Witness Pursuit (Bodyguards #1)

Drake grinned and leaned a hand against the wide rail “Red here was lonely and whistled out for a little company.”


Smart Drake was back in full form.

Slade rolled his eyes and turned back the way he’d come. “Come on, get your butt moving. I’ll grab the gun.”

Drake plucked the cigarette from his mouth and dropped the butt to the porch, and then used the heel of his boot to extinguish it. “Later, Red. It seems they can’t work without me around here.”

She liked Drake. He was a good kid, and second chances counted, something he’d been given, and so had she. Yeah, she was already indebted to Ronson for all he’d done for her, but now she had an even greater appreciation of the man who was ex-Force. In her eyes, he was a hero for taking on a kid who needed to escape his own family.

With the boys gone, she walked inside and set her plate on the kitchen counter. She strolled into the living room and navigated around the couches.

She tugged up her jeans at the knees, knelt and reached for yesterday’s newspaper Ronson had tossed between his favorite recliner and the coffee table. Crumbs from his sandwich slid off the paper and onto the floor. Drat.

After she dropped the paper onto the stack at the back door, she opened the hall cupboard and rummaged inside for the vacuum cleaner. She hauled the artifact out, unraveled the cord then plugged it into the living room’s mains.

She flicked the switch and the motor rumbled to life, only the rumble whirred quickly into a high-pitched squeal. She clamped her hands to her ears as the motor shrieked. Black dust billowed from the back of the machine along with a snakelike hiss.

Not good. At all.

She dived for the power switch, snapped it off and heaved the cord free. Air. She needed fresh air. With a hand over her mouth, she stumbled and ran for the back door.

On the porch, she sucked in long drafts of air. “Now, that would be just my–”

A gunshot blasted somewhere down in the valley, and she jerked upright.

Her heart bumped out of rhythm, the shot drumming in her ears, pounding against her temples. She lifted her hands and Tyler’s blood coated them, dripping from her fingers, pooling on the ground.

“No!” It was just an illusion, and she shook her head, so hard her teeth rattled.

This wasn’t real. There was no blood. The cow had been shot. That was all.

She slammed her eyelids shut.

“Get it together. Tyler’s safe.” Sweat trickled down her back. She had to get out of here and find somewhere else to breathe, even if only for a little while. Town. Even the long drive would help. It always did.

She snatched the keys from the mudroom and jumped into the truck. She clawed the steering wheel as she revved the engine and busted down the drive.

Tyler. She was here for him and for Saria, to make sure she never placed either of their lives in danger again, and by the time she made it into town, that mantra had gone through her head and was once again set firm.

She wiped her forehead as she pulled into the parking lot in front of the Mega Store. Removing her glasses with one hand, she squeezed the bridge of her nose with the other. She could do this. She was strong.

Plunking the glasses back on, she stared at the store in front of her. Yeah, life moved on, and it seemed she had a new vacuum cleaner to buy.



Tyler had driven overnight down country to Wellington with Brigs in the passenger seat, and they’d boarded the morning ferry across the Cook Strait to the South Island. From there, Blenheim had been a short drive. He surveyed the length and breadth of Blenheim’s Main Street from where he’d parked the SUV.

The town was home to thirty-thousand, and he had the job of finding one small woman, and no solid place to start. No, that wasn’t right.

He frowned at Brigs who rested his butt on the front grill. “Can you believe we’ve come all this way, and we’re going to start looking for wrapping paper?”

“With sailing boats, mate.” Brigs grinned. “Such is the life of a bodyguard. I never would have guessed I’d have signed up for this.”

“Huh. I’d laugh, but that’s just not funny.” He was desperate to get Lydia back. He wanted her with him. And for her to reach out and send Nico a gift meant she was hurting. That was something he couldn’t allow.

“We’ll find her.”

“We better.”

“Then let’s get ourselves into gear.” Brig’s pushed off the front grill and slapped dust from his wrinkled pants. “First we need clothes and supplies since neither of us took the time to pack anything.”

Keeping a lookout, Tyler set out along the pavement. “I don’t care about clothes. What do you think she’ll look like?” Surely he’d know her, no matter any disguise she’d been given.