Page 47 of Cold Silence
“We don’t have to read the guys in on the theft. At least not at the beginning. All they need to know is that you’re being stalked and need protection twenty-four/seven.”
The intensity in his tone took her back, and she didn’t know what to say. Nothing in life had prepared her on how to survive an unknown man targeting her. Thank the good Lord that He sent Travis to her.
“Thank you for being here for me, Travis.” A shudder came on her, and no matter how hard she tried to stop the shaking and the tears that were pricking her eyes, she couldn’t.
“Hey. Hey.” Travis circled his arms around her and drew her close. “I’m sorry. I just failed you.”
“You couldn’t help it.”
“I should’ve let him go when he was climbing out the window. But I wanted him behind bars.”
“You did what I would’ve done.”
“But I brought him back into the room. That’s on me.”
She remembered Travis lying on the floor and shivered again.
“Don’t worry, honey,” he said. “Everything will be okay. It won’t just be me and Gage, but you’ll have four spec ops guys on your side. No one is going to get to you.”
She leaned back. “And you? Who will protect you?”
He brushed the hair out of her face and cupped her cheek. “No need to worry about me. This is the sort of thing I’m trained to handle as are the other guys. We’ll have each other’s backs.”
Spec ops guys were well-trained. She got that. But that did not make them invincible. Especially if a former spec op guy was her stalker. Her attack proved Travis was just a man and vulnerable.
Only God could make him invincible.
Please. Please. Don’t let anyone get hurt or worse yet—die.
12
Claire held her hand over her eyes against the usual Florida sun outside her office the next morning as Gage and Travis escorted her inside. Temperatures were already approaching ninety and the day had just begun. She wished she could take a dip in the community pool like she did most days in the summer, but Travis would forbid such a public appearance. Not that she would even ask him to let her go. She was too afraid to be out in the open.
They went to her office, her staffers watching carefully. Not because of her. That she was certain. But because of the two intense men accompanying her. She went straight to the chair behind her desk, and instead of taking his usual seat on the corner of her desk, Travis started searching her bookshelves. He didn’t have to tell her what he was doing. He was looking for hidden cameras. The angle of the pictures suggested the bookshelves were the most likely location.
Gage closed the door behind them and joined Travis.
She couldn’t watch as they ferreted out the offending camera, so she opened her email.
She gasped.
Travis looked over his shoulder. “What is it?”
She pointed at the screen.
Travis was leaning over her shoulder in a flash, his fresh scent doing nothing to still her racing heart. He mumbled something under his breath.
Gage turned to face them. “What’s going on?”
“A picture of Claire in her bed along with a warning to stop investigating the theft and to provide the sender with the missing code or he’ll kill her.”
Gage frowned. “We need Eryn or Nick to trace that email. Getting them down here would take time so they’ll just have to do it remotely.”
“But there’s no remote access,” Claire said.
“No problem,” Gage said. “They both have the skills to hack your network.”
Claire blinked at Gage. “But?—”
