Nanny for the SEALs by Cassie Cole

43

Rogan

There was no worse feeling in the world than despair. Knowing that something bad was happening, and was going to continue to happen, and being totally unable to stop it. I wasn’t used to feeling so powerless. I hated it.

Heimdall was going to win. They were going to convince Amirah and The Weiman Agency to drop us. There would be a powerful ripple effect from it, and our company would never recover. I was desperate for any plan that would help us avoid it, no matter how crazy.

And then Heather offered a solution.

A surprisingly good one.

“What are you saying?” Brady demanded.

“I’m saying use me as bait,” Heather answered. “I’ll pretend to be Amirah at an event or something. That will lure the attackers again. And then you guys nab them!”

I immediately dismissed the plan. “I know you want to help, and I appreciate the offer. But we’re not going to put you in danger.”

“I won’t be in danger!” she insisted. “You said it yourself: Heimdall doesn’t want to actually hurt Amirah. They just want to scare her into hiring a new security firm. That’s why they took random pot-shots through the earthquake-proof glass at the hotel. Accuracy didn’t matter, as long as they made her afraid. It was all show, no risk.”

Brady laughed. “This is nuts. It doesn’t matter if there’s any real danger or not. We’re not putting you in that position. Right, guys?”

“Actually,” I said, “I think it’s worth considering.”

Brady gawked at me. “You fucken kidding me, Rogan?”

“She makes a great point,” I replied. “Heimdall wants to steal Amirah away from us. They wouldn’t risk hurting her in the process. Heather won’t be in any danger if she poses as Amirah. And we know she can do it. Hell, she fooled us and most of the people in our suite at the Lakers game. Remember?”

“Especially if you put a hat and sunglasses on me,” I said.

“Amirah herself would need to be made aware,” Asher said thoughtfully. “Perhaps even the film studio.”

“I talked to Amirah yesterday,” I replied. “She’s afraid. At this point, she’ll try anything.” I turned to Heather. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

She shrugged. “Anything to help you guys. Especially after I screwed things up at the hotel…”

“You did nothing wrong,” Asher insisted, taking her hand and squeezing it. Brady only pursed his lips.

I could tell she felt guilty about what happened at the hotel. She was offering to help us to make up for it. I should have known it was a bad idea because of that. She wasn’t really agreeing to this plan in good conscience. She was just desperate in a different way than us.

But I was too eager for a potential solution to our problems to think clearly.

“If you’re willing to do it, then I think it’s a solid plan,” I said.

Brady threw up his hands in frustration. “Am I the only one who thinks this nuts? Asher, back me up, here.”

Our blond partner drummed his fingers on the desk thoughtfully. “All things considered, the plan is sound. And we are running out of time. If the studio replaces Amirah with another actress, and we lose her as a client…”

“Don’t do this,” Brady said, grabbing Heather by the arm. “Please don’t do this.”

“I have to,” she insisted, jerking her arm away. “It’s the only way. Unless you have a better plan.”

Brady shook his head and paced around the room. “This is a bad idea. I’m saying it now, in front of everyone, for the record.”

“What record? There is no record,” I replied.

Heather put a hand on his back. “I’ll be okay. I promise. Especially with you guys there to protect me.”

“That’s what worries me. We haven’t done a good job of protecting anyone, lately.” Brady stormed out of the office.

Asher turned to me. “I have some logistical concerns. We need to find the best place to do something like this. Then coordinate with Amirah and her agent to put the word out, hyping up publicity so that Heimdall takes the bait.”

“Once you get approval from Amirah’s agent, call the film studio,” I said. “They might have some input, based on the film schedule next week.”

“Stay here with me while I make this call?” Asher asked Heather. “They might want to talk to the woman who will be impersonating their client.”

I kissed Heather on the cheek. “Thank you for this.”

“Of course,” she replied with a weak smile. Despite the fact that it was her idea, she looked a little queasy at the idea of being bait. That was almost enough to make me reconsider it.

Almost.

There was so much work to do, now. If we were going to do this, I wanted to call in every available security agent we had to help. For Heather’s safety, we would pull out all the stops.

On the way to the front door, I saw Brady sitting cross-legged on the living room floor, quietly playing with racecar toys with the boys. He looked up at me and scowled.

“She shouldn’t be doing this, and you know it.”

Cora perked up from her chair. “I shouldn’t be doing what, daddy?”

Brady pulled her off the chair and into a bear hug. “Not you, sweetie. I’m talking about someone else.”

She squealed happily in his embrace until he let her go.

“We’re out of options,” I replied. I had no interest in re-arguing everything we had just talked about. “If you have a better plan, spit it out.”

“She’s guilty about the hotel,” Brady said calmly. “She… distracted me. A couple of times.” He glanced at the kids around him. “I’ll leave it at that. The only reason she’s offering to help is because she feels guilty.”

“That’s her decision,” I said, turning to leave.

“I think I love her.”

I stopped with my hand on the doorknob, then turned around. Brady was staring up at me defiantly, daring me to disagree with him. He looked just like Dustin in that brief moment, lower lip stuck out, threatening to pout.

“Who do you love?” Micah asked.

Brady ignored the boy and continued staring at me.

“Is that true?”

“Yeah. It is. I can’t put her in harm’s way—no matter how low we think the harm is.”

Love. The word was powerful and jarring, especially coming from Brady. I paused to consider my own emotions. I really liked Heather. But beyond that… I wasn’t sure how I felt. It had only been five or six weeks. Heather was amazing in every way, and there was a growing potential for something serious, but love…

“I care about her deeply,” I told Brady. “I also care about you and Asher, yet I’ve sent you on dangerous missions before.”

Brady jabbed a finger up at me. “This is different, and you fucken know it.”

The boys whipped their heads over at him, and Cora gasped. Brady winced.

“Ooooo!” Dustin crooned. “You said a really bad word!” Micah started giggling and looked at me to see my reaction.

“Ducking,” Brady insisted. “I said ducking. Like, what ducks do. Quack quack! Can you make duck sounds?”

That may have worked when they were three or four, but they were too smart to be fooled now. Brady was normally really good about watching his language around the triplets. For him to let that slip out while he was surrounded by them…

“Heather isn’t in any danger,” I said. “Heimdall wants to scare Amirah, not injure her.”

“What if you’re wrong? What if it’s not Heimdall?”

I was certain it was our rival security company. Every piece of evidence we’d received pointed to them: the varying number of attackers, the SAS-issue knife, Cardannon’s appearance at the hotel. But my certainty wasn’t at one hundred percent. It was more like ninety-five.

“Heather’s a big girl,” I said. “And she’s also the most stubborn, headstrong woman I’ve ever met. If we tell her the plan is too dangerous, she’ll probably run out and do it on her own without our help.”

Brady let Micah jump on his back like a monkey, then stood and fixed me with a final glare. “You can make all the excuses you want, but you know there’s a non-zero chance of something going wrong. Now, I’m going to do my best to protect her. I know you and Asher will do the same. But if anything happens to her, I’m holding you responsible.”

If anything happens, I’ll hold myself responsible too, I thought as I opened the door and went downstairs.