Desperate Girls (Wolfe Security #1)(8)

He wisely didn’t say no disruptions.

“Good.” She smiled. But it looked fake, and Erik wondered what she looked like when she smiled for real. “Glad we can agree. With that in mind, we should reconsider the staffing level.” She flipped to a new page of her notepad and brushed a lock of that shiny auburn hair over her shoulder. “Six agents is excessive. Blythe and Gunn is a small firm, as you know. We’re used to doing more with less. That said, I’m sure you can see the logic in scaling back the number of agents.”

“Six is scaled back,” the chief told her. “My original recommendation was eight.”

“Eight?” She looked at him like he was crazy. “Mr. Wolfe, I understand a lot of your clients are politicians and celebrities. Have you ever worked for people involved in a trial before?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, well, then you know how it is. It’s a grind. Long hours, few breaks. We’ll be holed up in a corporate apartment every night going over files and eating takeout. We hardly need six full-time people to get us to and from the courthouse every day.”

Ah, shit. Erik suppressed a smile as he watched his boss.

“Ma’am.” Liam leaned his elbows on the table. “Let me be clear. We are not a taxi service. Ensuring your personal security”—he glanced at Ross—“and yours goes way beyond getting you safely from point A to point B, although we will do that. Your firm has hired us to provide comprehensive security for you twenty-four/seven. That includes securing your residence and your communications, as well as protecting you personally, whether you’re at home or on the move or at work. Comprehensive security means everything. It’s a lot to cover, and frankly, six men for two principals is stretching it thin, even for us, and we’ve got the best people in the world doing this job.”

“I hear you.” She smiled. “Really, I do. But couldn’t some of this be done through technology? How about a few of your agents, plus some strategically positioned security cameras that could be monitored at a central location? That would require less manpower.”

She gazed at Liam with those pretty baby blues, as if every word out of her mouth made perfect sense.

“Security cams are useful,” Liam said, “and we plan to have some in place. But in the event of an attack, a camera isn’t going to do much to save your life.”

“An attack? You really think—”

“Yes, I do.” Liam paused and gave her one of those hard stares he was so good at.

She stared right back.

“You know, I spent a good chunk of my morning on the phone with the Sheridan Heights police chief,” Liam said. “When I got off with him, I talked to the supervisory deputy U.S. marshal overseeing the search for escaped convict James Corby. Local law enforcement is not up to this task. It’s clear to me that until Corby is apprehended, you and your colleagues are going to need outside resources to ensure your safety. That means us. And that means whatever level of manpower we believe it takes to get the job done.”

Brynn’s smile was gone, and from where he stood, Erik could see that she was simmering.

She was hot. And headstrong, too, which, unfortunately, was a combination that really did it for him. The only woman Erik had ever seen challenge Liam head-on was his wife, and she was on a freaking SWAT team. Liam was intimidating, but that didn’t stop Brynn from trying to negotiate the terms of what she obviously viewed as a prison sentence.

“Could you go back a sec?” Ross said. “You said something about communications. You mean phones? Computers? What?”

“All of it,” Liam told him. “Your cell phone is essentially a tracking device. We’ll provide each of you with a new, clean device.” Liam looked at Brynn. “You’ll be able to keep your number and your contacts.”

“Fabulous,” she said. “But what if I don’t want a new device?”

Liam glanced at Erik. As of ten minutes ago, Erik was the leader of Brynn’s detail, so many of the technical aspects fell to him.

“I’ll talk to Skyler,” Erik said. “She might be able to examine her phone, clear it for use.” He nodded at Brynn. “You’ll have to leave it here overnight.”

She looked at him as though he’d asked her to leave her arm on the table.

“Your call.”

She shrugged. “Fine, no problem.” Although it clearly was. “It’s password-protected, though.”

“Send me your code, and I’ll give it to Skyler,” Liam said.

“Hey, I wouldn’t mind getting a new phone,” Ross said. “I just need my contacts and my number.”

Liam glanced at his watch. “One more issue. I already discussed this with Reggie Gunn, but I’d like to get your take on it.” He looked at Brynn now instead of her law partner. “What can you tell me about your connection to the murder victim?”

Pain flashed in her eyes. But she folded her hands in front of her and seemed to shake it off. “We worked for Jen Ballard when she was a prosecutor. The time span covered hundreds of cases, including James Corby’s. Jen tried the case and got him put away for life, no parole.”

“And we helped,” Ross said. “As assistant DAs, we were all part of the prosecution team that got him locked up, so we could be on the guy’s shit list.”