Page 75 of Hot Zone

“Sounds good to me.”

Mars

Ziva pulled back the curtain on the front window a tiny bit and peeked out. “Should we see if he wants us to get him something for lunch?”

“I guess. I don’t know. I’ve never had a bodyguard before.”

When I’d arrived at the shop this morning, Gator was waiting for me. He seemed nice enough, although I hadn’t talked to him much. He introduced himself and told me he would be staying outside to keep an eye on the place. So far, that was exactly what he’d done.

“Okay, I’ll check and see. Do you know what you want?”

I debated getting something healthy, but since Samuel sent me with something for lunch most days, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to splurge.

“I want an order of the loaded fajita fries from Winchesters.”

“Oh, that sounds good. I’ll add a side salad, and I can pretend it’s healthy.”

She went out, talked with Gator for a minute, and came back in. “He says he would eat a Philly from Winchesters. You want to call it all in?”

“Sure.” I placed the order for the food and then went back to work while she went after the food. I was trying to get all the stock I’d ordered for the holidays out on the shelves.

I also had to decide where to put all of Roxy’s cute little gingerbread men. Seemed to me that they would do best up front where people would see them as soon as they came in, so Imoved a stack of tarot cards over with the others and used that shelf for her creations. It made the shelf a little crowded, but it would be okay.

A few minutes later, Ziva came back with our food, so I stuck my head out the door where Gator was standing. “Hey, can you come in long enough to eat?”

He shrugged. “I guess I could come in for that long. Let me take a walk around the property first, and I’ll meet you inside.”

I got three bottles of water out of the fridge and then joined Ziva at the table. “He’ll be in here in a minute.”

“I can’t believe you have a bodyguard. I’ve never even met one in person and sure never thought I’d be picking up lunch for one.”

“I put on my pants one leg at a time like everyone else, sugar. Ain’t nothing special about me,” Gator said, sauntering into the room.

“Maybe so, but it’s a really cool job.” Ziva handed him the bag with his Philly cheesesteak in it.

He shrugged. “It’s not bad.”

“I wouldn’t have thought there was a lot of need for your services in a place like Vesper,” I said.

“There really isn’t, but we go where we’re needed.”

The door chimed, letting me know someone had come inside, and Gator made a frustrated growl sound. “You need to put up some mirrors so you can see that front door.”

He wasn’t wrong, but I wasn’t going to admit it. “We’re in the tea room,” I called out.

“It’s just me,” a familiar voice called back, and then Mika entered the room. “Darn it. I’ve interrupted your lunch again.”

“It’s fine, Mika. Pull up a chair and join us. There are more of these fries than I can possibly eat so we can share.”

Mika looked at Gator, and I could tell the big guy made him nervous.

“This is Gator. Samuel arranged for him to hang out at the shop while I’m at work to keep an eye on things,” I explained.

“Oh, okay. Is there a reason for that or—”

“Or is Samuel being overprotective?” I shrugged. “I don’t know, but it makes him feel better, so I’m not going to complain.”

“You’re lucky, but I know you know that.”

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