Amy snorted. “Yeah? Well, we’ll try not to bloody the sidewalk getting you to your meal.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “They’re only there for their pound of flesh. I guess this is merely part of being one of the richest people in the Federation. Besides, I don’t think they’re here for me. No one knew we were coming.”
“They’ll work it out quickly enough,” Tracy told her, slid out of the car, and walked around to open her door.
Amy slipped out before her, and they stood on either side, one slightly in front to clear a path, and one to guard her back. The crowd parted before her and didn’t recognize her at first.
“See?” she murmured. “They’re only looking for a target of opportunity. It’s Tarantino’s. All kinds of folk come here.”
No sooner had the words left her mouth than one of those closest to them registered who she was.
“Ms Smith!” he cried and raised his camera. “There you have it, folks. Everyone who’s anyone eats at Tarantino’s. The latest arrival for tonight is one Ms Elizabeth Smith, known to her team as the redoubtable Ms E.”
She groaned. Redoubtable? She sincerely doubted it. More like ‘the boss,’ ‘that bitch,’ and ‘ma’am.’ She wondered what BURT would make of all the fuss.
It was almost enough to convince her to turn and head back to the car. Honestly. Why would anyone eat there if they would simply be mobbed at the door? She might have to mention that to the proprietor. She hoped to all the heavens they didn’t allow them inside.
The wanna-be reporter was one of a dozen who took up the cry, and she almost felt sorry for them. They were only trying to make their way into a cut-throat industry—and she guessed the fastest way would be to catch an interview or some kind of exclusive with a celebrity.
Well, she wasn’t a celebrity, and she damned well deserved to eat her meal in peace. There was no way she would stop for any of the shouted requests for an interview. It would only encourage their bad behavior.
Also, she was damned if she would let any of them drive her away, either. She intended to go in and enjoy her meal, and she certainly wouldn’t give any of them a second thought.
“We really should go somewhere else,” Tracy said. “This isn’t safe.”
“I’ll move the flitter once we get you settled,” Amy added as the doorman ushered them inside. “If we’re lucky, they won’t follow it and be waiting when we leave.”
To her surprise and relief, the door took them into an enclosed atrium, where they were met by their host. It reminded Elizabeth of an airlock, albeit a well-appointed one. She glanced back.
“We don’t allow them in,” said the young man who stepped away from the counter. He glanced at his tablet, at her face, and down again.
“Ms Smith?” he asked and she nodded.
“I have a booking for three at eight,” she told him crisply and he smiled.
“Indeed, you do. And welcome to Tarantino’s. My name’s Jocelyn and I will show you to your table. I apologize for the press pack. We are working on expanding our license to allow us to remove them.”
She was exceedingly relieved to hear it.
“In the meantime, might I suggest a location for you to park your sky car?”
“Amy?” she asked and directed their host’s attention to her head guard.
“Once we have you seated, ma’am,” the woman told her and a slight frown creased her forehead.
Tracy glanced at the door. “Do any of them ever get through?”
Jocelyn nodded. “Occasionally. It is why we have the restaurant sealed off from the foyer. If you would step this way?”
They followed him and Elizabeth resisted the urge to mimic the way he walked. She noted the doormen on either side of the entrance into the restaurant proper and was pleased with the atmosphere of warmth and calm once the door had closed behind her.
Even her bodyguards relaxed, albeit only a little.
Jocelyn led them up a short flight of stairs to a small balcony overlooking the dining floor below. It was away from the front windows, but the rear wall was a viewscreen looking out through a jungle canopy. It showed glimpses of a beach and ocean in one direction and the thundering heights of a waterfall in the other.
Elizabeth smiled. She’d been missing the beach, and these tropical surroundings reminded of her favorite place to holiday. They also reminded her of Veronica, and she made a note to check in on the body double to make sure she was still safe.
For a moment, she found herself envying the woman and sighed. It would be nice to be somewhere on a beach surrounded by guards disguised as palm-frond waving cabana boys. Maybe BURT would let her trade places.
Amy broke through the daydream by clearing her throat, and she blinked.
“I’m sorry?” she asked since Jocelyn had obviously asked her a question.
“I take it everything is to your satisfaction?” he repeated and she gestured at the view.
“I’m sorry. This reminded me of one of my better holidays. It’s lovely, thank you.”
He gave her a small smile. “If there is anything we can do to make that view more like the memory, let us know. In the meantime, this is Kiara. She’ll be your waitress for the evening.”
Elizabeth turned her attention to the young woman who’d approached the table.
I’m slipping, she thought, glad Amy and Tracy were with her. In her previous life, such a mistake could have been costly, possibly even ended her life. She smiled at Kiara and noted the girl’s meticulous uniform and the way her long dark hair had been carefully pulled into a braid.
She was fit but lacked the hard muscle of someone combat-trained, and she allowed herself to relax a fraction more.
“Thank you, Jocelyn,” she said and earned a genuine smile from the man.
“You are most welcome, ma’am.”
Once he had left, she gestured for Amy and Tracy to take their seats.
“I’m not eating on my own,” she told them, “and it’s my treat.”
Both women exchanged glances and reluctantly did as she wanted.
“Besides,” she added, “if you think I could eat anything with the pair of you standing over me like a couple of hawks, you’re greatly mistaken. I hired you for your company as well as your good looks.”
That last drew a smile from them, even though the waitress struggled to hide her surprise. She failed completely when Tracy replied. “Be honest, Ms E, you hired us because you don’t have eyes in the back of your head and we can kill things better than you can.”
She smirked. “I wouldn’t say better.”
“I would. We’re not chained to a desk the same way you are,” Amy interjected, and Elizabeth rolled her eyes and gave a soft groan.
“There’s no need to rub it in,” she replied.
Kiara shifted uncomfortably and they turned toward her.
“Do you have any Descartes 39?” she asked and named a sparkling rose aperitif.
The waitress smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”
“And the menu?”
She passed the menus over. “I won’t be long.”
“Take your time,” Elizabeth told her. “We may take a while to decide.”
“I won’t,” Tracy argued and scanned the offerings as the waitress hurried away. “I’ve always wanted to try the Steak Noir Etoile here.”
Her boss looked at the dish. “That looks very tempting, but I want something with a little bit more bite to it.”
Amy chuckled. “What, your Navy man not enough?”
Ms E blushed. “I don’t kiss and tell.”
Tracy smirked and she glowered at her. “Not one word.”
The other guard snickered quietly.
“Look, can we please get back to the ordering?”
“Well, you said you hired us for our conversation.”
“I never said I hired you so I could talk about my love life,” she protested.
“This is a girl’s night out, isn’t it?” Tracy asked. “What else would
we talk about?”
“How about we start with your love life?”
“Wow, nice weather we’re having.” The woman grinned and nudged Amy. “Don’tcha think, Ames? Great weather, right?”
Her teammate laughed. “Oh, yeah. It’s wonderful weather.”
“You two are not so very funny,” Elizabeth grumbled, and they turned their attention to their menus again.
In the end, she went for something involving a blend of steak, scallops, and fish with a dash of lime and a blend of chili and ginger. Tracy stuck to her Noir Etoile, while Amy decided she’d rather have her steak diced and wrapped in pastry with something starchy on the side.
“What exactly is that?” Elizabeth asked and peered at it when it arrived, and the guard gave her a grin.
“The closest I can get is it’s a cross between a sweet potato and something from the islands. I have no idea where the scientists came up with the concept.”
She bit it into it and closed her eyes. “But, damn. The chef who thought to roast and glaze it deserves a medal. That is a killer combo.”
There wasn’t much conversation after that. Each of them took their time with their food and savored every bite. Elizabeth eyed Tracy’s steak. “I definitely have to try that next time we come here,” she decided, and the guard cut a small piece and offered it to her.
Ms E hesitated for the slightest moment before she gave in. The tidbit melted in her mouth and she closed her eyes. “Holy shit, that’s good.”
She made a note to order it for Matthias the next time they had a date. Hell, she’d even blindfold the man and feed it to him, simply to watch his face. She wondered if Tarantino’s would deliver.
Amy snorted. “Whatever plans you have for your man, you’d better leave them there ʼcause that looks personal.”
“Yeah.” Tracy smirked. “That is the last time I feed you my steak.”
Elizabeth blushed and went back to her meal. “You really should try some of this.”
The guard shook her head. “Lime’s not my thing.”
“You mean you and chili have an unfortunate relationship,” Amy contradicted and her teammate stuck her tongue out. “You forget we share a bathroom,” she reminded her and glared at Ms E. “Don’t you dare give her any of that.”
The boss held a hand up. “No. Stop right there. I’m enjoying this and that’s too much information.” She stopped and thought about it. “Of course, now I know that, I know exactly what to spike your drink with if either of you pisses me off.”
“We’d notice,” Amy reassured her, and she gave her an evil smile.
“Oh, you’d notice all right, but not right away. I know a very good chemist.”
“Care to share?” the woman retorted and batted her eyelashes, and Elizabeth gave her a long look.
“Why? Are you thinking of freelancing?”
“Heck, no,” she replied. “You pay us too well for that. Frog, on the other hand…”
“Oh, yes?” Elizabeth arched her eyebrows. “Do tell.”
They passed a pleasant evening and ordered more wine and then dessert. Neither of the two guards drank the wine, though, and both stuck to water.
“Another time,” Tracy told Elizabeth when she asked. “We’re on duty, remember? I have no desire to explain to Stephanie why you had your ass shot off because I was too tipsy to shoot straight.”
“And I won’t explain to law enforcement why I operated a sidearm while intoxicated,” Amy added. “You need us too much for us to take a break in jail.”
“I’m not that much work, am I?” They both grinned and she sighed. “Fine. Don’t either of you answer that.”
When the check was paid, they headed to the flitter. Amy had repositioned it and arranged with Jocelyn for them to use a quieter exit from the restaurant.
“I’m more than happy to oblige,” he told her when she thanked him. “Come again soon. Your table will be waiting.”
Elizabeth smiled. Maybe she’d be able to bring Matthias there sooner than she’d thought.
They crossed over a walkway between Tarantino’s and a building on the next street, then descended a set of stairs to the quiet parking area Jocelyn had directed Amy to land the flitter in. “It’s not widely known,” he’d told the guard, “but we’ve only recently started expanding so this will do while the more secure parking facility is built.”
Ms E decided whoever ran Tarantino’s learned fast. With a secure parking facility in place, the paparazzi wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near their guests. If the food hadn’t already sealed it, the real prospect of increased security did. She would definitely come back.
They were halfway across the apparently little-known carpark when the flitter exploded.
She didn’t stop to stare and instead, dropped prone, aware of Tracy’s weight as it settled on top of her, while her other bodyguard kissed tarmac nearby.
“There!” Amy shouted. “Trace, they’re coming in on our six and nine. Get her out of here.”
“No can do. I have a team at the exit. We’re boxed in.”
Elizabeth raised her head, only to have Tracy push it down with a muttered imprecation. “It looks like we’ll have to fight our way out of here. To hell with it all—and I was having such a good night, too.” The guard sounded seriously pissed-off.
“It’s not a total loss,” she told them. “At least we get to work off some of those calories.”
“Get your ass back to the door. I’ve called Joss. He’s bringing security, and he’ll unlock it when he gets there.”
“ETA?”
“Three to five.”
“Well, that’s a challenge.”
“Aw, come on, Ms E. You didn’t want us to get bored, now, did you?”
“Bored? No, but I’d have liked for this to be a quiet night out.”
Tracy was unsympathetic. “Well, I guess you can’t have everything.”
Elizabeth twisted her head so she could see the burning remains of her sky car. “No, I guess I can’t. You need to treat me like a team member and not merely a principal.”
Amy shook her head. “No can do, boss. You hired us for a reason, and this is it. We’ll let you fight, but you’d better fight your way to that door and not do anything else.”
“Yup. Get your ass to the door. Don’t make us have to worry about you sticking your neck into a noose for either of us. That’s our job.”
Damn, but she hated it when they were right.
“Will do. Door. Got it. But don’t get yourselves killed.”
“Just do as we ask, ma’am,” Amy replied. “On my go, I want your tail headed to the rendezvous.”
“Gotcha.”
As hard as it was to let the girls deal with their attackers, Elizabeth had to acknowledge that this was what she’d hired them for. But, damn. She was used to dealing with her own problems, dammit.
“…two…three… Go, go, go!”
Tracy rolled off her, and Elizabeth scrambled into a low crouch and began to zig-zag back to the so-called quiet exit Jocelyn had guided them to. Shouts from across the carpark immediately confirmed she’d been seen. The clatter when bullets impacted the intervening vehicles left her in no doubt that she was the target.
“Well, hell and damnation,” she muttered. “I need a goddamned gun.”
“No, you don’t, ma’am,” Tracy said from beside her and used one hand to push her head lower. “You need to keep your goddamned head down or you’re gonna get it shot off.”
They reached the street and the guard pulled her boss down beside her in the shelter of a dark blue luxury flitter. Above their heads, the window shattered, and glass rained down.
“I’ve got him!” Amy shouted and slid in beside her. “But we’re screwed for getting her to the door until Joss gives me the all-clear.”
“I take it he’s on the comms?” Elizabeth asked.
“Yup. Are you gonna stay quiet if I add you into the channel?”
She sighed. “Sure.”
&nbs
p; Seconds later, she could hear Joss’s quiet voice urging law enforcement to get their asses to the carpark between Nineteenth and Century if they wanted to avoid a fatality.
“Almost there, Ames,” he added. “I have three ready to start clearing that door. Is she snug?”
Amy glanced at Ms E. “As snug as we can make her. I’m about to eliminate a sniper. Give us the word when she can make the run for the door.”
“Will do. Are you able to create a distraction so we can get the jump on them?”
“How close are you?”
“There.”
“On my ‘now,’ okay?”
“Count us in?”
“Listen for the bang.”
“The bang?”
She made no immediate answer to his question but instead, clapped a small attachment to the bottom of her blaster and darted up from behind the car. Almost immediately, she ducked again and another round whistled through the space she’d been a second before.
Before their attackers could fire again, she stood, aimed, and fired as soon as her hand came above their cover. Three high-powered rounds streaked ahead and she ducked beside the other two women.
“You stay right here,” she ordered and fixed Elizabeth with a stern stare. “No fighting unless they come for you.”
“It’d be better if you were under the car,” Tracy added, “but if you can’t do that, stay here and stay out of trouble unless you can’t avoid it.”
“Well, dammit,” she grumbled but she nodded.
The girls took that for the ‘yes’ it was and rose to their feet. They kept their heads down and moved in low crouches to the edge of the car as three loud explosions shattered the night.
“Now! Now! Now!” Amy shouted, and they bolted across the open road, firing at the waiting goon squad as they moved.
More shots echoed theirs, and Elizabeth curled into herself instinctively. It would be almost impossible to hear if anyone was coming until the firefight died down. She moved to the edge of the flitter and saw where she needed to be.
“Well, hell.”
She hurtled out of cover and sprinted diagonally beyond the parked vehicle and across the road. Slugs stitched the space at her heels but she made it to the edge of the melee, scooped up a dropped blaster, and turned to fire across the road while she worked out what to do next.
Witch Of The Federation III (Federal Histories Book 3) Page 37