Page 31 of Guarding the Billionaire

“Go left. No signal. Now right. Now pull into that alley and stop.”

I opened the door the instant the car stopped.

“Lock the doors. If I don’t come back in five minutes, drive directly to the police station. Don’t stop for anyone or anything. Keep her safe.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Teresa, what are you doing?” Flora called from the car floor. “It’s dangerous.”

“I’ll be right back. Stay down Flora, and don’t move.”

I crept down the alley, exiting onto the sidewalk in just enough time to see the now-dented SUV driving slowly down the street, clearly looking for us. I pretended to look in a shop window, watching their reflection in the window until they drove out of sight. I waited another full minute to make sure they weren’t coming back before returning to the town car.

After making sure that everyone was okay I directed the driver up the back roads until we reached the Sapphic Security offices at the edge of town. I entered my code for the car to drive into the garage, then gave the driver a Sapphic Security business card to call to get his vehicle fixed.

“Have your boss call us, okay? We’ll make sure he knows it wasn’t your fault.”

“Yes ma’am. Thank you.”

I helped Flora out of the car, then waited for the town car to exit the garage again before pulling her into my arms. Flora’s face was blank, but her slight body was shaking from the adrenaline dump.

“Are you okay, baby?”

“Yeah.” Her voice was small. “Someone is really trying to kill me, but I don’t understand why.”

“We’re going to get to the bottom of this,” I promised. “Whoever this guy is, he’s escalating now. That will make it easier to catch him. We’re going to widen our net and end this.”

Flora

Icouldn’t stop shaking. For some reason today’s incident freaked me out more than the other two. Maybe because other people were involved. I know it was her job, but I’d been terrified when my bodyguard had run away from the car.

“Let’s get you upstairs,” Teresa said, her voice uncharacteristically gentle. “I need to get the keys to a car and report this incident to my boss.”

As we walked to the elevator, she kept her arm around me, her other hand thumbing out a message on her phone.

The offices of Sapphic Security were tasteful but not fancy. The lobby looked like it belonged to a law firm or accounting company, with a hallway full of offices and conference rooms. Teresa brought me back to a windowless conference room nearthe back, directing me to a chair before making me a cup of tea from the little coffee station against the wall.

“Some of my team will be here soon,” she told me. “We’ll figure out next steps.”

Teresa’s boss Lois arrived first, soon followed by Angie and Wanda, the two agents I’d met at my house last week, and another woman named Bella. I sat quietly next to Teresa while she briefed them on the incident.

“They were too close for me to get the plates,” she told them. “But it was a steel gray SUV, probably a Honda, with a very dark after-market window tint.”

“Well that narrows it down,” Lois said sarcastically.

“I’ll start pulling the traffic cams,” Wanda said. “See if we can get a clear picture of what happened.”

“We should get you to a safe house, Miss Meyer,” Lois said, her voice much softer than the tone she used with her team. Not that it seemed to bother them.

“No,” I said firmly. “I’m not going to let this guy scare me and I’m certainly not going to leave my job. People are counting on me.”

“Who do we like for this perp?” Angie asked.

“I’ve been looking at that asshole Richardson the CFO,” Teresa told her. “But I’m not finding much to tie him to this, other than the fact he’s a misogynist who clearly thinks the Flora doesn’t know what she’s doing.”

“Anyone else?”

“I did some prelims on the rest of the family. There are a couple of relatives who might be hoping to cash in, but no one raises any flags. None of them have regular contact with Flora, but they don’t have any animosity either, as far as she knows, right?”

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