Page 37 of Close Protection

Ivy took the device. "And what about you?"

"I'll be right beside you." Julia checked her watch. "We have approximately twenty minutes before backup arrives. We need to create a distraction, something that will occupy whoever's watching while we extract."

"The shower," Ivy suggested immediately. "Leave it running. They'll think I'm still in there."

Julia nodded, impressed by her quick thinking. "Good. We'll also set up timed lights and sounds to make it seem like we're moving normally inside while we're already gone."

She moved to the kitchenette, deliberately starting breakfast preparations—the smell of coffee and cooking food drifting through the cabin's open windows, creating an illusion of routine.

"I'm going to give you a weapon," Julia said quietly, flipping bacon with practicednonchalance. "Glock 19, same as mine. Fifteen-round magazine, one in the chamber."

Ivy stiffened slightly. "I'm not trained?—"

"Point and squeeze if they get close enough to see the whites of their eyes. It's a last resort." Julia maintained her casual breakfast preparation. "I'd rather you have it and not need it."

The weight of the situation settled over them—the casual breakfast preparations, the measured conversation, all while death potentially waited in the forest beyond their windows. Two worlds existing simultaneously: the mundane and the lethal, separated by nothing more than glass and strategy.

Julia placed a plate before Ivy. "Eat. We'll need the energy."

As Ivy took a deliberate bite, Julia caught another subtle movement at the forest edge—more pronounced this time, less careful. They were getting ready to move.

Time was running out.

Julia waited until Ivy had finished eating before signaling it was time. With deliberate calm, she gathered their plates and placed them in the sink.

"I've set up a route to a secondary vehicle,"Julia said, gathering intelligence equipment. "Two miles east through the ravine, another mile north to the logging road. Morgan's people will create a diversion to cover our extraction, but we'll have a limited window."

She moved through the cabin with focused precision, tucking extra ammunition into her jacket pockets, securing communication devices, and retrieving the emergency medical kit. Her movements were efficient, revealing the tactical training that formed her foundation.

"When was the last time you ran?" she asked, handing Ivy a small backpack.

"Yesterday, with you," Ivy replied dryly. "Before that? I swim. The harbor, three times a week."

"Good. Endurance matters more than speed here. Follow my footsteps exactly. Stay low. Move only when I signal." Julia checked her watch. "Morgan's diversion starts in twelve minutes. We need to be in position before then."

Ivy zipped her case of essential documents into the backpack, her movements measured and deliberate. No wasted energy,no panic. Just the controlled focus of a mind accustomed to pressure.

"The shower," she said, already moving toward the bathroom. "I'll set it running hot for maximum steam. It'll fog the windows, make it harder to see if anyone's inside."

Julia nodded. "Good. I'll set up the rest."

While Ivy arranged the bathroom deception, Julia prepared the cabin's interior. A breakfast plate left conspicuously visible near the window. Coffee cups positioned to suggest ongoing conversation. A jacket draped across a chair as if recently removed. Small details to maintain the illusion of occupancy.

From her equipment bag, she extracted a small device: one of Morgan's special creations that would play recorded sounds at random intervals. Cabinet doors opening and closing. Footsteps across wooden floors. Muffled conversation. The audio equivalent of a survival trick that hikers used to deter predators: appear larger than you are.

"Ready," Ivy said, returning from the bathroom where steam now billowed from beneath the door.

Julia handed her a dark jacket. "Put this on. Less visible in the forest."

As Ivy complied, Julia conducted a final security sweep, her mind calculating variables and contingencies. Outside, the forest remained ominously still. The watchers were being patient, perhaps waiting for backup of their own, perhaps waiting for orders.

"Almost time," Julia said, checking her watch again. "Morgan's team will create a distraction at the main road—something that will draw attention without revealing their presence. When it happens, we move."

She led Ivy to the bedroom, closing the door behind them. The room was sparse: single bed, nightstand, wooden dresser. Nothing to suggest the escape route Julia now revealed, pulling the dresser aside to expose a small door built into the wall.

"Original owners were moonshiners," she explained, working the simple latch. "Built escape tunnels in case of federal raids. This one leads to the ravine behind the cabin."

The door swung open, revealing a narrow passage barely large enough for an adult to crawl through. Musty air wafted out, carrying the scent of damp earth.

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