Page 142 of Guarding Grace

“Call Duke back in. We have a line on Elliot.”

“How does this tie into the hit squad yesterday?” Winston asked.

Lucas steepled his hands. “I don’t know. Maybe Russo got tired of waiting and went after Elliot as a warning to his other couriers. Since I can’t prove he hired that crew, he can claim he didn’t violate our agreement.”

It sounded tenuous to me, but possible. “It still could have been Marku. And those guys are still out there.”

Lucas nodded. “At least we now have the case and can get our hands on Elliot, which is all we need to get Grace off Russo’s radar.”

I spoke up. “The toad might deserve it, but I don’t think Grace will want us to hand over Elliot.”

“That’s one way to go,” Lucas commented. “Or we could send Elliot back to Russo with the case and it’s up to him to convince Tony he got ripped off by his roommate, and it took a few days to track him down and get it back.”

“Send the roommate down to Colombia, and that has a chance of working.”

I pushed again in Grace’s interest. “He is a pretty accomplished liar, but I don’t like the odds.”

“Unless you have a better idea, I’ll call Marku and Russo to tell them we found the case, and I’ll hand it over to Russo tomorrow,” Lucas said. “That should at least take the Houston team off the board for now.”

“Sounds good.” I very much liked the idea of not having a professional hit squad around.

Grace

Constance satin the corner of my office, much less intrusive than Terry had ever managed to be.

Peyton knocked once and poked her head in. “Don’t forget, after lunch you’re due at the Garcias’ for their measurements, and the four-oh-five is backed up.”

Constance stood. “She’s not going anywhere.” The ex-Secret Service agent might be short, but when she wanted to be authoritative, she had the in-charge voice down pat.

“But we talked about this yesterday.” Peyton pointed her argument at me. “She insisted on having you involved, remember?”

I did remember, but after the shootout on the street outside our building yesterday, I was done arguing with my bodyguards. This time I allowed my business to take a backseat to my personal desires. “Sorry, it looks like I’m grounded.”

“Okay,” Peyton said, drawing out the word. “I’ll cancel it.”

I shook my head. “Don’t cancel. Send Marci with Paul. I’ll apologize later.” If we lost this sale, so be it.

“You got it,” Peyton said and left.

When the door closed, Constance retook her seat. “I know our rules can feel stifling, but it’s necessary. Terry and the guys are working the search hard. You’ll be done with us soon enough.”

“I hope so. These people and their families depend on me.” Then I asked a question I’d always avoided with Constance. “What was it like protecting the First Lady?”

She sat back in her chair. “Boring when she was at the White House, which was most of the time, and very long days when she took a trip.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Not for a minute. Lucas is the best boss anyone could want in this kind of business, and the guys are great.”

I checked my watch and tapped it. “It’s time for me to make a few customer calls, if you don’t mind.”

She rose. “I’ll be right outside with Zane.”

Before I could start my first call, my phone rang. My heart sped up when I saw that it was Terry. “Hi. I miss you, Rambo.” It was a silly thing to say, but it was the truest I could be.

“Kitten, I miss you too. Look, we found Rudi and the shipment that Elliot lost.”

“Really?” I squeaked. “That’s great, right?” Finally, a light at the end of this terrible tunnel. “And Elliot?”