She set down her plate, giving me her full attention. "Sure."
"I'll send you a link," Remington said, and then he hung up. He sounded less jovial than usual, which made sense. Evie had been in real danger yesterday, and more to the point, anyone in her vicinity was, too. That meant that Nan and Tessa werein danger just being near Evie. I stood up and went to Evie's bookcase to grab a stack of books I could lean the phone against.
She watched me, her hands folded in her lap and expression guarded. "I need to leave, don't I?"
"We don't know that yet," I assured her, grabbing three larger books from the bookcase under the living room window. Although, to myself, I admitted that the security system wasn't going to be enough. I was only one person, and clearly, I couldn't keep an eye on her and her family at the same time. And, hell, I wasn't qualified to do either of those.
I rested my phone against the book stack, and Evie leaned over to see the screen. I glanced at her, hooked my fingers under her chair, and dragged her over so she was flush against my side. She stared up at me in surprise, and then her lips twitched. "I was trying to keep it professional."
"There's nothing professional about what I want to do to your body," I replied matter-of-factly. I tapped the link that Remington sent us, and then a video conference with three boxes popped up. It was us, Remington, and someone with the ID "Ghost."
The man in Ghost's box looked a little older than me, but not by much, and I was pretty sure the silver streaks at his temples added to that impression. Some of his tattoos peeked above the neckline of his black shirt, and he blinked with indolently uninterested, light blue eyes. The only thing that offset his clearly-an-assassin appearance was the fact that he had a sleepy newborn strapped to his chest in a black baby carrier.
Remington couldn't have looked any different than Ghost if he tried with his wheat-blond hair swept into a perfect wave, warm brown eyes, and perfectly straight, white teeth. Remington waved. "Hey, guys."
Evie waved back. "Hello."
Ghost didn't seem interested in small talk. "I reviewed footage from the incident yesterday, and I have to say, I think you all were lucky to get out of that unscathed."
Who was this guy? And why was there a baby attached to him? "I appreciate the vote of confidence," I drawled.
Ghost blinked at me, his eyes flickering like he was sizing me up. "You're Dr. Frost?"
I started to say, "You can call me Frost," at the same time Evie offered, "His name is Benjamin."
Ghost cut a dismissive hand through the air. "Whatever your name is. You did fine for being outnumbered, but you took a risk not having a firearm when they clearly plan to use them."
Begrudgingly, I admitted that he had a point. "We didn't know they would be armed until yesterday."
Evie gave me an unsure glance, but Ghost didn't give her time to argue the point. "Well, you handled it clean—tight angles, controlled aggression. Textbook military." The baby on Ghost's chest squirmed, and he absently patted it on the back like he wasn't criticizing a life-or-death moment but discussing diaper brands with other new dads instead. "But this isn't war. She’s not your mission. She’s your responsibility. The military trained you to neutralize threats. I’m telling you now—you need to start thinking three moves aheadbeforethey show up. Anticipate, not react. That’s the difference between a soldier and a bodyguard."
I hadn't been expecting such forthright advice, but I nodded. "Alright."
Evie got a concerned pucker between her brows and looked from the screen back to me, and then back to the screen where Remington looked quietly amused. She poked my bicep and glared at Ghost. "He'snotmy bodyguard. He's a doctor, and he very nicely offered to stay with me."
I slid a surprised glance her way. "Are you defending me right now, Marshmallow?"
Ghost rolled his eyes. Evie's shoulders ruffled like a dove fluffing its feathers. "I'm just saying."
"My point is that in my experience, you can't wait for these things to diffuse. We have to outmaneuver them," Ghost replied patiently. He stuck a pacifier in the newborn's mouth, and the image of this fully tatted ex-assassin soothing a baby strapped to his chest almost made me laugh out loud. "I had an assignment like yours, once. I stayed with her, guarded her, kept my eyes on her the whole time. But I didn't plan ahead the way I should have, and she got taken from under my nose. Use my experience and initiate a plan that will force these people to act right into your hands. Well," he shrugged one shoulder. "My hands."
"Ghost has offered to help," Remington said like we'd been invited to Buckingham Palace.
"Oh," Evie said blankly.
"You bringing the baby?" I asked wryly. Probably unfairly, but it was kind of ridiculous.
Ghost fixed me with a glacial glare. "That a problem?"
"Did she survive?" Evie blurted suddenly. We all looked at her, and she clarified, "The girl you were guarding. The one who got taken. Did she… live?" Evie's expression had turned earnest, and she leaned forward in her seat, like the fate of this other girl somehow affected hers.
Ghost's mouth twitched. "Yes. She told me this morning that I wasn't getting out of kid duty for my 'hero complex.'"
Evie's eyes rounded. "She's your…?"
"My wife," Ghost confirmed, one corner of his mouth dangerously close to tipping upward. He shifted his gaze to me. "We can learn from my mistakes, fortunately."
It seemed to me that his biggest mistake had been falling for his charge and getting himself married, but what did I know? "What do you propose?"
