Page 69 of Nanny for the SEALs

But we weren’t quite there yet. The company was profitable—very much so—but that could change in the blink of an eye. And although our own personal retirement funds were growing rapidly, we weren’t at the point where we could just quit and be fine. We needed to make sure the company continued on its upward trajectory.

Just a little bit more. I felt like I had been saying that for a decade, now. Just one more mission. Just one more deployment. Just one more rank. Just one more year making sure HLS Security succeeded. Would it ever end? Was there a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow, or was I doomed to always grasp for something that wasjust barelyout of reach?

I reached Amirah’s house and punched in my keycode at the gate. She was on a four-acre lot, with an eight-foot-high stucco wall surrounding the property. I pulled into her driveway and then backed into one of the spots next to the garage. That gave me a view of the wing of Amirah’s house where her bedroom was located. If anyone tried to get there from outside, I would see it.

I pulled out the walkie-talkie and changed the frequency. “Cooper, this is Holt. I’m in position.”

“Everything’s shipshape here, boss,” Cooper replied after only two seconds of hesitation. “Apple Pie is in the bedroom watching TV. Let me know if anything looks squirrelly.”

Apple Pie was our codename for Amirah Pratt.

“Hard copy. Let me know if you get hungry. I brought a fresh pack of crayons for you.”

A laugh came across the radio. “Fuck you. Sir.”

Cooper was a Marine. I tried not to hold it against him, aside from the occasional joke about how Marines ate crayons, or how MARINE was an acronym forMy Ass Rides In Navy Equipment.

I turned off the lights in my car and sipped my coffee. I kind of liked being out here, doing real work again. It wasn’t the same level of intensity as what we did in the SEALs, not even close. But it was better than riding a desk and sucking up to potential clients.

Out here, I felt like I was good at what I did.

The moon slowly rose into the sky as I watched Amirah’s property. Clouds rolled in and heightened the darkness, and wind began to shake the trees. Thunderstorms were rare here in Los Angeles, but it looked like we would get some action tonight. Hopefully that would deter anyone from trying something with Amirah.

I pulled up the security dashboard on my cell phone. Amirah had gotten six new threats today from six different Facebook accounts. All of them mentioned visiting her tonight while she slept. Asher had done a little sleuthing and discovered that they had all been sent by devices routed through a VPN, to mask their point of origin. We suspected they were sent by one person using a bunch of different accounts.

In the several years since we had founded this company, I had seen all sorts of threats. Most of them were bullshit. An act. If a pervert wanted to break into an actress’s house and masturbate into her panty drawer, he didn’t warn her first. He justdid it.

But these threats felt different to me. They created a knot in the pit of my stomach that I couldn’t ignore, even if Asher and Brady thought I was overreacting.

I got this far by trusting my instinct, I thought while sipping coffee.I’m not going to stop now.

I switched over to my text messages and sent something to Heather.

Rogan: This would be a lot more fun if you were here.

Heather: If I were there, I’d probably distract you.

Rogan: That’s what would make it fun.

Heather: I miss you. Specifically, the filthy things you’ve been doing to me at the Four Seasons.

Heather: Is that weird to say? It’s been a couple of days since we fooled around, but it feels like FOREVER.

Rogan: I miss our nightly fun too. Hopefully we can resume that soon.

Heather: I’m like a cat. I need to be petted every single day or I start getting cranky.

Rogan: I promise to make you purr soon. Hopefully tomorrow.

Heather: Tomorrow is way too far away. I want you now.

Rogan: You can pout all you want, but it won’t change anything.

Heather: What if it’s SEXY pouting? Where I stick my lips out and whine like a baby?

Heather: Scratch that. I don’t really think that’s sexy. I’ve never understood why some people are into that sort of thing.

I smiled at the text and wondered what to say next. Should I suggest what I had mentioned to Asher? I didn’t know how Heather would take it.

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