Security Detail

“So you heard the conversation?”

“Not much of it, like I said. No more than your name, but I got the impression they don’t like you too much.”

“I don’t know why not. I’m a likable person.” Kayla wasn’t like a trial lawyer who spent all day in a courtroom and made tons of enemies. She wrote wills. Business contracts. Nothing to hide. No one wanted her dead. That was crazy. Unless...

Conner frowned. “Something just happened with your face.”

“I—” Kayla blew out a breath.

“Tell me.”

“It can’t be connected to me, so there’s no way they could know. But I own a piece of property on the outskirts of town. Sometimes the sheriff refers women in...dangerous situations to me. If they want to press charges against their husbands or boyfriends or whoever is hurting them, I can help them, but sometimes they’re still in danger even then. So I give them a place to stay. Whether it’s permanent or just until they get on their feet is up to them.”

“You run a battered-women’s shelter.”

“Why did you say that like it’s a bad thing?” Smoke had started to creep under the kitchen door. Kayla coughed. “I help women, and sometimes kids, too. But I don’t run it—I have a manager for that. I just...facilitate the place. Locke helped me set it up.”

“Of course Special Agent Locke helped you.”

Okay, now he looked mad. What was it he’d said...? Something just happened with your face. Yeah, ditto. Didn’t he like his former supervisor?

“Look,” Kayla said. “I just thought if someone wanted to find something or hurt me, that would be the only reason I can think of as to why. Maybe they were looking for the address. The sheriff keeps a tight lid on the whole thing, but it could be that my identity was leaked and someone wants to get revenge on me for helping one of the women.”

It wasn’t like she could sit by and do nothing, though. Her job wasn’t exactly on the front lines of making the world a better place, not like Mr. Undercover Agent over there. They couldn’t all be like that. Kayla just used her passion to help women who needed it, and she gave them the chance to find safety. To feel real peace for the first time.

“So what’s the connection between the shelter and Andis?”

Kayla shook her head. “You tell me.”

“There has to be one.” He glanced aside for a minute.

“Either way, we’re both in a burning building.” Kayla started toward the window to see if she could see a fire truck or at least emergency lights.

Conner grabbed her arm. “Don’t go near the window. They might be watching for us.”

Kayla was supposed to be done with the part of her life where people were trying to kill her. She should be safe now, or as safe as your average person who wasn’t the former president’s daughter was. Living her life. Doing her part to help other people. That was the life God had given her. And now someone was trying to take that away from her.

Kayla wasn’t going to let them.

* * *

Conner knew why his handler had recommended he sever all personal ties before he went undercover. He’d been the perfect candidate—deceased parents, a sister he wasn’t close with. No girlfriend or significant other to either break up with or ask to wait for him. But standing here with Kayla, Conner had to wonder why that was.

Sure, he’d been married to his work for a long time. Joining the Secret Service had been everything Conner ever wanted since he’d found out who those suited men standing around the president were.

Romance hadn’t been part of his life. Especially when the woman he wanted had been young, impetuous in a way that had been both infuriating and adorable, and completely out of reach. The idea of a new Secret Service agent dating the president’s college-age daughter was so unthinkable he’d been laughed at by his colleagues for even asking the question.

Fast-forward nearly a decade and Conner had seen Kayla a few times around town. He was pretty sure she never even knew he was there, as he’d made a point to avoid her. It wasn’t a secret, even from Andis and his men, that he’d been Secret Service. He’d given them some privileged information about printing money to “buy” his way in, and Andis had accepted Conner as one of them. But distrust ran deep with criminals. They didn’t fully trust him and probably never would.

Bringing down their organization from the inside would mean one less bad guy in the world.

But now the assignment was over. Pete had seen him. Conner would have to scrape together what he could and see if there was enough for a solid case—if they didn’t kill him first.

After it was done, if Conner didn’t wind up in witness protection, he’d have to give Kayla a call. The woman she had become was vibrant, despite the situation they were in.

Conner’s gaze caught hers and he surveyed her face. Even with the smoke that now filled the air, she seemed to be doing okay. The fire department and the sheriff would show up soon, and then he’d leave her to her life while he took care of Andis.

He took a breath and it caught in his throat. Conner coughed it out. “We won’t last much longer in here.”

He scanned the room. Table and chairs. A fire extinguisher hung on the wall. That might come in handy.

Flames glowed orange between the door and frame, the wet towels now smoking.

“What do we do?”

Conner didn’t answer. He waved Kayla to him. If this didn’t go according to plan, he would regret spending this time with her and never saying the things that were in his heart. “Kayla—”

“No, no. Don’t do that.” She took a step back. “You’re going to give me the ‘I’ll lay down my life to protect you’ speech, aren’t you? I know you, Conner. You’ll always be a Secret Service agent, and I doubt there will ever be a day when you’re in the same room as me that you won’t feel like you’re on protective detail.” She sighed. “Because it’s your job.”

She was so far off the mark it wasn’t even funny, but if he told her the truth—that he had seriously missed her—she would get embarrassed. So Conner walked to the window, put his back to the wall and peered out. They were on the second floor, but the awning above the store window downstairs was below them. If he smashed the window, they could use the awning—which would likely rip under their weight—to at least break their fall.

“Do you see them?”

Conner scanned the street. “No. And I don’t see a fire truck or the sheriff either.”

“What’s taking them so long?” Kayla stepped over but, thankfully, kept well back of the window. “They should be here by now, shouldn’t they?”

Conner didn’t like this one bit. “I would have thought so.”

The only reason for the delay he could think of was that someone at the sheriff’s office had been paid off by Andis. Conner didn’t like entertaining the idea that an officer of the law could be corrupt, but it did happen. It would hit Kayla hard, knowing her contacts in helping those women might not be completely aboveboard.

Boots in the hall, coming toward them.

“Firefighters.” Kayla started for the door.

Conner grabbed her arm. “Wait a second.”

“In there!” A man yelled.

Conner grasped the fire extinguisher. “Move to the side.” If this wasn’t firefighters, if it was Manny and his guys, Conner wasn’t going to let them get a shot off before he could get Kayla out of there. He had his gun, but taking down the group would mean too many questions about who he was and why he’d been here. Not to mention the investigation would be over when Andis found out it had been Conner who’d killed his men.

He slammed the butt of the extinguisher against the window. The glass shattered, and he cracked out as much as he could, making sure he got everything on the bottom frame. “Let’s go.”

“You want to jump?”

The man in the hall yelled again. “Get it open!”

Conner grabbed Kayla’s arm.