Page 48 of Once a Killer

Jameson took a deep breath as he considered the idea. Finally shook his head. “I don’t think so, but you might want to keep an eye on him today and see what you think. He acted completely shocked when I talked to him about it. Vehemently denied he was depressed. I think, if he was faking it, he’d have been more eager to agree.”

He studied Diego for a long moment. “But it’s a good suggestion,” he finally said. “Something neither Bree nor I considered.” He took a deep breath. “Thanks for mentioning it. I’ll run it by Bree. See what she thinks.”

“Point him out to me this morning. I’ll watch him today.”

Finally Jameson smiled. “I don’t think you’ll have any trouble figure out which guy is Stu Rivers.”

“You have any gut feeling about who might be after your program?”

“First question Bree asked, and you get the same answer I gave her,” he said. “It could be any one of the four of them. A few red flags for each of them. Hayley Brogan is our newest member, and she has a lot of, well, attitude, for lack of a better word. I think she resents being here.”

“Then why did she join your group?”

“Probably couldn’t find a better offer,” Jameson said.

“Resentment can be ugly,” Diego said. “I’ll watch all of them and pass along my impressions.”

“Thanks, Diego,” Jameson said. “I appreciate that.” He’d let jealousy cloud his thinking last night. Diego was sharp. He’d asked the right questions and seemed as competent as Bree. “Glad you’re with me today,” he said gruffly.

“Happy to help. I’d do just about anything for Bree.”

Jameson’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “You’ve known her for a long time?”

“Long enough,” he said. “She’s the best there is.”

“I don’t have anyone to compare her to, since I’ve never had a bodyguard before.”

“Trust me. She’s the best at whatever she does.”

Jameson nodded slowly as Diego drove into the parking lot at the lab. “I can see that she would be.”

Diego turned off the ignition and turned to face him. “I’ll be very unhappy if Bree is hurt while she’s working with you.”

“Bree is the most competent person I’ve ever met. She knows what she’s doing. I don’t think she’ll get hurt.”

“Not talking about the job,” Diego said. He narrowed his eyes at Jameson, then slid out of the SUV. Jameson waited for his signal, then exited as well. He felt as if he’d been warned by an older brother. He didn’t like it. He and Bree weren’t irresponsible kids.

Irritation bubbled up, and when he was out of the car, he got into Diego’s space. “Anything that happens off the job will be Bree’s choice. One she’s free to make,” he said coolly.

Diego studied him for a long moment. Finally nodded once, then resumed scanning the parking area.

Jameson swallowed. That had never happened with any woman he’d dated. But Diego was clearly very protective of Bree. He blew out a breath. It had pissed him off, but he should be happy about it. Happy that someone had her back.

Maybe he needed to adjust his attitude, too.

* * *

Bree slid out of her rental car at the address Mel had given her for John Smith, the guy who’d tried to ram the Monster. She snorted.John Smith. The guy could have been a little more creative with his fake name. She’d sent photos of his driver’s license, as well as snapshots of all his credit cards to Mel and asked her to make sure the address on the license was correct. This unassuming bungalow north and west of Jameson’s apartment was the address Mel had sent back.

Ascending the steps, she rang the doorbell. After a long moment she heard steps inside the house, and the door swung open. Smith took one look at her and began to slam the door.

Before he could get it completely closed, Bree stuck one foot in the door. The heavy wood bounced off her boot, and she sighed. “Might as well let me in, Mr. Smith. I’m not going to go away. I just want to ask you some questions. You don’t talk to me? I’ll make a scene. And I bet you don’t want your neighbors to see that. Next step is the police. Another scene. Again, probably not something you want. And the police won’t be nearly as nice as I’ll be.”

Smith snorted. “Nice? It’s your fault I crashed into that light post.”

She tilted her head. “That’s your own damn fault for trying to hurt my guy. Did you really expect me to let you hit him?”

Through the small crack in the door created by her foot on the door jamb, Smith studied her for a long moment. Finally he sighed. Opened the door wider. “Fine. The neighbors know nothing about me and I want to keep it that way. Come in,” he said.

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