Page 20 of Protecting Her

"Two more security rotation changes," Sarah murmured through comms. "That's nine total."

Jude tracked the suspicious waiter from earlier, noting how he kept drifting closer to Carmen's projected path toward the podium. His movements were too deliberate, each pass bringing him nearer while still appearing random to untrained eyes.

"Status check," she ordered quietly, thumb brushing her concealed weapon.

"East entrance clear," Marcus reported.

"Surveillance feeds normal," from Kate.

"Perimeter secure," James confirmed.

But something felt wrong. The waiter's jacket sat oddly on his right side, just off-kilter enough to be noticeable to Jude’s trained eyes. The local security teams had positioned themselves to create a blind spot near the stage. Even the usual radio chatter felt too quiet, like the silence before an ambush.

Carmen began moving toward the podium for her keynote address. The room shifted around her, delegates and observersrepositioning themselves. Jude caught a subtle hand signal between two of the new security personnel—a gesture that didn't match standard Colombian protocols. Jude moved silently closer. Very close.

"Sarah, check the?—"

The waiter moved, one fluid motion that screamed military training, and he reached his hand inside his jacket. Time stretched infinite, each second longer than the previous, as Jude's body responded before conscious thought. She registered multiple details simultaneously: the metallic glint of a weapon, Carmen ascending the podium steps, the positions of her team, and the civilians in the kill zone.

Jude crossed the space in three steps, her combat instincts taking over. The waiter's hand emerged from his jacket with a matte-black pistol. She drove her shoulder into his sternum, redirecting the weapon's aim toward the ceiling as his finger tightened on the trigger and squeezed it. The gunshot cracked against marble, sending ripples of screams through the crowd.

But the waiter was well-trained. He rolled with her impact, using the momentum to create space between them. A knife appeared in his left hand— a standard special operations forces backup technique. Jude caught his wrist as the blade slashed toward her throat, feeling his tendons strain against her grip. She twisted, using his own forward momentum to break his balance.

They crashed into a table of champagne flutes. Glass shattered as Jude drove her knee into his solar plexus. The gun clattered away, but he maintained his grip on the knife. A precise slash forced her to release his wrist or lose her own.

Through her earpiece, she heard her team coordinating Carmen's evacuation while engaging multiple hostiles. The waiter had been a distraction for a larger assault team. ButJude's world had narrowed to the deadly dance between blade and body, each movement a calculated risk.

He struck again, the knife tracing patterns she recognized from close-quarters combat training. She blocked a thrust aimed at her ribs, metal scraping against her tactical vest. Her counter-strike caught him in the throat, disrupting his breathing for a few crucial seconds.

But he recovered faster than Jude had expected, and the blade flickered toward her face again. Jude felt it bite along her cheekbone as she twisted away. The pain sharpened her focus to crystalline clarity. She trapped his knife hand against a broken table, the bones cracking under precise pressure.

The blade dropped. He tried to turn it into a grapple, but Jude had already mapped his injuries. A strike to his damaged wrist, an elbow to his bruised ribs, and he folded like origami. She secured his hands with tactical restraints, noting the quality of his weapons and gear. Not cartel equipment; this was professional hardware.

"Threat contained," she reported, already moving toward Carmen's last position. "Status of the package?”

She had to know if Carmen was ok.

"Primary package secure," Sarah responded and Jude breathed a momentary sigh of relief. "Multiple hostiles engaged at east and west entrances. Extraction route compromised."

Fuck. We have to get her out of here.

Keep her safe.

Jude vaulted over an overturned table, scanning the chaos of fleeing guests and clashing security teams. Her tactical mind processed threats and assets: two more attackers by the entrance, local police responding with suspicious delay, multiple civilians in crossfire zones.

She found Carmen behind a marble column, Sarah shielding her while Marcus engaged hostiles near the service entrance.Their eyes met across the space, and Jude saw both diplomatic composure and carefully hidden fear in her eyes.

"Alternate extraction route," Jude ordered, reaching them as another gunshot cracked against stone. "Marcus, clear the kitchen. Sarah, rear guard. James, bring the vehicle to the service exit."

They moved as a unit, Carmen matching their pace without hesitation. Her evening gown whispered against marble as they navigated through service corridors, Jude with her body between Carmen and the threat. She was so close to her. Close enough to smell the memory of the previous night.

Focus, Jude!!

A burst of gunfire behind them confirmed Sarah engaging pursuers.

"Two targets neutralized," Sarah reported. "But police bands show multiple units converging. Response time's too fast. They had to know."

Jude guided them through the kitchen where Marcus had already subdued a hostile waiting in ambush. "Kate, status on follow vehicle?"

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