“Yes, but this was the most convenient for tonight, considering how late it is,”Itold her.
She paused, clearly thinking things through in her head. “Ifthey could find me at my apartment, couldn’t they just come to your house?Iunderstand your house is secure, butI’vealso learned that if people want to kill you, they will find a way.”
“You speaking from personal experience?”Vincechimed in from the front.
“I can honestly sayIhave never had anyone take out a hit on me before, butI’vecovered enough news stories to know if the bad guys want it bad enough, they will find a way,” she responded.
“My house is secure, yes, but all of our properties are listed under a shell company, which is very distantly tied to the security company we own but still listed as a working farm,”Iexplained. “Toanyone digging deep, it may just look like we bought the farm as an investment, not necessarily that we are living here.”
“You’ve mentioned this security company before,”Acesaid. “Willyour boss mind that you’re utilizing all of these resources to help me—someone who technically isn’t married to you anymore?”
I knew what she was saying.Peopleknow that when you were a direct employee or a family member, your job would help you out, but in her case, she neither worked for, nor was related to anyone within the company.
“Iamthe boss,”Iinformed her, hoping that clarified the situation. “Vince,Jack,Wade, andIare all equal partners.Wehave five other employees—Diego,Axel,Dane,Andre, andDelia—who work for us, as well asJack’sfiancé,Ruthie, who runs our front desk and handles all our administrative stuff.”
I took in the look on her face.Itwas only there briefly, but there was definitely a look of impressed shock in her eyes.
“Everyone has been briefed, and they are all on board to assist,”Vinceadded. “Speakingof which,Jacksaid he will drop offDashand meet us at your place with the others.”
I nodded at him, knowingRuthiewould likely come too—under the guise of “working with us,” but mostly because she was nosy.
“The others?”Aceasked with one brow lifted in confusion.
“Several other people we work with are meeting at my place so we can go over some security plans for the next few days,”Iinformed her.
I could tell she had more questions, but thankfullyVince’svoice cut her off. “Homesweet home.”
She looked up and out the window.Itwas dark, butIsaw her taking it all in as we pulled down the drive to the property.Treeslined the main road, providing a little bit of security.Aboutfifty yards down,Jack’shouse came into view.
“That’sJackandRuthie’splace,”Ipointed out to her as we drove by.Wepassed a small pond on the side ofJack’sproperty and then some small hills and lots of grassy meadows.
A few minutes later,Vince’shome came into view, andIpointed that out to her as well.Theoutside of it looked all done, but the inside was still a work in progress.Myhouse was last, as you curved down the street to the right.Itwas a combination of stone and wood.Ithad a very rustic cabin charm to it, though it was brand-new and modern in every way.
“You take her and the dog in and show them around, andI’llgrab the stuff and bring it in,”Vinceannounced as we pulled up to the front of my house.
I confirmed with him asIopened the door forAceto get out.SheletPercywalk around a bit and do his business before we made our way up the front steps.Idisarmed my alarm system as we walked in and then flicked on some lights.
The front door opened to a narrow entryway.Igave her a brief tour, letting her know the garage was on the right and formal dining room on the left, whichIused as a makeshift gym for now.Aswe continued down the hall, it opened into a large open space with the stairs on the left and the living room and kitchen in front of us.
“Let me show you your room upstairs soVincecan put your stuff down, and thenI’llshow you the rest of the house,”Itold her asIwaited for her to follow.
“AmIallowed to know the alarm code and have keys in casePercyneeds to go out to pee at night or early in the morning?” she asked.
“For now, come wake me up if that happens,”Iresponded. “WhileI’mconfident my place is secure,Idon’t want to leave anything to chance, soI’drather go out with you.”
She nodded in response, and we walked upstairs.Thefirst room on the right was a guest bath, whichItold her would be hers.Myroom was directly across the hall from that bathroom.Herroom and another guest room were farther down the hall, but the extra room was currently being used as my home office.
“Here, take these, andI’llgo grab the rest,”Vincesaid as he made it to the top of the stairs, handing me her two suitcases.
I brought them into her room and set them down by the door.Shethen setPercydown so he could sniff around the room.
“Is this okay?”IfoundIoddly cared what she thought of the space.
“Yes, this is very nice, thanks,” she replied, taking in the room around her.
Vince came up with the rest of the items and set them down. “Diegois here, andJackandRuthiejust pulled up.WadeandAxelare two minutes out.”
I nodded at him as he pivoted to walk down the stairs, and thenIturned toAce. “Goahead and take a few minutes to freshen up or get him settled, andI’llmeet you downstairs so we can go over your schedule for the next few days and what the plan is.”
