Page 74 of Keep Her from Them

I reached for her hand. She laced her fingers through mine.

“One meeting, then we’ll forget about it for the rest of the day.”

The squeeze of her fingers and the faith she put in me was all I needed to be certain I’d put it all right.

Forty minutes later, we pulled up to the gate of a sizeable house at the edge of a pretty Cairngorms town. Down a long drive, it was surrounded by trees, and private enough that I wasn’t going to worry about Alex being spotted. I parked between Ben’s and Jackson’s vehicles, and a good part of the stress I’d been carrying dissolved. I was a pack animal through and through. I needed my team around me.

Near the front door of the Victorian house was a huge skip, and Jackson and Valentine emerged from the open front door, struggling under the weight of a black bin. They upended it intothe skip, the contents clattering down. All around were pieces of furniture in various states of distress and piles of household goods, grouped by type. Glass jars and crockery in a collection, stacks of papers and books.

At our exit from the car, Jackson raised his head and slapped Valentine on the chest in obvious delight. The two jogged over, and I braced myself for hard hugs, thumping each on the back in turn. Then I pushed them away, my grin growing by the minute, and made the introductions to the woman at my side.

“Mia,” Val hollered then winced at Alex. “Sorry, but my lass is dying to meet ye.”

On the drive over, I’d explained that Mia and Daisy were Valentine’s and Ben’s better halves, and the two women appeared with Ben close on their heels. While Ben came to me with quiet enquiry in a single raised eyebrow, Alex handled the onslaught of new names and faces well, even complimenting the lasses on their matching blue tabards withHighland Housekeepingembroidered on them. The right thing to say.

Daisy preened. “I know it’s silly, but this is my little business, and I’m so proud of it.”

“No! I love it. You look so smart. Owning your own company is enviable. I’ve never done anything half so important.”

Daisy’s eyes widened. “You’re a princess,” she hissed. Then she clamped her hand to her mouth. “Sorry. You know that. I just mean…”

Mia took pity on her and finished her sentence. “Everything you do is important, right?”

Alex’s shoulders sagged. “For other people, maybe.”

I side-eyed her, but the moment passed, and Ben fixed me with a stare.

“Debrief, now.”

I gave a short nod. “Where can we go that we won’t be overheard?”

“Grab a chair and follow me.” Ben hoisted up a dining chair from the pile and led us to a shaded patch of the garden, nothing around but shrubs and moss.

With my team gathered, I placed down a seat for Alex and one for myself, looked to her for approval, then at her small but grim smile, launched in. As succinctly as possible, I walked them through all I’d seen and experienced while working on her team. Parts of it they knew, such as the nightclub where she was in disguise yet the paparazzi found her, but other elements I’d only shared with Ben or were new entirely, like her leaked movements in the stadium.

Valentine pointed his hair tie at us, halfway through pulling his long hair back into a man bun. “Points to inner circle, aye?”

“Got to be.” I gave them my lowdown on the other bodyguards. Starting with Jared who’d been fired, then Will, Riss, and lastly, Johnnie.

“Johnnie was pressuring Riss to keep Alex visible and not pull her from events. He also told me last night that Alex’s role was for the public to see her, and any antics that caused sensational headlines weren’t a bad thing.”

Valentine snorted. “On the make, that one. He’s parroting someone else.”

“That was my guess. What I don’t know is who.”

Alex raised a hand, speaking for the first time since I’d begun. “What do you mean parroting someone else?”

Ben answered for us. To this point, like Alex, he’d sat and listened. “Any security team worth their salt doesnae give a damn why you’re at an event, only for your well-being. We typically clash with organisers and managers who have an opposing objective. They want ye there and visible, we want ye safe.”

She followed his explanation. “Then it’s Johnnie leaking the information? He’s been a bodyguard for a long time, I rememberhim once saying, so it’s not like he’s new and getting things wrong.”

I nodded agreement. “Probably, but we shouldn’t jump to a conclusion yet. And that brings me onto the reason we left London in a hurry last night.”

I told them about the photographer disguised as a waiter and how Alex had been delivered a drink she didn’t order. The mood shifted across my team, any levity leaving and replaced by a sharper edge.

Jackson looked between us. “That’s an escalated tactic. Work backwards. If we’re running with the theory that Johnnie basically confessed to, that you’re supposed to be visible and creating headlines, something happened which means they aren’t trusting that you’ll do it on your own.”

Alex paled. “Maybe the fact that my best friend isn’t around? Wait, maybe that one of the bodyguards thought I was going to a friend’s place after the gala rather than a club?” She hung her head. “Or that I wasn’t enjoying the work and wanted to quit? My cousin’s private secretary laid it on thick that he needed me picking up the pace or else. I have no clue how I’m going to tackle that.”

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