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“What happened to him?” I murmured before looking at Everett. I’d initially thought Vincent’s reaction had been about Agent Nash being a federal agent, but I’d quickly realized the real issue – the only issue – had been that the agent had been unwilling to put his weapons away.
Everett patted my back and said, “Would you believe he’s actually come a long way?” There was no humor in Everett’s voice as he spoke, though, and I knew he too must have been rattled by the encounter. Though he didn’t seem overly surprised by it…at least not by Vincent’s reaction. Now Agent Nash’s reaction…
As I followed Everett back into the house, I had to wonder if Agent Nash would still have a job come tomorrow…assuming he and Vincent even made it back to the house in one piece.
Chapter 14
Vincent
“You sure do know how to throw a dinner party, Vincent St. James.”
I looked up to see Nathan standing above me, two glasses of whiskey in hand. He handed one to me where I was sitting on the steps leading down the porch and into the backyard. Dusk was just starting to fall, so Mickey was chasing fireflies all around the grass while Minnie had taken up residence on a lounger by the patio door. We’d said our good nights to Everett twenty minutes earlier, but when I’d started helping Nathan clean up the kitchen, he’d waved me off with a comment about the cook not being on dish duty. I’d retreated to the patio to nurse the rest of my beer as I’d considered my behavior earlier in the evening.
And the fact that Nathan had been privy to all of it.
I knew my reaction had been over the top when Agent Nash had blatantly refused to follow my rule about not bringing any weapons into my house. I’d gotten used to Grady and Everett’s other long-time agents following the rule without question. But I begrudgingly had to admit, Agent Nash had had a good point. If the roles had been reversed and I’d been charged with protecting Everett, nothing and no one would have gotten between me and that duty. I hadn’t actually told the man that, but I’d allowed him more than the allotted five minutes when he’d asked in-depth questions about the security measures I’d taken to protect my property. Luckily, he hadn’t asked me why I’d gone to such lengths. Once we’d returned to the front of the house, I’d helped him change his tire, though I hadn’t invited him to join us for dinner. I still wasn’t sure enough about the guy to risk having him in my house. And he’d seemed just as content to remain outside.
Everett had been quieter than usual after the encounter. If we’d been alone, I would have tried to figure out why. I’d thought maybe he was just thrown by how bluntly Agent Nash had spoken to him, but he’d seemed more and more distracted as the night wore on…restless, too. Yeah, he’d interacted with Nathan and they’d rambled on about all sorts of political happenings, but I’d tuned out that conversation and had just focused on my friend. There’d been no explanation for the sadness I’d seen lingering in his eyes. Yes, it was something he always carried with him, but he was usually better at hiding it, especially after all these years.
“Yeah,” I murmured.
“Take a walk with me.” His words caught me off guard and I looked up at him. “Come on, I need to walk off dinner. I don’t remember the last time I’ve eaten this well.”
“It’s not safe to leave the grounds after dark,” I automatically said.
“We won’t,” Nathan responded. “You’ve got this gorgeous backyard, Vincent. Come show me around it.”
I nodded and climbed to my feet. I’d left myself a couple of acres on the inside of the fence and had had it professionally landscaped to include a small creek that fed into a larger pond in one corner of the yard. So it didn’t surprise me when Nathan headed in that direction. I fell into step next to him and tried to ignore how damn good he smelled.
“Vincent, I need you to stay calm,” Nathan said in a hushed voice.
“What? Why?” I asked. I immediately began scanning the property for some kind of threat and automatically reached for the gun in my ankle holster.
I was shocked when he put his hand on my arm. “Stay calm. The assailant is about twelve inches tall with buck teeth, but he’s got a pretty sizeable set of ears on him so he can probably hear us.”
I followed Nathan’s gaze to the far side of the pond and then shoved at him hard. “Fucker,” I said as the small rabbit spotted us and took off.
Nathan laughed and said, “Sorry, I had to. Didn’t want you to go all commando on Thumper’s ass.”
