Page 10 of A Rhapsody of Ravens and Revenge

“I’m overreacting?” she said, stopping her pacing to stare at him in disbelief. “You take all of my choices away like an errant child and put me in lockdown in another state with a contingency of bodyguards who all happen to be eligible bachelors and I’m overreacting?”

Only a lifetime of training kept him from wincing at the bite in her voice. Saying she was angry was an understatement. Energy practically crackled around her. Her hair had always been as reddish gold as a sunrise, but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen it down. She always wore it pulled back. Even in Florida in the middle of the summer she was as unassuming as ever in a pair of baggy lounge pants and an old T-shirt. She’d spent the last ten years trying to hide away so no one noticed her, never making an effort to cultivate relationships or move out of her comfort zone. He worried about her a great deal. She hadn’t always been that way. Something had changed in her a decade before and he had no idea what it was.

He never thought he’d miss the wild and adventurous and sometimes rebellious child she’d been. But it had been a long time since he’d seen a glimpse of that girl. There was a part of him that was glad to see her anger.

Whatever had happened to change her a decade before, it had only intensified after her mother’s death. Robert had built a career on noticing things, and he was even more determined to get Evangeline to enjoy life. He knew better than anyone how precious and short it was. He’d lost a good woman and a lot of men under his command during his almost seven decades on earth. And he’d be damned if he’d give up just because his daughter was throwing a temper tantrum.

“Daddy, are you listening to me? You’ve got that look on your face you use with politicians where you pretend to listen but you’re really thinking of all the other things you need to do.”

He laughed for the first time since he’d heard the news about the threat made to her. She was his heart and soul, and he’d do whatever it took to keep her safe. He wasn’t always the best at showing his love, but he did it the only way he knew how. To try and make sure she was safe and secure. In his mind, that was the most anyone could ever ask for.

“You look just like your mother when you get angry. Have I ever told you that?”

She growled at him and he held back another chuckle. If she was anything like her mother in temperament she’d be throwing things at his head before too long. God, he missed that woman. She’d been his partner in every sense of the word, and there’d been a void in his life ever since her death.

“You forgot to mention that there’s a maniac after you who doesn’t particularly want you to be able to be a witness when he’s caught and this thing goes to trial.”

“Daddy—”

“Don’t you Daddy me, Evangeline Elizabeth Lockwood. There’s a difference in being independent and just plain foolish. And this time you’re being foolish.”

“I can take care of myself, and I can hire my own bodyguards if I feel I need them. The police and the FBI are watching my house. I’ll be perfectly safe staying there. This guy killed a senator and destroyed my home in broad daylight. He’s making stupid choices. There’s no way he can keep doing what he does and not get caught. I’ll be just fine at home.”

“Uh-huh. And I’m sure it won’t bother you at all to stare at the broken things you’ve worked so hard for and the blood on the walls.” He shrugged his shoulders and gave her a sarcastic look. “Heck, the ambiance might do you some good. What was I thinking? Let’s call a cab and get you back home.”

She rolled her eyes and he knew he had her. Children were predictable creatures after all. At least to a certain extent.

“How long am I supposed to stay here?” she asked, finally dropping down onto the couch across from him. “I have a job. I have responsibilities. I can’t just take off indefinitely while the investigation continues. The last I checked they were no closer to finding the identity of Biddle’s killer than they’ve been from the beginning.”

He took a sip from the bottle of water in his hand and thought carefully how to best answer. “We’ve got some added help from superior sources,” he finally said. “Sometimes jobs like these call for the best. And I just happen to be in the business of knowing who’s the best. Trust me. We’ll know who killed Senator Biddle very soon.”

“If you’ve got everything worked out then there’s no point in me wasting my time and the money you’re spending on hired goons.”

“I’m not sure your new bodyguard would appreciate being called a goon.”

Robert’s lips twitched. Cal Cruz had been called a lot of things in his thirty-six years, but he was pretty sure that goon wasn’t one of them.

“All I’m asking is that you give it a week,” he said reasonably. “Think of it as a vacation for my peace of mind. Myron Biddle had his fingers in some pretty interesting pies. Believe me when I tell you that the list is long for those who probably wanted him dead. And the people on that list are very good at killing. I’d prefer my only daughter wasn’t added to the body count.”

“I’ll give it a week,” she said. “But you and I both know that living hidden in fear is no way of living at all.”

“I dislike it intensely when you use my own words against me.”

She grinned and he saw the little girl he remembered—the precocious child with the brain of an adult who’d given him every gray hair on his head. She’d been a handful, and he’d not always known the best way to deal with her. But he’d enjoyed every minute of it. Or almost every minute.

She’d once decoded the intelligence reports from the operatives he had placed in Iran. It had taken her about five minutes to read what had taken him almost two hours. And he’d gotten a tongue-lashing from his wife that still sent shivers down his spine once she found out he’d let a six-year-old girl decode an entire report—most of which wasn’t at all suitable for a child.

It was a good memory. And he was getting maudlin in his old age. Maybe he was becoming an old woman.

The hairs on the back of his neck prickled and the atmosphere in the room changed. Despite the fact there’d been no noise to alert his presence, Robert knew they weren’t alone anymore. Cal was good, and he felt a swell of pride to know that he’d been the one to train him.

“If you keep zoning out I’m not going to help you host that party at the end of the month,” she said.

“I’m not zoning out. I’m compartmentalizing all the different things I need to do today.”

“So you’re ignoring me? That makes me feel much better, thank you.”

“I hate that shirt you’re wearing,” he said, just to be contrary. “You could fit Barnum and Bailey under there.”

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