Security Detail

“He’s boxing us in. I’ve seen them do it before,” Conner yelled over the crack and hiss of flames. “Is there another way out?”

“The dentist’s office has a fire exit with stairs down to the ground floor.”

Conner pointed down the hall. “On the side?” She nodded. “Too exposed. Anything else?”

Kayla glanced around, as though the answer would reveal itself through the walls. “We should call the sheriff again and find out where he is. Give me your phone—mine is almost dead.”

He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. “My cover is blown.” He paused, his thoughts somewhere distant she wasn’t invited. “I guess the rules no longer apply.”

Kayla let her gaze roam his face, trying to figure out what on earth would possess a man to live the kind of life where he was constantly under threat of being killed.

She’d understood on some level before tonight that undercover work was dangerous for a law enforcement officer. But now that she’d seen what he lived with, Kayla didn’t know if she could stand that life. There were men and women who could, though, and she had so much respect for what they did.

“So what do we do?”

Conner glanced around. “We need a place to hide where the smoke won’t get us. We can call the sheriff from there. I just have to keep you safe until he shows up.”

“But not yourself?” He didn’t need to be safe?

“You know what I mean, Kayla. When I know you’re okay, I’ll make a break for it.”

Instead of dishing it back to him—and dying of smoke inhalation from standing in this hallway—Kayla grabbed his arm and dragged him to the kitchen. Conner shut the door and she got two bottles of water from the fridge. Then he soaked some towels and tucked them under the door.

She handed him a water.

“Thanks.” Conner drank half the bottle in one go and then pulled out his phone, thumbed buttons. After gulping down the rest of the water, he threw the empty bottle in the recycling bin.

Kayla looked around. “I think we should try to get out of here.”

“They started the fire to flush you out, and now they’re waiting outside. When you run outside, they’ll probably shoot you. That’s how this works. The fire gets you outside, and then they finish you off. If there’s time, they’ll dump the body back inside to destroy the evidence.”

“Wonderful. Unless...”

“What?”

“They’re trying to kill you. You said your cover is blown. Maybe they’re not after me anymore.” She saw the look he gave her and said, “Well, it’s possible. And either way we need to get out of here before we suffocate.” She grabbed his phone.

Conner’s eyes darkened. “That isn’t going to happen to you.”

“Because I’m in danger, and you’re going to save me?”

“Yes.”

“You know, normal people just call the police when they’re in danger.” She even dialed the numbers to prove it.

Conner didn’t react, though she knew for a fact she was funny. “You’re not normal people and neither am I.”

Kayla showed him the phone and pressed Dial. Just so he could see how normal she was. “I’ve been working very hard for the last few years to be normal, thank you, and you’re ruining—Yes, I need the sheriff and a fire truck. I’m trapped in my office.”

The same lady who’d answered the first time took her location and Kayla answered a half-dozen questions. No, they weren’t in danger of being immediately injured—though it would be minutes before their situation changed. No, they couldn’t get out.

When the woman tried to get her to take deep breaths to calm down, she hung up. “Why did you come tonight?”

“Like I told you, I overheard a conversation from the next room. Your name was mentioned, so I decided to come over and see if you knew why they were talking about you. It’s no secret that you or I once lived in the White House. That’s probably why they didn’t let me in on it.”

“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.

The door handle shifted, and someone banged against the door as though trying to open it with the force of his body.

He got Kayla to the window.

A gunshot blew a hole in the door beside the handle. Two. Three shots. Four.

“Go!”

He pushed her out.

Kayla landed on the awning, slid to the edge and rolled at the last second. She grabbed the edge and fell as the fringe ripped from the frame and she disappeared out of sight.

The door flew open.

Conner jumped. He tried to land on the awning as softly as possible, but his boots hit the material and went straight through. Conner prayed, for the first time in years, that he wasn’t going to land on top of Kayla. When he hit the concrete, he rolled to disperse the force and bumped into Kayla’s feet.

He looked up at her.

“That looked painful.”

She wasn’t wrong.

Kayla held out her hand, and he took it but didn’t give her his weight as he got up. Then he let go and put his hand on her back to lead her away. He didn’t need Manny and his men seeing them on the street. Just like he didn’t need to know what her hand in his would feel like. Conner could have lived his life without that.

It would have been infinitely easier than knowing for sure now that her skin was soft and smooth and her smaller hand fit in his perfectly. That her warm fingers could lace through his when his were cold. No, he didn’t need to know that. It wasn’t going to be a comfort when he was on the run from Andis.

Conner sighed.

“Where do we go now?” Kayla asked. “I have no wallet, no keys. It’s all in the office. I can’t even get in my house.” She pulled up short on the sidewalk, in the middle, right out in the open. Conner moved her to the alcove of a Laundromat that was closed.

“We’ll figure it out, okay? Let’s just get to my truck.”

The air outside smelled like smoke. Where were the emergency services? Someone had to have called it in, and their call should have been responded to already. Conner didn’t want to believe that the people who were supposed to protect Kayla and the others who lived in this town could be bought. That they’d intentionally allow an innocent to get hurt.

When they started walking again, she took his hand. Conner wanted to shake loose of her hold but he didn’t. Still, she glanced at him. Conner saw it out of the corner of his eye. He couldn’t answer the question that wasn’t voiced. He wasn’t in a position to do that, not when his world was one of lies and distrust that could get him killed, all for the sake of justice.

Kayla was everything he’d ever wanted, and Conner had to walk away from her.

But not yet.

Someone was behind them.

THREE

Kayla glanced over her shoulder and let out the breath she’d been holding. “Sheriff Johnson?” She turned and dropped her hands slowly. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

His hand rested on his gun, suspicion on his face at her and a strange man being in the street so close to her burning office. She didn’t blame him. Kayla explained what had happened and how Conner had been there when the fire was started. How he’d helped her get out.

“And you don’t know who was in the hall?”

“No.” Kayla shook her head. Conner did, but she didn’t.

“You didn’t actually see anyone?”

“No, but we heard them.” Her voice wavered with the questions that arose in her mind. Did he not believe they’d heard men talking in the hall? “They shot at us.”

“I called the fire chief when I realized there was a fire that hadn’t been reported.” The sheriff glanced up at the building, flames now coming through the window they had jumped out of. “Seems strange no one called it in.”

“I called it in,” Kayla said. “I talked to Miriam.”

The sheriff’s eyes narrowed. “And you?” He motioned to Conner with a lift of his chin. “You got a name?”

“Conner Thorne.”

Secret Service. She’d heard him say it a million times, but that was years ago. Kayla caught herself before she called Conner on it. His cover. Of course he had to stick with the story that he was no longer a special agent in order to protect himself and the investigation.

“Former Secret Service.”

But he didn’t mention being undercover. Didn’t he trust the sheriff? If he didn’t want to admit everything to the man, Kayla was going to trust he knew what he was doing. It was his job.

The sheriff opened his mouth to ask another question Conner probably didn’t want to answer, so Kayla cut him off. She grabbed Conner’s elbow and put her head on his shoulder. “He’s with me.”

Sheriff Johnson’s eyes darkened.

“Conner is living in Samson now, and we knew each other at the White House. How many people can say they have that kind of history?” Kayla laughed, and it sounded false even to her ears. She felt Conner’s chest jerk with surprise. It wasn’t a lie, but she left it open enough the sheriff had to draw his own conclusion. Everyone would put it together that they had known each other way back when. He’d told her Andis knew about their connection.

The sheriff cleared his throat. “I see.” He was handsome enough, Kayla supposed. Silver hair. Good at his job, which made sense, as he’d been doing it for thirty years now with no one ever running against him. “You’ll make sure she gets home okay?”

“Sure thing.”

That was it? Some man-to-man “take care of the little woman” thing she didn’t understand at all. Kayla wanted to roll her eyes, but she’d had enough of acting like a high school kid, more than a lawyer could reasonably take for one night. She needed to let go of Conner before she started to believe her own ruse and got used to holding on to him. Though, if they were dating for real, she’d be way cooler about it. Aloof. Mysterious. A puzzle he needed to solve.

Conner’s mouth had curled up. Kayla let go of him, but was stuck beside him until the sheriff walked away.

“I actually didn’t come here for the fire,” Sheriff Johnson said. “Though I’ll need formal statements from both of you after I talk to the fire chief. I have another case for you, Kayla. I wanted to tell you about this one in person, before I got the call about the break-in.” He paused for a second. “I’ll be talking to Miriam, because she didn’t mention you being in danger, or the fire.”

Kayla nodded. He waved her two steps away, and she joined him as he said, “Her name is Jan Barton. Got mixed up with a local guy she calls her boyfriend. I get the impression she needs somewhere to heal...and probably detox.”

“Sure.” Kayla’s shelter was set up for that. The house manager she had hired was a registered nurse. “She’s at your office?”

“Yep.” The sheriff nodded. “I guess you have a ride.”

“She does.” Conner didn’t look up from his phone.

She also had her own car, but neither man felt it necessary to point out that she was perfectly fine on her own. Or she would have been if not for tonight and the fact that she was still jumpy. Maybe it was just residual fear, but something was seriously not right.

The sheriff’s brow had furrowed at Conner’s statement. Why did she feel like the sheriff was not at all happy that Kayla had a “boyfriend”? It wasn’t like he’d ever given her the impression he was interested in her, so it could simply be fatherly concern. She’d have been polite, and flattered, but Sheriff Johnson knew some of her history. Not all of it, the way Conner did. The sheriff only knew she’d been the victim of an attack, and that was why she wanted to help women who needed safety. He’d even helped her set up the hotline.

So why was he bothered about Conner? Reservations would be justified if he knew Conner worked for Andis. If she could tell the sheriff Conner was undercover, it would allay his fears. When she looked up at Conner with the question likely in her eyes—he’d always been able to read her face—he shook his head.

The sheriff said, “Ms. Barton needs to get her things from her house while her boyfriend spends the night in one of my cells, and she needs to be clear of him before he gets out. Probably tomorrow, but it might be the day after.”

Kayla nodded. “Does she want to get free?”

Sheriff Johnson shrugged one shoulder. “That’s not my department. I find them, you help them.” He smiled. “It’s worked well so far.”

“It has.”

Sirens preceded the fire truck turning the corner. The rig drove past their huddle and stopped in the street in front of Kayla’s office.

“I’ll go run point with the chief and start a search for those men you saw. Let me know tomorrow how it went with Ms. Barton and I’ll take your statements about what happened here then. In the meantime, get somewhere safe and I’ll look into this. I’ll also talk to Miriam.”

Kayla watched him walk away.

“Huh.”

She turned to Conner. “What? You don’t like the sheriff?”

“Never met the man before tonight. Not sure he knows who I am, though he’s going to look me up when he gets back to the office. By tomorrow he’ll know my life story—or at least the one the Secret Service doctored for me when Andis looked me up. My identity as a disgraced agent is solid, so I’m not concerned. But the guy I’m pretending to be won’t make him less worried about you. Probably more.”

Kayla’s stomach churned. “I’m not sure I like that you’re getting close to men who would start a fire to try to kill someone. Whether their intended victim was you or me.”

Conner placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’m not going to lie and tell you it isn’t dangerous, but I’m good at what I do, Kayla. If there’s trouble, I’ll take care of it.” He didn’t add that now that his cover was blown, he was probably in more danger than ever.

Kayla didn’t feel better in the least, but she was willing to cover it so he wouldn’t worry about her when he left. “Let’s go. Can we do that? I don’t want to stay here if they’re still around. Once I help Ms. Barton, I can go home and rest.”

Conner waited for her to move first and then walked beside her. It was an old move she recognized. He’d fallen back into that protector/protectee relationship with her that would always color what was between them. And why was that? Maybe Kayla wanted to be the one to make sure he was safe, instead of him looking out for her all the time.

Why couldn’t that be a thing?

Kayla stopped so fast she almost tripped on her heels.

“What? What is it?”

She pointed. “That’s my car.” At least, it used to be her car. Now it was a body with no wheels, smashed-out windows and spray-painted vulgar swirls all over it. “Someone trashed my car.”

“Made sure you can’t go anywhere and made it look like teenagers did it at the same time.”

Kayla sighed. “We should tell the sheriff.”

Conner turned and looked all around them, at the deserted parking lot to the rear of the street. Dim light. A back entrance. She knew what he saw, and there was no way he’d have let her come anywhere near a place like this back in the day. But she wasn’t the current president’s daughter anymore. No one cared who she was now.

At least, they hadn’t until tonight.

“Let’s get moving. You can report it tomorrow. Right now you need to get somewhere safe.”

Kayla nodded and walked with him to his truck. He drove straight to the sheriff’s office and waited outside while she went in and spoke with Ms. Barton. Kayla told the deputy on the desk about her car and had him relay that information to the sheriff in case it was relevant.

Jan Barton was the priority now. Kayla had seen bruises like that before, and the residue of what looked like a bad night. Way worse than the one she’d had this evening, even considering her office was toast and she smelled like smoke.

At least she could help Jan Barton, and then something good would come out of this night. Kayla had been through too much to settle for an old crush reappearing and taking up all of her thoughts and emotions. Conner had been everything she’d ever wanted.

Now all Kayla wanted to do was help other women so that none of them ever had to feel scared again. She knew what real fear felt like, and it had nearly crippled her—until someone had shown up to help her. That was who Conner was to her, the hero he’d been all those years ago.

She didn’t need him in her life now. Kayla was too busy being that hero to others.