Bodyguard by Melanie Shawn

35

Savannah

It had beena few days since the Marshal Woodward discovery, and I couldn’t help but feel like everything had ground to a halt.

Of course, I realized that was only a feeling. It wasn’t real. I knew that Gage and Bear were spending every waking hour going over the reams of data that Crypt had sent, and kept sending. And that Bear had been out every night, tailing Woodward and formulating a strategy for snatching him in the smoothest and most efficient way possible.

All of this background work had to be done. I understood that. It was imperative to the success of the final outcome. It was also necessary from a safety perspective. If this was going to go off without a hitch—a potentially deadly hitch—we needed to know exactly what we were getting ourselves in for.

My impatience stemmed entirely from the fact that, now that I knew what a cockroach Woodward was, I really wanted him sitting in front of me, tied to a chair, so that I could be the one to spray Raid in his face.

They say revenge is a dish best served cold. I thought that was bullshit. What I was hungry for—the only thing I was hungry for—was some piping hot revenge, served while the steam was still rising.

I came out of the bathroom, having just brushed my teeth and put my hair in a braid. I was wearing the tank and shorts I usually wore to sleep in. I was headed to bed, and in the morning I’d probably find I was facing another long day, stretching out in front of me exactly like the last, and the one before that.

Inaction had put me in a foul mood.

I climbed between the sheets and Gage came into the room. I instantly felt a little better. Not completely, but quite a bit. His presence always did that for me.

”Are you coming to bed?” I asked hopefully. The last few nights I had fallen asleep before he ever hit the mattress, he and Bear were staying up so late into the night, poring over digitized documents. I really wanted to fall asleep in his arms.

He shook his head, though, and my heart sank.

“More docs?” I asked glumly.

He shook his head again, though, and I perked up at the departure.

“No,” he said. “Tonight’s the night. We’re grabbing Woodward.”

I leapt out of bed. “Great! Give me five minutes. No, give me two. I’m ready!”

He put his hand out to stop me. “You’re not coming. Just me and Bear.”

My heart was pounding. I hadn’t anticipated this. “What are you talking about?”

“It wouldn’t be safe. For you, or us. First of all, this is an operation that takes training. Not only do Bear and I have that training and you don’t, we’ve actually been on ops like this before. We’re a well-oiled machine.”

“And I guess in this scenario, I’m the ungreased wrench in the works?”

He shrugged. “I wouldn’t have put it like that, but sure. Your inexperience would slow us down at best. Put us in danger at worst.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but I obviously couldn’t. He was right. Everything he said was exactly right. The only reason I wanted to go was because I wanted to be one of the people who actually snatched Woodward. I wanted him to see my face the instant he understood what was happening, to know exactly why it was happening. To know that he had put himself in the position that he was in.

And, above everything, to know that I knew what he had done to my father. How he had sworn to protect him out of one side of his mouth while negotiating the price he’d take to betray him out of the other side.

I wanted him to know that I knew exactly how much of a Judas he was, and that it was disgusting.

But Gage was right. None of those were good reasons.

He took a step forward. “I don’t like leaving you here alone,” he said, his voice a low growl. I don’t want to let you out of my sight. Not for one instant. But you’ll be safest here. I promise. And we’ll be back before you know it.”

I took his hand and nodded miserably. It was all I could manage. I didn’t want him hearing the whining tone that was sure to infiltrate my voice if I spoke.

He’s doing all of this for me,I reminded myself. All of it. For me. Everything he’s risking, it’s all for me. I can’t pay him back by being ungrateful.

Gage took both of my hands in his. “We’ll be back before you know it,” he assured me again.

I nodded with a little more enthusiasm. His words had made me feel better, although probably not in the way he had meant them. He likely thought that the comforting thing about the idea of them being back ‘before I knew it’ was that I wouldn’t be alone, wouldn’t feel unprotected. And, sure, that was part of it.

But the thing that made me feel good about that more than anything was the idea of getting to look Woodward in the eye, make him face me, see his reaction. I needed that. And the idea that it would be happening before I knew it was very encouraging.