Page 5 of Guarding Truth

And now? She was being sent home to save herself.

Juliette pounded her fist against the wall holding her up and fought the onslaught of tears. Her job was to serve and protect others, and she’d put her team in jeopardy and lost.

Her body ached and her head throbbed, but it was the broken heart that might kill her. In one enemy attack, she’d lost two friends. Was she just supposed to go home and wallow in the abyss of loss? Everything within her wanted to pick up a gun and fight more battles, take vengeance for Laz and Tank.

Instead, her own body was attacking her.

She composed herself for Caleb’s sake and cracked the door open. Caleb rested in the hospital bed, his shoulder in a sling. His pale color matched the stark white sheets. She closed her eyes and remembered his powerful arms scooping her up to safety.

At the expense of Laz and Tank.

Caleb was the hero. And as much as she wanted this man by her side while she faced chemo, oncologists, and enough drugs to run her own pharmacy, Caleb had a future.

And it didn’t include her drama. He’d already paid the price when he’d had to rescue her over Laz. He didn’t need to take on her problems.

She shook her head. “You deserve a future that doesn’t include taking care of me.” Her whisper bounced off the beige walls of the square room, sounding louder than it should have.

Cancer was her battle. She refused to be a burden to anyone. Especially Caleb.

Her decision solidified in her mind but not her heart. Because she’d always have a tender spot for Caleb.

She held her head high, left Caleb, and walked back to her room. She’d check out and be on the first flight home.

Alone.

Caleb might never leave her behind, but she had to leave him. For his own good.

TWO

THREE YEARS LATER

MONDAY, 8:15 A.M.

“Nobody move. This is a good ole-fashioned bank robbery.”

Juliette Montgomery froze in line for the bank teller. Four masked men had burst through the front doors of First United Bank of Savannah, guns blazing.

Screams echoed through the lobby, and her hand went instinctively to where her gun usually rested, but she’d left her sidearm at home. It was just one quick trip to the bank before breakfast.

And now men dressed like ninjas held innocent people hostage.

Noelle Burton, Juliette’s colleague and friend, rolled her eyes. “I never should have agreed to breakfast with you,” Noelle said through gritted teeth. “Danger always seems to follow you. Just one errand?”

“Everyone quiet and on the floor. Now.”

Juliette complied, moving at a snail’s pace so she could survey the lobby. Nine patrons. Three bank employees. Four gunmen. One security guard that a gunman had dragged to the back of the bank.

And two professional bodyguards with the Elite Guardians Agency.

Juliette shimmied six inches to the left so she could hide behind the table with the deposit slips. Noelle dropped and crept to the right. Juliette shot off a text to Matthew Williams, friend and officer with the Savannah Police Department. Then she hit the Record button.

A shot, followed by more screams, bounced off the tile floor and reverberated through the lobby that looked more like an exhibit hall at the Louvre than a bank in downtown Savannah. The paintings on the wall were probably worth more than the historic house that her grandmother had left her. She lived in the basement apartment and had leased the top two floors to the Elite Guardians.

“Toss your cell phones to the center of the lobby.”

Drat.

She left the video recorder on and slid her phone toward the pile of others while one twitchy bad guy went from person to person to ensure compliance. Juliette committed to memory the man’s cold gray eyes and height. Five foot ten-ish. Lanky.

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