Executive Protection(33)

“Thad also told me about his concern over one of my security agents. The window was left unlocked. It could have been an innocent mistake, but it could have been more. I need someone I can trust to secure the beach house for my visit.”

Lucy understood that. But going to a remote beach house with Thad wasn’t in her best interest right now.

“I’m concerned for your safety, and mine,” Kate said. “And Thad could use some time with you, to see what a real woman could do for him. It might even change his mind about love.” Kate smiled with well-intended deviousness.

Her motive was purely as a matchmaker and nothing less. Lucy could not ignore that.

“Why do you think I’m any good for Thad?” she asked. “I mean, I know I deserve a good man. I’m not insecure and I have a lot to offer. But Thad isn’t interested in the same things I am.” Not when it came to love.

“Having a family?” Kate asked derisively.

“Yes.” Didn’t she see? It would be futile for Lucy to carry on any kind of relationship with him. Especially when her feelings were already so deep.

“That’s precisely why you’re perfect for him.” Kate scrutinized her again, and Lucy felt exposed. Thad’s mother understood what had her so down. “Come here.” Kate reached her hand toward her.


Lucy stood and went to her, and Kate took her hand.

“Thad doesn’t know it yet, but you’re right about marriage and he’s wrong. You can teach him that, and if the two of you fall in love, everyone benefits.”

And if only one of them fell in love, what then? “Are you sure you’re not trying to arrange a marriage for us?”

Kate let go of her hand. “Lucy, my dear, I wouldn’t push the two of you if I wasn’t sure of the way he feels about you. Thad has never been in love before. When he falls in love, he’s going to realize that marriage and love go hand in hand, and children are the celebration of them both.”

Lucy stared at her while the possibility of Thad being a viable suitor for her mushroomed. Could he be just like one of the men she’d choose on her online dating site, one who shared her desires for the future?

What would happen if Kate was wrong? What if Thad stuck to his beliefs? Where would that leave her? If she dove into this headfirst and really went after him, she might very well end up with a broken heart.

“I’m sorry,” she said with the shake of her head. “I’m not the one for him. If he ever falls in love—” which she did not believe he would “—it will have to be with someone else.”

Kate’s face fell with disappointment. “I understand. It was worth a try.”

“Are you finished?” Lucy indicated her breakfast, eager to get things back to business.

“Yes.”

“Then let’s get you up and walking.” As Lucy lifted the tray off the bed and set it aside, Kate’s proposition plagued her.

Or was it temptation?





Chapter 8


For about an hour now, Thad had watched the office building across the street from the hotel where his mother had held her fund-raiser. Traffic crawled and people clogged the sidewalks. No federal agents lurked. No one noticed him, either. Thad put down the newspaper he’d used to disguise his true purpose and stood from the café patio table. Dropping a tip on the table, he lifted a briefcase and headed for the street.

Waiting for traffic to pass, he crossed and entered the building. Inside, there was no one in the lobby. There was no security desk. No security at all. No wonder the shooter had chosen this as his position to try and kill Kate Winston. Taking the elevator to the thirteenth floor, he walked down the hall. A door ahead had an X of yellow police tape blocking entrance. There was no one guarding the door. He passed a darkened office space, visible through windows on each side of double doors. Across from it was another vacant space.

A man exited the office at the end of the hall. Across from that was the yellow taped door. That was the only occupied office on this floor. There was a janitor’s cart parked along the wall but no sign of the janitor.

Thad slowed his pace until the man reached the elevators. At an enclave of the public restrooms, Thad ducked behind the wall and waited. The man disappeared and the hall fell quiet again.

Putting his briefcase down, Thad crouched and retrieved a lock pick. The door was aged and not sophisticated. Another plus for the gunman. It took him a few minutes to maneuver the lock pick, but at last it slid the bolt open. Thad turned the knob and entered, stepping over the tape and bending to fit through the opening. He looked in the hall to make sure he wasn’t seen.

Closing the door again, he faced the open space of the vacant office. There were four enclosed offices on each side and six cement support columns between. Facing the street was a wall of windows. Thad went over to them.

He could clearly see the twelfth-floor ballroom of the historic building across the street. There was an event taking place right now. People sat at tables that faced the front of the room, some kind of business presentation taking place. The hotel hadn’t wasted any time cleaning the space up and reopening for scheduled events. He couldn’t see the projection screen, but he did see a raised platform where a podium might be placed, where his mother had stood.

It gave him a helpless feeling, a sick feeling, to stand here as the shooter had, taking aim at his mother. He clenched his fists.