Assignment: Bodyguard

And he still had to wonder if the shooter, who’d also had a silencer on his gun, had been there alone. Or if this had been carefully planned by someone close to Katherine.

“The papers will be all over this tomorrow morning,” John warned. “But it can’t be helped. The official word will be that someone allegedly came into the room with a gun, but was apprehended and arrested on the scene. It’ll be listed as an attempted robbery due to the elite crowd, most of them wearing expensive baubles and carrying big wallets. We don’t want any more information than necessary leaking out, especially anything regarding Katherine being the target.”

“As far as I know, none of the people there are aware of that,” Shane said, not ready to voice what his instincts seemed to be shouting. “And frankly, gentlemen, I didn’t stick around to do damage control. My only intent once the shooter was secured was to get Katherine to a safe location.”

John Simpson glanced over at Gerald. “And we’ve put out the word that Katherine and you have been dating, so you’ve taken her to a secluded location to get over the shock of what happened. That way, the press can leave her alone. We hope. The official statement should be in the papers and on the news tomorrow.”

“That’s our best cover,” Shane agreed. And that’s exactly what he’d planned to insinuate to the public—that they were an item. Well, the best laid plans of mice and men…

“You did the right thing, bringing her here,” Gerald said. “You have my gratitude.”

“I’d like to check on her,” Shane said, wondering if he’d be dismissed or watched himself. These three men were some of the original five-man team that had started CHAIM all those years ago, halfway around the globe while they’d all served their country in Vietnam and later, other areas of the world. They were still a force to be reckoned with. “If I may have your permission, Gerald.”

Gerald gave him a mean-hard stare, but nodded. “Her mama’s in there with her right now. And trust me, son, you don’t want Sally Mae getting her dander up again tonight. She was in a real tear about her daughter almost getting shot, let me tell you. I should have sicced her on that gunman. She’d get some answers.”

“I do believe she would have, sir.”

Gerald ran a hand over his silver hair. “Better give them some time together before you go knocking on any doors.”

“Duly noted,” Shane said, his smile tired. Sally Mae had nearly taken down the house earlier, demanding to see her daughter, and she didn’t care if it hair-lipped the governor. Frightful woman she was when she was in a tizzy. “I’ll be out on the back patio then.”

He took his leave, knowing they’d want to discuss this latest development in private. He’d get his orders soon enough. But right now, he needed some time to digest all that had taken place. And he needed to find a way to make sure an incident such as this never happened again. Because that shooter had been a hired expert. Hired from someone high up and able to afford an assassin. Shane couldn’t get the notion out of his head that maybe that same someone had been in the crowd tonight.

He had to get Kit to safety. And that meant away from Austin and away from Eagle Rock. He knew how to hide a person. And besides, he knew exactly which room they’d whisked Kit off to earlier and he wasn’t above breaking into that room to make sure she was safe.

She might not ever feel safe again. In spite of having a warm bath and putting on a soft cotton tunic, matching pants and a cashmere robe someone had handed her a few minutes ago, Kit felt cold and clammy. But she held herself tightly together because she refused to shiver in fear.

“Honey, why don’t you lie down?”

Kit turned from the drape-covered, bulletproof window to find her mother hovering near the brocade sofa of the cozy sitting room just off the bedroom. “I’m not sleepy, Mother.”

“I could give you something,” Sally Mae Barton said, reaching into her purse. “I have a sedative.”

“I’m not taking a pill either,” Kit said. “I just want to go to my own home. When can I leave Eagle Rock?”

“Oh, now, honey, I don’t know about that. Your daddy is in a real pickle about what happened. I can’t say when you’ll be able to leave.”

“You can’t be serious,” Kit said, pacing in front of the fireplace. It was late summer and humid even at this hour, but she thought about building a fire. Only, someone would rush to stop her. Too many people were hovering around her tonight, stifling her with well-meaning concern. She just wanted to get away from it all.

She thought of Shane and wondered where he was. Had they sent him away? No, her father wouldn’t do that. He liked Shane and trusted him or he wouldn’t have brought him here. Shane had done everything in his power to help her, and she owed him her life. He’d saved a lot of people’s lives tonight.

“I want to see Shane,” she announced to her mother.

Sally Mae lifted a slender hand through her dark hair. “I don’t think that’s wise, darlin’. It’s late and he’s in with the others right now. You just need to rest.”

Kit wasn’t about to rest. “Mother, I can’t sleep. I’m too keyed up. And I’d like to talk to the man who put his life on the line in order to save mine tonight.”

Sally Mae stood to her five-feet-two-inch height. “You can’t do that, Katherine.”

Katherine wasn’t having any of that. Her mother might have been a CHAIM operative in her heyday, but she wasn’t going to bully Kit with that superior attitude. “Mother, I want to see Shane and if I have to scream at the top of my lungs and sound every alarm in this stucco and brick fortress, I’ll do it. I’ve had about enough for one night.”

“I’ll go see if I can find him,” Sally Mae said, her tone even-keeled. “But only if you promise to rest after you see him.”

Kit nodded, waving a hand. “That’s a deal.”

Sally Mae looked doubtful. “Do you want me to get Lulu or Rita in here to sit with you? They’re both in their rooms but I have them on standby.”

“No, I’m fine,” Katherine replied, thinking her mother’s friends would put her in a chair and give her a facial to soothe her frayed nerves. She didn’t want a facial. She wanted to see Shane. “Honestly, Mother, I’ll be fine.”

She watched as her mother hurried out of the room still wearing her teal blue ball gown and matching kitten-heeled pumps. Kit loved her mother, but Sally Mae was just as protective as her father. They only cared about her welfare, she knew. And she appreciated and respected both of them.

“But right now, I just need—”

“You rang?” a voice called from the bathroom.

“Shane?” She rushed across the soft carpet and into the wide, open bath, her heart doing a strange little dance. “How’d you—”

“Trade secret,” he said, pointing to the wide, square window over the garden tub. “I broke in.”

“But the alarms didn’t go off.”

“Of course not,” he said, adjusting his jacket. “I helped develop the security system in this place last time they updated it. Even Kissie herself said I did a good job.” He checked the window. “I simply went to the main frame and reset the timers back long enough to allow me to enter the building in an unconventional way.” He looked at his gold watch. “They’ll reset in about…three seconds.”

Kit heard a soft beep, beep coming from the monitor on the wall. “And what if my father notices?”

“He won’t. I only did it for this wing of the house. And I knew the exact time when the live feed to the security room switches cameras. Plus, your mother won’t allow any visual monitors in your bath. That would be an invasion of privacy.”

He stopped talking and looked at her, his tone going soft as his crystal-shot gaze swept over her. “I had to see you.” He lifted a finger toward her face to push a strand of hair off her cheek. “I like your hair down.”

Kit lowered her head, suddenly feeling the need to burst into tears. But she held herself in check, figuring all of these strange, electric emotions were due to the scare of almost being shot. She wouldn’t fall apart, not tonight. And not in front of him. “I’m okay. I just sent Mother to find you.”

“I heard you from my spot in the shrubbery. And I’m here.”

Before she could say anything, he took her hands in his. “Are you all right?”

She nodded, the warmth and strength of his fingers bringing the life back to her limbs. She allowed her gaze to wander away from his eyes for just a minute. He’d lost the bowtie and now his shirt was opened at the throat. Even rumpled and fatigued, he was still a striking man. Katherine decided she’d better focus on his face. But that didn’t help matters. His expression held an edge of anticipation capped off with weariness. And guilt.

“I’m okay, really, I am,” she said. “Is my friend Trudy Pearson okay? They wouldn’t let me check on her.”

“I saw her, yes. She was a bit shaken but she’s fine. She went home, but only after I promised her you were safe. I’m pretty sure her new friend—the hotel employee she befriended while under fire—was going to escort her to be sure.”

Katherine smiled at that. Leave it to Trudy to find a date even in the face of attempted murder. “Good. I’m glad.”

“Katherine, why did you want to see me? Did you remember something or see something tonight that I need to know?”

She stared up at him, seeing the solid concern in his eyes. “Oh, no. I mean, I can’t remember anything that would help. I…I just wanted to thank you, for saving my life.”

He leaned close, his eyes flaring as his gaze held hers, the sincerity in his words endearing him to her. “It was my duty and my honor.”