Protective Measures

by Maggie K. Black

  His hand slipped from her shoulder. He pulled the paper out of the envelope and scanned the page. Then, as she watched, the color drained from his face. His eyes closed.

  “What’s wrong? Leo, talk to me?”

  “This isn’t about military secrets or smuggling. This is something far worse.” He opened his eyes, and it was as if someone had emptied them of their light. He raised the cuff link microphone to his mouth, and she realized his hand was shaking. “Alex, I need to talk to Zoe about something and it needs to be private. Can you do me a favor and find us a private location?”

  “No problem,” Alex said.

  “Thank you,” Leo said. He took her hand and held it like she was the only thing keeping him from falling. “I hate to ask this, but I’m going to need to ask you to cut audio feed, too. I need to talk to Zoe alone.”

  ELEVEN

  Zoe’s heart ached as she watched the color drain from Leo’s face. Lord, what could Killian possibly have to extort anyone with to make him so upset?

  “There’s a rose garden down the hallway to your left,” Alex said. “Good lines of sight but very private. I haven’t seen Jason or any other Anemoi operatives since the stairwell, but I’ll keep scanning.”

  “Thank you.” Leo led her down a hallway and through a pair of double doors. They stepped back out into the muggy night. The sound of the Ottawa river roared in the distance. Leo led her through a maze of towering rosebushes over to a bench by the fountain. They sat.

  “Okay, guys,” Alex said. “I’m cutting the audio. But I’m going to turn it back on if anyone approaches you or if either of you wave at the camera. And I’m maintaining visual.”

  The hiss in her ear went silent. Leo turned to her on the bench. He took both of her hands in his.

  “First of all, I’m sorry,” he said. “I had no idea Killian was such a creep. I’ve been completely focused on my mission and when he said he had something to sell me, I just assumed they might possibly be connected. I was wrong. Killian is not our guy and this is not my intel. I never realized he’d seen us together and was out for revenge. If I had, I wouldn’t have put you in a position where there was even the possibility he could hurt you.”

  But if the envelope didn’t contain the intel then what had Leo so rattled?

  “It’s okay,” she said.

  “No, it’s not. I should’ve had your back.” His thumb stroked over her fingers, and then he let go of her hand, pulled out the paper and folded it carefully, so that just two blocks of text filled the screen. “Marisa was a very private person but she kept a diary on her computer. When she died, I erased her computer and donated it to a charity store. I knew she hadn’t been happy in our marriage. I knew she’d asked for separation and had considered divorce. I just wanted that sad chapter of my life to be over and didn’t want to read it. Apparently somebody got their hands on it and was able to retrieve a letter that Marisa had written to me. I can only guess that Killian was going to use it to blackmail me. But after seeing us together, he’s posted it online.”

  He handed her the paper. She read.

  “... I’m sorry you never got to meet Melody. She is the most caring and compassionate woman I’ve ever met and like a second mother to them. It is my dying wish that the girls go live with her, and for Melody to have custody of them.

  “I don’t know how to say this, Leo, but I’m sorry, you are not the girls’ father. I’m sorry I didn’t have the courage to tell you this when I was alive. I had a relationship with another man who did not want to marry me when I told him about Ivy or to acknowledge Eve when she was conceived. I was wrong to use you this way. I was a coward to marry you, knowing that I did not love you. You weren’t a good husband and you were a bad father. I wish I’d never involved you in our lives.

  “Whether she realizes it or not, Melody knows the identity of the girls’ real father and how to contact him. Hopefully he will change his mind about being in their lives. I know that she will do everything in her power to find him and to be a good mother to them. You promised me that you wouldn’t have another romantic relationship until the girls were grown. I asked you that because I wanted to protect them, so that you couldn’t make the same mistake I did. Now I think it is best if you relinquish custody of the girls and let them go on with their lives without you.”

  The letter continued onto the next page, but Zoe didn’t need to read it. She’d read enough.

  “Before you ask,” Leo said, “there are other parts of this letter that contain information only Marisa could’ve known. I have no doubt that she wrote those parts and that they were saved on her laptop. Melody is a friend of Marisa’s. We talked on the phone last night about arranging a playdate with her sons. But I don’t know what to think about the rest of this. I just don’t. I knew Marisa wasn’t happy...”

  His voice trailed off. She reached for his hands again and pried the paper from his grasp as she linked her fingers through his.

  “Leo, look at me, please,” she said softly. His eyes met hers. The depth of worry etched there made pain fill her own chest so sharply that tears slipped from her eyes and slid down her cheeks, as if her heart was breaking for his.

  “Other parts of the letter might be true, but not this,” she said. “Not this. You are an amazing father to those girls. They love you. They need you. The idea they’d be better off without you is nothing but a cruel lie.”

  “But what if it’s true that I’m not really their father?” he asked. Emotion rumbled in his voice, like the ground before an earthquake. His fingers brushed her cheeks and her tears fell into his palms.

  “Did Marisa ever give you reason to doubt her?” she asked.

  “No, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible. Whether this letter is a lie or not, I can’t ignore it. I can’t just stare straight ahead, go on with my life and pretend it’s not out there. Not with the damage it could do to my girls.” He leaned forward until his forehead rested against hers.

  It was hopeless. Killian was headed back to the United Kingdom within hours. Leo imagined he was too smart to leave online proof that he’d posted the letter himself. Even if police questioned Killian about how he’d gotten ahold of Marisa’s letter and who’d sent him the aerial drone photos, they wouldn’t be able to hold him indefinitely and there was nothing to stop him from skipping the country. Even if there was, the damage was done, the letter was out there, the story would be spread, questions would be asked and those little girls’ lives would be irrevocably changed by it.

  He’d tried so hard to protect them. Finally something had struck he couldn’t protect them from.

  “No matter what happens next, the girls know you love them,” she said. “They know you’re going to be there for them. They know you will protect them and that they were so blessed to be loved by you.”

  Her eyes closed as her words failed. He held her there for a long moment. Then she felt his mouth brush against her cheeks, kissing the tears from her skin. She tilted her face up toward him. His lips met hers. He kissed her, allowing their lips to meet for one sweet and tender moment. Then he pulled her into his arms and he hugged her.

  “Thank you,” he said. “Thank you for being here. Thank you for everything. I have to leave. I promised the girls that I’d be there in the morning and now it’s even more important that I’m there. Thankfully we’ll be cut off from the world for a few days at the cottage, which will give me time to think, pray and get advice on how to handle this. I failed in my mission. The gala will be wrapping up any moment now, if it hasn’t already. I never met the informant and got the data, and with the delegates heading home tomorrow it looks like I never will. All I know is that I need to go be with my daughters. Protecting them is the only thing that matters now.”

  “I understand,” she said.

  He stood slowly. But his eyes still hadn’t left her face,
and it was like for the first time she was looking through his protective shield to the man who lay inside. “I can’t have any outside distractions right now. Not with the mess that the tabloids are going to stir up in my life. Any outside relationships I have are just going to get caught up in that.”

  A clock started to ring, the long, deep gongs sounding from somewhere inside the hotel. She stood up slowly and ran her hands down over her party dress. The weeklong symposium was over. The mission was a failure. The glittering, golden fantasy of the life she could have had with an extraordinary man like Leo faded into the mist. Now it was time to sit with her brother in a diner and poke at a mound of fries, cheese curds and gravy with a little wooden notched stick that was masquerading as a fork.

  It was time to say goodbye. It was clear from the look in his eyes that he cared for her, and there was no way she was able to hide that she cared about him. The connection they’d both been trying to deny was now lying out there between them. Along with the knowledge there was nothing they could do about it.

  “Let’s go talk to Alex,” she said. “I think we can wrap up this mission pretty quickly and then you can go be with your girls. Josh will finalize things when you see him.”

  “Thank you,” Leo said. His hand reached out as if to touch her shoulder, but then he changed his mind and pulled it back. “Thank you, Zoe Dean. For everything.”

  She swallowed hard. “You’re welcome.”

  She reached for her ear, switched on her earpiece and raised the bracelet microphone to her lips. “Hey, Alex, we’re headed your way—”

  A cacophony of gunfire hit her ears. Fear washed over her body, sending adrenaline pumping through her veins.

  “Zoe! Help!” Her brother’s voice filled her ears. “I’m under attack!”

  * * *

  Leo ran for the door. Zoe was two steps ahead of him. He yanked a phone from his pocket, dialing 9-1-1 as he ran. Zoe burst through the door to the staircase, then paused, holding the door open as Leo ran down the hall toward her.

  “Go! Don’t wait for me!” he shouted. He waved at her with one hand and held the phone to his ear with the other. “I’m calling the police, and I’m right behind you. Go save your brother!”

  Gratitude filled her eyes. She turned and disappeared down the stairs, taking them two at a time.

  “Nine-one-one, emergency services,” said a male voice in his ear.

  “We need police and ambulance.” He forced his footsteps to slow long enough to get the words out clearly as he rattled off the location and address. “There’s gunfire in the third level of the underground parking garage.”

  “Emergency services have been dispatched to your location,” the dispatcher said. “Any injuries?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know how many people are involved, either. Just that my friend is under fire.” Judging by what he’d seen of the security guards, he didn’t think they’d be likely to leap into a firefight.

  “Please remain calm, sir, and get yourself to safety.”

  That was not going to happen. Zoe was already at the bottom of the staircase and heading into the parking garage.

  “Thank you. I’ve got to go.” He dropped his phone into his pocket and kept running down the stairs, vaulting over the final railing and letting his body drop onto the ground below. He reached the door, ten paces behind Zoe, and froze.

  Zoe stood, her limbs still quivering with exertion. Alex was down on the ground, pinned on his back, blood pouring from a gunshot wound in his shoulder. Prometheus kneeled over him, a gun in his hand.

  Prometheus pressed the barrel against Alex’s forehead, right between the eyes.

  “Stop right there!” Prometheus barked. “Now! Or I’m going to kill him.”

  Leo pressed his back against the door frame. He could hear a sob of fear mingling with prayer slipping from Zoe’s lips. His chest ached at the sound.

  “Get down on your knees, girlie, and put your hands way up where I can see them!” Prometheus ordered. The gun pressed deeper into Alex’s forehead. “How many more of you are there? Are you alone?”

  “Yes!” Zoe crouched. Her hands stretched up above her head. “It’s just me.”

  She hadn’t realized he’d arrived behind her. But more important, neither had Prometheus. The thug had no idea Leo was there, standing in the shelter of the doorway just a foot outside the garage. Emergency sirens echoed from somewhere in the distance. The police were almost there. For a moment it was like the world had frozen into a picture through the archway of the door. Up to this point he’d had no choice in what he’d done. There’d been no other options. His admiral had needed him to intercept the data. Zoe had needed him to leap from the float and rush her to safety.

  But now, a cold hard choice lay in front of him. It would take so little to retreat into safety, to walk away from this life of danger and chaos that put his daughters’ lives at risk. All he had to do was take one step backward, let the door close behind him and wait. The mission to retrieve the intel was a failure. His backup private security had been captured. His daughters’ lives had been plunged into turmoil. Zoe had opened up broken and injured parts of his heart and made them beat painfully, wanting things that couldn’t be. But he could still choose to close the door and retreat back into safety, like he’d retreated into quiet failure before.

  “Let Alex go,” Zoe called. She stood up again slowly and started toward Prometheus. “Take me instead!”

  “No!” Leo burst through the door. Prometheus’s eyes cut to his face, as he stepped forward into the parking garage behind Zoe. “Don’t hurt her. I’m the one you want.”

  Leo’s hands rose. He walked toward Zoe until he was standing just one step behind her. Her eyes were locked on where her brother, Alex, was down on the ground, bleeding and in pain. But as Leo watched, Alex tore his eyes away from the thug, who now pressed him against the ground, and instead he looked at his sister. Alex’s lips moved, but Leo couldn’t catch what he was saying. Prometheus’s eyes flickered from Zoe to Leo and then back to Alex. But still the gun didn’t move from Alex’s face.

  Zoe took another step forward. “Didn’t you hear me, Prometheus? That’s your handle, right? You’re with The Anemoi. I’ve been watching you from the beginning, stalking you, waiting to see what you wanted to steal. You tried to kidnap me at the parade yesterday. Well, now you can have me. Let my brother go.”

  “No, take me.” Leo’s voice rose. “I’m what this has all been about from the beginning, aren’t I?”

  “They don’t want to kill you, Leo.” Zoe shook her head. “They want to destroy you. They want to hurt you. Right, Prometheus? That’s what your client hired you for, right? Not to steal military secrets but to tear Leo’s life apart. If you really want to hurt him, you’ll take me.”

  “Zoe.” Leo’s voice dropped. “Please, I can’t let you do this.”

  “Trust me, Leo,” Zoe said softly, her voice barely a whisper. “I trust you.”

  Prometheus hesitated, his eyes darted from Zoe to Leo, then back to Alex. Then his eyes locked on Zoe’s face.

  “You! Girlie! Hands on your head.” Prometheus sat back. Zoe folded her hands and set them on top of her head. Prometheus gestured to her with the gun and waved it toward the looming shape of a car in the darkness. “You’re coming with me.”

  TWELVE

  Zoe watched as the barrel of the gun moved away from Alex’s face. A prayer brushed her lips, as she remembered the words Alex had mouthed to her, “Distract him.” Alex’s good arm shot up, grabbing Prometheus by the wrist and yanking the gun from his grasp. The weapon clattered into the darkness. Zoe ran for it. Prometheus swore. With one large hand he slammed Alex back against the concrete. The other one rose, ready to pound her injured brother. But he never got the opportunity.

  With a roar, Leo leaped, yanking
Prometheus off Alex before the blow could fall. The criminal swung back hard, pelting Leo with fast, furious punches. But it was all in vain. Leo stood between Prometheus and her brother, deflecting the blows with a precision and skill that amazed her. Prometheus fell back and then bent down. When he rose back up, a knife flashed in his hand.

  “Leo!” Zoe tossed him the gun. “Catch!”

  He caught it and spun toward the criminal.

  “Drop the knife and get down!” Leo ordered. “Stay down. It’s over.”

  Police sirens filled the air. Flashing lights and headlights of emergency services poured into the parking garage. Zoe dropped to her knees beside her brother, still curled on the ground. “Alex!”

  “Hey, sis.” He looked up at her and grinned through gritted teeth. “Nice timing. Great distraction. But I think I’m going to need a rain check on that poutine.”

  There was a grunt in the darkness. Prometheus wriggled backward across the pavement and turned to run, in one final, desperate attempt to escape capture. Leo grabbed him from behind and yanked him back. Alex and Zoe watched as Leo subdued The Anemoi operative in a simple but effective hold and marched him over to police.

  “That was some really impressive teamwork back there,” Alex said. “I know we already have one ex-military member of our team. But if Leo’s ever looking for a change of career, I’m sure Josh would love having a second.”

  “Leo’s mission is over,” she said. “The informant never approached him. The whole thing is a bust.”

  Alex’s face went even paler. “I’m sorry.”

  “Me, too.” Zoe stood back and let the paramedics see to her brother, while she went and gave her statement to police. By the time she was finished, Alex was sitting on a stretcher in the back of the ambulance and talking with Leo. At some point in the chaos, the commander had changed out of his dress uniform and into a simple T-shirt and jeans. As she walked over to join them, Leo left the ambulance and walked toward her.