by Kyanna Skye
***
Amira wasn’t happy about this development—this young American stranger that was suddenly running things. She had given into Hamid’s argument that she should have someone who was more familiar with the States once they got there. He didn’t argue that her team simply needed new blood, though it was the obvious and most pointed argument he could have made. Many of them had been with her for years and were more like cousins to her than strangers with a job to do. Her father had picked them out years ago. Though she would never admit it, she believed Hamid was right.
She went to one of the bedrooms upstairs and changed clothes. When she came back, the room was charged. Some kind of unpleasant exchange had taken place between the men. Jesse was standing with hands on hips, chin lifted in defiance. Charlie stood a few feet away from him, hands curled into fists. Hamid was halfway between the two, hands raised. It looked like the younger men were about to fight. Hamid whispered something to Jesse and he turned around and looked at Amira. She was standing near the edge of the stairway.
“Princess Amira,” Jesse said. “Please come with me.”
Neither of them spoke again until they were outside. There was a car she hadn’t seen before waiting for them out front. “I thought we were taking some of my guards,” she said as he ushered her into the four-door coupe.
“Change in plans,” he said. “I received some information from my partners that change things.”
“Hamid agreed to this?”
“Princess,” Jesse said coolly. “Hamid agreed to it, but we don’t have time to stand here while I explain.”
“Alright,” she snapped.
She slid into the car—which had cloth seats. She fidgeted. Amira had never been inside a vehicle which wasn’t luxury before. She’d only traveled in cars with leather seats. Jesse slipped into the driver’s side and she wondered if he was comfortable as he appeared. He started the ignition and turned on the air. At least that was the same. She noticed how the air conditioning spread the scent of his cologne through the tight space. It was light and reminded her of the sea, but with some amber note beneath. He smelled as good as he looked.
“Where are we going?” Amira asked.
“A safe house which Edgewater owns.”
“What happened to that man that tried to shoot me? Was he arrested? Was anyone in the ballroom hurt?”
“Pretty shaken, but no serious injuries,” Jesse said. “Except for the shooter.”
“You beat him up?” Amira asked. She’d seen him land at least one punch to the shooter’s jaw before she was whisked out by her guards.
“I had to do something to restrain him.”
“Well… I guess, thank you,” Amira replied. “I’d like to have gotten my own hands on him, really.”
They turned onto a small road which leads them away from the house, and soon Jesse turned the car to the right and onto the main road.
“Since we’re on the subject, if I am going to protect you, I want you to promise me something,” he said.
“Very few people ever ask me to make a promise,” Amira said with a grin. “What do you want?”
“As long as I am going to be protecting you, can you not actually go after anyone? I understand you know how to defend yourself, but unless things go from bad to worse, I would appreciate you not using your boxing prowess on anyone.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re untested in battle conditions,” he said. “There’s a big difference in meeting your opponent in a ring, or in an exercise class than there is when someone is actually trying to attack you. I may need you out of my way in order to get a clear shot.”
“Oh, you’re asking me to let you earn your keep?” she said.
“You could say that.”
“I won’t stand in the way of you making your living,” Amira stared ahead at the traffic passing them on the road. “I do want you to understand something though. I’m sure all these men will make it seem you’re working for them: Hamid, my father, hell, even my brother will probably be on the phone with you once he hears about all of this. But you’re working for me. Is that clear?”
“Absolutely,” he said. “I just had to remind a couple of people of that a few minutes ago.”
Chapter Two
Kiefer Lawrence waited in the police station with a cup of coffee and a smirk on his face. He stood in a corridor, watching a suspect being booked. A detective named McConnell joined him.
“Good to see you, man,” McConnell said. “One of these days, I’d like a more detailed explanation of how you and your team are always around when stuff goes down.”
“This time, my partner Jesse was there to talk to a possible client. When this brain trust here tries to shoot her. Of course, he took care of the situation.”
“Which we will need to question him about, eventually,” McConnell said. “I’d take your statement but since you weren’t there, can’t do it.”
“He’s taken the Princess off to a secure location. I’d love to share but can’t.”
“I’m sure. Just saying, I will need that for my paperwork.”
“Of course, I will provide him to you as soon as it’s feasible.”
“Uh huh,” McConnell said. “I’d like to know what’s up with this guy.”
“You don’t already know?” Kiefer feigned surprise.
“You do see we’re only getting him booked now?”
“Like that’s ever stopped you,” Kiefer said. “You usually have these guys eight hours before they get to roll their fingers in ink.”
“Well when we’re dealing with a-would-be-assassin of a foreign leader, we do things by the book. He started asking for his lawyer the minute he got here, so it’s not like we could do much with him anyway. I really want to know why he tried to pick her out in the open. If Jesse hadn’t been there he might have succeeded. But it’s very unlikely he would have made it out of that hotel. Cameras are everywhere. We’re getting the footage pulled now.”
“Maybe he wasn’t concerned with making it out,” Kiefer thought aloud. “Somehow it wouldn’t surprise me.”
“Yep. People go crazier every day,” McConnell said. “You really can buy everything now. Including someone willing to commit suicide by cop, hoping to meet his rewards on the other side. Or suicide by a soldier in the case of you Edgewater men,” he said with a smile.
Kiefer and McConnell had been grudging friends for years. They had met back when the two were in college before their lives took different yet similar paths: McConnell’s into the police academy and Kiefer into a black ops contingent of United States Special Forces. They met again by accident after Kiefer completed his career in ops; at that time, McConnell had just made detective. Now he was well vetted and respected on the job. Whenever he needed police assistance with a case or needed information off the record, he went to his old college friend. He was the only person who knew Kiefer from before his time in black ops, and knew the identity he was born with and not the one given to him by the government once he retired.
Kiefer’s comrades in black ops: Jesse Barrington, Alec Moore, and David Hart became his partners in The Edgewater Agency. The name of their company was an inside joke between them. Edgewater was a secret code word for activation of their last mission.
While black ops had made them rich, it caused its share of problems for the men, too. It was hard to forget the things which they had seen, violence which would forever change anyone. None of the men had come home unscathed, but remain involved in each other’s lives had helped with the healing process. By creating the agency, they were still able to use their expertise in constructive ways. They advertised as a firm specializing in private investigation and high-profile security work, but Edgewater provided much more.
“It’s not this guy so much that I’m worried about,” Kiefer said. “It’s whoever is behind him.”
***
“Whose house is this?” Amira asked as they stepped across the threshold and into the home.
Je
sse smiled. She had a doubtful look on her face. It obviously wasn’t her style. It was a humble ranch house in the desert, nearly a hundred miles out of Los Angeles. The home was sparsely decorated, most likely because the owner wasn’t staying there, but the living room was still welcoming: two leather sofas, a reclining chair, and a huge fireplace which spanned most of one wall.
“It’s my colleague, Alec’s house,” Jesse replied. “He only comes out here every so often, but it’s got all the built-in security we’ll need. There’s three bedrooms, a fully stocked kitchen,” he said. “There’s a den with books and a desk in the back,” he said. Jesse closed the door, locked it, and keyed a code into the panel on the opposite wall.
“Wi-Fi?” Amira asked.
“What on earth would you need that for?” Jesse said.
“To get in touch with my family and friends….”
“Amira, I’m sorry. We’re trying to keep a low profile here. That means no phone calls, texts or emails. At least not for a while.”
“Are you telling me you don’t have a phone?”
“I’m telling you that my phone is encrypted,” he replied coolly. “I have your phone, and the battery has been taken out so it can’t be tracked. I know you probably think this is really heavy handed, but we have to take things really seriously now. Someone has made an attempt on your life. Just because they failed doesn’t mean they are giving up. We have to assume there are other people out there willing to pick up where this guy left off.”
Amira rubbed her temple. “Tell me something. You were going to bring my security with you, and in the time it took me to go upstairs and come back down you’d changed your mind. What happened?”
Jesse took a step away from her. “You may want to have a seat,” he said, walking into the living room. He took a seat on one of the leather couches and she took a seat on the matching one opposite from him.
“There’s a possibility... Nothing confirmed, mind you. But I spoke with one of my colleagues and he told me he believes there is a chance that this was an inside job.”
“One of Hamid’s men? No, that can’t be possible!” Amira snapped.
“It could be that someone accidentally gave out some information,” Jesse continued. “I’m not pointing fingers at anyone but it is a possibility which we have to consider. I would rather be wrong about that than be too trusting and somehow compromise your safety. For now, we’re without your security team. If things change and we get them ruled out as a source of any information leak, intentional or otherwise, then we can have them called back.”
“My father will be livid,” Amira got up and began to pace the room.
“His daughter will be safe. I’m sure that will matter to him more than some temporary discomfort.”
“Spoken like someone who really does not know him,” she said with a wry smile. “I’m afraid he doesn’t think that far ahead. He’ll be irritated. He doesn’t understand the concept of people saying ‘no’ to him.”
“Well, this is going to be a great exercise for him then.”
Amira sat back down. She held her arms as if she had a chill, though the room was perfectly warm. “How long will we be here?” she asked.
“I honestly don’t know yet. For now, we should take it a little at a time. We know we’ll be here at least today and probably tonight. We probably shouldn’t think too far ahead of that,” he handed her the duffel bag which one of her guards had used to gather her belongings from the hotel room. “You’ll probably like the bedroom to the left of the kitchen; it’s the master suite. I will be in the den,” he told her. Go ahead and get settled in.”
***
Jesse was glad that Amira didn’t give him any problem about getting settled into her room. He went to Alec’s study and powered up his laptop. He logged onto Skype. David, Edgewater’s resident computer hacker and technology consultant picked up on the third ring.
“Man,” David said brightly. “You are the talk of the town.”
“Really?”
“Of course,” David chuckled. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen the news on television yet? They’ve got you on camera taking down that guy. My favorite part was when you broke his nose.”
“Ah hell,” he sighed. “Did they get my face on camera?”
“No,” David said. “I saw to that.”
“You manipulated the film? How…” Jesse asked.
“Love you bro, but still not giving up the trade secrets,” he replied, running a hand over his shaved head. “I do suppose the Princess is not within earshot?”
“She’s not. Speak freely.”
“Okay. Well here’s the latest. Right now, Kiefer is down at the police station trying to see if the shooter will spill any information. I’m expecting he’ll be back to the office soon though because the guy has lawyered up and is refusing to talk. He talked to his police connections and they have the feeling this guy is one of a group. They’re trying to find out if this guy has a jacket with Homeland Security or Interpol and there is nothing yet.”
“Why do I have the bad feeling there’s more?” Jesse asked.
“Because in our experience there usually is,” David replied. “As you can imagine, Amira’s security team is pretty pissed. The King has been made aware. Alec is working on calming the situation down.”
Jesse cussed under his breath. “Well, she warned me that her dad wouldn’t take it well.”
“Don’t worry, Alec will keep him under control. The old man doesn’t like it but he knows it’s for his kid’s safety.”
“Anything else I need to know?”
“Other than we’re having pizza without you tonight?”
Jesse laughed. “Yeah, other than that.”
“Nothing really. Just be careful. Report in before tomorrow morning, as usual.”
***
Amira took her shoes off and climbed onto the bed.
She was rather used to hotel rooms, but always found it strange whenever she was in a stranger’s house. But if she was going to be in this place for at least the day, she might as well make herself comfortable. She hadn’t had a chance to sit alone and just think since the shooting. Someone had been with her every moment since. Putting her head in her hands she sat for a moment and just breathed, closing her eyes. She tried to calm herself. After a time her hands stopped shaking, and she was able to stop the trembling in her spine. Mind over matter, her father always told her. You can do anything daughter, if only you have control over your mind first.
She thought of her parents and wondered what they must think about the absolute mess she had gotten herself into.
She got up and opened her duffel bag which she had put on the foot of her bed. The guard who packed it for her had simply grabbed everything he could and shoved it in together. Not like there had been any time to be discriminating about it. There were a few items which had already been in the bag; her makeup bag, a see-through case filled with toiletries, a bottle of water and a bag of trail mix. Clothes were on top of those, along with a pair of flats and an extra pair of sneakers.
Amira let her hands trace the bottom of the bag until her fingers closed upon what she was looking for: cool, thin metal and plastic. She smiled. The tablet was exactly as she left it, and thankfully, the screen hadn’t been cracked. This one was new. She had only used it once or twice and hadn’t bought a protective holder for it. Whenever she had anything electronic: a tablet, a laptop, even a watch, they had a very short shelf life. If she wasn’t somehow accidentally shorting things out, she had a bad habit of dropping things or losing them.
The tablet powered up nicely. Despite what Jesse had said, she didn’t believe that anyone could have a way to track this piece of equipment, especially since she rarely used it. She typed in a name and waited for a response. The ping was almost immediate as if the person on the other end were waiting for her to get online.
I was hoping you would get in touch. We’ve been beside ourselves, darling.
Mom, Amira wrote
back. Please just tell Dad I’m fine. A little shaken but unharmed. Are you okay? I was worried about how you took the news.
Much better now, the Queen typed in reply. Your father has already talked to the people watching over you. Did you want to speak with him?
Not right now, Amira replied. Let him know that I reached you and wanted you both to know I love you.
Alright. Be safe. Get back in touch with us when you can.
Sighing, Amira turned to one other contact on her list. Don’t you think this is going too far? Someone could have been hurt, she typed.
It was a few moments before she got a reply.
You think I’m not serious? The next time you will get hurt. That I can promise you.
A knock at the door made her jump. “Amira?”
“Yes, one moment,” she said and grabbed the tablet. She shoved it into the bag and kicked the duffel under the bed. A moment later, she opened the door for Jesse. “Yes?” she asked.
“It may seem like a strange thing to ask,” he said. “But are you hungry?”
***
A few minutes later, Amira was sitting on a stool in the kitchen, watching Jesse as he moved across the kitchen, deftly picking ingredients for their meal.
“You’ve stayed here before?” Amira asked.
He smiled. “Often. I come up here with Alec and David every now and again. I like to cook, almost as much as I like to eat,” he said. “So I made myself familiar.”
“I wish I knew how to cook,” she admitted. “It’s not something I’ve had to do very much of. Maybe I’ll learn one day.”
Jesse took out a chopping board and cut up some green onions. He was so fast at it that the blade looked like a streak of lightning in his hands. He cut up red bell pepper, and shredded cheese just as quickly. Watching him cook gave her an excuse to stare. He’d changed into jeans and a gray t-shirt. He had the perfect masculine body; muscled arms and chest, thick thighs, tiny waist. She even caught a glance at his hard, round ass. But what she really liked was his pale blue eyes, the thoughtful look in them, and his gold brown skin. How could she not admire a man who was such perfection?