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Monroe shook his head at the phone. “I’ll protect her. You stick to what you know, figuring out what actually happened and getting those poor women identified and back to their families. I’ll stick to what I know, security and that makes me ideal for helping secure Mallory’s safety.” Monroe lowered his voice when giving a warning and made sure he sounded dead serious. “What good am I if I protect others but not my girl?”
“Okay. I’m signing the order now and will send over a copy. Don’t mess this up, Merton.”
Monroe grinned at the phone. “Not a chance.”
Chapter 5
“Are you ready to go, sweetheart?” Monroe asked Mallory the following morning as Carter stood at the hospital room door.
“More than.”
“Okay, we’re going to take this nice and easy. I want you to walk nonchalantly outside with us like nothing is out of the ordinary. Garrett will take one side, and I’ll be on the other, with Carter taking point. Kaden is in the car.
Carter put his head in. “Change of plans, kiddies. Just got intel that the front is full of reporters. There are two agency vehicles outside, and four men are exiting on their way up. Not sure what they’re doing here, but they have drawn the reporters like bees to honey. We need to get out now. Kaden has the maintenance exit covered with a vehicle at the door. Let’s move before the party begins.”
Her confusion was apparent. “But I don’t understand. Why are they here at all?”
Monroe reached for her arm carefully but firmly and scooped up the bag the team’s women had brought Mallory because no one could get into Mallory’s house yet. The women seemed to need to connect, and this worked for now. He intended there not to be a similar need due to his girl suffering from a trauma a second time.
“Showtime, Mal. Stick with me. We’ll be moving quickly.” Her nod of agreement was all Monroe needed to follow Carter, who seemed to know where he was going.
Once they cleared the patient floor, Monroe hesitated.
“This elevator takes us to the basement,” said Carter as he got into the side elevator.
Monroe would have opted for the stairs to the basement but worried it might be too much for Mallory, and time was of the essence. He hoped they didn’t encounter the wrong person, or he would have to go on the defensive. He preferred staying on the offensive, keeping him in charge.
Once in the basement, they rushed through the hot steamy laundry area, then Kaden was in view. The men surrounded Mallory, who at 5’8” might have been difficult to hide well with the men she knew. That was not a problem with these guys. They were easily four or more inches taller, and their combined bulk, especially Carter’s, was more than enough to screen her from others’ view.
When the men moved toward the SUV, she almost felt like they were carrying her instead of walking with her. In mere seconds, she was in the vehicle and surrounded by four bulky men in a moving SUV.
“Do you guys always do that?”
The man Carter had identified as Kaden turned to look at her from his right and smiled. “Do what? Isn’t that how everyone leaves a building and gets into their car? I’m Kaden, by the way. These guys have no manners, so I have to introduce myself.”
Mallory smiled. “Nice to meet you. I guess we all technically enter the vehicle that way, but not practically.”
The older man driving the car looked back at her through the rearview mirror. “I’m Garrett. I can’t remember if we were formally introduced yesterday. Thank God you’re safe because Monroe was about to go postal on the world when he discovered you were missing and not just ghosting.”
“Shut up, man. We had just pieced it together when I got the call saying she was okay.”
“Ah, but when you just thought she had stood you up, it was bad enough. In those few moments of not knowing where she was, once you discovered something had happened to her, tell me you didn’t want to head out like Attila the Hun.”
Mallory turned and saved Monroe from answering. “You were looking for me? Why? I mean, that’s sweet, but . . .”
He shrugged. “You missed our date.”
“Sorry about that, but… wow.”
“Baby, you have nothing to be sorry about.” His arm went around her shoulders as he gently drew her closer. “I’ll always come looking for you, and I won’t stop until I find you.”
“I really wanted to go on that date,” she whispered. Monroe squeezed her tighter before loosening his hold.
Carter looked back and said, “Guess we had better brief Mallory on the reception she’s going to receive.”
“No, I don’t think that we should do that until we get there. Jac will want to take the lead on the plan.”
“Not that, the intro to our women,” laughed Carter. The others joined in. “I’ll start. There is Becky or Rebecca, she’s my girlfriend. A little quiet until she has something to say, and then you have to work to stop her flow of information. She is Jac’s office manager, and she holds things together with us as a couple and in the office when things get chaotic as they often do.”
