UNBREAKABLE BOND

***

Chris Donovan had always been a forceful person. He’d had lots of criticisms from people because of this trait. But he’d never wanted to change that about himself. Ever. And for the first time in his life, he was happy he hadn’t. If that forceful nature was going to help him find peace, then he was going to go all out and be forceful.

After coming out of his personal sanctuary two days earlier, Chris had vowed to get Shane to talk to him come hell or high water. And he planned on achieving that through fair or foul means if he had to. He’d hired the services of one of the best private investigators the country had to offer. The man’s task had been simple… Find out Shane Lewis’ daily routine. When did he usually go out of his house? What time did he usually get back home?

Chris had already found out where Shane lived. The house was big but had only one security guard at the front gate. Shane’s back gate had no such security. The guy probably thought he didn’t have enemies, Chris thought with a chuckle. Well, with his reputation for doing only genuine business, it was no surprise that the man thought no one would try to harm him. After all, most people didn’t even know he was the Shane Lewis.

By Friday evening, Chris had all the information he needed. The best information being that Shane always drove into the house through his back gate because his garage was situated in the back. The electronically operated gate would slide up for Shane to drive in, and then would come back down immediately the car went through. Chris wasn’t worried about how long the gate was going to take to come down because he planned on rolling in right behind Shane’s car. Joining the military for a twelve-month stint had not been for nothing, Chris thought grimly. What was the worst thing that could happen? Shane would probably catch him trespassing and hand him over to the police. Big deal!

***

good. But that day, he’d let his side down because his head hadn’t been in the game. Shane had made silly misses that had surprised his boys because that was so not like him. He’d had to apologize to the guys after the game, explaining that he had a lot on his mind. It was just for

to no end. Even on the basketball court, thoughts of Chris had

into his car, lying to the guys that he

onto the road, with a ticket tucked into his glove compartment, he couldn’t help but curse Chris silently. What bothered Shane was not the ticket but rather the fact that he’d been careless on the road because he’d been preoccupied. He couldn’t help but accept the fact that he was falling apart and he had no one other than Chris to blame for that. Shane was so angry he failed to notice the unfamiliar car parked just around his house. Though he was confident no one would want to harm him, he usually made it a point to note any odd or unfamiliar presence around his home. Shane parked in his garage and rested

of his woes? He could see an image of Chris behind his car. Shane was positive he was hallucinating because there was no way Chris could have gotten inside his garage without being allowed in? It was all in his mind. Shane blinked and looked again but the image was still there. In fact,

opened an inner compartment. Then he reached for the pistol in there. The head of his security had insisted on hiding a pistol

***

white Lamborghini Gallardo. It was obvious that something was bothering Shane and Chris hoped, with all his heart, that he wasn’t the reason for whatever Shane was going through. He decided to wait till Shane got out of his car to talk to him…give him the chance