Trixie sat up straighter. “I wanted kettle corn so I was getting some before going home. It was a long day at the office, but it wasn’t crazy late. Like seven at night, I think. So, not dangerous. But… well… a guy was following me. He grabbed my arm, yanked me not a little alleyway between two casinos and pulled out a knife! Told me to give him my purse.”
“Did you?” Jack asked.
“No way! I kicked him in the shin. He said some really bad words, fell over, and then I ran away!”
Both men chuckled. She smiled.
“Why do you think it wasn’t an ordinary mugging?” Ace asked. “I’m sure women get their purses stolen in Vegas all the time, unfortunately.”
“Oh, it happens, even though they keep the touristy areas pretty safe,” Trixie told them. “But I recognized this guy. He’s worked for us—I mean, my old company—before. Around the warehouse where we keep stuff for the buildings we manage.”
“Could be a coincidence,” Jack pointed out. “Saw it all the time as a detective. You know, sometimes criminals have day jobs.”
“Yeah,” Trixie replied. “But the second attempt on my life was more personal. Two guys broke into my house. And I heard them use my name as they were looking for me. They weren’t there to rob me. I think they were there to silence me.” A sickening feeling started in the pit of her stomach and spread outward. That happened every time she remembered that awful night just a couple of weeks earlier. She looked Jack in the eyes. “They were going to kill me, Sir. I was able to hide in my attic. I was so worried they’d look up to the hallway’s ceiling and notice the door. But they never did.”
“That must have been very scary for you,” Jack acknowledged. “I’m sorry you went through that.”
“Thank you,” Trixie told him. “I’m still scared. That’s why I have to stop these people. But I can’t do it on my own. I’m sorry I have to ask you for help.”
Ace shook his head. “Please don’t apologize. We’re glad you came to us.”
Trixie smiled and focused her attention on Jack. “I’d heard about the Daddy Guard. Word’s spread in the ageplaycommunity, but I figured it was just a legend. Then, when I happened to meet your Little Iris on a Littles’ forum online, I realized you all were real!”
“As real as can be and happy to help,” Jack said. He stood. “We’ve got a lot to talk about and plan. We’ll need to get the other guys in on this.”
Trixie stood, too. “How many Guard members are there?”
“Currently five,” Jack told her. “Of course Ace and me. But then we have Matteo, Isaiah, and Kendrick. There were seven of us, but our friends Jordan and Ryan got married and moved to San Francisco a while back. Great guys. We miss ‘em. But they want to start a family. It’s hard to do in this line of work.”
Trixie drained the last of her lemonade while her mind raced with so many questions.
Would five guys be enough to tackle a mafia operation?
And what about the danger? She didn’t want anyone getting hurt on account of her.
Ace, now standing beside Jack as Trixie made her way around the table, said, “We have a lot of technology at our disposal. And we can always call in some backup if we need it. We have plenty of connections. Please, Trixie. Don’t worry. We’re going to keep you safe.”
She believed they were earnest in their reassurance. But was it possible? The odds seemed so stacked against them that she wasn’t sure anything—short of the FBI or something—could help.
But if even half the legends she’d heard about the Daddy Guard were true, then maybe there actually was a shot.
“Where are you staying?” Jack asked her.
“Loews Hotel. Not far from here.”
“Yeah. Right off Highland,” Jack said. “I know it well. Do you think there is any chance those folks from Vegas followed you here?”
“Nope.”
“Do they know where you’re at?”
Again, she shook her head. “We don’t keep in contact. When I quit, I didn’t tell them why. I pretended like I didn’t know what they were up to or suspect them of trying to… k-kill me.”
She hated that her voice trembled, but there was no way not to be terrified when talking about one’s own potential murder.
“You could always stay with us at the Guard mansion,” Ace proposed. “We’d love to have you.”
“Yeah. The girls would love having you around,” Jack added. “And it would be a good chance for you to have some fun and really get into Little Space.”
