Page 55 of Cold Silence
“Right. With your guys here, we can defend the place.”Defend Claire.
“But even with the best defense, things could go wrong.” Gage stared at him. “You willing to risk that?”
“I don’t think we have a choice.” Travis planted his hands on his hips. “I can’t lie to Claire. If I say it’s defensible and don’t let her go, then she finds out I lied, I doubt she’d ever talk to me again.”
“And it’s clear you want to do some talking in the future.” Gage laughed.
Travis rolled his eyes. “Your men can check everyone at the door. Tactfully, of course.”
“Of course. We’re not all barbarians in the Pacific Northwest.” Gage grinned.
“So the rumors aren’t true, then?” Travis laughed.
“Not all of them.” Gage’s smile widened.
Travis appreciated his buddy lightening up the mood as Travis was intense far too much of the time. “You can post them at the service door. Keep an eye on catering staff.”
“And it’s a given that you’ll be glued to Claire’s side.”
“Yeah, if she allows it.”
“You’ll just have to let go of your attraction for the woman for a moment to convince her of the necessity of close protection.” Gage eyed him. “You mix that in with your request, and she won’t buy it.”
Gage was right. But that didn’t mean Travis could pull it off.
You have to, man. Her life could depend on it.
A thought that kept pounding in his head all the way back to the institute, where they found her in the observation room watching Jackson run a jungle scenario.
They didn’t talk but just stood behind her to observe Jackson battle his way through the jungle while Coop sat on a stool looking bored. They both wore khaki cargo pants. Coop had chosen an Army green performance T-shirt that a lot of guys on the teams wore, and Jackson had on a black one.
“He’s looking good,” Gage said. “If you ignore the way he babies that right knee.”
Travis nodded. “It’s gonna cost him on time.”
“He’s still running faster than a lot of the others who’ve run this scenario.” Claire looked over her shoulder. “Most of them let the jungle overgrowth slow them down, but not the spec ops guys. You barrel right through it.”
“Comes with being trained on spatial awareness,” Travis said. “You learn to quickly assess what’s a danger to you and what’s not.”
She turned fully. “Like visiting the venue?”
“Not really,” he said. “That was recon. A different animal.”
She kept her focus pinned to Travis. “And what did this animal tell you?”
“That we’ll be visiting the venue tomorrow and for the party. If you still need us then, we’ll be there for you.” He wanted to add that he wanted to be there for her beyond then, but he wouldn’t get into a private discussion with Gage in the room.
She peered at Gage. “You agree?”
“I do. We can button that place up pretty easily as long as you let my guys check ID’s against a guest list at the door.”
She tilted her head. “It’ll be odd, but I can agree to that.”
She faced Travis again. “Any other requirements?”
“Gage will be at the service entrance that night to keep watch, and I’ll be with you. And I mean with you. You go nowhere except into the restroom without me, and even then, we check it out in advance.”
She narrowed her eyes. “In that case, I suggest you attend as my date so we can explain why you’re sticking so close to me.”
