She nudged Chaney– who had finally calmed down. “Look at them,” she whispered.
Chaney made a face at first as she wiped away her tears, but looked over at the guys and her eyes enlarged wide. Then she turned back to Justus and mouthed, Oh my!
Liberty snickered at them as the elevator doors opened on the next floor and the other passengers fled, leaving only the two Brotherhood Protectors and their snarling and verbally abusive captives.
“Shut up you two or you’ll wish you had once we get through teaching you a lesson,” one of them ordered.
“Oh, I’m shaking in my boots,” one of the captives scoffed.
“Me too,” the other one said.
He punched the first in the gut and then his twin punched the other one. Both men doubled over, grunting.
“Who hired you?” Chaney asked.
“Hank Patterson sent for us,” the other one said.
“But more importantly, Asher and Liberty filled us in on where you’d be today and thought you might need us here to watch over you as you left the building,” the first said.
“And you are?” Justus asked.
“Rafferty Grainger, ma’am. And you are?”
She felt all giddy inside as she looked into his deep brown eyes, then swallowed, sobering. “Just Justus is fine.”
“If you insist, ma’am.”
The elevator doors opened again to the lobby and the Graingers carefully escorted their prisoners out, keeping an eye on the surroundings so that there was no further danger before Rafferty raised an arm and motioned the all-clear before Liberty led them out.
Chaney rushed ahead of them and started talking to the other Grainger.
“What’s she doing?” Liberty asked.
“Not sure,” Justus said. “So, you and Asher thought something might happen today? And you didn’t think to warn us?”
“No. That wasn’t it at all. We only informed the Graingers where you would be when they contacted us. And now that this happened, I’m glad they were here,” Liberty explained.
Justus thought for a moment. “They said Hank Patterson hired them. That means he felt we needed protecting.”
“Yes. He discussed it with Asher and thought hiring someone closer in age to you and Chaney would be a better fit for you,” Liberty said. “That’s why he contacted his friend at the Lone Wolf Agency about sending two of his men.”
“I see,” Justus said. “But you never thought of mentioning any of this to us.”
“Why are you making such a fuss?” Liberty asked. “I saw both of your reactions to them. You like them.”
“That has nothing to do with it,” Justus argued. “We should have been consulted. This involves us. You wouldn’t have liked it if I went behindyour backand made an important decision if the role was reversed.”
Liberty crossed her arms. “I’m sorry you feel that way. I do see your point and I wasn’t trying to manage you or the situation. We didn’t think it was a big deal or you’d take it that way.”
Justus frowned and noticed Chaney coming back toward them. “Maybe I’m overreacting because of what those men tried to do in the elevator andI’mlashing out at you to regain control of the situation.”
Liberty smiled. “I think your sessions with Dr. Saunders are working. I don’t think you would have been able to come to that conclusion so quickly otherwise. Not that Idon’t agree. If I’d just had someone threaten bodily harm I’d be upset and frantic.”
“Hey, the other one is named Rawlins. They’re named after their grandmother’s families. Isn’t that sweet?” Chaney said, rejoining them. She looked between them and paused. “Uh, did I just interrupt something?”
“It’s nothing,” Liberty replied.
“Are we ready to go then?” Chaney asked.
