Blaze nodded. “Thanks. Alan’s taking the alternate shift with you, right?”
Chuck nodded. “We’re set.”
“Call if the least little thing seems out of place.”
“Don’t worry. I will.”
Peyton hurried to keep up with Blaze as he strode down the hall.
“Now I’m afraid to leave her.”
“She’ll be fine,” he assured her. “Chuck is the best. Although he wasn’t on my team, he was in my platoon. I know for a fact he’s an expert both with handguns and rifles and knows six ways to kill a man with his hands.”
Peyton shuddered. “I don’t know whether to be afraid or grateful.”
Blaze chuckled. “Definitely grateful. I’d want him guarding any member of my family.”
“I trust your judgment, then.” She stepped into the elevator. “I assume Nolan was instrumental in letting you arrange this?”
“He was. He wants Brianne Hollister protected as much as you do. But Viper also pulled a few strings with the director of the hospital. We helped him outwit a little jam last year and he was only too glad to repay the favor.”
Peyton could only begin to imagine what that favor consisted of.
“Good. That’s very good. Relieves my mind a lot, or as much as it can. Thank you.”
She breathed a little easier as they rode down in the elevator. At least she could be assured that while she was gone this afternoon, her sister wouldn’t be unprotected.
God. How did we get into this nightmare, anyway?
Chapter Six
Peyton and Blaze said little to each other as they left the hospital and drove to the same location where she’d boarded the plane.
“Are we flying somewhere?” She glanced over at him. “I thought we were going to a gun range. Don’t tell me there aren’t any locally, because I wouldn’t believe it.”
“No.” He shook his head. “It’s local all right. When we set up Galaxy, we knew we’d need to keep in practice. We wanted to avoid public ranges, indoor and out, so we set up our own.”
Of course they did, she thought. When you have all the money in the world, you can even build your own little city if you want. Truth be told, however, she was just as glad they wouldn’t be out in the public eye, under all that scrutiny. Someone could be watching them. Watching her. And that might not be as farfetched as it sounded. Two weeks ago, she would have considered it a great plot point. Now everything was suspect and everyone could be spying for them, whoever they turned out to be.
Blaze drove to the second hangar and parked by the entrance. At the moment, they were the only ones there. He unlocked the door and ushered her inside. At one of the bays, he set out an array of handguns for her to choose from. She had to be careful because she had small hands and she needed a gun she could grip well, finally choosing the Glock Subcompact Slimline.
Peyton looked around. This hangar really was outfitted as a soundproofed gun range, with multiple shooting bays, motorized targets and a storage closet that held a large supply of bullets.
“Impressive,” she told him. “Very impressive.”
“We try to make sure we practice in here at least once a week,” Blaze told her as he took things from the supply area. “We have to always be at the top of our game. We also work out every day if we’re not involved with a client.”
She hadn’t practiced in quite a while, busy as she’d been meeting a deadline with her publisher, so she was a little rusty at first. And slower than usual, taking more time to sight the target. She waited for Blaze to make some kind of comment, but he was patient with her, showing her how to adjust her grip until it all felt comfortable again. She was acutely aware of him standing behind her, of the heat emanating from his body where it lightly touched hers. Of his hands molded around hers while she tested the guns. And his stance, back far enough to give her room but so there she was conscious of it every second. She had to force herself to stop thinking about his presence, if that was possible, and concentrate on the target.
He had stacked small boxes of bullets for her on the bay’s counter and she could actually feel him watching her each time she loaded the clip, then waiting patiently while she emptied it into the target. However,