Page 7 of Guarding Truth

“Police!” More voices filtered in from the lobby, followed by an army of heavy footsteps.

“In the back,” Juliette called out.

Detective Matthew Williams with the Savannah Police Department burst through the door with his gun drawn. He scrutinized Juliette, Noelle, and the injured security guard, and put his gun away. “Is everyone okay?”

“This is Daniel,” Juliette said. “Looks like the bad guys conked him on the head.”

Matthew shook his head at Juliette. “Of course, if there’s danger, I’ll find you in the center of it. I got your text. Thanks for the heads-up. No one hit the silent alarm.”

Paramedics rushed in to attend to Daniel, who appeared to be dizzy but otherwise faring well. Matt, Juliette, and Noelle headed to the lobby. Police and paramedics poured into the building, talking with witnesses and treating wounds. A few people had some cuts from the shattered chandelier, but injuries were minimal.

Ladecia Slaton, Matt’s partner, joined them. Juliette was on a first-name basis with both of them, as her bodyguard duties sometimes collided with their cases.

Decia took notes while Juliette recalled her descriptions of the four men. “We took down one robber, but he escaped in the end. He has a nice-sized gash across his forehead and cheek.”

“So, you let them get away?” Matt crossed his arms, squinting at Juliette. “Your skills getting a bit rusty there, Montgomery?”

Matt tried to hide a smirk. The man towered over Juliette by about ten inches, which gave him an intimidation factor that was only enhanced by the police uniform. But they’d been friends long enough for him to have had a front-row seat to Juliette’s sarcasm. And he dished it right back to her. Matt was thirty—a year younger than Juliette. Too bad he only had eyes for the black-haired gothic beauty, Raven, the Elite Guardians’ administrative assistant. Even though he’d never admit it.

She shrugged. “It’s not every day you break up a bank robbery while running errands. How many robberies have you foiled today?”

Matt shook his head. “You never should have faced off with an armed man. Let alone the other three in the back. One of these days, you’re going to get hurt.”

“I agree,” Noelle interjected. “You took a risk today, and it paid off, but you could have put us all in jeopardy if those guys had started shooting. We work as a team, remember?”

How could Juliette forget? Noelle reminded her constantly that the Elite Guardians thrived on teamwork. Juliette had endured the “we’re bodyguards not soldiers” lecture a time or two. Juliette smiled at Noelle and changed the subject.

“Who is Rushmore?” she asked.

“Rushmore is a thorn in my side these days,” Matt said. “It’s a hacker group that believes in vigilante justice. They target financial institutions and corporations. This is the second bank heist in three days, both First United Bank branches. Let’s hope we catch a break soon.”

“Was it the same situation, where the gunmen dumped all of the cash in the streets?” Noelle asked. “Because they have motives other than money.”

Decia ran a hand through her shoulder-length brown hair and snapped her notebook shut. At five-foot-eight and in a police uniform, the woman commanded attention when she spoke. “Rushmore have organized themselves online and targeted different cities. They seem to focus on CEOs and wealthy individuals within corporate America. They’ve got some sort of Robin Hood complex going on, targeting the one percent they perceive to control the money. But no one has seen them commit a physical crime. It’s always been cyberterrorism.”

“And thanks to these two”—Matt nodded at Juliette and Noelle—“we now have better descriptions of some of the members.”

Decia tapped her pen against the cover of her old-school notebook. “Juliette might have made an enemy of a very dangerous group. You’d better watch your backs.”

Juliette observed quietly as the police took over the scene, roping off the lobby with police tape while officers corralled witnesses to interview.

Noelle kept a scowl permanently fixed to her face. Juliette sighed. “If I hadn’t intervened, they might have taken hostages.”

Hands on hips, Noelle stared Juliette down. “You don’t know that. Look, your soldier-warrior mode has to take a back seat. Those guys weren’t looking for a fight, and you tried to start one. I’ll always have your back, because that’s what friends and colleagues do. But you work with a team now, as a bodyguard. You can’t keep taking unnecessary risks.”

Juliette walked away so Noelle wouldn’t see how her words brought up an onslaught of memories.

Civilians would never understand, unable to fathom the depths of duty and loyalty that propelled Juliette into action. Noelle might be a former detective, but had she watched her friends die in battles? Juliette refused to play it safe. If anything, she needed to fight harder to protect the innocent.

Even if it put her in the crosshairs of cyberterrorists. Or her coworkers.

* * *

MONDAY, 9:00 A.M.

Caleb Styles reached out his hand to smash the snooze button on the buzzing alarm clock. Only he couldn’t connect with it.

Another vibration sent a rumble through him. Not the alarm clock, but his phone. He lifted his head off the dining room table. When had he fallen asleep?

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