Page 43 of Guarding Grace

My heart stopped. “Oh no, I’m not.” This couldn’t be happening again, not three times in less than a day. What the hell had Elliot gotten me into?

She swiped her phone and held up a picture of Peyton. “You’re coming with me to see the boss. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. In the hard way, she dies. Which is it going to be, Grace? Do you want your assistant to pay the price for your stubbornness?”

The tremor in my hand started again. “I’ll go with you. But you have to promise to leave my people alone.” I picked up my purse, the one that didn’t have a Taser or pepper spray in it because I’d been too combative with Terry, too pig-headed to accept his advice.

“Keep it nice and casual. You and I are going to waltz out of here to visit a location so you can take measurements. Peyton explained that as your process, right?”

I nodded.

“If anyone gets suspicious, things get messy. And we don’t want messy, do we?”

“No.” I shook my head.

CHAPTER 10

Terry

The text messagearrived on the drive to meet Lucas and the team. I glanced at it in case it was Grace—it wasn’t.

CAROL HAWK: Call me when you are alone.

The Hawk family had taken me in after my return from the Middle East. Carol and Henry Hawk had even invited me to their occasional family dinners.

Having lost my parents years ago, I hadn’t ever expected to be a part of the kind of family dinner you saw on TV, but the Hawks had changed that. I was grateful.

This might be as alone as I was going to be all day, so I dialed her back using hands-free Bluetooth.

“Thank you for calling, Terry,” Mrs. Hawk answered sweetly.

“I’m driving right now, so I have a few minutes. How can I help you?”

“I need somebody I trust will be discreet arranging something I need—something that has to be kept in complete confidence,” she explained. “I know I can trust you.”

“Of course,” I answered. I had top security clearance from my days in the military. Arranging a surprise birthday party or whatever should be a piece of cake.

“I need an investigation,” she said.

My breath hitched. Sonotan innocuous surprise party.

My boss would not take violating the chain of command lightly. “I’m sure Lucas would be happy to help you.”

She was silent for a few beats. “This is rather delicate,” she said, with reluctance in her voice. “You can’t mention anything about this to anybody, including Lucas. Not one thing, not even this phone call.”

That got my attention, in a dangerous way. “I understand,” I said. She wouldn’t be asking me this if she didn’t think it was extremely important. I had now agreed to deceive my boss, if need be. “What would you like me to look into?”

“Not what, but whom.”

Holy shit. Lord help me, I’d better not have just agreed to get in the middle of a marital issue with my boss’s parents. “Who is it?”

If she said her husband, I was going to puke. Lucas would have my balls.

“When can we meet? I don’t want to discuss the particulars over the phone.”

I was only two blocks from the meeting point for the Russo confrontation. “I’m very busy today. I’ll get free as soon as my current assignment allows.”

“Thank you, Terry. I’ll look forward to hearing from you soon. I knew I could count on you.”

“Of course. I’ll be in touch. Bye.” I ended the call and parked behind Winston’s Cayenne, next to our little group.