Debra Webb - Personal Protector

Victoria watched the smile inch its way across Lucas’s grim mouth. She smiled, as well. Lucas was definitely one of a kind. And so was Ric Martinez, the grandfather remark not withstanding.

“All right, Martinez.” Lucas lowered his weapon. “You can have a seat now.” Lucas’s smile widened to a grin when Ric’s annoyed gaze connected with his. “Unless, of course, you need to go change your shorts.”

“I’m cool,” Ric said, grinding the words out as he took the seat she had offered earlier.

“You’re right, Victoria.” Lucas settled back into his own chair. “He is good.”

“Does anyone mind letting me in on the joke?” Ric demanded, irritation clear in his tone. “I knew there was a certain level of risk involved when I signed on,” he said pointedly as he pinned Victoria with that dark gaze. “I just didn’t expect to find it in your office.”

Victoria reined in her smile and adopted a more businesslike expression. “Ric, this is Lucas Camp. He’s with a highly covert special ops organization of which I’m not at liberty to discuss. And he’s a very dear friend of mine.” Disbelief clouded the younger man’s eyes briefly. He probably wondered how she knew a man like Lucas. She knew a great many things that Ric was entirely too new in this business to even fathom.

Ric felt certain he wouldn’t soon forget this meeting. Just who the hell was this guy anyway? Ric shifted his gaze to the man who had held a gun to his head only moments before. Despite his lingering uneasiness, Ric leaned forward and extended his hand. “I would say that it’s a pleasure, Mr. Camp, but I wouldn’t want to lie.”

Lucas shook Ric’s hand firmly. “If you’d said it was, I’d have to change my opinion of you.”

“Ric, I have an assignment that I feel you are particularly suited for,” Victoria said, drawing his attention back to her and away from the man who had seriously annoyed him.

Ric straightened in his chair. Maybe he was finally going to get a real assignment. “That’s great,” he said with a new sense of anticipation. It was well past time that Victoria recognized his potential.

She passed a manila folder to him. “This is Piper Ryan,” Victoria explained. “She’s a news correspondent for WYBN-TV in Atlanta.”

Ric opened the folder as he listened. His gaze instantly riveted to the glossy head shot of a young and extraordinarily beautiful woman. “Whoa! This is one hot number.”

“Piper is Lucas’s niece,” Victoria added pointedly.

Ric’s gut clenched. Damn. He lifted his gaze to meet the death ray Lucas aimed in his direction. “I meant beautiful in a sisterly kind of way.”

Lucas’s intense gaze cut to Victoria. “And you’re certain he’s the best man for the job?”

Ric tensed. Damn. His first big chance and he screws up by sticking his big foot in his mouth.

“Quite certain,” Victoria affirmed.

Relief rushed through him. Maybe he hadn’t stepped too far out of line. “What’s the deal with Pi—Miss Ryan?” he inquired, doing his level best to ignore the daggers still emanating from Lucas’s deadly glare.

“One month ago Piper and five other reporters were invited to a secret press conference for a terrorist group called the Soldiers of the Sovereign Union, or SSU.”

Ric nodded. Though he hadn’t seen Piper on the news, he had watched some of the highly publicized results of the secret press conference. He remembered that the reporters had been blindfolded and taken to some remote location. The leader of the group had hoped to garner sympathy in the press. But what the media had reported was anything but sympathetic to the terrorists’ cause.

“I saw a couple of the news reports,” he told Victoria.

“Then you know that to date three of the reporters have died violent deaths at the hands of these people. The FBI is investigating and is providing protection for the remaining reporters, including Piper.”

“What role will I be playing?”

“Lucas is going to coordinate that part of the setup,” Victoria told him. “With your videographer expertise, I’m certain you will fit right in as Piper’s new cameraman. Your assignment will be to shadow her every step.”

“What about after work hours?”

“I’ve taken care of that, too,” Lucas answered this time. “I arranged for Piper’s next-door neighbor to win a two-week vacation in Hawaii. He left today. You’ll be apartment-sitting, so to speak, while he’s vacationing.”

Ric cocked an eyebrow. “And your niece won’t be suspicious of my sudden appearance in both her professional as well as her personal life?”

Lucas met Ric’s questioning gaze. “My niece is a very busy young woman. She won’t waste time wondering anything about you.”

Ignoring the blatant attempt to take him down a couple of notches, Ric smiled politely. “Good.” He rubbed at his chin a moment, his gaze lingering on the older man’s. “It does seem rather strange to me though that you don’t trust the FBI to take care of your niece. Any particular reason?”

Victoria cleared her throat in warning. He was pushing it here.

“I didn’t survive so long in this business without taking extra precautions, Martinez. I never leave anything to chance.”

“Does the FBI have anyone inside?” Ric asked, effectively moving past the nerve he had obviously just hit.

“They have a man in the SSU.” Lucas propped his hand on his cane. “And I have someone special waiting to provide you with any backup you may require.”

“Jack Raine has come out of retirement,” Victoria added for clarification. “He’s the best there is. You can count on him.” She glanced at Lucas. “Though I am surprised you talked him into taking time away from his wife and new son.”

Ric remembered Jack Raine well. His case was legendary around here.

“The bottom line, Martinez,” Lucas interjected, “is that I want someone watching my niece who has no political stake in any of this.” He shifted in his chair, looking directly at Ric now. “I want you to eat, sleep and breathe Piper Ryan until I can stop these bastards.”

“I can do that,” Ric assured him.

“I hope so, Martinez.” Lucas leveled a warning gaze on him. “Because I’m counting on you personally to keep my niece safe. Don’t let me down.”

Ric met his lethal glare. “Trust me, Mr. Camp. Keeping Piper Ryan safe will be a walk in the park.”

“I am so late,” Piper Ryan muttered irritably. Her grip tightened on the steering wheel as she stared at the endless lines of cars sitting bumper-to-bumper in all three lanes going in her direction. She hated morning rush hour.

Especially on Mondays.

Particularly when she was already late.

The never-ending construction in this swiftly growing area of downtown Atlanta only magnified the undesirable situation. The fact that it was nearly ninety degrees at 9:00 a.m. didn’t help. August dog days were as hot as Hades in the good old South. A little much-needed rain would be nice about now. Anything to cool things off. She had to admit that the one saving grace of this time of year was the beautiful blooming crepe myrtles. And the glossy-leafed magnolias, she added on second thought. They were still lovely, too. A few blooms managed to hang on here and there.

She glanced at her rearview mirror in search of a much more unattractive feature of her life these days. The dark, nondescript sedan that shadowed her every move was three cars back and in the right-hand lane. Piper doubted she was the only one complaining about traffic this morning. The two FBI agents assigned as her security detail were likely less than happy at the moment, as well. Knowing they were there was definitely a comfort, even if she didn’t want to admit it.