Page 26 of ELITE Justice
The men nodded and grunted in agreement.
“If the Dallas cell discovers Gwen assisted in the thwarting of their plans, she’ll be at the top of their list,” Alex added.
“So, just clarifying here,” Jonathan needed to calm the hell down. His heart was racing and not in a good way. Sliding into operational mode, he expounded, “We can expect a greater threat to Gwen’s life after we’ve accomplished our mission of stopping these assholes. Until then, she’s not even on their radar.”
“Exactly,” Alex agreed. “But that could change in an instant. There are too many people, and too many organizations, that know Dallas is under a microscope for terrorist activity. One casual mention of the original information and Gwen is in the crosshairs. You need to be prepared to protect her. She seems to be a very intelligent woman and may already realize the danger, or at least the potential. Tell her Guardian will provide personal protection for her until we’re sure she’s no longer in jeopardy.”
“Yes, sir.” Jonathan had his work cut out for him.
“I don’t know the quality of Miss Shaw’s language skills, but SOCOM put translators on this operation,” Alex stated. “Quin, Griffin, we have permission to tap their homes. Phone taps are already underway.”
Alex shifted in his high-back leather chair. “I can’t afford to expend anymore resources in Dallas. Initial indications are that this may be a multi-city attack.”
Griffin sat upright. “I’ll leave for Miami immediately.”
“No,” Alex countered. “I need you to complete the training in Dallas. Your men are honed, and Nate is handling things very well. Dallas is a new office with too many leftover employees from the former owners who aren’t our men.”
Everyone understood what Alex meant. There were civilians with no prior special operations skills which would be required for this mission.
“Thank you, gentlemen. I’m sure we’ll talk again soon.”
“Thank you, Alex,” Quin said and clicked off the screen, ending the video conference. He looked at Griffin, then glanced at Jonathan. “Someday I’m going to meet Katlin Callahan.” There was determination in his voice. “In the meantime, what’s so special about her range training?”
“It’s not like anything you’ve ever done before,” Griffin warned.
“It’s really kind of fun,” Jonathan added.
“We need to rent several hours of range time, after hours preferably. No recordings,” Griffin instructed. “I don’t want anyone seeing how we train. It sucks that this office doesn’t have a range yet. Same for a gym.”
Quin looked around. “I can’t wait to move into our new building, but the contractor says it’ll be at least another month.”
Griffin turned to Jonathan as they were leaving. “You’re already trained. Go handle Gwen.” Light dawned in his former manager’s eyes. Turning quickly to Quin, he apologized. “Sorry, man, I forgot he’s not mine anymore.”
Quin smiled. “No problem, this time. I would have given the same orders.”
“Color me gone.” Jonathan waved and left the room before a pissing contest started.
When he arrived at Up In Smoke, the place was hopping with supper guests. Gwen was waiting tables and gave him a questioning look over her shoulder. He parked his butt at the counter where he could see almost the entire restaurant between the convex mirror in the corner and his peripheral vision.
After she posted a meal ticket, she spun around and gave him a once-over. “Can this be quick?”
Yeah, he could do her fast and hard anytime she wanted, but he had to tell her his news, now. He nodded.
She tilted her head toward the kitchen and headed into the back.
In the office, he pulled her into his arms. Such a perfect fit. For a long moment, he just held her. Jonathan couldn’t stand the thought of Gwen being the target of radical Islamists. He knew all too well the terrible things they could do to a woman.
Taking a deep breath, he leaned back to look into her eyes. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but the picnic and the park are out of the question.”
“You have to work?”
“No.” Here came the hard part. He inhaled a fortifying breath and stared into her soft brown eyes. “You might be a target for the terrorist cell. Maybe not now, maybe not even later. But you are an asset SOCOM wants protected.”
Her perfectly arched eyebrows flew up. “SOCOM is in on this? Aren’t they primarily military?”
“Yes, but Guardian is a SOCOM contractor. It’s easier for Homeland to contract us through SOCOM than inform all their entities of the potential threat…at least until we can get them definitive proof.”
She shrugged. “Makes sense. I figured I might be a target at some point.” She threw her arms around him and smiled. “So do I get twenty-four-seven protection?”
