Page 13 of Two Steps Ahead

Whoever Chance’s guest was had him pretty tied up in knots, judging by his stilted sentences. Weston chuckled. “Thanks, bro.”

He disconnected the call, finished packing and headed out the door.

A few hours later, he was pulling up at the Lake Ray Roberts property.

He’d already gotten what he’d needed at the defense and tactical gear store on the outskirts of San Antonio. His contact had been willing to open up for him despite it being after business hours. Some of it was out of respect for their security firm, but mostly it was because Weston was able to flash Leo’s cash at him.

He looked around as best he could in the dark. Using this remote property, rather than one of the more elaborate homes Leo owned, was a good tactical plan. But Weston still wanted electronic backups in place in case they were necessary.

He let himself into the house with the key Leo had given him and walked through it. There was nothing too special about it—two bedrooms, one set up as an office. Living room, eat-in kitchen. Front of the house had the most windows since that faced the lake. The gardener’s unit was a bedroom and bath. No view of the lake, but very close to the house—perfect for security needs.

He was up at dawn the next morning and drove as far as he could around the property, then got out of his car and walked around it to familiarize himself. It was everything it had looked like in the pictures—wild and lush. Definitely not the manicured elegance of the Lake Austin mansion Leo had shown him. Weston would take this house any day of the week, not just because it was better for security, but because of the nature surrounding them.

As far as Weston was concerned, lawns needed to become a thing of the past. They’d been a show of wealth and status in the seventeenth century. No need for them anymore. Give him indigenous trees and plants any day.

But right now he didn’t care about the plant life around him, except for how it affected security.

He spent the entire morning setting up sensors he’d bought that would let him know if there was anyone else on the property besides him and Kayleigh. He put sensors near the road and along anything that even remotely resembled a path leading toward them. He placed even more sensors around the house, and in all the windows and the doors, keeping them as unobtrusive as possible.

Hopefully, keeping them out of sight would help Kayleigh to relax with the security. He wanted to do that for her, not just because it would make his job of protecting her easier, but because he wanted her to be relaxed. He wasn’t sure what it was Leo had been alluding to that had happened to her, but it hadn’t sounded good.

He walked down to the water. The lake itself made security more difficult. They’d be able to hear an engine, but anyone using stealth would be harder to monitor. He set up sensors along the shore, but made mental note of this potential hole.

Once he had the property the way he wanted, he got back in his car to familiarize himself with the wider area surrounding them. There was a marina a couple miles away by car, so he decided to rent a boat, using Leo’s money, and had it delivered. That could be used as a backup getaway vehicle if they needed it.

He also stocked up on groceries and, since they had a decent gardening section at one of the stores, went ahead and bought some of the things he would need to work the land. He had some ideas of what he’d like to do landscaping-wise. It would enhance the natural beauty of the area.

By midafternoon, he was confident about the level of security he’d set up. Secrecy would still be their best defense, but the devices he’d put into play would notify him if there was trouble.

Now all he had to do was wait for Kayleigh to arrive. He changed into some more suitable clothes for gardening and decided to go ahead and tackle some of the landscaping until she got there. The monitor systems he’d set up would let him know when she was nearby. The system was a good one. He was confident in his own experience and ability to keep her safe.

He was much more prepared for whatever danger may come than he probably was for the woman herself.

Chapter Four

From the moment Kayleigh left her father’s house the next morning, she was craning her neck to check her rearview mirror, expecting to find Jasper or one of his men tailing her. Dad had said Jasper wouldn’t be around, but she wasn’t sure she could trust that.

The temptation to just go to her own house was strong. The thought of being followed around, never having any privacy, someone standing outside her door while she was sleeping...she couldn’t do it. Even for a few weeks. Tension pooled through her whole body at the thought.

That was one of the reasons she took so many photography jobs out of the country. There was still security involved, but never somebody assigned only toher, watching every move she made. Nobody who asked why she slept with a light on or sometimes had nightmares. Nobody to pry into her secrets.

The way she wanted it.

She was still a little jet-lagged. The shoot in Indonesia had been brutal on her body. Lots of waiting and holding still for long hours in difficult weather—including storms, which were never her favorite. She’d had to force herself to work through them despite the mental anguish they caused.

So she hoped Dad would keep his word and keep the security team at bay while she had her R and R. Might as well be at the tiny lake house nobody liked but her.

The farther she drove with no cars following, the more she relaxed. This close to the relatively barren section of Lake RayRoberts, it would be impossible not to see a tail. Dad had kept his word.

She let out a little curse when she arrived at the cabin and saw another vehicle parked by the house. Damn it, Dadhadn’tkept his word. She gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles were white.

She was about to leave when she saw someone working over in the overgrown shrubbery, and relaxed a little. It wasn’t a guard; it was the gardener Dad had mentioned. He or she wouldn’t pay much attention to Kayleigh at all.

Then the gardener stood and twisted in the afternoon sun. A thrill shot through her.

Weston.

She’d been a little sad when they hadn’t been able to talk more before she’d left the main house, but definitely hadn’t expected to see him out there. As a matter of fact, now that she knew his last name—Patterson—she’d been considering calling him to see if he wanted to get together for coffee sometime.

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