LITMIR.BIZ

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years. I’m not a novice anymore.” The tense set to her body relaxed. “I’ve changed since we knew each other.”

      He had changed, too. He realized if they were together very long on this assignment they would have to discuss their parting nine years ago, but with one glance around the room, he knew this wasn’t the time or the place. “I know you aren’t. I’ve read over the assignments you’ve done this past year. I’m impressed. That’s why I asked for you. I felt a woman would be better suited for guarding Mary, so I contacted Kyra.” He wouldn’t go into the details about the possibility of buying into a partnership with Kyra for Guardians, Inc. He wouldn’t be part of Guardians, Inc., if he and Chloe couldn’t at least call a truce between them.

      “You know my boss?” Her body visibly relaxed.

      “Yes, I’ve known her since the first time I lived here. We’ve kept in touch through the years.” And he’d asked from time to time about Chloe. Another tidbit he wouldn’t tell her.

      Chloe peered out the window, confusion clouding her eyes for a few seconds. “She didn’t tell me. I didn’t even know you would be guarding Paul.”

      “I told her not to say so because there was little time to get someone and I didn’t want you to refuse before meeting the Zimmermans. There’s so much that’s changed in nine years. I didn’t want our past together to affect you taking the assignment.”

      She blinked several times.

      “Their publisher didn’t contact me about the job until late last night. So I went to Kyra early this morning and was glad to learn you were available.”

      “But—” she looked away again “—after what happened between us, I’m surprised.”

      A silence fell between them peppered with murmurs from Paul and Mary’s conversation with the organizers. T.J. inched closer and lowered his voice. He touched her arm, not sure if she would yank away or not. She didn’t. “We need to talk later. I don’t want anything standing in the way of this partnership. I’m not the same man I was. Life has a way of redirecting your dreams.”

      Chloe opened her mouth, but instead pressed her lips closed before saying anything and fastened her attention out the window. An uncomfortable moment later, she said, “It looks like the crowd is gone. I’ll feel better when we get them back to the house. Everything went well, but I couldn’t shake...” Her eyebrows slashed downward.

      “I got the feeling someone was out there watching the Zimmermans, waiting for the right moment.”

      She faced him. “I did, too, but then nothing happened, even with the last-minute change Mary insisted on with the crowd coming inside. I was beginning to wonder if my instinct was off. Generally, it isn’t.”

      In that brief moment a connection sprang up between them as if their breakup had never occurred. “I don’t think it is. Someone in the audience could have been casing the Zimmermans. Just because he did something at the first and second stops in the tour doesn’t mean he will at this one. The security was tightened, and he might not have expected that.”

      Finally, as though she’d realized his hand was touching her, she stepped back. “You keep saying he. Is there a reason you think it’s one man?”

      He shook his head. “I need a way to refer to the person or persons since we don’t have any names.”

      “I just want to make sure I know everything connected to this assignment. No clues to who is after them?”

      “From what happened in Paris with the multiple stink bombs, I figure it’s more than one person. But frankly, I know so little at this time.” T.J. glanced at the pair they were guarding. “I’m concerned mostly about their lack of concern.”

      “It could lead to problems. Mary puts everyone else first.”

      “You know her?” T.J. kneaded his shoulder, aching from holding himself taut and ready to move at a second’s notice. There was still tension with Chloe. He’d thought the past was just that—the past—that they could forge a working relationship because Chloe was good at her job.

      “Not personally, but I know of her. I’ve read her books, and they have a great message. We need to put God’s principles into action.”

      “In theory, the concepts they promote might work, but in practice we need more law enforcement officers and tougher laws.” When he saw her forehead crease, he continued, “We should leave, but we’ll talk later, and I’ll make sure you know everything I do. There won’t be any confusion with this assignment.”

      One of her perfectly arched eyebrows lifted, a smile flirting with her mouth. “Promise?”

      He chuckled. “Yes, we made a good team once before. There’s no reason why we can’t now.” Her smile gave him hope that they could at least work together.

      “I suppose anything is possible.”

      “Let’s get the Zimmermans to a more secure location. Okay?”

      She nodded.

      Turning toward the couple, T.J. said, “It’s time for us to leave.”

      While the Zimmermans said goodbye to the organizers, T.J. withdrew his phone from his pocket and called the limo driver to pull the car around to the back exit. Now that the crowd was gone, the couple shouldn’t mind going out that way. He let it ring five times, then it went to voice mail.

      “The Zimmermans are ready to leave. We’ll stay put until you call back.” His grip on the cell tightened. That gut feeling he’d had earlier clamored against his skull, demanding to be heard.

      Chloe watched him as he slipped his phone back into his pocket and evened out his expression. Although she wasn’t as easy to read as in the past, it was clear when concern invaded her eyes.

      He moved closer to her and whispered, “The driver didn’t answer. I’m going out to the parking lot to see what has happened. You stay here and guard the Zimmermans. I’ll call you and let you know what’s going on. Lock the door after I leave.”

      He started to turn away, but she grasped his arm. “I won’t open that door unless you tell me it looks like it’s going to rain. Okay?”

      “Yes.”

      She didn’t release her grip. “Be careful. I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

      Just like I don’t. Which only reinforced the suspicion something was wrong.

      Nodding, he strode toward the exit, ushering the two organizers out of the room in front of him. The sound of the lock clicking into place didn’t quiet the alarms going off in his mind. He could think of a hundred reasons the driver hadn’t answered the call—most of them bad.

      He left the church through the back door, his gaze sweeping the area around him before he stepped out into the cold February day. A brisk wind blew from the west, slamming against his torso as he headed around the side of the church where the driver was supposed to have parked the limousine. Fifteen yards away, he spied the car where it should be.

      The windows were darkened, so when T.J. stared into the vehicle, he couldn’t see the driver. Anywhere, inside or out.

      Then T.J. noticed the tire nearest him had been slashed. From where he stood he could see the back one, too. Flat. His stomach clenched. Adrenaline pumped through his body as he pulled his gun from his holster. While he scanned the parking lot, he made his way to the limo. His heartbeat picked up speed as adrenaline flooded his system.

      He circled the limo quickly. Two more flat tires. No one hiding behind the car. When he returned to the driver’s side, he yanked open the passenger door. No one hiding there, either. Then he turned his attention to the front. When T.J. opened the door, there was no sign of the driver or where he might be.

      T.J. pushed a button on the side panel, then hurried to the back of the limo. When he lifted the trunk, his breath bottled in his lungs.

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