Witness Pursuit (Bodyguards #1)

“The only embedding that will occur between us will not be by chip.” She arched her neck for more. “You never take no for an answer. I’ll have to train that out of you.”


“You can’t do that if I can’t find you.” He smiled. “Which sounds like an actual agreement to me. Brigs is almost here. I’ll have him watch you.” With a quick kiss, he left her before she could object again. After jogging over to one of the two beached inflatables, he removed the stowed basket of food and towels and passed them to Brigs.

“I take it you’re off somewhere?” Brigs set the basket on the sand then used one of the towels and dried himself.

“Yeah, to the resort. I’ll only be an hour. I need you to watch Lydia for me.”

“Of course. You don’t even have to ask, except this is not like you. We’ve been here five days, and you haven’t left her once. Why are you heading to the resort?”

Tyler heaved the inflatable further into the water, jumped in and revved the motor. “Shipping business. Nothing to worry about.” He cringed at his lie, but he couldn’t spill the details to Brigs. What he was about to do was private and between him and Lydia, and there would be no stopping him. He needed his woman tagged. He wouldn’t have her undergo re-identification without some way of finding her. It’d never happen.



“Thanks for bringing the food basket. Right here is fine, Brigs.” Lydia pointed to a nice dry spot near her and Nico’s sandcastle. She squeezed Nico’s shoulder. “Why don’t you go and wake up Daddy. He’s had a long enough nap.”

With a grin, Nico sprinted to the tree line. Liam had one foot dangling over the side of the hammock, and Nico grabbed his toes. Liam chuckled, snagged Nico up and dragged him in with him. Liam adored his son, and her heart lightened, bubbling with joy at witnessing such devotion. It was another precious moment she couldn’t get enough of. Being around Tyler was wonderful, but sharing this time with him and his brothers, even better.

“Do you miss your family?” Brigs sat on the navy and red striped blanket which he’d spread for them. “It has to be hard.”

“Yeah, but I’ve handled it.” She sat and twiddled her fingers. “It’s better knowing they’re alive and safe, than never seeing them again because something bad happened.” Like it had with Tyler. She would never place him in the firing line again.

“Ben will never give up trying to find the killer.” Brigs rested his elbows on his propped knees.

“I know. Living with Ben for this past year has taught me he never stops until he gets what he wants. Tyler’s the same.”

“It comes with the business. Bodyguards like to protect what’s theirs.”

“Do they ever.” She smiled and glanced out at sea. Dylan and Luke skimmed around the cove on their Wave Runners. They’d been in and out all morning, exploring along this side of the island.

They came in, beached their machines, and then strode their way.

“Hey guys, where’s Tyler?” Dylan fell to the ground beside her. Sand stuck to his black wetsuit, as it did Luke’s when he dropped in to take a place on her other side. Tyler’s brothers were as protective of her as he was. It was as if they all fed off the same emotions.

“He’s gone on a quick trip to the resort.” She rubbed her chest, missing him more than she liked. Goodness, he hadn’t even been gone ten minutes and she was stressing over it.

Dylan eased his sunglasses up with one finger and eyed her. “It must have been urgent for him to leave.”

“No, just shipping business. He’ll only be gone an hour.” To affect calm, she raised the lid of the basket and pulled out some food. “Help yourselves, guys.”

With a grin, Luke snatched the container of chicken legs. “Ahh, with Tyler gone, there’ll be all the more for me to eat.”

She made a space for Nico as he skipped over, tugging on Liam’s hand. Liam halted mid-step as he checked over his shoulder toward the bush. “I think I hear something. A chopper?”

Brigs was on his feet, tilting his head in the same direction. “I hear it too.” He scrutinized her. “I’m sorry, Lydia. It’s bad timing Tyler had to leave, particularly since I had to keep this piece of information from him, but Ben confirmed with me your extraction team would arrive at 1200 hours.”

Liam snarled under his breath. “Why does Lydia need an extraction team? What the hell’s going on?”

“I’m sorry, Liam. I hate to let you down, but you know I can’t speak of my circumstances. This is just what has to be.” She stood as the chopper flew over the bush line. It swept out and circled The Idle Dream anchored in the deep. Chills raced down her spine. No. She could deal with this. She stepped up to Liam and the little boy she completely adored. “I’ll miss your birthday, Nico, but I won’t forget. You’ll always be in my thoughts.”