no control

• three •

Sighing, he nodded and stepped back.

"Load it up," I ordered, stomping off.

While Benjamin loaded the boxes into empty coolers in my Suburban's trunk, I stood at the door of the hangar. I dialed Aaron again.

"Ensure everything is ready for my arrival," I said. "I don't have the patience to wait today. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir. Everything is prepared. The trucks are waiting to be loaded."

I hung up, surveyed the tarmac once more, and returned to the plane. Benjamin closed the trunk door and turned towards me.

"Pleasure, as always," he said, extending a hand.

I nodded, ignoring his hand, and walked to the driver's door. Opening my phone, I sent his money into the offshore account. He kept it under his dead cousin's name for extra measure.

He climbed back into his plane and started the motors. Once Benjamin was in the air again, I pulled out of the airport and zipped towards the warehouse buildings I owned across town. They were primarily used to store wholesale weaponry sold in markets and stores across the country.

However, I also had a special section for private clientele. Those long metal containers guarded with biometric scanners kept hordes of different contraband from narcotics and purified Chinese heroin to automatic assault weapons and Special Ops-grade tactical gear.

The gates to the facility were closed when I turned down the service road. Snarling, I grabbed my phone and dialed Aaron. He was going to regret lying to me. The phone rang several times before going to voicemail.

Voicemail? What the fuck?

I used my code to open the gates and sped through, calling the wretched cretin again. He answered right away this time. Before I could launch into a fury, his voice cut through the signal first.

"Elijah!" he yelled. "One of the shipping trucks drove through the building. It's setting shit on fire!"

"What?" I bellowed.

Gunfire rang in the background. My panicked gaze flew over the buildings. This time I noticed an odd yellow glow barely visible from this side. Gnashing my teeth, I altered course and sped toward the chaos.

When I rounded the building, I was greeted with the sight of cars bolting to and fro. Flames rose through a hole in the metal siding, half of a truck hanging out.

Shit. This was not what I needed right now.

Fire would draw the fire department and the cops. We didn't need any authorities here. We handled illegal contraband, for fuck's sake.

This was a one-way ticket to Get Fucked.

When this was all over, Aaron and the guards were getting chopped up into vulture food. I parked at the backside of the building and grabbed one of the guards running by, waving an assault rifle around.

"Get these boxes into 356," I snapped. "Stop for no one. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" He slung his gun over his shoulder and scooped up a few boxes.

I opened the backseat and pulled out the rifle I kept on the floorboard. Loading it, I stomped into the warehouse.

Even from fifty yards away, I could feel the heat of the fire. The flames appeared to be contained to just the truck. It was only a matter of time before they spread, though. If the fire spread to any ammo, we'd be dead.

Several men were carrying buckets of water to douse the fire, others combatting it with fire extinguishers.

I grabbed one of the men with a bucket. "Where's the driver?"

"Sir?"

"The truck driver! Where the fuck is he?"

"He ran for it, sir! A few guys were chasing him but I don't know, boss." He shook his head frantically, eyes wide. "That's all I know, I swear!"

My grip tightened on him. "Did you see it happen?"

A glimmer of fear crossed his eyes. He quickly shook his head again. "No, sir. I was manning the gate."

"So you let this psychopath into my facility?" I raged with a violent tug on his shirt.

"No!" he yelped. "I mean, yes! But he-he was the same driver we've had for weeks. He passed the security checks to get in!"

My body vibrated with a growl. I threw the man away and started back towards my car, dialing Aaron as I went.

"S—"

"Where the fuck are you?" I snapped.

"At the south fence," he said. "We caught the driver. Fucker ran all the way, thinking he could climb the fence. We're loading him up to bring back now."

The walls surrounding my warehouses were six feet of chain link with double-barbed, electric wiring. Dozens of cameras monitored every inch of the perimeter.

Not a soul got in or out of these walls without me knowing. Except somehow, this little asswipe did. He must have recently bribed someone because my employees were paid well to keep their mouths shut. Someone was out there trying to sabotage me.

My hands clenched into fists. "Don't bring him back here," I said. "Confine him in my basement. The fire department and police will be here soon, so get him the fuck out of here. He'll be dealt with later."

I hung up and turned just in time to see red lights flashing around the corner. Pinching my nose, I walked over to my car. The trunk was emptied and the door was shut. I exhaled and propped my hands on the hips of my trousers.

The authorities were always such a thorn in my cock. I kept a tight ship, but lucrative operations required a lot of manpower. Some things couldn't be prevented. I didn't want to deal with this clusterfuck. How nice it would be to pass this weight off on someone else.

Unfortunately, all my men had shit for brains and they'd just make it worse. Looked like I had no choice but to deal with the authorities myself.