CHAPTER 13
Colt
When my phone had buzzed in the dead of night, my first thought had been, ‘Please don’t let me have jinxed myself.’
I was happy. So happy. Happier than I could remember being in a long time. Natalie was sleeping soundly beside me, so beautiful, her face so peaceful, finally absent from the stress that had been lurking in her eyes for weeks on end.
I’d hurried reached for the phone, not wanting to disturb her.
It was so early in the morning, the sun had just started to rise. I crept out of the bedroom.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Mr. Jackson, this is your handler speaking. Report to the home office immediately. Please pack your bags. Head of security has instructed that you move out of the safehouse with Speaker Finley’s daughter immediately. A new guard is being sent there as we speak to take your place.”
“What? Why?”
“No time for questions. Just do what you’ve been told if you want to keep your job. We will answer any questions you have once you report to our headquarters.”
The phone line went dead, and the happiness I felt plummeted.
I locked myself in the bathroom, thinking.
As the minutes ticked by, I realized I didn’t have the luxury of time to waste. I would just have to report to headquarters to figure out what this was possibly about.
Deciding not to wake or worry Natalie, I quietly and quickly went to the guest bedroom, where I packed up my belongings and then made my way out of the house, waiting for the replacement guard to arrive. He showed up almost the instant I stepped foot out of the house.
“Is this the safehouse for Speaker Finley’s daughter?” he had asked as he pulled into the driveway.
I nodded. “Take care of her until I’m back.”
“Sure thing.”
And then I set off to the security headquarters, without a doubt in my mind that I would be back. Whatever issue had arisen, I would solve it and get back to Natalie before the end of the day, because there was simply no way that I would leave her.
But hours had gone by, and I remained stuck at the headquarters, wondering why on earth I was there in the first place.
“Colt Jackson.”
I’d been restless in the waiting room. I had even tried calling Speaker Finley several times, only for his phone to go straight to voicemail.
I stood, entering the room where I was to meet with my handler. A man who briefed me on any new jobs, we weren’t exactly friends. He gave orders, I followed them. It was pretty simple.
“Good afternoon, Colt,” my handler, Jared, said.
I pursed my lips for an instant, momentarily finding it difficult to return a polite greeting. I knew that the instant I opened my mouth, angry words would come out, demanding an answer for why I was so unceremoniously awoken at such a fucking ungodly hour, only to have to spend hours waiting to see him. But instead, I managed to clear my throat and remain respectful. This was, after all, the guy who gave me assignments. “Good morning,” I said.
“Please, close the door and take a seat.”
I did as I was told, positioning myself in the chair directly across from him. He leaned back in his chair, looking a little too nonchalant for my liking. I folded my hands in my lap and stared pointedly at him, eager to know what this was about. I’d been doing my job, so there was no reason for me to be here, as far as I was concerned.
“So, how’s it going, Colt?” he asked. Jared was a middle-aged man, vibrant and in good shape. He was ex FBI and he always managed to speak in a friendly tone, even during the most trying of times. This had always been a trait I admired about him—until now. I could tell that something unpleasant was on the way, and I didn’t appreciate the false pleasantries he was attempting to show at me. I wanted him to get to the point and stop wasting my time.
“Pretty good,” I said, deciding to keep my answers short and to the point in order to not prolong things.
“And how is Ms. Natalie Finley doing?”
“Fine.”
“Is she? Coping well with all the drama going on with her father at the moment? I know how close the two of them are. It has to be hard for them to be separated like this.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Sure. But Natalie is a smart girl. She understands that all of this is being done for her own protection, and that her father would have it no other way.”
Jared nodded. “I understand that she’s a smart young woman. So I have no doubt that she understands logically why these measures have been put into place. I guess what I’m referring to is how she’s doing emotionally and psychologically.”
I tilted my head. “She’s fine…”
“So you haven’t seen any signs of emotional distress from her end?”
“No offense sir, but if you wanted to ask questions about her emotional and psychological wellbeing, I’m sure you could have contacted her.”
Jared laughed. “Oh, I don’t want to stress her out any further. I figured I could gather what I needed from you, since you’ve been spending every waking moment with her, correct?”
“Correct.”
“Just for clarification, I do mean every waking moment. Or have you been spending more than waking moments with her? If you don’t mind me asking, of course.”
I froze in my seat, wondering if he was implying what I thought he was, or if I was just being paranoid.
There was no way anyone could have known that Natalie and I had…
I wracked my brain, trying to figure out how we could have possibly been caught.
Maybe you’re just jumping to conclusions, I told myself. First, find out what he really means…
“I’m sorry,” I said, “I’m not sure I understand what you’re asking me.”
“Really now?”
A long silence passed between us, and Jared literally started twirling his thumbs. His brow lowered and he stared at the table for a moment, as if trying to find the right words to say. “Have you been getting a bit too attached to Ms. Natalie Finley, Colt?”
“No,” I answered immediately, the lie leaping off my tongue. Fuck.
“Hmm.”
It was evident that. Jared didn’t believe me, and I had no idea what else to say. I was treading on thin ice though.
“Well,” he continued, “just to be on the safe side, I am reassigning you to Speaker Finley himself. There have been some suspicious whispers about the relationship you’ve been developing with Natalie, and I would just hate for any issues or scandals to arise while the Speaker is in consideration for Vice President. You understand, right?”
Now I paused for a long moment. “I’m sorry, but I belong with Natalie,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “I’m not trying to be difficult, but she trusts me. I think it would be detrimental to assign someone else to her right now, for you…you know, psychological and emotional reasons.”
“Do you now?” Jared said. “And whose psychological and emotional reasons are we talking about here, yours or hers?”
I swallowed. “I…I just don’t think it’s a good idea to reassign—”
“Can you promise me that you can refrain from getting too attached to Natalie Finley?”
“Yes,” I said, feeling a knot flip in my stomach.
“Then you may eventually be reassigned to her. For now though, please report to Speaker Finley’s estate.”
* * *
There was no use in fighting against the orders. Besides, I didn’t want to further incriminate myself by fighting too hard to go back to Natalie. If someone had been tipped off about a budding romance forming between the two of us, I didn’t want to do anything to feed into the issue.
It was now overly obvious that our escapade in the library hadn’t been a good idea. Too overcome with lust and passion, neither of us had paid attention to the fact that it was far too easy to get caught in a public area like that. Maybe someone had seen us. Maybe someone saw the smiles and giggles and disheveled clothing as we left through the library, looking like a couple of sneaky hormonal teenagers.
Maybe a photo had been snapped somewhere…
Or maybe hidden security cameras had been recording us…
The thought sent chills down my spine. How could I have been so stupid? So unprofessional. It was all my fault.
I had brought this on myself.
Way to fucking go, Colt.
I pulled up in front of Speaker Finley’s estate with a sigh. Knowing Natalie was not inside already made the grounds seem less welcoming.
As I approached the steps, the door automatically opened to me. Speaker Finely stood on the other side “Colt, my man! Welcome back,” he said, immediately extending his hand to me. I took it and forced a smile onto my face.
“Thank you, sir. Good to be back.”
He shut the door after I entered. “So, they’ve reassigned you to me, huh? Natalie called me this morning, distressed. Do you have any idea why such a change was made?”
I scratched the back of my head. “Uhm…I think it’s just because the…the odds of you being targeted, sir, are higher than the odds of her being targeted. So I’ve been told that I’m needed here with you. Another security guard has been placed with Natalie. She’ll be fine.”
“I see,” Speaker Finley said, a slight frown on his face. “I guess I should be relieved by this, but I don’t know. I know you’re the best, Colt. I personally would feel better if you were with my little girl. I guess that’s just the fatherly instinct in me though. I worry far more for her than I do for myself. The guard that’s with her—is he good? Is he capable of protecting her the way you can?”
I forced myself to nod. “Yes, sir…” I said, my mind already spinning into overdrive. “I can, however, still stop by to occasionally check on her, if you’d like. Uhm…you know, during shift changes.”
Speaker Finley clasped my shoulder. “Would you do that for me? I actually feel a lot better hearing that.”
“Certainly,” I said, my heart beginning to speed a little. I hated lying, but I needed to see Natalie again.
If I went back to the safehouse with her, for ‘visits’, I could always claim that I was sent there by the Speaker. Certainly, I couldn’t lose my job for following the Speaker’s orders…
I came back to my senses upon realizing that the Speaker was still talking to me, telling me what plans and meetings he had for the rest of the day. For the next several days. I realized with some dismay that I would be stuck with him due to his busy traveling schedule; there was simply no way I could leave his side anywhere during those times. With each passing day, his status grew, which meant more opponents were after him.
But I already made a vow that the first chance I got to return to Natalie, I would. That day just couldn’t come quickly enough.
I would just have to be patient though and bide my time, hoping that she would be understanding of the situation before us. I had already made a vow that I wouldn’t be kept away from her, and now I was determined to keep my word. I had to show her just how serious I was, and that I wouldn’t abandon her at any cost.