Page 35 of Guarded from Havoc

I don’t want to tell her, not now, but it doesn’t seem right to keep the truth from Tatum, either. “They found three bodies. The man with the rock is still alive.”

Even in the dim of the room, I don’t miss the gleam of tears in her eyes. “Three people?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry. I know it’s hard.”

“I just wish… It’s so messed up. Why would someone…” A tear spills down her cheek. Then another. After a few deep breaths, Tatum sits up straight and lifts her chin. “I guess we have to wait to find out who’s behind this. And why they would do something so horrible.”

“We will,” I reply firmly. “My team—the guys I work with in Texas and the ones at the New York branch—we’re going to keep at this. Yes, the police will investigate, but we will, too.”

“What can you do, Erik? I know you said you work for a security company, but isn’t that like bodyguarding and stuff? How can you solve something like this?”

“We do more than that. Blade and Arrow; we conduct our own investigations. Yes, we do traditional security work, like providing protection at high profile events and training security teams. But we also take on clients who are in trouble and the police haven’t been able to help. We track down stalkers. Stop identity theft. And one of my teammates, Xavier—we found his wife after she was kidnapped. So we do a lot more than regular bodyguarding stuff.”

“Oh.” Tatum’s cheeks darken. “I didn’t mean to imply?—”

“You didn’t.” I give her hand a little squeeze. “How would you know what my company does? It’s not like we really had a chance to talk about it before. But I can assure you, we’re good at what we do. And we’re not backing off from this case until it’s solved.”

Silence falls between us. The only sounds are from the buzz of activity outside the room. Sounds that would normally bother me, but for some reason, don’t seem to be as bad this time around.

Not some reason.Tatum. Her presence is like a soothing balm against the triggers that would typically leave me raw and on edge.

As I’m working through the right words to bring up the unavoidable topic of Tatum’s protection, she says, “I can’t go home. Not right now. Can I?”

Acceptance wars with fear as she meets my gaze. “I was thinking about it before I fell asleep. They might come back for me. For you. And my cabin is one of the first places they’d look.”

I hate having to say it, but I have to. “No. We really don’t think it’s safe for you to go back. Not until we get a handle on things.”

“So… Where do I go? I mean, I know some people in Albany, back from when I worked there. But I really…” Fear flares again. “I… I left for a reason. And I really don’t want to go back there.”

Something in the way she says it sets my inner alarm bells ringing. And I can’t help wondering if she moved to Tupper Lake in an attempt to escape. From what, I don’t know. An abusive boyfriend? Trauma? Or, though it’s hard to believe, criminal activity?

No. Not Tatum. My gut doesn’t just say no to her being a criminal, it shouts it.

But now isn’t the time for probing into her background. It’ll have to happen, and soon, but it doesn’t have to be now.

Scooting my chair closer to the bed, I hold her gaze as I say as gently as possible, “No. Not Albany. I was talking to two of my teammates—Dante and Niall, you haven’t met them yet, but they’re the ones outside. And we all agree that you should be under Blade and Arrow’s protection.”

She sucks in a breath. “What does that mean?”

“We have two headquarters. One in Sleepy Hollow, and one just outside San Antonio, which is where I work. But they aren’t just regular office buildings. We live there, too. So at the ranch in Texas, we each have our own apartment right on site. Plus an apartment specifically for clients who need a safe place to stay. And the properties really are safe. We take every imaginable precaution. Top of the line security systems. Bulletproof, unscalable fences. Radar that detects if a drone approaches. And there’s always at least one of us on the premises, keeping an eye on things. So if you go there, you’re guaranteed to be safe.”

Tatum worries her lip with her teeth. Her eyebrows pull into a worried V. “And you think I should go there? But…”

“But you don’t know us,” I finish. “I get it. Agreeing to go stay someplace, with a bunch of strangers… It’s a lot. But you can check out our website. Our referrals. We have contacts in the police and FBI who can vouch for us.”

After a long pause, Tatum asks, “Would I… go to Texas? With you?”

Something in my chest pangs at the way she asks it. Not the Texas part. But the part about coming with me.

“Well, I’d prefer you go to Texas. Although I know it’s further from home. But that could be a good thing, putting more distance from where all this… started.”

Her fingers tighten around mine. “I get it. But I’d be lying if I said it didn’t scare me. Going to this strange place…” Hope replaces the uncertainty in her gaze. “But you’d be there. Right? So I’d know you.”

As I look into Tatum’s eyes, all my intentions of staying in Maine fade.

No. Not fade. They’re swept away in an instant.

How can Inotgo back to Texas with her?

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