Page 6

CHAPTER 6

KNOX

“How is Lark holding up?”

Ronan looks at me from across the dining room table, concern darkening his gaze. “If there’s anything else she needs, I’m heading into town right after this, so I can pick it up.”

I lift my chin at him. “Thanks. I think she’s all set, but when I go back there, I’ll double check and call if there’s anything.” After a beat, I add, “And she’s doing alright. Or as well as she can be, considering.”

My jaw clenches as I recall the nightmares Lark had during her nap, ones that she twitched and whimpered through like she was being traumatized and hurt all over again. Not wanting to wake her up, at first I tried reassuring her quietly, saying things like you’re safe and I won’t let anyone hurt you . But it was only when I touched her foot, rubbing it gently through the blanket, that she finally settled.

That’s just one of the many reasons I hated leaving Lark to come to this meeting. And it’s why I’m sitting here worrying that something might happen while I’m gone, despite logic telling me the opposite.

Alec glances up from his laptop. “Winter’s with her, right?”

“She is,” I answer. Glancing over at Enzo, I add, “Thanks for sending Winter over on such short notice. I know she has her own stuff going on. I just hated the thought of leaving Lark alone?—”

“Of course.” An affectionate smile brightens Enzo’s face. “Winter was more than happy to go over. She’s been wanting to meet Lark for a while. And once she heard about everything that happened, well… She wanted to offer her support. Be there if Lark needs someone to talk to.”

Of everyone, Winter’s no doubt the best person to comfort her. After the shit Winter went through over the last year, she would definitely understand Lark’s trauma. And I’m glad Lark has another woman here to talk to.

But selfishly, I want to be the one with Lark. I want to be back at the cabin, hugging her, making sure she’s taking her pain medication and eating, and soothing her through the terrible memories that are sure to pop up at the most unexpected moments.

“She’s going to be okay,” Enzo adds, his expression sobering as he meets my gaze. “Winter will call if there’s a problem. You know she will.”

“I know.” At least, my brain does. My heart, on the other hand, is still stubbornly unconvinced. I keep seeing Lark in the woods, bloody, crying, collapsing into my arms. I keep seeing her face when the police asked me to leave her room in the hospital, like she was desperate for me to stay. And I can’t forget how she asked me to hug her, and how damn perfect she felt felt in my embrace.

Just friends?

Who am I kidding? I think that ship has sailed.

“Alright.” Enzo sits up straight, squaring his shoulders and lifting his chin. “Let’s get this meeting started.” A corner of his mouth pulls up. “So we can let Knox get back to Lark. He’s going to be worrying until he does.”

“I’m not—” I start.

“It’s cool,” Gage says, speaking for the first time since he sat down at the table. He casts a quick glance in my direction. “She’s important to you. If it were me, I’d be worried, too.”

I nod at him. “Thanks, man.”

“Okay.” Enzo looks down at the tablet in front of him. “So, the main reason we’re here is to discuss Lark’s case. Obviously. But since we’re meeting, we can run through some of our upcoming jobs as well. Given that Lark is staying here, I think we’ll want to reassign some of the jobs.”

Turning to me, he asks, “I’m assuming you want to be on site to help with Lark’s protection? Unless you feel like you’re too close to it?—”

“I’m not,” I reply quickly. “I can keep my focus. And anyway, it’s not like we’re dating.”

Alec coughs, then mutters something to Ronan that sounds an awful lot like, “ And if he believes that, there’s a bridge in Brooklyn I could sell him .”

Enzo smirks. “I figured you’d say that.” After a beat, he adds, “And if you were dating, that doesn’t disqualify you from working Lark’s case. As long as you feel like you can stay focused, that’s all I care about. Of all people, I understand.”

Of course he does. When Winter was in trouble, Enzo didn’t hesitate to offer his protection—bringing her to his house, setting it up with a security system, and recruiting us to help. And despite the stressful experience, they started dating and eventually fell in love.

We wouldn’t even have Green Mountain Guardians if not for Enzo stepping up to help Winter. Once she was safe and things had settled down, he started thinking about other people who might be in similar situations. People who were in danger, but didn’t have the money to hire private security and the police couldn’t provide the protection they need.

So he thought of us. Me, Gage, Ronan, and Alec—all former military, working civilian jobs in northern Vermont, and, like me, missing that sense of purpose that came with our old missions. Enzo came up with a plan, we’d all still keep our regular day jobs and use our off-time to work for the Guardians.

Since most of us have pretty flexible schedules, it works. Running my own company, I can delegate jobs to my foreman when I need. Alec is our tech guy, so he can do a lot of investigative work right from his office at Stowe Security Services. Ronan works part-time as a medic at a ski resort in Stowe, and he has lots of free time in the off-season. Gage works from home, consulting on flight simulators. And Enzo lives and works right here, running an outdoor supply store on the edge of the GMG property .

We don’t advertise, taking jobs through referrals or like in Lark’s case, it’s someone we know personally. One day we might end up doing this full time, but for now, we’re happy to keep the company small.

“Alright,” Enzo continues. “So for our upcoming paid jobs, we have the FinTech conference in Boston next week, and then the charity event in Burlington the week after. The conference is a referral from the Brotherhood Protectors, so we really want to make sure we’re at the top of our game for that one.”

Alec nods. “They’ve been great with the referrals. Blade and Arrow, too. Just starting out, it’s really helpful to get these kinds of leads on paid security jobs.”

Since half our jobs are pro-bono, we rely on paid jobs with large companies and high-value employers to fund them. So referrals from private security groups like the Brotherhood Protectors and Blade and Arrow Security—both founded and staffed by former military—have been a huge help in getting GMG off the ground.

“I talked to Tayo about the FinTech job yesterday,” Enzo says. Tayo works for the Colorado branch of the Brotherhood Protectors and is also a good friend of Enzo’s back from the Green Beret qualification course. “He said it’s going to be primarily overseeing the various security teams for the CEOs attending. Making sure everyone is briefed on potential security risks, points of ingress and egress, and assigning coverage during the various speeches and parties. We originally planned on two people going, and I still think that will be plenty.”

Glancing between Gage and me, Enzo asks, “Gage, would you mind taking Knox’s spot for this job? So he can stay back with Lark?”

My stomach clenches. I hate putting my responsibilities on one of my teammates. “Sorry, Gage,” I begin. “If you can’t?—”

Gage’s response is immediate. “Of course I can. And don’t even think about apologizing.” He pauses, then gives me a small smile. “I’ll enjoy the trip to Boston, anyway.”

I don’t believe reclusive Gage wants to go to the city any more than I do, but I’m not going to call him out on it. Instead, I say, “Thanks, Gage. I really appreciate it.”

“Great.” Enzo takes a quick look at his tablet before continuing, “For our Burlington job, I know Alec and Ronan were planning to go. But—” He glances at Alec. “Since you’ll be working on investigating Lark’s case, I think it would be better if you stay here and I take your place. Is that alright with you?”

“Absolutely,” Alec answers. “I’ve already started working up a plan to find the person who targeted Lark.”

Glancing at Enzo, I ask, “Have the police found anything yet?”

“Not yet. But it’s still early.” Enzo’s brow furrows. “I did talk to Officer Quillian, and he said they didn’t get a match on the fingerprints. Or the blood samples. So the guy isn’t in the database.”

“Damn. I guess that would be too easy.” I turn to Alec. “So what are you thinking?”

“Well,” he starts, “first, I’m going to look through all of Lark’s security footage. I took a quick glance this morning, and the feed stops at 11:30 PM. My guess is someone hacked into her system and deactivated it prior to the break-in.”

“Do you think they hacked her Wi-Fi?”

Alec’s expression goes grim. “Probably. It wouldn’t be too difficult, unfortunately. That’s why I recommend having everything hard-wired instead.”

My tone is defensive. “Well, she didn’t know. Lark thought she was doing everything she was supposed to. How was she supposed to guess some asshole would hack her damn security system?”

“I know she didn’t.” Alec replies. “I’m not saying she did anything wrong.”

Shit. Why am I taking out my frustration on Alec? With an apologetic grimace, I say, “Sorry. Didn’t mean to jump on you about it.”

Alec makes a forget about it gesture with his hand. “It’s fine. I get it.” He pauses. “Anyway. I’m going to see if there are any clues to identity of whoever hacked it. See if there’s anything they missed. And I’m going to check traffic cameras in the area?—”

Ronan snorts. “Traffic cameras? Out where Knox and Lark live? Are there any?”

“There are several within a five-mile radius,” he replies. “It’s a long shot, but I just want to see if any cars were coming or going during the times of interest.”

“What about the evidence at Lark’s house?” Enzo leans forward in his chair, resting his elbows on the worn oak table. “I know the fingerprints are a bust with the police records, but with our connections…”

“I’m working on that.” Alec pauses to look at his laptop for a second. “The plan is to search through every fingerprint database in the country. Ones that are privately held. And I know a guy who can access military records, so I’m going to ask him for help.”

“Okay.” Enzo gives a quick nod of approval. “So Alec keeps investigating, if we find any leads, we’ll get on them ASAP, and we’ll keep Lark here until we solve this thing.”

“What about when she’s feeling better?” Gage asks. “If this goes on for weeks… she may not want to stay here.” He looks at me. “She has a job, right? She’ll want to get back to it, eventually.”

I nearly crack a molar trying to keep from snapping at him. But just because I hate the idea of Lark putting herself in danger doesn’t mean his point isn’t valid. “Well, she has the option to work remotely. And Lark’s dad owns the company, so I’m sure he’ll encourage her to stay home as long as possible. But if she insists…”

“We’ll figure something out if it gets to that point,” Enzo interjects. “But let’s not borrow trouble. Hopefully, we’ll get this solved sooner than later and Lark can get back to her regular life again.”

“That reminds me.” Casting my gaze around the table, I continue, “I’d really like to make sure Lark’s house is all cleaned up for whenever she goes back there. Do you think?—”

“Count me in.” Ronan lifts his chin at me. “I’d be happy to help.”

Enzo, Gage, and Alec echo the same statement, and a bubble of warmth expands in my chest.

It’s nice to be part of a team again.

“So we’re all set for now, unless anyone has concerns or questions?” Enzo flips the cover closed on his tablet and pushes it to the side .

A chorus of nos and I’m goods follow, and he smiles. “Alright. So last thing before we adjourn this meeting and let Knox get back to Lark.” He shoots me a teasing smile. “Thanksgiving. Winter’s been at me to finalize plans.”

“Oh.” Ronan brightens. “Are you hosting Thanksgiving?”

“I am.” Enzo beams. “Well, we are. Winter’s been talking about it, but I didn’t want to put too much on her, what with her recovery after everything. But she said it would make her happy, so…” He shrugs, looking pleased about it. “We’re hosting Thanksgiving for anyone who wants to come.”

“I’ll be there,” announces Ronan. “Winter’s cooking is great.”

Enzo coughs. “Mine isn’t that bad, you know.”

“It’s not that great, either,” Alec retorts with a smile. “But I’ll come. We’re having Thanksgiving on Saturday at my parents, since my sister can’t get off work until then.”

“Count me in.” As everyone’s heads swivel toward Gage, he says, “What? Just because I like peace and quiet doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good turkey dinner.”

“What about you, Knox?” Enzo raises his eyebrows at me. “Are you coming? Lark is invited, too, of course. She won’t be the only non-team member here. Winter’s best friend, Violet, is coming up from DC. And my old teammate, Nolan, is going to be here, too.”

“Yeah, I’m coming.” A spark of excitement kindles inside me. I haven’t had a big Thanksgiving dinner in years, and it was always at a teammate’s house with their family. This is the first time it feels almost like my family, instead. “And I’ll ask Lark. Since she can’t spend the day with her dad, I’d hate for her to be alone for the holiday.”

“Definitely ask her,” Alec says with a knowing glint in his eyes. “We’d love to have her here.” A beat, and then, “Just as a friend , of course.”

These guys. It’s like they want me to date Lark.

Well.

Maybe they’re on to something.