Guardian Angel

by Becky Harmon

  Her office door stood open and Angel was scheduled to arrive any minute. Although the embassy had closed at noon as it did every Friday, some staff still hung around to wrap up any unfinished work from the week. She had forced Chloe out an hour ago despite her protests. The younger crowd gathered in the café in the evenings after dinner. To make the confinement more bearable, Ellie had asked the café staff to leave snacks and beverages out for them.

  So far everything within the embassy walls was going smoothly, but she wasn’t sure how much longer her staff would manage before everyone went stir crazy. That was one of the reasons she herself was looking forward to her trip to the solar panel farm despite the fight it would take to get Angel to agree to it. She didn’t believe the risk would be too great, and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could avoid the issue.

  She poured steaming tea into two cups sitting on the coffee table, glancing up when movement in the doorway caught her attention. Angel stood outlined by the light coming from the outer office. She hadn’t realized how dark it had gotten inside her office, and she had a fleeting thought about how it must look to Angel. Realizing she didn’t care, she motioned to the seat across from her. Tonight, she would make Angel sit.

  She watched Angel’s gaze take in the drinks on the coffee table before she slowly crossed the room, taking a seat on the couch across from her. Angel’s back was stiff and she sat with her knees together and both feet flat on the floor.

  “Would you like cream or sugar?” she asked.

  Angel shook her head.

  “I know you normally drink coffee.” She didn’t finish her sentence. She would have said that she was hoping the tea would be relaxing, but telling her that would certainly provoke the opposite reaction.

  “Vince prefers tea,” Angel said softly.

  Surprised at the personal disclosure, she sensed a crack developing in the wall between them.

  “Yes, I have enjoyed a few cups of late-night tea with him.” She extended a cup toward her. “As you have, I imagine?”

  Angel nodded, taking the cup. “He never offers. He assumes. Seems you learned something from him.”

  She smiled. Thankfully, Angel wasn’t running from the room.

  “Is there a purpose to this or are you hoping I’ll divulge company secrets?” Angel’s voice held the hint of a smile.

  “I was hoping we could talk.”

  “Okay. I’m listening.”

  “Fine. I’ll go first. When I found out you were coming and even before I knew you were a woman, I’d hoped that you and I might be able to develop a friendship. I have a lot of staff around me, but no one I can really talk with.”

  Angel’s eyes studied her, and she hesitated only a second before continuing.

  “You have a job to do, as do I, but there isn’t any reason we can’t be friends, right?”

  Angel took a sip of tea before speaking. “My first priority is my job to protect you, but as long as a friendship doesn’t interfere with that, then, no, there isn’t any reason we can’t.”

  “Good. We’ve found a common ground.” She slid her heels off and dropped them to the floor before tucking her feet under her. “How did you end up working for Vince?”

  “Starting with the hard questions?”

  She grimaced. “I thought I was starting easy.”

  Angel’s head bent as her gaze settled on her cup of tea. Her voice was soft again when she finally spoke.

  “Vince took me in and trained me. He gave me a home.”

  “I figured as much. Your use of his first name told me that he was more than an employer.”

  “As did my file.”

  She took a sip of her tea while she contemplated her answer, thankful for the darkness that hid the blush she could feel on her face.

  Angel saved her from answering. “I wouldn’t have expected anything less from someone in your position. You need to know who’s working for you. Besides…I read your file too.”

  There wasn’t enough light to read her face, but she could hear the teasing in Angel’s voice. It reminded her of the day she had arrived. She didn’t realize how much she had longed for this easiness between them again. She reached behind her head and turned on the lamp. “Just so it was only my file and you didn’t get any of Vince’s insight.”

  Angel smiled. “No. Only the professional file.”

  She felt the heat on her face again. She hadn’t read the personal file that Micalah had sent, but it was still in her desk drawer. Having met Angel, it felt like a betrayal to read the file now. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to shred it as she had planned, though, in case she changed her mind.

  “So if we’re asking the hard questions—why did you leave the Senate?” Angel asked.

  She couldn’t count the number of times she had been asked that in the last year. She had several carefully prepared phrases that she used to avoid the topic, but she didn’t want to use any of them on Angel. She took a deep breath. “I needed a change when my father passed away. I didn’t feel like I was making a difference. It felt like I was being swallowed by the political lion, and soon I would be just another mouthpiece in Washington. I couldn’t stand the thought of that.”

  Was that a flash of admiration that crossed Angel’s face or only a shadow from the lamp? She wasn’t sure, but she hoped she hadn’t made a mistake by speaking from her heart. To avoid saying more, she quickly asked her own question. “Your career seemed to have a solid path. Why did you switch to negotiation?”

  Angel set her empty mug on the coffee table and sat back on the couch. Her posture was a lot less rigid than when she had arrived. She almost looked relaxed.

  “I wanted a chance to fix situations before the snipers had to act.” Angel paused as if considering her next statement. “Snipers spend a lot of time waiting, and then they have to run like hell. I was sick of running.”

  Ellie chuckled. She liked Angel’s sense of humor even if it came out of avoidance of the real answer. Angel’s file had not listed a specific number of kills, as was to be expected by a private organization, but there were over a hundred cases marked as “mission complete.” She wouldn’t speculate on how many of them included Angel following through with her assignment as a sniper. She wished Angel would keep talking. She could sit here for hours and listen to her. Or just look at her.

  Angel stood. “I guess I should get back to work.”

  She wanted to say no. She wanted to encourage her to stay longer, but she knew she had gotten all she was going to get from Angel tonight.

  “Thank you for the tea,” Angel said as she left.

  She stared at the empty spot on the couch across from her. She had been right in her initial evaluation. Angel was exactly what she wanted in a confidante. Someone who would let her speak her mind but not pull any punches in her responses. She wanted to spend more time with this woman.

  She realized, too, that Angel had managed to escape once again without giving her a briefing of any sort.

  * * *

  Angel paced the hallway outside her room. She had considered going to the gym, but Ellie’s tea had relaxed her body and she didn’t think she had the energy. Her mind was still racing, however. She had been keyed up with all the surveillance, but she hadn’t expected Ellie to be the one that grounded her again. The way she had curled her feet under her on the couch had been endearing. She tried to push those thoughts from her mind.

  She was here to protect this woman and to make sure the embassy was not overrun. Drinking tea and chatting was not in her job description, though she had to admit she had enjoyed that almost more than anything she had done since she had arrived. Ellie was a fascinating woman, and her mind was only too happy to flash images of Ellie taking charge of an embassy meeting or pacing as she persuaded others to see her viewpoint.

  She needed to focus on work and not on the many sides of the woman she was tracking on her tablet. She swiped her badge into the communications room and randomly flipped through all the c
ameras. The marines had gotten used to her late night appearances, and they allowed her free rein. She settled on the camera outside the embassy that covered the front guard post. The men on the street moved around, talking with each other. They weren’t chanting or waving their arms like they did during the day.

  She moved the toggle at the base of the monitor, sliding the camera toward the man on the stone wall. She took a deep breath, unable to shake a feeling of apprehension. There he was, doing the same thing the men on the wall always did, sitting and staring. As she watched him doing nothing, her apprehension continued to grow.

  She stood and patted the PFC on the shoulder. “Thanks.” Returning her chair to its spot, she left the room and walked to the rooftop.

  Her agents and the marine there were all stationary, their gazes scrutinizing the world beneath them. She walked to the agent with a view of the man on the stone wall. Forrest Arden, the guy who regularly handled early shifts during their assignments, lay on his stomach watching him through the scope on his rifle. She patted his shoulder as she lay down beside him.

  “Has he done anything since he arrived?”

  Arden shook his head. “Same as always. Why?”

  She was silent for so long he finally glanced at her. “Tag?”

  “Just a feeling.”

  “What? Something’s going to change?”

  “They’ve been doing the same thing long enough to make us relax. Now maybe they’ll show their hand. Remain vigilant. Call me if he does anything. Anything at all.”

  Arden nodded, his gaze returning to the ground below.

  She stood and walked slowly back to her room. Inside, she lay down on top of the covers. Something was going to happen soon. She could feel it. She hoped she would be able to stop it before it threatened the embassy or the ambassador.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Angel leaned against the doorframe and stared into the café. She had been in Nouakchott for a week now, and normally she would be knee-deep in negotiations by now. Something was throwing her off balance. She couldn’t decide if it was the situation outside or the woman inside. Ellie had been distant, almost standoffish in their morning briefing. She was starting to realize that too much or too little Ellie was equally distracting. Maybe it was time to find a little balance.

  She watched as Ellie moved along in front of the food selections, her tray resting on the metal track in front of her. She stopped occasionally to talk with the café workers behind the plastic barrier, smiling at each of them. Her hair fell around her face as she moved down the line, and she casually brushed it behind an ear. She wore tan dress pants with a dark blue shirt open at the collar. A matching jacket was folded over one arm. Angel wasn’t surprised. In the week that she had known Ellie, she knew she wouldn’t be caught outside her office without her jacket. Always the professional, even at lunch on a Saturday.

  Her gaze stopped when it reached Ellie’s shoes—blue open-toe heels with crossing straps at the ankle. The narrow heel had to be at least three or maybe even four inches high. She had to admit that they looked good on Ellie, but she still wondered how she kept them on her feet or even walked in them. She had been told once that the trick was to stay on your toes, but she wasn’t going to try it to see if it was true.

  She took a few steps into the café, appreciating her own footwear. Black tactical boots that were good for walking, standing, or even running. She was prepared for whatever situation might arise. She glanced up and caught Ellie’s gaze on her. The edge of her mouth was slightly turned up as if she knew exactly what Angel was thinking.

  Fighting down the blush that threatened, she concentrated on the food selection in front of her. She chose a bowl of chicken noodle soup and filled her tray with onion-flavored crackers. The crackers were light and buttery and added much needed flavor to the soup. After the first time she had tried them, she discovered that the onion smell didn’t linger on her breath like real onions and this had become her favorite selection.

  “Can I join you for lunch?” she asked softly as she moved beside Ellie at the beverage counter.

  “I’d like that.” Ellie gave her a wink. “You aren’t afraid people will talk?”

  “No fear here. Being seen with you is good for my image.”

  Enjoying the sound of Ellie’s chuckle, she followed her to a beige laminate table in the middle of the room. It was held together with metal legs and surrounded by multicolored plastic chairs. Sitting across from Ellie, she crushed a pack of crackers before opening the cellophane and dropping the crumbs into her bowl. After several packs, she glanced up to find Ellie watching her.

  “Like those crackers, do you?” Ellie choked back a laugh.

  She took the spoon from Ellie’s tray and dipped it into her bowl, offering the bite to Ellie.

  Ellie leaned forward to accept, but then quickly took the spoon from Angel’s hand. She slid the bite into her mouth. Her eyes never left Angel’s as she savored it.

  “Okay. I’m sorry I teased you. That’s good. I haven’t eaten the soup in months. It’s always been a little bland.”

  “Just a little?”

  Ellie chuckled. “I try hard not to complain about the food they make. It’s hard to please so many people seven days a week.” Ellie took a bite of her sandwich.

  Last night’s conversation had dissipated the uncomfortable tension that had been growing between them. She was happy to have the playful banter back. It didn’t escape her attention that she had almost fed the ambassador a bite of her soup in the middle of the café.

  “That’s very true,” she said. “I try never to complain when anyone else is providing me with food. I tend to eat the same thing day after day even when I’m cooking.”

  “So, it’s more about convenience than quality?”

  She raised her eyebrows. “I guess so. I never thought about it. I like to keep things simple. If a food requires a bunch of extras then it’s not worth it.”

  “That’s funny. Where do you draw the line? Salt and pepper is okay, but cheese and sour cream goes too far?” Ellie teased.

  “You’re awfully harsh today. Not enough sleep?”

  “I’m just trying to figure you out.”

  She felt the heat flood her face again as Ellie studied her. It wasn’t her practice to let any woman get under her skin, and yet, without any effort Ellie was already there.

  She narrowed her eyes. “What’s to figure out?”

  “When did you become the Guardian Angel?”

  She groaned, shaking her head. “Vince started it. I guess I should have expected it with a name like Angel.”

  “And yet it bothers you.”

  She washed her bite of soup down with a drink of water as she struggled to contain her emotions. She could let the question pass like she did with everyone else, but she liked being the focus of Ellie’s attention. It was intoxicating and she wanted to give her more. “Everyone assumes it’s because of my sniper days.”

  “It’s not?”

  She had never talked about her mother with anyone but Vince. Surely, Ellie already knew all of this. It was in her file. She could still change the subject. Or she could take a chance and keep going. She took deep breath.

  “Vince said my mom told him I was always nearby waiting to help her, even when I was really little. She was sick from the time I was born. I can remember thinking if I could always watch over her she might be okay.”

  “But she wasn’t?” Ellie asked softly.

  “She died when I was thirteen.”

  “We have that in common. And your dad?”

  “Active duty Special Forces. He was killed about a year after Mom died.”

  “And then Vince took you in?”

  “He was just starting Flagler so he took me with him when he could.” She pushed back from the table. “Now you know all there is to know.”

  “I highly doubt that.”

  She stood, ignoring Ellie’s words as she gathered her trash onto her tray. Her heart hurt
. She wasn’t sorry she had shared, but she couldn’t stand to see pity in Ellie’s eyes. She walked to the trash bin, stacked her dishes, and dumped the rest. She knew Ellie was behind her, and she slowed her pace when she reached the empty hallway, giving Ellie a chance to catch up if she wanted to.

  She turned when Ellie touched her arm. Ellie’s eyes were moist, and they radiated warmth and compassion. She felt like a piece of chocolate that had been left in the car on a hot day. She touched Ellie’s cheek. She had wanted to do it, but she was shocked when she felt Ellie’s soft skin beneath her fingers. Ellie seemed surprised as well, but she tilted her head into Angel’s palm. Sliding her hand under the hair at the base of Ellie’s neck, she gently pulled their bodies together. Her gaze lingered on Ellie’s lips.

  The scrape of a chair sliding across the floor echoed from the café through the hallway, breaking the connection between them. She quickly dropped her hand as Ellie took a step backward. Ellie’s neck was flushed, and Angel knew she should apologize. More for what she had almost done than for what she did. Or maybe for what she wanted to do. She met Ellie’s green eyes, and the words caught in her throat. She had never seen such open desire.

  She had to reestablish the professional distance between them. Even if she didn’t want to. “I’m sorry.”

  Ellie guided them down the hall toward the elevator. “I’m not.”

  Angel’s head swam. The pressure of Ellie’s fingers wrapped around her arm was making her want to pick up where they had left off. She needed distance, but she couldn’t pull away. The elevator doors opened and they stepped in. Ellie let go of her arm temporarily as they turned their backs to the wall, and then she slid her fingers around Angel’s bicep. She tried not to flex her muscle, but each time Ellie’s fingers tightened her body responded.

  When the doors opened on the second floor, she walked with Ellie down the hall. She hadn’t planned to follow Ellie back to her office, but she couldn’t think of anywhere else she needed to be. Their pace was slow and she felt Ellie’s hand slide down her arm. She grasped it, sliding her fingers between Ellie’s for barely a second before releasing it.