Page 29 of Protecting Her

Carmen's hand brushed her arm, the touch grounding them both. "I trust you."

The words hit Jude like physical contact. Trust had gotten people killed in Yemen. Trust had led to betrayal in Caracas. But Carmen's trust felt different. Not blind faith, but a conscious choice between equals.

She pushed that thought away as they approached the service area. She had a diplomat to protect, a peace treaty to salvage, and feelings she couldn't examine while their world collapsed around them.

But as they moved through shadows toward extraction, Jude accepted a truth that made her both stronger and more vulnerable: she would die before letting anyone harm Carmen.

Not because of duty or protocol.

But because losing her had become unthinkable.

The service corridor stretched endless as Jude led them through the building's arteries, each turn bringing fresh tactical calculations. Her phone vibrated constantly with updates from her scattered team, but she kept her focus on the immediate threats that enveloped around Carmen.

"Two vehicles blocking the main exit," Sarah reported through comms. "Black SUVs, diplomatic plates."

"Like Venezuela," Carmen murmured, keeping pace perfectly with Jude's movements. Her heels clicked softly against concrete, somehow managing to sound precise rather than anxious.

Jude nodded, noting how Carmen had already accurately categorized the threat pattern. She guided them through another turn, using the building's service infrastructure as cover. Every shadow held potential threats, but Carmen matched her movements without hesitation, their bodies falling into practiced synchronization.

"Kate, status on the corporate teams?"

"Moving to secure the parking structure." Keys clicked rapidly in the background. "They've got someone monitoring city surveillance feeds. Traffic cameras are being redirected."

A professional hit, then. Jude had seen this level of coordination before—teams that knew how to manipulate the local infrastructure to isolate targets. She adjusted their route, leading Carmen deeper into the building's maintenance areas where surveillance coverage thinned.

A door slammed somewhere ahead. Carmen tensed beside her, but Jude had already identified the sound pattern as one of their people. Not a threat.

Marcus emerged from the shadows, his movement silent despite his size. "Vehicle's ready. But we've got company watching the approach."

"Show me."

He pulled up surveillance feeds on his phone. Jude studied the positions of unmarked vehicles and too-casual observers. The pattern was elegant in its simplicity. They had established overlapping fields of fire covering every standard escape route.

"The loading dock," Carmen said quietly, studying the footage over Jude's shoulder. Her perfume cut through the service corridor's industrial scents, grounding Jude in thepresent moment. "They're expecting us to take the most defensible position."

"Which means they've planned for it." Jude switched channels on her radio. "Sarah, that construction site we scouted?—"

"Already in position. Access route is clear."

Carmen raised an eyebrow. "You expected this."

"I plan for everything." Jude checked her weapon, hyperaware of Carmen watching her movements. "The construction site connects to maintenance tunnels under three blocks. They won't expect us to go underground."

More updates flooded her phone: local police establishing checkpoints, hotel security doing suspicious sweeps, and corporate contractors moving with coordinated precision through the building.

They were running out of time.

"Multiple targets approaching the service area," Kate warned through comms. "You've got maybe two minutes."

Jude led them through narrow passages she'd memorized during security sweeps, each step calculated to avoid the compromised security cameras. Carmen kept pace effortlessly, her diplomatic poise transformed into fluid movement that matched Jude's tactical advance.

They emerged into weak sunlight filtering through construction barriers. Sarah materialized from behind scaffolding, weapon ready but concealed.

"Vehicle's in position," she reported. "But we've got movement on the south approach. Looks like local police, but their response pattern is wrong."

"Compromised units," Carmen said, recognizing the implications. "Exactly like the checkpoint ambush in Venezuela."

An engine revved nearby—too close, too deliberate. Jude pulled Carmen behind a concrete pillar as headlights swept past their position. She felt Carmen's pulse racing where their bodies pressed together, but the diplomat's breathing remained steady.

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