Page 66 of Operation Protector
As she sat watching the two dogs play and admiring her new greenhouse, she instinctively glanced over at the big house now and then, even knowing Grace was still at school. She’d seen Liz leave at about the right time this morning, so assumed she rather than the child minder had dropped her off on her way to the Hollen offices. Irene was here, though. She’d seen the woman arrive just as they were leaving.
Good timing. On purpose?
She wouldn’t blame Irene if it was. If she had to work for that woman, she’d avoid direct contact as much as possible. Although from what Grace had said, her minder was almost as strict as her mother. Still, she had little choice. Grace had told her there were nanny cams all over the place, watching every move, every step. She wasn’t supposed to know that of course.
I figured it out when she knew I ripped the new dress she bought me. But I did it in my closet, she shouldn’t have known. So I did something else—not bad, just something she told me not to do, touch the books on the shelves—and she knew that, too.
In fact, now that Ali thought about it, she wondered if perhaps Liz had some of those outdoor “security” cameras aimed at Ali’s house, to watch what happened when Grace was here playing with the dogs.
A chill came over her as a new thought struck her. Would she? Could she?
She pulled out the Foxworth phone. She hesitated, not wanting to hit the red button that indicated everything a red button should, an emergency. Instead she just hit the speed dial for Foxworth headquarters.
Quinn answered on the first ring. “Ali?”
“Yes.”
“Everything all right?”
“As far as I know, but… I just had a crazy thought.” She told him what Grace had said about the nanny cams. Then asked, “How paranoid is she? Enough to maybe…plant cameras in my house, for when Grace is here?”
Quinn didn’t answer her. “Let’s go to video,” he said, then called out, loudly, “Colby! Question.”
It took her a moment to remember how to make the switch to a video call on this phone. As she was doing it, she heard Quinn repeat her question. It was only a moment before she heard Colby’s voice saying grimly, “More than paranoid enough.”
The video opened just as he said it, soon enough for her to see his worried expression.
“There have been a couple of times when she’s been there and I’ve had to leave for a client meeting,” Ali said. “I haven’t seen any sign, but…I wasn’t looking, either.”
“So she’s had opportunity,” Quinn said. Then, decisively, “Well, since she’s already seen Liam as a coworker, it’s a good thing Teague’s freed up now. Ali, you just gained a boyfriend.”
She’d been focused on Colby, which was the only reason she saw him wince at that last word. And crazily, it gave her a little thrill, that he didn’t like even the word let alone the idea that she had a boyfriend. Even a fake one.
“How about a brother,” she said. “I get the feeling Liz would react less to that.”
“Agreed,” came Hayley’s voice the moment before her face appeared next to Quinn’s. “Good idea, Ali. Here, take a look at your new brother. Think you can sell it?”
Quinn backed away and another face came into view, a guy who looked close to her own age, with sandy-blond hair and blue eyes that were a shade lighter than Colby’s darker blue ones.
He was smiling as he said, “Hi, sis.” He was cute, but had that same brisk, businesslike air Quinn did, and she’d guess former military. “Teague Johnson, ma’am,” he amended.
“I liked ‘sis’ better.” He laughed, and she knew they’d do fine.
“We’ll need to work up a story,” Hayley said. “Just in case.”
“Been thinking about that,” Teague said. “Understand Cutter’s undercover as your support animal?”
“Yes,” Ali said.
“Then how about my wife, Laney, found him for you? She’s a groomer, and does a lot of volunteer work for programs like that. That way if she happens to see Cutter being friendly with me, it’ll make sense.”
“Sounds good,” Hayley agreed.
“So I’ll come by to visit and see how things are going with the dog, and in the process do a sweep for bugs and cameras. And show you how to do it, so you can check regularly.”
“That would be great,” Ali said, meaning it.
“All right,” Quinn said. “And in the meantime, Liam can get to work on trying to hack into that nanny cam feed, although with some it’s tricky because it’s completely localized.”
