whatever. President of a corporation, then. Or that Kid President
on the Internet. Hell, even the band, Presidents of The United
States of America! You know what I mean,” Cam’s eyes were wide with
excitement. It reminded Seth of when they were teenagers and Cam
would get a brilliant idea to go TP someone’s house at 2 a.m.

“You think that many people are still so
angry that they never had a hit after Peaches in 1996 that
Presidents of The United States Of America has to hire security
details this many years later?”

“Whatever, you know exactly what I'm talking
about. And if it prompted you to not only string more than ten
words together, but even crack an - admittedly weak - joke, I know
you're interested, brother. I’m talking about personal security for
high profile types. I want you to run it as a partner. I already
came up with the name-” Cam’s face lit up as he continued, “Elite
Security, or Elite Protection. Get it? Elite because you were in an
elite unit in the Marines.”

“Yeah, I can tell you’ve really thought this
through,” Seth’s tone was flat.

Seth had known quite a few guys that had gone
into that field when they returned to civilian life. He had kept in
touch with a few of them, and it would be easy enough to get some
more information about what kind of contracts they dealt with and
what their clients’ needs were, etc.

Seth knew he could not rely on Cam to deal
with the details. Cam was good at the big picture kinds of things.
In life and in business. If he agreed to this, one thing would need
to be crystal clear - it may be under the Titan Security umbrella,
but the protection service would be Seth's division.

“I’ll come up with a business plan and
everything, but I just wanted to know if it was something you would
consider,” Cam asked.

“I’ll consider it,” Seth agreed.

“Sweeet.” Cam reached to turn the music back
up on the radio, but before his hand reached the knob, his phone
rang.

“This is Cam,” he answered.

“I don’t know about any cameras up in
Cranston Square.” Cam looked over at Seth.

“Give me the phone,” Seth’s voice sounded
harsher than he had meant it to.

Cam looked at Seth like he was crazy. Seth
stared at him. Cam handed him the phone.

“This is Seth Sloan. Is there a problem at
Cranston Square?”

“There was an incident in the back parking
lot and I am going to need access the security cameras.”

“Who am I speaking to?” Seth asked.

“Officer Williams, Harper’s Crossing PD.”

“I'll be back at the office in under ten
minutes. I'll call you back with the log-in to the feed.” Seth
disconnected the call and handed the phone back to Cam.

“Since when do we have cameras in Cranston
Square?” Cam asked.

“Since I installed them on Thanksgiving,”
Seth replied.

Cam shook his head. “Holy shit! I can’t
believe you got old man Cranston to pay for a new system.”

“He didn’t pay.”

“Amber paid for it?” Cam asked.

Seth knew that Cam would not let it go, so he
said, “I paid for it.”

“
You
paid for it?”

“Yes.”

“You were
that
worried about
Haley.”

Seth was sure at some point Cam would hear
about his past with Amber and he would rather he hear it from him
than through the grapevine.

“Amber and I,” Seth paused, not knowing how
to explain it, “we know each other.”

Cam turned his attention from the road and
looked at Seth, “What do you mean? Like, you knew her before you
came home?”

“Yes.”

“Like...in the biblical sense?” Cam asked,
waggling his eyebrows comically.

Seth stared straight ahead. He watched as the
headlights illuminated the ‘Welcome to Harper’s Crossing’ road
sign. They were almost back to the office.

He needed to see that footage. He hadn’t
asked officer Williams what the incident was because he knew he
probably wouldn’t tell him.

“You dirty
dirty
dog you! How the
hell
did you swing that? Amber is
freakin’
hot. I
can’t even tell you how many times I’ve asked her out. Is that why
you moved home? Why didn’t you tell me you were together?” Cam
rapid fired questions at him.

“We’re not together.” That was the only
answer Cam was getting.

“Sooo you purchased and installed a security
system – a several thousand dollar security system, mind you – for
a girl you’re not even with,” Cam laughed, “I’ve heard of flowers
and candy, but, hell, I guess a surveillance camera is a nice
gesture, too.”

Seth didn’t want to get into it with his
friend. Thankfully they were pulling up to the offices. As soon as
the truck was parked Seth was out the door.

--- ~ ---

Amber stuck her toe in the water to test the
temperature. Ahhhh, perfect. She draped her robe over the chair
next to her vanity, then she ran her fingers through her hair
before pulling it up and twisting it into a knot on the top of her
head. She rolled her neck from side to side, feeling calmer and
more relaxed than she had in…well, maybe
ever
.

Just as she was stepping into the bath, there
was a knock on the door. Great. Visitors.

She grabbed her robe and sighed as she made
her way to the front of the house. She looked through the peephole
and saw Alex and Jamie standing on her porch.

Amber opened the door, “Hey, guys, everything
okay?”

“We were going to ask you that.” Alex said as
he and Jamie stepped into the house, Jamie was rubbing her hands
together and blowing on them.

They both stared at her expectantly. Amber
just stared at them blankly.

“When we were putting Joey to bed, he told us
that he saw a police car drop you off tonight. And your car's not
in the driveway,” Jamie explained, still rubbing her hands.

“Oh, thaaaaat...” Amber laughed. After two
glasses (two large glasses) of wine, her car getting broken into
had slipped her mind. Her memory might be slipping, but who cares?
She was feeling
gooooood
. “Yeah, my car got broken into
tonight and so they towed it to the shop and gave me a ride
home.”

“Are you alright?” Alex asked his brow
furrowed.

“I’m fine.” Amber waved her hand in
dismissal.

Jamie and Alex exchanged strange looks, the
kind couples do when they want to communicate without speaking.
Amber called it mental sign language.

“I’m gonna head back next door," Jamie said.
"I just wanted to make sure you were good.” Jamie gave Amber a
quick hug. “Let me know if you need anything.”

“Okie dokie.” Amber smiled, giving Jamie a
thumbs up.

Jamie left and Alex moved to sit on the
couch.

“I’m fine, Alex, you don’t need to stay. Go
next door to your family.” Amber pointed to the wall that separated
the two duplexes.

“We haven’t really had a chance to talk in a
while.” Alex scooted back on the pillows making himself at
home.

“That’s true, but I was kind of going to take
a bath and that sounds like more fun. Sorry, Charlie. Err...Alex.
Balex, Malex...nothing rhymes with Alex.”

“Are you drunk?” he asked tilting his
head.

“I don’t get drunk,” she snapped.

“I know. Which is why I’m asking, not just
assuming.”

“I had two glasses of wine. I’m not drunk,”
she declared firmly.

“Okay,” Alex raised his hands in mock
surrender. “Look, I’ve just been so busy with the accident, and
then meeting Jamie. I haven’t really checked in with you since the
break-in and Mystery Man, I mean…Seth’s homecoming.”

Her shoulders slumped with resignation as she
crossed her arms and sat on the couch. Since Alex had gotten out of
the Navy a few years ago he and Amber had become close friends.
Their relationship kind of reminded her of the one she had had with
Aaron. She knew she might as well talk to him because he wasn’t
leaving until she did.

“How are you doing with the break-in?
Actually break-ins?” Alex leaned forward and put his elbows on his
knee.

Amber shrugged, “Fine.”

“How about the stuff with my brother? How’s
that going?”

“Fine,” Amber repeated.

“Amber, I know you’re not big on spilling
your guts and normally I am all for that. In fact, it’s always been
one of my favorite things about you. But you’ve had a lot of shit
go down lately. You shouldn’t bottle it all up.”