Austin gave her a head start to put some distance between them. When she was several yards down the trail, he pulled off his own shirt, wrung it out, and hung it around his neck before following.
He swore the last mile and a half took as long as the first three. But Everly ate up the last leg of the run with even more fervor. She arrived back at the house well before him to Bella’s joyous greeting.
When Austin crested the hill and hit the grass bordering the landscaped section of the yard, he found Everly and Bella walking inside, hand in hand. Decker wandered the pool deck, and Austin waved him over.
“’Sup, boss?”
He waited until Everly disappeared into her suite along with Bella, then he met Decker’s gaze deliberately. “I want an asset map on her.”
One dark brow rose. “On Everly?”
“I know I’m acting paranoid. But I won’t sleep well again until I know how to find her if she runs.”
Decker shifted his weight. “She’s not going anywhere with Bella. The guys and I will make sure of that.”
That was their mantra—failure was not an option.
“I trust you, Decker. I trust the guys. You know that. But we also know that no matter how hard someone has been vetted, the unexpected can still happen. For reasons too convoluted and subtle to explain, I don’t trust her.”
“Try me,” Decker said. “I’d like a better idea of where your head’s at.”
He wiped a hand down his face, frustrated. Putting it into words made him feel childish and stupid. “She’s just too good to be true, man. She’s too fit, too savvy, too smart. Sometimes the things that come out of her mouth could have come out of yours. The more I get to know her, the more I wonder, why us? Why here? Something’s not right. We’re missing something, some chunk of her life that’s contributed to all her confidence, all her physical skills, her desire to take this job.”
Decker lowered his gaze to the ground, thoughtful. “I have to admit, the hairs on the back of my neck lifted when she made me at the market. She never once looked over her shoulder. Never broke stride through the crowds. When she doubled back, I went three levels deep in evasion. When she turned the corner and trapped me, I was speechless.” He huffed. “Thought I was losing my touch. I feel a little better knowing you’re catching that vibe too.”
Austin exhaled, also feeling the double-edged sword of identifying with Decker’s concern. “Tell Cooper to map anyone who would give her aid. Anyone in her past with contacts, power, or money. Track every penny of her cash. I want to know where it’s coming from. Make sure she doesn’t have any stashed away or a revenue stream we don’t know about. Dig into every electronic purchase over the last year. Every location she lived for any length of time, anywhere she would be comfortable living again.”
“I got it,” Decker said. “I know how to map assets.”
“I’m sorry. I’m on edge.”
“Boss,” Decker said. “If you’re that worried, why don’t you just let her go?”
Movement in the house drew Austin’s attention. Everly crossed the kitchen with Bella twirling like a ballerina at her side, holding Everly’s hand while Bella pirouetted beneath her arm, giggling.
“Never mind,” Decker said. “Consider her mapped.” Before Austin could make his second request, Decker beat him to it. “And I’ll update Seaver’s map while I’m at it.”
8
Everly sat at the kitchen table with Bella, watching her struggle to follow the dashed lines with the fat pencil gripped between her tiny fingers.
“B,” she said as she finished and moved on to the E in her name. The girl had her tongue at the corner of her mouth, her brow tight in concentration. “E.”
The pencil slipped, and Bella fought to reposition it. Everly found this whole teaching thing excruciating. She’d definitely underestimated the strength and perseverance any child must have to get through the learning process. And now believed every teacher on earth should have a spot reserved in heaven.
Austin came downstairs, talking into the headset he kept on his ear when he was working. “Let me check with my security team,” he said to whoever was on the other end of the line.
“Daddy,” Bella said, “look at me.”
He paused as he passed through the kitchen to look over Bella’s shoulder. Smiling, he ran his hand over her hair. “Nice job, sweetie.” He pressed a kiss to his daughter’s head before his gaze connected with Everly’s, and he gave her a nod of approval. Then he walked outside and called to Decker. “Deck, can I have a minute?”
A few hours had passed since their run, and even though they’d both showered and changed since, she could still pull up the feeling of his hard body against hers, the rumble of his voice in her ear, the spark in his eyes. He was a complicated man, and it seemed Everly was making his life even more complicated—causing his intuition and intelligence to clash.
Under normal circumstances, no one would pick up on the subtle shadows of Everly’s life in the military. But Hix was no ordinary man. Nor had he been a typical soldier. He had that indefinable sharpness of the elite. The kind of soldier she’d once been. She knew he sensed it in her, but there was no way to hide every trace of a job, a way of life, a family, that had defined so much of her existence.
Now, his discussions fluctuated between whoever he was talking to on the phone and Decker. He wore charcoal-gray cargo pants that looked like they were made of light all-weather material. His white, short-sleeved button-down exposed tanned, muscular arms and pulled against the width of his shoulders.
The scrape of Bella’s pencil drew Everly’s gaze from Hix.