Soldier Protector Read online

  “I won’t lie. There won’t be much. I wasn’t kidding when I said I wasn’t much of a hostess.”

  “I believed you when you told me the first time,” he said.

  “Since you’re going to be here for however long, there’s no point in trying to hide the fact that I have terrible eating habits. But I’m not accustomed to having to defend my dinner choices, so I’m sorry for the poor selection. You’re welcome to whatever you can find.”

  “I like pretzels,” he said with a disarming smile, which seemed to work in his favor a least a little bit. “Don’t mind me. You do what you normally do. I’ll try to stay in the shadows.”

  “Having a man skulking in the shadows of my house is weird,” she said flatly. “It doesn’t matter how well you try to fade into the background. I’ll know you’re there.” She tossed a handful of pretzels back and said, midmunch, “I have to shower.” And then took her “dinner” and disappeared into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

  Zak sighed, realizing this detail was going to be more difficult than it had appeared at surface value, not because he couldn’t handle the potential of bullets flying but because there was something about Caitlin that tugged at him in a way that felt different than anything else.

  And he wasn’t sure what to make of that.

  If anything.

  Just keep her alive, finish the job, go home.

  Easy enough.

  Yeah...sure.

  Chapter 4

  Showered and in her pajamas, she was effectively hiding in her bedroom with her bag of pretzels and orange juice. She couldn’t bring herself to hang out with Zak as if they were college roommates.

  Not that she’d had a roommate in college.

  Her cell phone rang; it was her mother. Even though it was late and she didn’t want to answer, she was the dutiful daughter and clicked over in case it was an emergency.

  “Hello, Mother,” she said. “Is everything all right? How is Dad?”

  “Your father is fine. We are concerned about you,” her mother said, bypassing any chitchat. “We heard about the break-in at Tessara. What happened?”

  “Mom, why are you even awake? It’s late,” she said, hoping her mother would go to bed soon.

  “You know I have insomnia,” her mother chided and Caitlin instantly felt guilty for not remembering. Of course she’d forgotten that her mother in particular rarely slept regularly, not uncommon in elite academic circles. Supposedly, the higher the intellect, the harder it was to find sleep.

  Except in her case. In spite of her high IQ, she often fell asleep like a baby. Her father called her a unicorn. “I’m sorry, Mother,” she said, wishing she’d let the call go to voice mail. “But I don’t really want to talk about the break-in. It’s all very new and the investigation is ongoing.”

  Caitlin shifted with discomfort. It was true the research community was small and word traveled quickly, but it was worrisome that her parents had already caught wind of the break-in when Tessara was doing its best to keep it hush-hush.

  Her parents, both retired research analysts, were as introverted as their daughter, but they’d also been tops in their respective fields, even courted by Tessara, which they’d turned down.

  The fact that Caitlin had followed where her parents had refused had always been a bone of contention between them but secretly Caitlin had enjoyed the notoriety. There was something darkly thrilling about working for a company with such a checkered yet brilliant past. However, she didn’t dare admit that to her mother. She was also loath to concede that this recent turn of events was a little too real for comfort.

  “How’d you find out about the break-in at Tessara?” she asked.

  “Does it matter?”

  “Of course it matters. You know how strict the security is at Tessara. My lab is already under scrutiny—I don’t need more attention.”

  “I’ve told you before that Tessara was a bad move. They’re dangerous. This recent incident only further validates our position.”

  Even if her parents’ argument held a modicum of merit, Caitlin resented having to defend her choices when she was a grown adult. If she wanted to work for the pharmaceutical equivalent of the “evil empire,” she was well within her rights to do so. She fought to keep the anger from her tone, remembering that to win any debate was to keep emotion out of it. “Mother, Tessara is on the cutting edge of pharmaceutical research. It’s very good for my career to have Tessara on my résumé, not to mention that the work I’m doing is important. I would rather have your support for my career than your shrill criticism. You’ve made your feelings perfectly clear about Tessara—feelings I don’t share—so if you don’t have anything else to say, I’m very tired and would like to relax before bed.”

  Caitlin could hear the frown in her mother’s voice as she said, “You’re a brilliant scientist but sometimes your decision-making skills border on reckless. Your father and I worry that your decision to work for Tessara is less about their pharmaceutical gains and more about the thrill of working for a company that has a reputation for skating the edge of safe and sane with their work.”

  “You have to stop judging Tessara from incidents that happened in the past,” Caitlin said, irritated. “The company was exonerated and the people responsible for a few isolated incidents were removed. You can’t blame an entire corporation for a few bad eggs.”

  “A few bad eggs?” her mother repeated in an incredulous tone. “People who have worked for Tessara have disappeared, or become ill with afflictions no one in the medical community has ever heard of—and those are only the incidents we’re aware of. I worry your stubborn refusal to admit that Tessara might be a dangerous place to work is more about your relationship with me than anything else, and that proves my point about your innate recklessness.”

  “In your exhaustive research into my employer did you miss the fact that Tessara is leading the world in cancer research as well as neurological diseases?” Caitlin said. “They do important work and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

  “I never said they weren’t doing positive things but it doesn’t cancel the negative,” her mother returned.

  A flash of anger rippled through Caitlin. She hated these conversations with her mother because they were unfruitful. Her mother never budged and Caitlin was left feeling unheard and marginalized. “Was there anything else, Mother?” Caitlin asked, every muscle in her body tense, her jaw already aching from clenching it too hard.

  “That work is going to get you killed,” her mother said quietly and Caitlin swallowed some of her anger. For all of her issues with her mother, she was aware that her mom really did care. Then her mom dropped a bomb Caitlin wasn’t expecting. “I know that you were reverse engineering a cure for a deadly biological, man-made virus. Caitlin, do you understand what you’re getting yourself into?”

  She wanted to say with confidence, yes, she knew how dangerous the situation was, but maybe she’d walked into the situation with a little bit more blind naivete coupled with ego than she wanted to admit. Instead of answering, she rebounded with “How’d you find out about that?”

  A real frisson of alarm replaced her pique. “No one is supposed to have that information.”

  “It doesn’t matter how. What matters is that it’s true. We’re very concerned,” her mother said. “We want you to come home until this blows over.”

  “Come home to Wisconsin?” Caitlin couldn’t imagine. No way. Especially not now. Thankfully, she had a great excuse. “I can’t. I’m under 24/7 guard. Not to mention I’m needed for when the sample is recovered. I can’t just up and leave. It’s not like cashing in vacation time. You know that, Mother.”

  Her mother’s heavy sigh said as much but Caitlin heard the worry and forgave her. Her mother could make nagging an Olympic sport but the underlying fear in her tone was the marked difference.

  “Ph
armaceutical espionage is nothing new,” Caitlin said, trying to ease her mother’s fears. “And you should see the bodyguard they’ve hired to watch my back. He’s like ten feet tall and built like a rock wall. Nothing is going to get past him. I feel very safe with him around.” That much was sort of true. She definitely felt no one was going to get past Zak to hurt her, but she might hurt herself by tripping on her own feet because her awkwardness had kicked into overdrive. At this point, walking into a closed door and breaking her nose was a distinct possibility.

  Her mother made a small, distressed sound. “Caitlin Grace, this only reiterates my point. If Tessara has hired a personal bodyguard for you, they believe there is a threat to your safety. This makes me very nervous.”

  “I’ll be fine,” she promised, though it occurred to Caitlin for the first time that she was making assurances to the one person who would actually care if she were removed from this earth. She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. “Zak is very thorough. Honestly, I think it’s just a precaution. Probably an overkill, even. I’m sure they’ll discover his services aren’t needed, but for now, they’re just covering all the bases.”

  “That’s your final answer?”

  The disappointment in her mother’s voice was hard to miss but Caitlin couldn’t leave.

  “I can’t.”

  “No, you won’t. There is a difference,” her mother said quietly but left it at that. After a beat of silence, she said, “Your father and I stumbled upon a lovely organic skin care company in northern Virginia that I think you would do very well with. I’m going to email you the particulars so you can check out the company yourself. Not only are they doing good things for skin care but they aren’t harming the earth while they do it. Very responsible. I was so impressed with their operation that if I was ten years younger, I’d come out of retirement. They wanted to hire me on the spot. Of course, I mentioned your name and they wanted to know more about you. I took the liberty to send them your LinkedIn profile. If you were to change your mind about Tessara, I think you could make a very good career choice with this company. They are very progressive, forward-thinking.”

  Caitlin sensed this was her mother’s attempt at processing her fear by focusing on something else, and forwarding job opportunities elsewhere seemed to fit the bill. Even though Caitlin had zero interest in chasing after the fountain of youth when she was actually doing work that mattered at Tessara. “Thanks,” she said. “I’ll take a look.”

  “Thank you, Caitlin,” her mother said, even if they both knew she was just saying it to end the conversation. “It’s a start, at least.”

  “It’s been a long day. I’m exhausted and I want to go to bed.”

  “All right,” her mother conceded, but Caitlin knew this wouldn’t be the last of the conversation. “Let me know what you think of Patricia Adele Cosmetics.”

  “Right. As soon as I get a chance.”

  “Soon.”

  “Mmm-hmm. Good night, Mother.”

  “Caitlin...be careful.”

  That lump returned and she nodded, even though her mother couldn’t see her. “I will.” She clicked off and tossed her phone, emotionally exhausted by the events of the day and her conversation with her mother. Her parents were brilliant, had flourished within their own careers, but had given her no small amount of grief from the moment she’d taken the job with Tessara. Sometimes being an only child was a burden that only single children could understand. She wanted to live her own life, not the life her parents wanted her to live.

  Maybe she was being stubborn—she wasn’t ignorant of Tessara’s shady past—but she truly was doing important work at Tessara and that was something she had to cling to.

  Even if there was a shred of truth to her parent’s concern.

  Caitlin wasn’t about to abandon her work.

  * * *

  While Caitlin seemed content to lock herself away in her room, Zak took the opportunity to check in with his TL.

  The late hour didn’t matter; Scarlett picked up on the first ring.

  “How’s things with the scientist?”

  “Boring.” He didn’t pull punches. No sense in lying. “She’s not winning any personality awards but I’ve secured the lab and her personal home. I feel confident I should be able to keep her safe until you guys can determine who stole the sample. Speaking of, any word?”

  “Pretty quiet on the dark web but it’s just a matter of time before someone starts posting queries for sale, and when they do, we’ll be there to catch them.”

  “And what if money isn’t the motivator for the theft?”

  “Money is always a motivator at some point.”

  If the past was any indication, Rhodes wasn’t wrong. In all the missions, assignments and details he’d been involved in, money was never far from the jumping point. “Tessara has a history of trouble,” he said. “So far, Dr. Willows’s team seems clean but that’s just surface looks. I will interview everyone more extensively tomorrow.”

  “Tessara has a checkered past but it’s amazing how a shit-ton of money can make people look the other way.”

  “Wasn’t Tessara involved with that soldier’s death a few years ago, something about an amnesia drug that went bad?”

  “Yeah, but you won’t find their name on any official report. Anything with their involvement was redacted. Tessara is in bed with all the right people.”

  “And we’re doing business with them, why?”

  He could hear Scarlett’s amusement. “Because at the end of the day, saving the human race is more important than standing on a moral high ground—and Tessara pays extremely well.”

  “Deep pockets hold a lot of coin.”

  “That they do. In the meantime, we’re looking into the usual suspects, those with terrorist ties, to see if they’ve been causing trouble.”

  “I can’t imagine anyone better at chasing down dirtbags than you, TL.”

  “It’s my favorite pastime,” she quipped and they both chuckled. A dark sense of humor was necessary in their line of work. Scarlett sobered to add, “Look, I know this assignment seems tame but you know that’s when shit usually goes bad. Keep your head on a swivel.”

  “Always.”

  They clicked off just in time for Caitlin to reemerge from the bedroom with an awkward expression as she held some blankets and a pillow. “I’m sorry, this is all I have to offer. The couch is pretty comfortable, though. I’ve fallen asleep there more than once doing research.”

  He accepted the blankets. “Thanks. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

  She nodded and then, with an equally awkward good-night tossed over her shoulder, Caitlin returned to her bedroom, shutting the door quickly.

  That woman had the soul of a Victorian nun. It was no wonder she lived alone.

  After another perimeter search during which he double-checked locks and windows, he settled onto the couch with the surprisingly warm and cozy blankets tucked around him.

  The faint scent of laundry detergent clung to the fabric, reminding him of his sweet granny before she died. In spite of his shitty parents, his granny had been the brightest spot in his short childhood. She’d always had something delicious to put in his hungry belly but she’d been old when he was born, passing before he’d turned eight.

  But he remembered her kindness, even if he couldn’t exactly remember the sound of her voice or the color of her eyes.

  Sleep never found him easily. He wasn’t surprised when he found himself staring at the ceiling, listening to the night sounds.

  What kind of childhood had Caitlin had? Had she always been so reserved? Had something happened to make her mistrust people? Hell, why was he digging at something he had no real need to know? Probably because his brain was an unruly beast and he usually had no choice but to follow where it led.

  And Caitlin was interesting.

&
nbsp; There was something to be said about deep wells and still water.

  * * *

  Caitlin was exhausted and yet sleep eluded her. Maybe her mother’s insomnia was finally catching up to her. Each time she closed her eyes, she saw Zak in all his muscled glory and her eyes popped open, but being awake only reminded her that Zak was in the other room.

  Sleeping on her sofa.

  A man was sleeping on her sofa.

  A handsome, well-built man.

  Of all the things that should’ve kept her awake and taken center stage—such as the current crisis facing the world at large—it was Zak who loomed large in her mental theater. She didn’t know if she should be worried about her character or her mental health.

  Okay, so break it down, her analytical brain suggested. She wasn’t interested, of course, but she wasn’t blind. Caitlin could admit that Zak was an excellent specimen of the male species. He probably had women chasing after him all the time. Did he ghost women when he was no longer interested? Why was she thinking of Zak’s dating MO? Strictly speaking, from a scientific point of view, Zak was the kind of man that would be very popular in the sperm bank catalog. He seemed to check all the boxes.

  Athletic: check.

  Good-looking: check.

  Smart: Not sure yet but he didn’t seem dumb and that was another point in his favor.

  Courteous: check.

  Manners: check. He sort of had a Southern-charm thing going on, though she didn’t detect an accent.

  Sexy: okay, yes, check.

  That last part made her cheeks burn. Thank God it was dark and she was alone. When was the last time she’d gone out on a date? Let’s just say it was before Trump became president.

  And it’d been horrific—a blind date set up by her friend Jeanice. She’d only agreed to meet the guy because Jeanice wouldn’t stop asking and Caitlin figured one date couldn’t be all that bad.