supervise their trips to life-changing work functions!”
He managed to look momentarily guilty before shooting back with a response. “Well, most daughters don’t—” He held up his hand, stopping himself. “Listen, we can sit here and fight about this all day while you lie next to your empty luggage, or you can just take the gesture with graciousness and understand that I only have one baby girl and that’s you.” His voice took on an edge that Kate recognized as vulnerability from the almost always strong man. It killed the less-than-nice reply she’d had waiting on the tip of her tongue. He walked over and took a seat next to her. She sat up to look him in the eyes.
“It’s because of that fact that I can say this without getting into trouble,” he started. Kate swallowed, unsure whether or not she was about to get into more trouble. However, when he continued, his voice was kind. “You’ve spent most of your life fighting to help people you’ll never meet by doing research and working tirelessly in labs. Along the way you’ve achieved a level of greatness I never could have, and for that I’ll be forever proud... But your drive—your dedication—often puts blinders up, making it hard for you to see the big picture. While your research is important, you are, too. You’ve tried to keep your work a secret, but what have I told you about secrets?”
“They don’t exist.”
He smiled.
“Someone will always tell someone else. It’s the law of the land. And one that your mother tried to teach us. Someone obviously knows something, and whether or not it’s the truth or some half-baked version of it, they have set their sights on you. Now, you’ve told me this convention will change everything. Well, I want to make sure you’re there to see that through and continue to see it through long after it’s over. Because even though you won’t see the big picture—and its danger—I’ll tell you right now that it’s there.” He patted her knee. “So, please, accept this protection, if only to give your old man some peace of mind.”
Kate watched as a range of emotions played across her father’s face. It reminded her of all the sacrifices he’d had to make to raise her on his own since she was nine. Never once asking anything of her.
Until now.
“Because I love you and can see your point, I’ll make a deal with you,” she offered. “I will humor you by accepting the protection of only one bodyguard. Any more than that will bring unwanted attention and, well, freak me out a little. So one and that’s it, okay?”
He looked like he was ready to fight her again, but after a moment he nodded.
“Okay.” He stuck out his hand to shake. “Deal.”
They shook and she rolled her eyes. Their tender moment dissipated as he stood and stretched.
“Now, I have to ask, how exactly are you paying for this bodyguard service?” Like Kate, her father wasn’t particularly wealthy. He worked at the hardware store he and his wife of five years owned.
“I was lucky enough to get connected to a place that works for free on cases they believe need it. One of my customers worked a news story for them when he lived in Dallas and was kind enough to give me a reference.” He grinned.
“Oh, so they’re amateurs, then.”
“Definitely not. Their track record is impressive, to say the least,” he answered. “Don’t worry, I vetted them pretty well.”
“So why exactly are they doing it for free?” she asked, perplexed. Deacon smiled wide.
“I guess that’s a question you’ll just have to ask your bodyguard.”
Traffic.
Here it was again.
Jonathan looked out his rental’s window and snorted.
“Welcome to New York City,” he said to himself.
He’d been stuck in standstill traffic for the last half hour thanks to a fender bender that had escalated to the point of the cops being called. It had made the two lanes of traffic that had been moving along nicely stop dead.
Unnecessary. Annoying. Unpleasant.
It probably didn’t help that he could use all three descriptors for his current client, Kathryn Spears. Instead of waiting for him at the airport like Nikki and the woman’s father had agreed on the night before, Jonathan had landed to a voice mail from her saying she’d gone ahead to the hotel.
Because, in her words, “I really need some better coffee.”
After ten more minutes of waiting, traffic finally started to pick up again. Jonathan had spent the time while he waited going over the route to the hotel in an attempt to not get lost. He’d been to New York before and he knew the frustration of getting turned around this close to Times Square. Thankfully he avoided any misdirection, a feat considering if he had missed the turn into the hotel’s parking garage—an almost hidden entrance due to the sidewalk that was barely sloped for a car to drive up—he would have had to take a series of left turns until he made his way back. Costing him more time away from fulfilling Orion’s end of the contract.
He parked, sent a text to Nikki to let her know he’d finally gotten in and collected his bag. It contained a suit, pressed and folded, along with a myriad of pristine yet flexible clothing. It was light but had everything he needed for the Friday-through-Tuesday stay—not the longest contract he’d done nor the shortest. But, as he’d told Nikki, it would be his last. In his mind he went over the layout of the building as he rode up in the elevator. Above the parking garage, there were four floors. A lounge area branched off the lobby on the first floor with guests having access to a twenty-four-hour gym. There were two sets of stairs on opposite sides of the building with two elevators positioned next to them, diagonal from the lobby front desk. The front entrance led directly to the sidewalk that ran along the street.
Jonathan hadn’t stayed at the dismal pink-painted hotel before, but Jillian had walked him through its layout before he’d left. It was nice to know what he was going into versus going in blind. Orion agents prided themselves on being prepared—though that wasn’t always easy, considering people often did surprising things—and since Orion’s expansion three years ago they’d gotten better at it. Even when a contract changed at the last second.
He looked at his reflection in the elevator door and let out a grunt. Not getting the best sleep the night before and catching an early flight, he hoped the client didn’t notice the dark circles beneath his eyes. He blamed the chatty man who’d had the aisle seat next to him. It made him wonder if Kathryn was like that, recalling what he had been told initially by Nikki at Mark’s engagement party.
“I wouldn’t ask you to take this one, since, for one, you just got back, and, two, you just asked for a desk job. But the man requesting our services was so concerned...I could almost feel it myself.” Nikki’s eyes had traveled to the wall at that. It was a blank space, but he knew on the other side was her real target. A single picture of a young woman. The reason behind Orion’s origin. The woman who had changed their lives, whom Nikki, Oliver, Mark and Jonathan couldn’t have been what they were now without. The woman they hadn’t saved. “He lives in Florida but heard about us through one of Thomas’s recent clients. His daughter has been receiving some really troubling letters.”
“His
