Brutal Obsession (The Safeguard Series, Book One) Read Free

pleasantries. She always did like to put up a front, but he could hear the hurt lacing her tone. “Dad cannot sell the house, Keane. Mom wouldn’t have wanted him to either. He’d be giving up so much, not to mention his beloved workshop out back. It’s what keeps him sane after all that has happened. You need to talk some sense into him, because we all know he won’t listen to me.”
    Keane leaned an arm out the window as Sadie continued on about why their father selling their sprawling childhood home wasn’t a good idea. He understood her reluctance, but their mother had been gone for over three years now. It was time for Don Sanderson to move on and Keane understood he couldn’t do that with all of those memories packed between those four walls.
    “Sadie,” Keane cut in gently, “it’s time.”
    “No, it’s not—”
    “Yes, it is.” Keane surveyed the immediate area as he took time to explain why their father was ready to live life again. “Dad retired a year ago and what does he do besides bounce around inside that place like a frozen pea in a boxcar? He spends his days out back in the workshop and rarely leaves that huge house. He’s become stagnant at the age of sixty-seven. He wants to travel, visit you up in Seattle and me down here in Florida, and go to all of the places he’s talked about since we were kids. Selling the house isn’t selling our memories, Sadie. It’s just too much for him to keep up with. He’s paying a cleaning service to dust rooms weekly that he never uses.”
    The long pause on the line had Keane knowing he’d gotten through to his sister. She’d eventually come around to the idea that their father had a life to lead and they couldn’t be his personal advisors with such a biased position. Don Sanderson was his own navigator, ready to set sail for something more than mundane days and lonely nights roaming the empty halls of his legacy.
    Keane was waiting for Sadie to reply when the breeze picked up, revealing something that really didn’t come as a surprise. He never would have noticed it had he not been trying to look at the clouds through the leaves for the thunderstorms the weatherman had spoken of this morning.
    High up in the elm tree directly to his left was a surveillance camera, hidden discreetly on one of the higher branches. He didn’t doubt it was one of many. His new employer was a start-up security and investigations firm, and the sole owner was known for his penchant for reconnaissance technology. Word on the street was that there was a private backer, but no one could confirm that piece of information when Keane had tried to do some research after receiving the job offer.
    “I hate you.”
    “No, you don’t,” Keane argued affectionately as he lifted a hand of acknowledgement toward the camera. He had most likely been monitored the moment he’d taken a left on this private drive. “You love me. You only hate the fact that I’m moving to Florida and that you can no longer vet any woman I decide to take to dinner and a movie.”
    “Please. You’re so full of yourself,” Sadie replied, a smile finally forming in her voice. “You don’t take women to dinner. You take them into your bed, make them breakfast after the fact, and then kick them out before they can ask you your last name.”
    Keane was well aware that his only healthy relationship with a member of the female persuasion was with his sister. His time in the United States Marine Corps hadn’t been well-suited for a stable relationship. He’d tried once, when he’d fulfilled his third contract after twelve years, but that particular woman had gone to great lengths to point out why he wasn’t cut out for civilian life or a meaningful relationship. Her speech had left somewhat of an impression.
    “Damn, I have to go,” Sadie exclaimed over the sounds of high-pitched beeping and the muffled voices of her co-workers. “I still think Dad should keep the house, but I’ll ease up on him.