Known Threat

by Kara A. McLeod

  “Yeah, you could be dead,” Rory muttered. Clearly, my sister hadn’t yet worked through all her issues surrounding what’d happened. She and I should probably talk about that at some point, but this was neither the time nor the place.

  “Ryan!” Meaghan shouted behind me. When I pivoted to face her, she was weaving in and out of the horde of runners and appeared out of breath. “There you are. Listen, Shannon’s son was in a car accident late last night—”

  A veritable chorus of exclamations on the theme of, “Oh, my God! Is he okay?” interrupted her.

  Meaghan appeared simultaneously worried and lost. “I don’t know. He was in surgery when she called me to let me know she had to go. She promised to hit me up as soon as she heard anything.”

  “That’s awful,” I said, wishing I could do something for Shannon and her family.

  “I know,” Meaghan said. “It is terrible. And it also leaves us a man down for the run today. Without Shannon, we don’t have a full team.”

  “Oh.” I considered that fact. “I wonder where we can find a replacement on such short notice.”

  Allison shrugged. “I’ll run with you guys.”

  I stared at her, puzzled. I was curious to see how she planned to get away with running for the PPD team and our team at the same time. I opened my mouth to ask her but didn’t even get a word in before the man who’d been lurking around the edges of our group interjected.

  “No,” he barked, his voice harsh and authoritative.

  It was my turn to blink, taken aback. I couldn’t pinpoint what had me immediately bristling and ready for a fight. It might’ve been his tone or the rigidity of his posture. Or maybe it was his expression as he eyed Allison. I wasn’t sure, but he’d rubbed me the wrong way right off the bat.

  “Excuse me?” He couldn’t possibly have been talking to us.

  He sneered at me, his derision plain. “Stay out of this,” he ordered me before refocusing on Allison. “Absolutely not.”

  “I’m sorry.” I was both baffled by and annoyed that this unknown man had inserted himself into our private conversation. “Have we met?”

  “Beau,” Allison said softly, her tone thick with warning.

  At the sound of the name, his identity clicked. This was Allison’s boss, Beau Byers, the one who’d been giving her such a hard time lately. Well, that certainly explained why I’d instantly disliked him.

  Byers ignored my question. Instead, he ran his eyes slowly down my body and back up again. The inspection made my skin crawl, and I had to fight not to snarl at him to keep his fucking leers to himself. However, I was more pissed that he’d been making my girlfriend miserable for months.

  Byers’s attentions finally wandered up to the top of my head, and he took in my hat. For some inexplicable reason, he faltered, and then his eyes darted over to Allison’s hat. When he noticed the logo on her ball cap, his expression became stony.

  “You’re not running for their team.” Byers’s voice was a low growl. “It’s out of the question.”

  “I was unaware you had the authority to decide that for me,” Allison replied, her words laced with disdain. “Oh, wait. That’s right. You don’t.” She glared at him.

  “Allison,” I murmured so only she could hear me, gripping her wrist lightly. I didn’t disagree with either her take on the subject or the fact that this guy clearly deserved to be reminded of his place in her life—or lack thereof—but I wasn’t positive that getting into a pointless argument with him in front of all these people wouldn’t adversely affect her career somewhere down the line. This wasn’t worth it.

  Allison turned the full force of her glare on me. “No. He doesn’t get to make that call. If I want to run with you guys, I will.”

  “But won’t the PPD team be down a man then?” I asked.

  Allison shook her head. “No. I was never on the roster because I wasn’t supposed to be back until tomorrow. I’m not actually running at all.”

  “Then why are you here? For that matter, why are you back so early? I forgot to ask you before.”

  “Because I wanted to see you, smart-ass.” The smile she favored me with and her affectionate tone took any sting out of those words. “Are you complaining?”

  I grinned back and brushed my thumb over the skin of her arm where I was still holding it. “Nope. Definitely not.”

  “Well, then, stop asking so many questions.”

  “Your wish is my command.”

  “Awww,” Jamie gushed. “You guys are so sickeningly adorable it makes me want to vomit.” She made several dramatic retching sounds, and I stuck my tongue out.

  “You’re on PPD,” Byers stated loudly enough to draw our attention back to him, as well as capture the interest of several bystanders, who looked at him, then at us, then at each other uncomfortably. “So you can’t run for the NYFO team.”

  “I used to be in NYFO,” Allison snapped back. “And I’m going back there as soon as my time on the detail is up.”

  “You are?” I couldn’t help but interrupt. We hadn’t discussed any of our future plans. It’d seemed way too soon. But hearing that she’d obviously thought about it, that she wanted to come back, made me giddy. I beamed.

  Allison shot me a fondly exasperated glance that told me she thought I was an idiot for even asking, and I grinned wider. She shook her head and went back to glaring at Byers.

  “I’m a former New Yorker,” Allison pointed out again. “I don’t see why I can’t run for the NYFO team if they need me.”

  “It doesn’t matter that you’re a former New Yorker.” Byers’s countenance had darkened considerably since the start of this conversation. “You can only run for them if none of the other teams objects. And one does.”

  “Why?” Allison demanded. “This is a charity run. What difference does it make who I run for?”

  “I said no!”

  “Jesus fucking Christ.” Allison shot him one last furious glare before she stomped off.

  “Allison,” I called after her. I shot Byers a vengeful look of my own, barely besting the urge to punch him in the face, before starting after her. Meaghan’s hand on my arm stopped my getaway.

  “That still doesn’t solve our problem,” Meaghan said. She appeared to be truly sorry that she couldn’t allow me to go after Allison just yet.

  “I know it doesn’t. I just don’t have any other solution. Not if someone is going to stop Allison from running.” I favored Byers with another pointed glance, making my voice loud enough so the bystanders could hear me as well. “I can’t think of another option. Everyone here is already on a team.”

  “Well, since we don’t have a viable replacement, one of us will have to run two legs if we still want to compete.” Meaghan was peering at me intently.

  “Ah,” I said. “I see where this is going.”

  Meaghan’s expression was an interesting mix of apologetic and sympathetic. “You’re the only one with any hope of being able to run that far in a competitive time.”

  I sighed heavily and glanced away, only to meet the concerned eyes of Joanna and Jamie. Was I up to six miles today? I hadn’t done more than four since “the incident” but once and had cursed whoever had invented any pace faster than a meander the entire time, even though I’d run both extra miles as slowly and leisurely as possible.

  I was just about to express my reservations and apologize to the team when I caught sight of Byers’s smug face. He was definitely gloating, and seeing his beady little eyes glimmering with satisfaction made my blood boil.

  “Fine.” I stared directly at him as I assented. “I’ll do it.”

  “Ryan?” Rory said softly. I didn’t look at her, but she was clearly worried.

  Byers’s expression morphed from one of self-righteous jubilation to shock to disbelief in the space of about three seconds. “You can’t be serious.”

  “Oh, I’m always serious.”

  “No, you’re not.” Jamie laughed as though the very idea were uproariously
funny.

  I rounded on her and gave her a warning glance. “Well, I am about this.”

  “You really think you can run six miles?” Byers asked incredulously. “In a time fast enough to be competitive? You’re crazy.” He let out a grating laugh that set my teeth on edge.

  “Absolutely.”

  The crowd around us had gradually started taking more interest in our little showdown until a circle of people surrounded us, all watching the exchange with a sort of sick fascination. It reminded me of a schoolyard brawl. I wouldn’t have been surprised if people had started chanting, “Fight, fight, fight.”

  Byers seemed to notice our audience about the same time, and he stood up straighter and puffed his chest out. He clearly thought he had something to prove to someone, though I couldn’t imagine it was me.

  “Care to wager?” The words were a definite taunt.

  I rested my hands on my hips. “This is a charity run. Doesn’t adding a side bet seem rather gauche?”

  “Gauche?”

  “Yeah. Do you need me to define it? It means tacky, uncouth, tasteless. I’m surprised you’re not more familiar with the term.”

  I heard an “Ooooh” and a faint chuckle from different parts of the crowd. Byers’s jaw clenched, and his left eye twitched. He took a step closer and stared down at me. If his proximity coupled with our height differences was supposed to intimidate me, he was about to be disappointed.

  Prolonging this altercation was a spectacularly terrible idea. Beau Byers wasn’t just a boss; he was Allison’s boss. The consequences for insulting him the way I just had could be nearly catastrophic for her, to say nothing of what could happen to either of us if I did something even worse. Like kick him in the balls. But something inside me wouldn’t let me walk away anymore. This man was an absolute douche bag, in a way the definition of the term doesn’t quite prepare you for. I wanted so badly to humiliate him at this point I could almost taste it.

  Byers took a deep breath. He was clearly attempting to save face and appear unaffected by my careless quip, but I could tell he was fuming. “What’s the matter? Afraid to put your money where your mouth is?”

  I grinned at him. “Not at all. What’d you have in mind?”

  “Five thousand. And I’ll even make it sporting. Your team doesn’t have to win, but the combined time for both your legs does have to be faster than our two fastest girls’ times put together.”

  The bystanders gasped and exclaimed, everybody appearing to balk at the amount. I tried hard not to gape at him myself, but it was tough. Five thousand dollars was a lot of money to spend on anything, let alone a pointless wager. I wasn’t sure saving face in front of him was worth that much.

  I stared at him for a long moment, and as I did, some of the comments of the people lingering nearby drifted through the angry haze I’d been floating in and penetrated my awareness. In addition to the opinion that the terms of the bet might be a little steep and the questions regarding what each of us was trying to prove, a lot of people were speculating whether I was actually up to the challenge. Whether I’d be up to any other kind of challenge ever again. Or whether I should just accept complete disability and call it a day.

  Something unidentifiable inside of me burst and then curdled. My heart shriveled, broken because Rico’s claim that everyone thought I was a hero had been a wild exaggeration, because I’d just found out some of my colleagues now doubted my ability to perform my job. But something else resonated within me on a deep and primal and urgent level. And it fractured some unknown part at the very core of me.

  I tried not to let any of that agony show on my face, relying on my fury in the face of Byers’s arrogance and my disappointment in the rest of my coworkers’ reservations to see me through. I tilted my chin up in defiance as I held my hand out.

  “Five thousand,” I repeated. “You’re on.”

  Again, Byers appeared shocked, but he covered quickly and took my hand, effectively sealing the deal. I dropped it like a hot rock and wiped my palm on the front of my shirt as I turned to walk away, determined to find Allison and talk to her before this debacle started. The announcer was already on the PA explaining the heat system to everyone, so we didn’t have too many people running at any one time lest the going be unbelievably slow. I needed to be quick.

  Byers roughly grabbed my arm. I fixed the offending appendage with a dark glare before shifting it so I included him in my extreme displeasure.

  “Wait.”

  “What?” I shook him off.

  “How do I know you’re not going to cheat?”

  I goggled at him. “Excuse me?”

  “How do I know you’re not going to cheat?” he repeated with exaggerated slowness, as though I were a moron.

  I folded my arms across my chest and fumed, shaking. Who the hell did he think he was? “And just how do you think I’m going to cheat?”

  Byers inclined his head in my sister’s direction. “Get her to run for you.”

  “What?” He had to be the stupidest man alive.

  “I’m just saying, it’d be pretty easy for her to run in your place.”

  I rolled my eyes so hard I wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d gotten stuck in the back of my head. “You have got to be kidding me.”

  “Beau, come on.” One of the guys in the crowd tried to intervene. “Let’s just go get the team lined up.”

  Byers and I never broke eye contact. “I need some assurances that you won’t pull some sort of switcheroo on us, that’s all.”

  I breathed in so long and so deep that my lungs should have exploded. I counted the beats of both my inhale and my exhale, attempting to calm my boiling temper. It didn’t work.

  “First of all,” I said, my voice low, my words careful and deliberate, as though that would help me keep my tenuous grip on my slippery disposition. “I don’t know in what universe you think it’s appropriate to impugn someone’s honor with absolutely no facts or evidence to back the accusation up—especially someone you work with—but seeing as how you obviously missed the memo, let me clue you in on something: that’s not how we roll here in the Secret Service.”

  Byers’s brow pulled down in a scowl, but he didn’t reply.

  “Secondly,” I said, when it became clear he had no comeback. “In case you haven’t noticed, Rory’s running for another team. She won’t be able to run for me, as she’ll be busy with her own race.

  “Thirdly, Rory would never in a million years be able to get away with pretending to be me, as there are a few surefire ways to tell us apart. Starting with our outfits.”

  “You could always duck off the path into the woods and switch clothes.”

  “Oh, my God. Do you even hear yourself? What is the matter with you?”

  “Stranger things have happened. And desperate people have done more for less.” Byers appeared devoted to his argument, although I wasn’t positive he really believed it. I suspected he was simply sticking to it to disagree with me. If I’d said the sky was blue, I’m sure he would’ve challenged that assertion.

  “Yeah,” I said, allowing the sarcasm to bleed through and taint the word. “I can see that.”

  Byers’s face contorted, and he clenched his hands into fists. If I were a smarter woman, it might’ve occurred to me to tread lightly, as he appeared to be considering whether to take a swing at me. But I was on a roll.

  “And while we’re out in the woods changing clothes so she can run my extra leg of the charity race that has no real impact on our lives outside of today, we’ll be sure to put in colored contacts to change the color of our eyes. Oh, and I’ll have to get out the professional makeup kit. You know, to cover up the very visible scars I’m sporting and give her matching ones.”

  The surety in Byers’s gaze flickered a little, and I used the opportunity to go in for the kill. I stepped even closer to him so our toes were almost touching. My head was swimming, and my ire was making it difficult for me to see straight.

  “But la
stly, and probably most importantly of all…” I all but whispered, so both he and our ever-present crowd of voyeurs would have to lean in and hold their breath to hear me. I paused to ensure I had everyone’s attention. I wanted them all to hear this last declaration. “I don’t need to cheat. Not to beat you, at any rate.”

  Byers looked as though I’d slapped him. Hard. He even reeled and took half a step back before his jaw dropped. His eyes bulged and his lips started moving, but nothing even remotely coherent came out of this mouth.

  And with that, I turned and stalked away from the crowd and in the direction I’d last seen Allison headed, leaving a din of voices behind me.

  Chapter Four

  As I stomped away from the scene with all the grace and dignity of a pouting four-year-old just informed she couldn’t have a cookie before dinner, I tried to calm myself. I searched the crowd as I went but didn’t see Allison. Dejected and resigned to give her the space she obviously needed right now, I gripped the back of my neck with the palms of my hands so hard it hurt.

  I paced back and forth, back and forth, turning the scenario over in my mind again and again, analyzing everything I’d said, everything I hadn’t said, and everything I felt like I should’ve. Furious, both with Byers for getting me all riled up and with myself for allowing him to push my buttons like that, I kicked at the ground. A huge wad of dirt flew through the air, and I watched the remaining dust float slowly back to the ground.

  “Ay-vo!” Rory called angrily, causing me to freeze. She didn’t often slip back into addressing me by her nickname for me from when we were kids, but when she did, she was almost always serious.

  “What?” I couldn’t restrain my annoyance.

  “Are you crazy?” Rory demanded once she’d caught up with me.

  Without taking my hands off my neck or lifting my head, I raised an eyebrow at her and glanced around to see whether anyone was paying any attention to us, but they didn’t appear to be. I still took a few steps closer to the tree line. You could never be too careful.