Page 22 of Better Watch Out
A throbbing started at the base of Andrew’s skull. His mind was working through the unsettling thoughts circling his mind. He had to be wrong.Had to be.
“You okay, Andrew?”
Setting the note on the table, Andrew faced Doug. “Outside of Mr. Malone’s security team back at home, do you know if he mentioned to anyone about hiring us? Specifically, did he tell anyone I was going to be Ms. Malone’s personal protection detail?”
Doug frowned. “I don’t know but I can ask. Why?”
Pressing his hands on the back of the dining room chair, Andrew worked through the events of the day again—wanting to be wrong.
“Sir, I don’t think the note is referring to Ms. Malone walking away.” He met Doug’s eyes, feeling Joey’s concerned stare on him too. “Today, I was doing a favor for a friend. Taking his sister to the airport, or I was supposed to but she’s got this list, and she’s stubborn, and she decided she was staying in New York City in spite of her brother’s concern. Anyway, I was about to leave her outside of her hotel when I caught sight of a man in a leather jacket tailing her. I figured he was just marking her for pickpocket or something, but she’s the sister of a friend and I wanted to make sure she was safe.” Andrew was gauging Doug’s expression as he told the story. So far, the man didn’t look upset. “Anyway, I got her an Uber to the West Side and was about to leave her to do her strolling—” he ignored the amused look Joey shot him—“when I saw the guy again. Or at least I thought it was him. I wasn’t sure, but when I made it back to the bookstore, I heard a scream and it was her. The guy was standing over her in the back alley but he took off when he saw me.”
The tension from that moment felt amplified in light of the pieces Andrew was now putting together.
“Was she okay?” Joey asked.
“Yes. She’s fine and back at her hotel.” Andrew swallowed. “If whoever sent this note knows I’ve been hired as Ms. Malone’s PPD and was watching me, they may have assumed—”
“She was Ms. Malone,” Doug finished for him. “Mistaken identity.”
“Which means they’ve targeted your friend’s sister,” Joey said.
It sounded so much worse spoken aloud than it did in Andrew’s head. He wanted to be wrong but the pieces fit. He’d endangered Ryan’s sister.
ChapterNine
Frannie double-checked the lock on her hotel door after setting the room service tray from her dinner in the hallway. The bowl of soup and salad were going to set her budget back but it felt safer to overpay than to head back out to find something to eat.And I can skip lunch for a couple of days.
Ensuring the bolt and the swing bar were securely locked in place, she upped the temperature in the room, grateful for the cozy warmth but unable to shake the chill that seeped into her bones.
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
Andrew’s parting question had had her assuring him with more confidence than she felt but she feared that if she were honest about how shook up she was about the attack at the bookstore, he’d call her brother.
Climbing onto the bed, she pulled the covers over her legs and grabbed the remote in one hand and the cup of coffee she’d just made in the other. Flipping the channels, she landed onHome Aloneand hoped the eight-year-old’s shenanigans would lighten the mood.
Already part way through the movie, Kevin McAllister reveled in his ability to thwart two grown men’s attempt to rob his family home as Marv gave an ear-piercing scream.
Psh, if only every criminal was as dumb as Marv and Harry.
The image of the man in the leather jacket flashed back to her mind. What were the odds she’d be mugged, or almost mugged, on her first day in the city? If Ryan ever found out, she’d never hear the end of it.
If Ryan finds out!
Frannie sat up, put her coffee down, and grabbed her cell phone. If Andrew called Ryan and told him …Oh my word. But she couldn’t call Ryan. He was out of the country. Where, she didn’t know, or how many hours behind or ahead he was. He worked terrorism cases so all she could imagine was Ryan facing off with a terrorist and then holding up his finger to pause the mission so he could answer her call.
Of course, the chances Ryan would answer her call in the middle of some life-threatening moment were slim, but then, she’d thought the same thing about getting mugged in New York too.
Opening her contacts list, she hit the number for Vivian, and said a little prayer for Ryan’s safety wherever he was and for whatever he was doing. Nothing had deepened her faith faster than her brother’s dangerous career choice.
“Please tell me you’ve changed your mind and are calling me from Reagan?”
Vivian’s unconventional greeting was jarring. “I’m not at the airport and I didn’t change my mind,” Frannie answered. “Hello, sister-in-law, good to know you’re on my side.”
Vivian laughed. “I’m a journalist, remember? I’m impartial.”
“Ha! Except when it comes to my brother.” Frannie snuggled into the pillows stacked behind her. “Did you know Ryan sent abodyguardto escort me to the airport?”
“A bodyguard?” Vivian said around a bubble of laughter. “He did not.”
