Christmas Protection Detail

by Terri Reed

  “We have another situation.” She told him about the FBI agent.

  “Keep an eye on him,” Alex said. “We’ll be there in minutes.”

  “He’s not going anywhere,” she said and tucked the phone back into her jacket pocket.

  “If you don’t want this guy to bleed out,” Porter said, “I suggest compression on his wound.”

  He was right. They needed this guy alive and talking.

  “Stay there,” she told Porter. She backed up the concrete steps to the front door. “Collin,” she yelled through the opening.

  “Yes, ma’am?” came his reply from somewhere deep in the bowels of the house.

  “I need clean towels. We have a wounded man out here.”

  “We already called 911,” Margaret yelled. “Is it safe?”

  “Yes, it’s safe.” Kaitlyn chanced a glance up the staircase and shouted, “Nick?”

  A few seconds later, Nick appeared at the top of the stairs. He appeared unharmed. The knot in Kaitlyn’s chest loosened.

  “Are you okay, Kaitlyn?”

  “I’m good. You? Rosie?” She kept her eyes and her weapon on Porter.

  “We’re fine. She’s with Margaret and Collin.” Nick hurried to her side and stared past Kaitlyn. “Who is that?”

  “Claims to be FBI.”

  Collin came out of the house with a handful of clean towels.

  Agent Porter took the towels and pressed them against the wounded man’s leg. “If you want to live, hold these in place,” he told the man, who nodded and did as instructed.

  The sound of the siren grew louder as Alex’s SUV skidded to a halt a few feet from them. Sheriff Alex Trevino and Deputy Chase Fredrick jumped out; both men had their weapons drawn. Kaitlyn gave the FBI agent and the suspect a wide berth to hand her boss Agent Porter’s credentials.

  “Looks legit, but we’ll see.” Alex handed the leather holder off to Chase. “Call the local FBI in Denver. See if this is one of their agents.”

  Chase hurried away.

  “I’m not with the Denver office,” Porter said. “I work out of DC.”

  “You’re a long way from home,” Alex said.

  “I’m working a case. My informant was headed here. Lexi Eng.”

  Kaitlyn’s surprise mirrored Nick’s as they shared a glance.

  Porter’s gaze went to Nick. “Rosie is Lexi’s baby, right? Are Lexi and her baby here?”

  “What do you want with Lexi?” Nick asked.

  “It’s classified. Strictly need to know,” Porter said. “I need to speak with Lexi. Now. Where is she?”

  “We’re not answering any of your questions,” Alex said. “Until we’ve confirmed your identity.”

  Chase jogged back. “He’s FBI with the Washington, DC, office. They gave me the runaround, though. They wouldn’t tell me what case he’s working on.”

  Everyone looked at Agent Porter.

  He shrugged. “Like I said, it’s classified. Let me talk to Lexi.”

  Kaitlyn turned her gaze to Nick. What had his friend been mixed up in? Whatever it was put the people of Bristle Township in jeopardy. Something she just wouldn’t allow.

  * * *

  “She’s in the hospital fighting for her life,” Nick said, his voice vibrating with the anger crowding his chest.

  There was no mistaking the shock in Porter’s brown eyes. “Is she alive?”

  Nick nodded. “Barely. But some guys tried to kill her. Do you know who?” He flicked his gaze at the man being treated by the paramedics who had arrived a few minutes after the sheriff. “Who do they work for? They keep asking about a flash drive. What’s on it?”

  “Did you find it?” Porter asked. The intensity in his eyes burned bright.

  Nick shook his head, frustrated that the agent wasn’t giving them any information.

  “You said she’s your informant,” Kaitlyn said. “What’s going on? What is your case about?”

  “I have to go to the hospital.” Porter turned to Alex. “Sheriff, can you give me a ride, since my car is toast?”

  “We’ll give you a ride to town,” Alex said. “But you will not go anywhere near our assault victim. We don’t want anything to impede her recovery.”

  Nick didn’t like the situation at all, and he didn’t trust this man. Why wouldn’t he tell them what was going on? What was Lexi involved in? Nick thought about the necklace he’d found in the diaper bag. It was just a trinket, nothing special, certainly nothing worth all this fuss. And not a flash drive. Or was it...? Could the little butterfly charm hold a USB drive?

  Nick was not about to reveal anything to the FBI agent because he didn’t know the man’s agenda. If Porter were trustworthy, why hadn’t Lexi run to him? Nick kept quiet about the necklace and instead asked Agent Porter, “What can you tell us about Rosie?”

  The agent’s gaze focused intently on Nick. “All I know is she’s Lexi’s child.”

  Nick didn’t buy it. The man knew more than he was saying. “Who was Lexi involved with?”

  “I cannot give you any information regarding Lexi Eng. It’s all classified. Way above any of your pay grades.” Agent Porter turned back to Alex. “Sheriff, that ride into town?”

  Alex narrowed his gaze. “Hmmm.” He turned to Chase. “Let’s go.” He glanced back at Kaitlyn. “Keep in touch.”

  “Yes, sir,” she said.

  Alex, Chase and Agent Porter left in the sheriff’s vehicle. Once the gate closed behind the SUV, Kaitlyn turned to Nick. “Classified, my eye. I don’t trust him.”

  “Me, either.”

  “Did you see the look on his face when you asked him about Rosie?” Kaitlyn asked. “Do you think he could be Rosie’s father?”

  “Could Lexi have been running from this agent?” Nick’s heart tumbled. “If so, then I told Porter where to find her. Is he the one behind the attacks? Did he shoot his own man?”

  “I’ll text Alex our concern and double-check that they keep Agent Porter from going to the hospital,” Kaitlyn stated.

  “Thank you,” Nick said as they headed back inside.

  “I wonder what’s on the flash drive that is important enough to make these men willing to kill for it. And why does the FBI want it?” Kaitlyn mused.

  “Something illegal.” His gut twisted with certainty. Why would Lexi get involved in criminal activity? The woman he’d known three years ago had been sweet, hardworking and full of plans for her future. What had happened to her?

  “There was nothing at the crash site,” Kaitlyn said. “One of the goons said the flash drive would be with the baby, but we checked the car seat and diaper bag. Nothing.” She shrugged out of her coat. “We have to find that flash drive before anyone else gets hurt.”

  Nick couldn’t stay quiet any longer. It felt too much like lying. One thing he wouldn’t do to Kaitlyn. “I did find something in Rosie’s diaper bag.”

  Kaitlyn faced him, her eyebrows raised and her eyes sparking. “And you’re just now telling me this?”

  He met her gaze. “I didn’t think it was anything important. It’s just a trinket. A child’s necklace with rhinestones. Not worth anything.”

  “You let me be the judge of that.”

  Faced with her anger, he realized he should have told her the moment he’d found it. He was already aware she didn’t trust easily. And now the rocky ground he stood on could become an avalanche.

  Nick sighed with regret. “I’m sorry, Kait. I honestly didn’t think the piece of costume jewelry was worth mentioning.”

  Her lips pressed into a thin line. “Where is this necklace?”

  “I’ll show you.” He led the way upstairs. In the nursery, he went to the crib and unhooked the butterfly necklace from the mobile.

  He offered the trinket to Kaitlyn, who took it, frowning.

  “Okay
,” she said. “I can see why you wouldn’t think this to be anything worthwhile. It’s a child’s piece of cheap jewelry.”

  “That’s what I thought.” Nick put out his hand again. “May I?”

  Kaitlyn handed it back to him.

  He inspected the charm. On the back there was a faint but definite line. Could it be a hinge? His heart rate ticked up. He grasped both of the butterfly’s wings and bent it until it came apart. He held up the two pieces. One side was a small flash drive.

  “Not so worthless after all,” Kaitlyn murmured. “That is clever.”

  Nick handed it over for her to inspect.

  “Do you have a computer?” Kaitlyn asked.

  “I do. In here.” Nick opened the door to his bedroom and flipped on the light. He walked to the desk situated in the corner where his laptop sat. Kaitlyn followed him.

  Nick glanced at Kaitlyn. Her curious gaze bounced around the room. When she met his gaze, he was sure her cheeks were turning pink. He ignored the thrill of knowing that being in his inner sanctuary flustered her as he sat in the chair facing the computer. She handed him the flash drive. He plugged the tiny butterfly wing into the USB port. A window popped up but a password was to unlock the drive.

  “Any ideas?” she asked.

  “No. I don’t know Lexi well enough to make a guess what her password would be.”

  “Yet she came to you for help...” she mused. “Try Rosie’s name.”

  Nick typed it in. The window shimmied and the box turned red, indicating the wrong password.

  “Try Rosie’s birth date,” Kaitlyn directed.

  Confused, he looked up at Kaitlyn. “We don’t know Rosie’s birthday.”

  She patted his shoulder. “Yes, we do. It was on the birth certificate.”

  Shaking his head at his own folly, Nick said, “Of course. How could I forget?”

  He typed in the date he recalled from the fake birth certificate that claimed him as Rosie’s father. The date unlocked the drive, but the file that came up was encrypted. “I don’t have anything on my laptop that would be able to crack this code.”

  “I’m sure Hannah does,” Kaitlyn said. “The department’s forensic specialist and computer tech is our best option.”

  “Yes, I imagine she would be,” Nick agreed. He liked the redheaded woman, but he wasn’t attracted to her the way he was to Kaitlyn.

  “Can you click out of this?” Kaitlyn asked.

  Nick ejected the flash drive.

  Kaitlyn put the two pieces of the necklace back together. “I’ll hang on to this. I need to call Alex.”

  Afraid that whatever was on the flash drive would cause Lexi and Rosie more harm, Nick said, “We can’t give it to the FBI agent until we know what’s on it.”

  “If he’s legit, we have to tell him about this,” Kaitlyn said.

  Nick smiled grimly to himself. Always the rule follower. That was his Kaitlyn.

  His pulse jumped. When did he start thinking of her as his? Ridiculous. But for now she was under his protection as long as she was under his roof. A position he’d never expected or realized he wanted. And even though, technically, she was here to protect him and Rosie, he wanted to keep Kaitlyn safe. So, in essence, they were protecting each other. However, he highly doubted Kaitlyn would think he could do anything to protect her. “Will Alex make sure that Agent Porter isn’t the one behind this?”

  Confidence firmed Kaitlyn’s jaw. “I know Alex will check the guy out. Even if he has to rattle every cage possible.”

  “Good.”

  She stepped out of the room to make the call. Nick checked on Rosie. The baby had fallen back to sleep. Being awoken by all the chaos of alarms and gunfire couldn’t have been good for her. Nick wished he could foresee other potential hazards but, unfortunately, he couldn’t. He lifted a prayer that God would continue to protect them.

  After securing the blanket around Rosie, Nick left the nursery and joined Kaitlyn in the hallway.

  “I left a message for Alex to call me back,” she said.

  Carrying the baby monitor with him, Nick said, “All this drama has left me feeling quite famished.”

  Kaitlyn shook her head with humor sparking in her eyes. “You’re such a guy.”

  “Glad you noticed,” he quipped with a grin. If only she thought of him as a man she could see herself spending time with that didn’t include flying bullets.

  Her phone rang as they descended the staircase. “Hey, Chase.” She listened, then said, “That’s good to know. Thank you for telling me. Is Alex around? Oh, okay. I left him a message.”

  After hanging up, she said to Nick, “They found Trevor Howard. He’d been left bound and gagged on the side of the road leading to the estate. According to Trevor, two men jumped him as he left the tree farm and held him at gunpoint until they got to a remote spot on the side of the road leading here. He managed to roll out from behind the bushes where the two thugs had stashed him. Chase said he’s unharmed but shaken.”

  Nick let out a relieved breath. “Praise God.”

  With a nod of agreement, she continued, “Trevor had seen the two men around town the past few days, but he wasn’t exactly sure how they knew about him delivering the tree.”

  “Someone must have heard him talking to you,” Nick said.

  “Or Trevor could have mentioned it to someone and that someone mentioned it to someone else and so on. One of the many pitfalls of a small community,” Kaitlyn said. “News of any kind spreads like wildfire.”

  Worry churned in his gut. “Do you think people are discussing you being here?” He wouldn’t want her reputation tarnished on his account.

  She rolled her eyes. “I’m doing my job. If anyone thinks differently, that’s their problem.”

  He knew firsthand how public perception and reality could differ, as well as the damage the divide between the two could cause. He hoped Kaitlyn wouldn’t suffer any backlash because of him. The last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt this woman who’d become so important to him. Important enough that he needed to find a way to release her from this duty.

  Tomorrow he’d talk to the sheriff about having someone else assigned to Rosie’s protection until the Trent Associates people could arrive. It would be the right thing to do.

  And the hardest.

  Of course, once they discovered the contents of the flash drive, there wouldn’t be a need for protection. Or spending time with Kaitlyn.

  The thought was depressing.

  EIGHT

  Later that night, too restless to sleep, Kaitlyn found Nick in the dining room with the unboxed Christmas decorations.

  “Need help?” she asked.

  “I’d love some help,” he said. “I was going stir-crazy in my room.”

  Nodding in understanding, she opened a box. They laid out the ornaments on a thick blanket Nick had spread over the large dining room table in anticipation of the Christmas tree that would eventually be delivered and set up in front of the large windows at her back.

  She was amazed at the collection of ornaments. Many were pieces of artwork that shouldn’t be hung on a tree but rather displayed in a museum. She unwrapped a beautiful, hollowed-out eggshell hand-painted with a forest motif and with a hole carved out of the middle. Inside, a tiny wooden deer figurine stood beside her fawn.

  She held it up and marveled. “This is incredible.”

  Nick glanced at the ornament dangling from the red ribbon. “I believe that came from a trip my parents took to Prague. My mother loved to collect decorations from their travels.”

  Laying the delicate piece on the table, she said, “It’s a nice tradition.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” Nick said as he laid down a wooden crab with State of Maine written across it.

  The trill of Kaitlyn’s cell phone, muted by her jeans pocket, had he
r scrambling to answer. The caller ID said it was the sheriff’s department. This would be a good time to tell Alex about finding the flash drive hidden in the butterfly necklace.

  “Alex, I’m glad you called. There’s some—”

  “Kaitlyn, I have sad news about Lexi,” he said, cutting her off.

  Her breath stalled in her lungs. “I’m here with Nick and putting you on speakerphone.”

  “Nick, I’m sorry to say that Lexi Eng succumbed to her injuries and passed away a half hour ago. We’ve officially ruled her death a homicide.”

  Sorrow speared Kaitlyn for a life cut short too soon. Poor Rosie was now without a mother. It was even more imperative that Kaitlyn find the baby’s father.

  Nick wobbled as if his legs could no longer keep him upright. The color had drained from his face. Kaitlyn grasped his elbow. “You should sit and put your head between your knees.”

  He shrugged off her hand. “I’m fine.” He moved to stand in front of the windows overlooking the valley below.

  Kaitlyn ached with empathy for him. He cared for Lexi, and now his friend was dead.

  Keeping a hand on Nick’s shoulder, Kaitlyn spoke into the phone. “What did you learn about Agent Porter? Did he visit Lexi? Could he have...?” Her stomach knotted. Was the agent behind Lexi’s accident and death?

  “Porter did not see Lexi,” Alex stated firmly. “I’ve had hospital security, as well as a deputy, standing guard at her door. The doctor said they couldn’t stop the internal bleeding.”

  Kaitlyn prayed Lexi hadn’t been in pain.

  “I rattled cages on the state level,” Alex continued. “Both the governor and the seated senator of Colorado are putting out feelers to learn what they can on Porter and the case he’s working. Hopefully, I’ll know more tomorrow.”

  “I have news, as well,” she said. “Nick re-searched Rosie’s diaper bag and found a pendant that is actually a USB flash drive.”

  “That is big news. What’s on it?”

  “The file is encrypted,” she told him. “I know Hannah could decipher the encryption. Now that we have the flash drive, Rosie and Nick should be out of danger, don’t you think?”