worried about her parents, and we’re already spread thin. I don’t know if we can keep a regular watch on them.”
Understanding dawned delicately across Ian’s sharp features. The eyebrow went up again. “And you want me to provide protection for them.”
“Technically, if you’re going to own the building, and you want the coffeeshop to stay, you’re just looking out for your own interests.”
Ian smiled. “How practical of you. I like that. Well. Let me think.” He leaned back in the booth, arms folded, and glanced out through the window, presenting them with his elegant profile.
“Why no one’s put you in a Bond movie yet, I have no idea,” Mercy quipped.
“Hush, you.” Ian turned back to them, hands steepling beneath his chin. “Alright. I’ll appoint them guards.”
“You will?” Carter asked.
“Yes, of course.”
“What’s the catch?”
“No catch. Consider it a favor to a friend.” He slid out of the booth. “In exchange for bringing Felix along to this little meeting. He’s quite enjoyable to look at.”
Mercy laughed, delighted.
Ian winked at him. “Come, Bruce.”
The big bodyguard slid out of the booth behind them and fell in behind his boss.
“Tell Miss Cook her parents are in good hands,” he said, and left them.
~*~
Marie couldn’t seem to stop shaking her head, an absent back and forth that left her short, ash-blonde hair swinging over her ears. Her eyes were wide, and she kept touching her mouth. “Oh my God. That poor family.”
“Do you know the Connors, Mrs. Cook?” Ava asked. She had her mother’s perfectly consoling tone down pat. Leah was honestly a little jealous of it.
“No. Well. A little,” Marie amended. “I’ve seen them around. The wife comes into the coffeeshop a good bit, and we’ve exchanged hellos and small talk. This is just devastating.” She took a deep breath, and her gaze focused, shifting between the two of them. “And this is about the club?”
“It’s about some really sick people who kill and sell kids,” Leah said, firmly.
“Who want to intimidate the club and keep it from stopping them,” Ava said. “They know the Dogs could stop them, so they want to scare us, and make us look bad around town.”
“This is related to the graffiti at Bell Bar, then.” She might have been a cheerful person, but she wasn’t a slow or stupid one. Her gaze sharpened another fraction. “Is that why Carter’s been hanging around? Leah, I thought you and he – I’m sorry, honey.”
“No, no.” Leah’s face heated. “He and I are…”
Marie grinned, faintly.
“Which is why he – the club – is worried about keeping this shop and you and dad safe.”
“Safe?” Her brows went up. “Surely you don’t think we’ll be targeted, do you?”
“Mom, a guy’s dead. And two girls are missing.”
“Right.” She swallowed with obvious effort, and surveyed the shop floor with a critical eye from their tucked-away table. Her hand tightened on her mug, and her gaze lingered on a pair of men seated at a table by the window, both of them young and athletic-looking.
“We’re not trying to scare you,” Ava said, quickly. “But we want you guys to be warned, so you can keep a sharp eye out.”
The door opened with a cheerful jangle, and in walked an even more suspect pair of men. Tall, and jacketed, dressed in jeans and clinging black t-shirts. Save their hair – red-blond versus black-brown – they looked like a matched set, sunglasses and everything. Both of them, Leah noted as they approached their table, wore holstered guns on their hips, plain as day.
“Shit,” Ava muttered, tensing. One hand slipped down into her purse, and Leah knew she was grabbing her own gun.
Leah had nothing to grab but the edge of the table, her heart leaping up into her throat.
But the dark-haired man said, “Mrs. Cook? I’m Ray and this is Don. We’re with Elite Security. Mr. Shaman is stationing us here, and at your home, if that’s convenient.” He and Don produced wallets with credentials that Ava stood to scan, and which she then passed to Marie, who looked them over with bewilderment.
“Mr. Shaman? But I don’t understand.”
Leah did, though, a surge of warmth and affection smoothing out her racing pulse. Carter had said he’d talk to Ian, and he had, and here was the proof – here with the hulking, strong guys he’d gotten to keep her parents safe. If he’d been here now, she would have embarrassed them both with a public kiss.
“Shaman really sent you?” Ava asked.
Ray turned to her, dark brows drawing together, briefly. “He