Austin
After a dozen unexpected hugs goodbye, I walked Nina to the loaner John had given me.
The black sedan had bulletproof windows, providing me with protection I hoped I’d never need.
After making sure Nina was safely buckled, I closed her door and jogged around the front of the car.
I waved to the guys on the front lawn as I pulled away.
“Austin?”
“Yeah?”
“How do you know where I live?” She finished the sentence with a yawn.
She’d clearly forgotten that I’d come to her house to pick up her blanket and teddy bear.
Before I could answer, she said, “Never mind. You know everything.” She leaned her head back and sighed.
“Not everything.”
“How can SSI afford to pay someone to watch my house all the time if I’m not paying them?” She changed the subject.
Because I’m paying the bill for the extra manpower, if John lets me.
She wouldn’t want to hear that, and I didn’t want to argue, so I took the coward’s way out and said, “You’ll have to ask John.”
He was providing her bodyguard free of charge, and Ryan and I were doing most of the investigating.On Uncle Sam’s dime. Her taxes paid our salaries, so we wouldn’t be charging her for our services.
Driving her home isn’t part of the job. My internal voice sounded a lot like Gibson’s.
I told him to shut up.
“So who’s at my house again?”
“Frank will relieve Matt, so he and Madi can go home. He’s one of the local cops who works part-time for John,” I answered. “Matt will come back in the morning.”
“So Matt will be with me all day tomorrow?”
“No, Sammie will relieve Matt late tomorrow morning and stay with you at the shop.”
“But then who’ll watch my grandmother?”
“Frank.”
“But he’s there now?”
I couldn’t blame her for the confusion. The circumstances changed constantly, and she had a revolving door of people surrounding her and her grandmother.
“Nina, trust me, and if you can’t trust me, trust John. We won’t leave you or your grandmother unprotected.”
“But—”
“No, no buts. Trust.”
She had no reason to trust me, but surely John had earned her trust over the years.
“Did Ryan find anything?”
