Security Detail

“No, it’s more like sold us out.” Manny motioned to the truck with his chin. “She worth it?”

“We’re not talking about this. What does Andis want with her?”

Manny’s eyes flashed. For a second Conner saw an edge. Did he want to kill her, or did he want Kayla for something else? It seemed like he had a personal stake with Kayla, but how could that be? She was nothing to Manny but a job.

“She and I knew each other in the White House.” Conner’s tone suggested they were imbeciles for not having figured that out themselves. “Kayla and I go way back.” Conner jerked his shoulder in the direction of his truck.

“Fine. Andis wants her brought in.”

Conner didn’t much care for Manny’s tone. He needed to stake his claim. It was the only way these guys would accept his bone-deep need to keep her safe. Conner needed to at least try to remain in good standing with these guys and their boss if he was going to complete this assignment. Then he could get back in good standing with his boss at the Secret Service.

It meant everything to him that Locke knew he wasn’t a disgraced agent.

Or it had. Until he walked into Kayla’s office and saw her again.

Men like Manny and Andis understood possession. They understood lines men didn’t cross, though often knowingly crossed them. The consequences would be real, and Manny knew that, too. Kayla was off-limits whether they were having a relationship or not. Manny, any of Andis’s men and the boss himself had to know that this business didn’t touch Kayla. There was no way he would let her get involved, even if she’d already done something inadvertently.

He stepped closer to Manny. “Kayla isn’t going anywhere but with me.”

It was a risky game, pushing Andis’s number two. Conner was under him as far as the hierarchy was concerned, but they all knew what it was like being tied up in knots by a beautiful woman. Even bad guys fell in love. And it didn’t matter what they thought about him being caught by her; it only mattered that they believed he’d fight for her.

Because he would.

Manny’s gaze darted over Conner’s shoulder. The truck door opened, then slammed shut.

Kayla.

“Conner?”

Conner didn’t turn. Instead he watched Manny’s eyes flare. He saw the man shift his stance, reacting to Kayla’s presence in a way Conner didn’t like at all. Manny glanced at Conner. “She’s coming with me.”

Conner stepped toward her. “I’m not going to let that happen.”

Manny lifted his gun. Conner did the same, and they faced off as he moved to stand in front of Kayla. “Whoa,” Kayla said. “I didn’t see the gun.”

Huddled behind him, she gripped the sides of his jacket. With her head down, she’d be out of sight so that she wasn’t a possible target. She remembered.

Conner faced his so-called friend and held the gun tight even as he guided them back. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kayla’s hand trace the hood of the truck as they went.

“Kayla isn’t going anywhere.” Except where Conner put her, behind cover so he could keep her safe.

Manny fired at them.

FIVE (#u81a08bf4-53aa-5de1-b8da-d8a9c5cadb65)

Conner’s body jerked and he fired back. Kayla ducked. She couldn’t move until he gave her the all clear. She’d make herself a target. Air hissed and she realized the sound was coming from between her own teeth clenched together. In the second after he fired, Conner dropped down beside her. Finally. It had seemed more like a minute as time stretched out. It always did when the expanse between heartbeats was so precious and she didn’t know if she would get another moment or if she would be dead.

He pushed her toward the door. Past it. Kayla stumbled. A rock lay beside her hand. Kayla hurled it over the truck at the man who’d ducked behind his own vehicle. The side window smashed. Bull’s-eye.

Conner shoved her into the footwell on the passenger side and climbed onto the seat, keeping his head down. It took a few tries, while she wondered if they needed to abandon the truck and run for it, but the engine caught. How old was this vehicle?

Conner wound the window down with the handle and fired twice. Kayla had to clap her hands over her ears. It had taken all the strength she had to walk over to him, but she hadn’t been able to leave it alone. The man was going to kill Conner—she’d seen the intent in his eyes. Manny, Conner had called him. Cold eyes, and that wicked stare.

Allowing herself to be protected was a reflex, especially with Conner. She couldn’t help falling back into the dynamic of him as the agent and her as the charge who was to be shielded at all costs. She wanted to be strong. For once she wanted to be the one who got to choose to put her life on the line protecting someone else. Not to die but to prove that the person she cared for had value and was worth saving.

Curling up on the floor of the truck hurt like she’d been the ball in a pinball machine, slammed into every available surface. But she had to hold her ground if she was going to help keep Conner alive. His job was the priority here.

“Lean over and hit the gas.”

What? Kayla had to turn around and contort her body painfully, but she found the gas pedal with her fingers and pressed it down. The truck roared and launched backward. Conner grabbed the wheel but didn’t look out the windows. Gunshots peppered the front hood, and the window smashed.

Bang. “Seven.” Bang. “Eight.” Bang. “Nine. He’s out.” Conner sat up. He grabbed the wheel with both hands and she moved her fingers off the gas a second before his foot slammed into it. “He’ll have to reload. Never did like to wait for a clear shot. Hold on.” The truck lurched up the hill, going backward. Conner spun the wheel and threw it into Drive.

The tires hit paved road and the ride smoothed out.

Kayla pressed a hand against her chest. Her arm was heavy, and her shoulder hurt. Not to mention her head. “Wait. You were shot.”

“Hit my vest.” He patted his chest.

Kayla squeezed her eyes shut. Thank You, Lord.

Her face was sticky, and Conner’s didn’t look much better than hers felt. Was his nose broken? They probably needed a hospital. Could Conner go to the emergency room when he was undercover with the best-known criminal in the county? She didn’t know what the Secret Service’s policy was on that. Maybe she should call Locke later. The special agent who had been Conner’s supervisor should be able to shed some light for her on the dos and don’ts of undercover operations.

What were they going to do now? Andis Bamir “wanted” her, whatever that meant. Conner hadn’t been okay with that, which was fine with her. He knew them. But now she and Conner were on the run.

Thank You, Lord, for protecting us. For keeping us alive. Help us out of this and neutralize Andis. Help Conner finish this job. She wanted him to be done, and safe, as much as she wanted Andis and his operation out of commission.

Only that would mean Conner’s time here would be over.

And then he would leave.

Conner lifted his hand, then slammed his palm down on the steering wheel. “Phone.”

Kayla blinked at his abrupt order and then looked around. She fished it from under the seat and handed it to him. Conner made a call. “Because it’s done.” He paused. “I’m blown.”

* * *

Kayla directed Conner to her house and he parked down the street. When she glanced at him, he said, “In and out, two minutes. Got it?”

She nodded, so he continued, “I don’t think Manny followed us. I shot out one of his tires, but we’re not taking chances one of the others isn’t watching your house. Get your stuff.”

Conner scanned the area as he strode down the front walk. He couldn’t surround her, so he covered her as best he could. The tiny one-story house was like a fairy-tale setting. Flowers everywhere, colors that probably looked fantastic in the daylight. Spring had sprung in her yard, taking him back to memories of his childhood. He’d been in fourth grade and a lost neighborhood puppy had crawled under the fence into their yard. The puppy had dug holes all over the grass, eaten half his mother’s flowers and then thrown up. After that it’d been so exhausted it slumped on its side and took a nap.

That was how Conner had found it.

And picked it up.

And hid it in the shed barely in time before his mom came home and freaked out because her magazine-worthy backyard had been destroyed.