Page 17 of Good Enough

Dumbasses. You can almost set your watch to their patrols. If anyone wanted to get to her, it would be easy.

He snorted. He’d broken back in, hadn’t he? And he didn’t even have to try.

Suddenly, he felt his butt vibrate. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket. “Yep.”

“Struck out, huh?”

“You’re a persistent fuck, aren’t you?”

“I figured for sure you’d have charmed your way into her La Perla panties hours ago, and I’d have to call at least twice before you fumbled in the dark to answer.”

“I’m not charming my way into anything, dickhead. Now, what do you want?”

God grunted. “Midas looked into Kubrick. Squeaky clean. She owns a house on Ivywood Lane. Mother was connected somehow to the British aristocracy, but it’s really far down the line—about seventeen people. Fifth daughter of a baron or some shit. However…”—he paused for dramatic effect—“she has a brother.”

Waters exhaled. “Ka-Bar.”

God agreed. “Fuckin’ Ka-Bar.”

“Why didn’t she say something? It’s not like he didn’t come up. For fuck’s sake, why didn’t he say something when he contacted Steel?”

“Steel might have already known, so the information would have been redundant. As for her, I’m not even going to hazard a guess. But why Midas didn’t find it the first time around is beyond me. He does not miss shit.”

Not Ka-Bar’s woman. She was technically no longer off-limits. If he was interested. Which he wasn’t.

“I guess it’s not like we didn’t know there was a connection somewhere. I mean, he’s not going to call in a favor for a stranger.” Waters thought for a moment. “Did you talk to Steel yet?”

“He’s still dark. He should be emerging soon, but until then, we’re running blind. Unless Midas can work his voodoo. Stay frosty, Waters. If Ka-Bar’s asking us to watch a family member, then he’s scared. And scared military men are usually scared for a reason. Especially Spec Ops members. We probably should be bringing her into the Tribe right now, but… I’m gonna hold off on that temporarily.”

Why the hell wouldn’t God grant her absolute protection? There’s certainly the bond of brotherhood to Ka-Bar, and they were ninety-nine percent sure she was in danger, so what was the holdup?

God broke the silence. “What did you learn today? Anything of value?”

Yeah. I learned she makes me wish I were a different man.

“She’s popular. People seem to want to please her. Lots of positive relationships with people. She’s good at what she does, at least so far. To be honest, I didn’t spot anyone or anything out of place, but my spidey senses told me she’s being watched. No guarded looks, no suspicious behavior, no masked expressions. Nothing overt except for Big Bird. He’s going to be an issue. He’s got a severe hard-on for Kubrick. She can handle herself, which is hot as hell, but something’s off about him, and I don’t trust him. Midas should run a check on him if he hasn’t already.”

There was a pause. “So. She’s hot as hell?”

Fuck. Of course he’d latch onto that. Her lack of filter is rubbing off on you.

Waters heard the taunt behind God’s question and could have kicked himself for the slip-up. He let the silence stretch. No use trying to deny he said it. It would only make it worse.

His boss let it go. “Who’s Big Bird?”

“Stapleton, the executive producer. Ruffled feathers. Molting. Lots of screeching. Long story. Seemed better than ‘assclown’ for a nickname.”

“Okay. Trust your instincts and watch the fucker. I’ll have Midas run a report. He’s probably high on the list for him anyway, but I’ll put a rush on that one.”

After a long silence, completely serious, God added, “Waters?”

“Yeah?”

“Do not let her out of your sight. Unless you want to sit out in the cold every night and get no sleep, you better find a reason to get inside with her. And I still think inside of her might not be a bad idea either.”

“Now who’s the assclown?”

God laughed on the other end of the line and clicked off. Waters had to admit, the man wasn’t wrong. It would be a lot easier if he could be inside her living space with her or at her side all of the time, but that just wasn’t possible right now. He needed Steel and Nemo to get home from Cuba soon. He could go for several days without sleep, but it was dangerous and could make him sloppy. And he would not be sloppy about protecting Kubrick from whatever shitstorm was coming.

---