Why was it always me? What had I done to the universe to deserve this shit?
My face dropped, showing my excitement over this request. I’d do it. And he knew it. Fuck loyal to a fault, I was loyal to my own detriment.
I guess I really shouldn’t have been grumpy. The last bodyguard job did have me staying with a super cool movie star, and we were kind of friends now. I also couldn’t hate the way that job had brought Jameson and mecloser…in the loosest sense of the word. He was less grumpy with me now, which I rather liked, even if I did still try to push his buttons all the time. It might have had to do with the fact that he was totally in love with said movie star now, but I’d take a less grumpy Jameson no matter how it happened.
Not that this time would have similar results. The agent was the last person I wanted to be around. The last person I wanted to be close to. The last person I would give a chance to see any of the real parts of myself.
“Fine,” I said grumpily. “But I’m getting my breakfast first.” I spun around and headed for the door of the diner.
“That’s fair,” he said, catching up with me. His tone nearly made me snort.
“And you’ll get the documentary squashed,” I added, forcing myself to hold a lighter tone. I knew it might be possible with the amount of money and connections he had, but I also figured it wouldn’t be easily done if hecoulddo it. Still, I had toput it out there. Reed loved to protect his people, so really, I was only feeding his savior complex.
I caught his cringe expression in the reflection of the glass door right before I pulled it open.
“I’ll see what I can do,” he promised me.
If he could, then doing this job would be worth it.
4
Ford
After I used the phone to call Reed, I stuffed myself in the darkened corner of the shed I’d found to hide in.
It was long neglected. Most of the boards were rotted, and you could barely tell the blue color it had once been painted.
Hours ticked on, and every little noise caused my skin to prickle with the sense of danger. It had been a lot of breathing in while I reminded myself of how I was trained for this shit. Eventually, I calmed enough to close my eyes, but not to sleep.
It was a good thing I was trained to be up for days on end.
I often lived off of coffee and what I called meditation naps, where I gave myself enough of a mental break to feel restored, but I was still aware of what was going on around me.
Like now, that tickle at the back of my neck set me on high alert. My eyes popped open. My hair stood on end as I slowly rose to my feet. My hand was at my side with a grip on my gun that was firm but not tight. I was ready to go, but I really hoped I wouldn’t have to use my weapon. I peeked through a crack in the slats.
A tiny hatchback came into view, painted an obnoxiously bright yellow with dark-tinted windows. Not only did it call attention like a blinking neon light, but it also did not look big enough for my long legs. I almost wished it wasn’t my rescue car. But it had to be because there was no way it was whoever set me up. Not pulling up in this car that could only hold two people,three at most. And if they’d sent assassins after me, I couldn’t imagine they were scraping the bottom of the barrel to off me. This wasn’t a business partner turned bad or a wife trying to quickly get rid of her husband type of situation. I was wanted by the FBI. My face was likely everywhere by now. And the people who had the power to make that happen weren’t looking for a cheap way out.
The car stopped, but the engine didn’t cut off. My eyes narrowed as I tried to see through the crack. The angle was wrong so I couldn’t make out much. When the car door popped open, I shifted in an attempt to see who stepped out.
All I saw was a figure blurred by the falling midday sun cutting through the sparse branches of the surrounding trees. They were nearly as tall as me, with a slightly smaller frame and, oddly enough, wider shoulders.
He moved in a slow circle, chin tipped down. Was he studying the ground? After a moment, he snapped his head up to the front of the shack I was hiding in.
Rookie mistake, I forgot to cover my tracks.
I didn’t breathe for fear of making the slightest noise.
“Agent Ford Priestley?” he called out. “Reed sent me.”
I let out the breath I’d been holding and moved to step around the door that I couldn’t get to close.
I was able to see him properly once I stepped out of the shed. He stood there, hands on his hips, with a sour expression on his baby face and a backward ball cap on his head containing most of his short light brown hair.
Yeah, I knew him… in the lightest sense of the word.
Like seeing a mythical creature, my eyes drank everything about him in. How his defined arms led into a strong chest. His waist was tapered just enough to be noticeable. And I imagined he had fit thighs too, but unfortunately, they were currently covered by jeans, not extremely tight ones either.
The Illusive Austin, as I called him in my head.
