“Kier?” She held on to him.
“No worries, doll. I’ll see you in a while. Rest. I’ll leave you my tablet.” He leaned over and pressed his lips to hers. Nibbling his lips, she felt like she was drowning, and he was her life preserver. She broke the kiss and sighed. “Please come back soon.”
Julian and Taggart were seated in the living room, talking. Both men looked up expectantly as Kieran and Monique joined them. “Boss?” Julian stood.
“Tag, I appreciate you being here. Smooth, one hair on her head gets split and…” Kieran’s lips pinched.
“You will not touch either of them,mon ours.” Monique smiled.
Kieran shrugged. “Bye, beautiful.” He winked.
* * *
Martin was sittingbehind the wheel of a Lincoln Navigator when Kieran slid in beside him. Silently, he withdrew his weapon and racked a round before he replaced it in his holster. “I want this asshole,” he said.
“We got no action at the apartment. Ice and Troy are going to see if they can get a look inside. There is no heat signature. Also, we have eyes on the park where our photographer is setting up for a shoot. It’s gaining a crowd. Everyone there is being run through facial recognition.” Martin put the SUV into gear.
“Anything from our London office?” Kieran watched out the window.
“It’s worse than we thought. The number of threats are twice what we have. This person thinks she belongs to him. Boss, not only is he or she going after her; he or she’s going after anyone perceived to be in the way. The manager is dead, and we got the male model and his fiancé to safety right before their house caught fire,” Martin said.
“We still aren’t sure if this is a guy?” Kieran asked.
“Negative. Our forensics people are getting mixed signals from the notes. Some look like they came from a woman, but others from a man.” Martin hit the turn signal.
“A male-female team? That’s odd.” Kieran shook his head.
* * *
Monique satwith Taggart and Julian going through the secondary photographs of the Seraphina campaign, looking for someone who stood out. With each photograph, she grew more discouraged. “Everyone looks like they belong.”
Taggart placed his hand on hers. “Let’s take a break. You need to eat something.”
“I’m not hungry,” she sighed.
“I know you’re worried, but Kieran will be upset if you don’t eat,” Julian said.
“For you two.” She laughed.
Taggart opened the refrigerator and removed butter, bacon, eggs, milk, orange juice and some yogurt. “They stocked us up. How do you like your eggs?”
“Fried with tons of butter,” she said. “Let me help.” Monique got up, grabbed the wheat bread and popped six slices into the toaster oven.
“You surprise me. I thought…” Taggart said.
“We starve ourselves, but I like food. I’ve lost assignments because I wasn’t petite. I’m tall, and I have curves.” She popped the first piece of bacon out of the pan into her mouth. Her eyes focused on the bubbling grease in the pan.
“Monique,ça va?” Julian asked her how she was.
She pressed her hands flat on the counter, her fingers turning white. “Food. The food van. Temptress. The shoot was a long and hot three days. The cook kept leaving the truck to bring us water and electrolyte drinks. He was also watching at Del Mar Beach. The photographer,mon dieux, Mattia. You need to protect him.”
Julian and Taggart both reached for their phones and called in the information to send protection for him. “Monique, there’s nothing more we can do. Let’s have that breakfast,” Julian said.
* * *
Monique wasunaware Julian wore an earwig in his right ear. He could hear the activity from the park as well as Zach and Troy at the apartment where Monique’s smart devices’ signals were being captured from.
Zach slid the lens of the camera through a hole Troy drilled in the wall with a silent hand drill. The square room with a kitchen and bathroom area came into view. Both men survived multiple tours as Navy SEALs because they followed their guts. This time was no different. The door was wired with an improvised explosive device.
