Unexpected (The Protectors 10)

“Ethan’s the doctor and Cain works for Ronan,” I said.

“Yeah. Well, I guess Ethan had a patient come through the ER yesterday that he was worried about. The guy was beaten pretty badly, but wouldn’t tell anyone who did it. Wouldn’t tell anyone his name, either. Ethan had a bad feeling about the whole thing, so he told Cain, who talked to Ronan about it. Cain’s already working a job down there, so Ronan asked me to go check it out and sit on the guy when he gets discharged.”

“The guy doesn’t have family or anything?” I asked.

Reese shook his head. “They didn’t find any ID on him. But Ethan got him to tell him his name last night – guess the pain pills kicked in or something,” Reese said with a shrug. “He said the guy’s name was Ben and that he said the name George a few times before he passed out.”

“That’s it?” I asked.

“Yep.” Reese zipped up his bag. “This Ben guy probably just got mugged or beat up by an ex… maybe George is the person who did it to him.”

“Aren’t you worried he’ll recognize you?” I asked.

Reese shook his head. “It’s purely a recon job. I won’t be interacting with him or anyone else. If it turns out to be something, Ronan and Memphis will decide how to proceed.”

I got up and followed him out of the room. Reese lived in a quiet apartment building about ten minutes north of the city. There weren’t too many people around as we got to the parking lot, so I didn’t have to worry about being recognized. Of course, with the two Secret Service agents waiting for me at the foot of the stairs, I may as well have had a neon light above my head that announced my presence.

After the attack, I’d accepted the Secret Service’s offer for a small protection detail. Although it wasn’t something I wanted long-term, I knew it made sense until things died down. While they were obligated to protect me first and foremost, I knew they’d add an extra layer of protection for my family too. And more importantly, Nash could focus on his own job.

Nash had been praised for his role in fending off the attackers. I hadn’t learned the full details of what had happened in the house until the following day. Gage had run upstairs where his father had been engaged in a gunfight with two attackers. He’d been holding them off with a shotgun to give Charlie time to get down the ladder. Zeus had taken on a third guy at the top of the stairs, and while the big dog had been stabbed once, the wound had fortunately only been a flesh wound, and he’d recovered with no issues. Gage had taken out the other two attackers, while Nash had fought with two more assailants downstairs.

When Nash had entered the house, he’d managed to shoot the first attacker, but when he’d found the second guy, he’d been fighting with Reese. Reese hadn’t been armed and without his full strength, he’d struggled under the weight of the man who’d been trying to stab him. Nash had been forced to tackle the guy, since he hadn’t wanted to risk hitting Reese with a bullet. Reese had seen Charlie making a run for it just before he’d been attacked, so he’d grabbed Nash’s gun and stumbled toward the kitchen so he could get to the back deck. For whatever reason, Zeus had met Reese by the back door and as soon as he’d opened it, the big dog had come running toward me and Charlie.

Happy had ended up going after another intruder before he could shoot Nash as Nash struggled with the guy with the knife. The blood I’d seen on Nash hadn’t been his. He’d managed to gain control of the weapon and he’d used it to kill the last guy. Not one of the men who’d invaded Gage’s house had survived the attack.

Afterward, Nash had gotten a call from Director Hill. After reading Nash the riot act for lying about the personal emergency so he could stay with me, he’d promptly offered Nash his job back. Nash had declined and hung up on the man. While I’d known that Nash wouldn’t take the job in D.C. since it would have meant leaving me and Gage, I’d argued with him for turning Director Hill down completely. After all, the Secret Service had an office in Seattle. But Nash had adamantly refused to discuss the matter and it had taken me a while to figure out why.

Because he would have had to tell Director Hill the reason he was turning down such a prominent position. And since I hadn’t been out at that time, he’d chosen to give up his job entirely rather than risk outing me.