Protecting Her

“Your perimeter is here,” Laura says, her eyes bouncing between us.

“Right. The reason I came in here to begin with.” He gives me a smirk. I guess I’d gotten him off topic. Does that mean I am seducing him already? “I found an imprint outside near a window, and I don’t think it’s an animal. I called in a few bodies to keep an eye out.”

Laura snorts. “A few? You called in twelve.” My eyes widen. He must really be worried. Fear starts to take hold of me. I can’t let anyone stop what I’m doing.

“Can’t be too careful when you have something that is irreplaceable.” My heart flutters.

“What is happening to you?” Laura mumbles, shaking her head as she leaves the room.

I’m not sure what was happening between us. All I do know is I don’t want it to stop.

Chapter 12

Gabe

Laura stays in the house while I brief the guards. Two of them set off with me to the southwest corner. I install another camera to avoid any blind spots and then take the new recruits with me to do some hunting. Sandy and Domingo are in their late twenties and recently discharged from the military. Both served in special forces units, so this work isn’t entirely new to them.

“Think he came from over there.” Domingo points to a ridge just to our left.

A few minutes later, we confirm his hunch. Just beyond the ridge are tire marks made from a four-wheeled all terrain vehicle. From the lack of noise I assume it was an electric vehicle. I rub my finger over the tire indentation and contemplate where the intruder might be now. Is he the type to return to the same place or having scouted the property, found a better point of entry?

“I don’t think he’ll come back here,” Sandy says. “It takes too long, and the client never comes out here, right?”

“She hasn’t yet.” Cat is content to stay inside, but it’s only been a few days. Any longer and she might start chafing at the restrictions. “The easiest way to get to her is by subterfuge or hijacking the route to the lab.”

My phone rings.

“There’s activity on the road here,” Laura says in a tight voice. “You should get back to base.”

“On my way.” I get to my feet. “Or by brute force. Tangos incoming.”

We start running. The property is large, which makes for a good safe house because the land can be a buffer, but it also means it takes longer to get back to home base. Every second I’m away puts Cat in more danger. I pump my legs faster, leaving Sandy and Domingo behind me. Adrenaline pushes me forward. My boots thud against the packed dirt. I hear the sound of engines. In the distance, a trail of dust rises above the pavement. I run faster. My lungs feel as if they are going to burst, but I push past that pain until there’s nothing but the air rushing by my face and the image of Cat in front of me.

I hear a sharp staccato sound and then a shout. Something zips by my head. The back door of the house flies open, and one of the new men that arrived to patrol waves me inside. I pull out my gun and rush forward.

“Sit rep!” I bark.

“Three cars at the gate. They’ve got an armored truck and are ramming it.”

“ETA?”

“Five minutes at most.”

“Cat?”

“Cat?” The man responds in confusion. “I didn’t see any animals.”

I shake my head. “Client and Laura?”

“Panic room.”

I head for the den.

“Should I call in reinforcements?”

“No.” The more guns here, the greater the possibility Cat gets caught in the crossfire. In the den, I find the remnants of coffee and cake. Cat’s purse is on the sofa, but the laptop is gone. I move the books, activate the lever to access the stairs to the panic room, and head up.

Before I even hit the middle stair, I hear the sound of a bullet being chambered. “It’s me, Laura.”

“And who else?”

“No one.”

She doesn’t uncock the gun, but I don’t blame her. I wouldn’t if I were her. I climb the steps with my own gun pointed in front of me. Laura could be taken hostage. One way to get Cat out of here is to hide in the panic room until the battle dies off and then sneak her out when we’re doing cleanup.

At the top of the curved stairs, I see Laura braced in front of the door. She keeps the gun steadily pointed in my direction even as I stop two steps down.

“Cat safe?”

“Yes, but scared.”

“Of course.” Slowly I reach past Laura and place my hand against the biometric scanner. The door slides open and over Laura’s shoulder I see a worried Cat with her laptop clutched to her chest. Relief shudders out of me.