Page 27 of Mountain Protector

“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 youweredating, that doesn’t disqualifyyou 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 issomeone 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 aforget about itgesture 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?Arethere 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.”

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