Head of Security

Seeing Carter hesitate, Roland quickly followed up by saying, "You'll be generously compensated for your work, and there are plenty of other benefits for working with us. I'll get Barov to go through all that stuff with you later. Of course, you don't have to make a decision right now."

Carter politely said that he'd like some time to think about it but was extremely grateful for Roland's offer. Roland understood that this was a decision that needed thinking about. Plus, they'd only just met, so it went without saying that Carter would be both suspicious and doubtful of him.

They breezed over the topic and left Carter some time to think it over. In the meantime, they made some small talk and kept Carter company; he said it was unlikely that anyone would visit him.

…

Outside of the room, Veronica was listening intently to their conversation. No, she didn't have super-hearing; she was listening through Anna and Roland's phones. If something had a connection to the internet, she could access it.

This was one of the reasons she decided to wait outside. That and the brooding guilt welling up in her chest. Although she shrugged it off, Veronica knew that she'd overstepped the line, and she couldn't face him because of that.

When she heard that Roland intended to take this complete stranger in as his Head of Security, Veronica almost flipped.

'You're hiring a complete stranger as your Head of Security? That's the most important role in the company; he'll be responsible for your safety!

'This is someone you've never met; this could all have been an elaborate set-up! Even the truck driver could've been in on it. Of course, I know he wasn't, but you don't know that.'

Veronica gnashed her teeth and cursed at Roland's pigheaded recklessness.

'I'm constantly forced to save him for being put in harm's way, just like now.'

She continued to listen to the conversation in the room, but also started performing an in-depth background check on Carter.

'Carter Lannis. Honorable discharge. Flitted between security jobs and other temporary work. Seems like he wasn't lying about anything.'

She continued searching in some of the most secure systems of the world, checking he'd hidden no skeletons in any closets.

She was just about to call off the search when she thought, 'I forgot to check the more basic systems… I quickly go over those now.'

In her rush to find Carter's dark past, she'd forgotten to look in the basic systems, like County Records, the Copyright Office, and the National Archives. These were all places that barely needed any hacking ability; most of their information was public anyway, so she was unlikely to find any groundbreaking information.

Or so she thought…

"Oh no," she muttered, "this isn't good…"

…

The group left late afternoon after exchanging contact information. They'd all left a good impression on each other, so Roland and Anna were hopeful that Carter would accept the job.

Two days later, Carter was discharged from the hospital. He'd been kept in hospital to watch out for any head injuries, which was standard procedure for anyone knocked unconscious. Other than some badly bruised regions, he was fine.

He had some pain medication and had been informed warning signs to spot any head injuries, in case an injury had hidden itself away. Carter had also been informed of what to do and how to minimize any risks should a head injury surface. The hospital had shown exceptional care for him, for which he was grateful.

Needless to say, Carter never saw the hospital bill; Veronica handled all that.