Page 30 of Second Chances

To say the man was massive would be an understatement. The man towered over Todd’s own six-foot height and was easily double his weight, with solid muscles.

“Todd.” Ethan nodded and held out his hand. “Ethan Knight.”

Todd shook the man’s hand and opened his front door for him to enter. The man glanced back at a white van parked in front of his garage. “My teammate Javan is going to start setting up the security system.”

Todd glanced out to see a black man almost as impressively large as Ethan unloading equipment from the back of the van.

“Sure,” he answered. “I was going to set you up in the apartment above the garage.” He motioned to the space.

“Keys?” Ethan asked.

Todd reached over and took a set of keys from the key ring by the front door and handed them to Ethan.

“I’ll be a minute.” He disappeared back down the pathway. Todd watched Ethan hand Javan the key ring and then motion towards the garage and the house before walking back and coming in the front door.

“Carl has filled me in on your situation,” Ethan said, his eyes meeting his own. “I want you to know that we will do everything in our power to keep you safe.”

“Thanks.” Somehow hearing those words from the man made it all so much more real.

“First, I’ll need you to fill me in on your life around here.” He glanced around and then turned back to him. “I’ll need to know about your job, your friends, who you’re dating, sleeping with, every aspect of your life. Nothing can be left out.” His eyes narrowed. “No secrets. Got it?”

Spending the day exposing his entire life to a stranger left Todd raw. He stood by and watched the two men completely wire his home. He’d had a brief talk with Javan, who spoke with a thick Jamaican accent. The older man was funnier than Ethan and always seemed to be cracking a joke, usually at Ethan’s expense.

Todd found out through Javan that Ethan was married and had two kids ages five and seven back in Washington State. Javan traveled around too much to have a home base and was, as he described it, married to the job.

New wiring was installed to compensate for the new electronic needs, and he watched as Javan rewired his breaker box, a task that had been on Todd’s to-do list. He was shown how the new system worked, where the hidden cameras were, how to trip the alarm from any room in the house, and where to go if an emergency arose.

As he got ready to head to the park for his visit with Simona and Olivia, he realized that his private life was no longer private.

The dark SUV that Ethan had swapped the white van out for tailed him into town.

When he parked at the edge of the square and walked to the park to meet Olivia, the SUV was within sight.

Seeing Simona playing on the playground with a group of kids her age had him smiling. She was laughing and running around, being chased by a little boy in an obvious game of tag.

He spotted Olivia sitting on a park bench and watching him walk towards her and felt his smile grow.

“Afternoon.” He sat down next to her and took her hand in his.

“Hi.” She smiled back at him. “I wasn’t sure you were going to make it.”

His smile slipped slightly. “I was having my new security system installed this morning, which required some electric work.” He rolled his eyes and tried to come off as casual about the whole ordeal. It was far too soon to confide in Olivia about his personal problems. Especially when it might mean that he was in danger now.

“So…” She leaned back against his arm slightly as she ran her eyes over him. “I was thinking about our date.”

He smiled. “Oh?” He pulled her closer and wished that they were alone somewhere, anywhere other than in front of a bunch of kids playing a few feet away.

“Yes, I was wondering if I should dress up or dress more casual.”

He chuckled. “Casual. Definitely.”

She nodded. “Is it a surprise?” she asked, her eyebrows arching.

“Do you like surprises?”

She chuckled. “Good ones, yes.”

“Then you’ll just have to wait and find out tomorrow night,” he supplied, causing her to laugh.