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“I’m reaching for my weapon.” The man moved in slow motion, sliding the Sig from his holster and placing it on the ground by his feet. He kicked the weapon into the flowerbed nearby.
“Now your backup.”
A muffled curse, but the intruder bent and removed his backup piece, tossing it toward his Sig.
“Knife, too.”
His knife joined the other weapons. “Okay for me to turn around now?”
Rafe took two steps back, his weapon trained on the man. “Go ahead.” He had a pretty good idea who the WS employee was. Seeing the man’s face seconds later confirmed the intruder was Dan Adams, the Special Forces soldier assigned to protect Kristi. “Why are you prowling around Kristi’s yard at 3:30 in the morning, Adams?”
Eyes narrowed, Adams said, “How do you know my name?”
“Answer my question.”
“Ms. Stewart is under my protection. I’m a member of her security detail.” Adams’ glance shifted to someone over Rafe’s shoulder.
“Guess he didn’t read the memo,” Eli said as he stopped beside Rafe.
Adams frowned. “What memo?”
“You and your team are no longer Kristi’s security detail. She terminated her contract with WS yesterday.”
Concern filled Adams’ eyes. “She needs protection,” he insisted. “Ms. Stewart was kidnapped a few days ago, and as far as I know the threat hasn’t been neutralized.”
“She has a team protecting her,” Rafe said.
A snort. “The men who grabbed Ms. Stewart are dangerous and desperate. She needs a real security team, not a bunch of country bumpkins with peashooters and zero training.”
“Oh, that hurts my southern heart,” Eli drawled. “Let’s take this inside, Adams. We’ll have a nice chat before we decide whether or not to call the local cops and turn you over to them for trespassing.”
“I have a legitimate reason for being here,” he insisted.
“Yeah, yeah. Get moving toward the back door. No fast moves or your face will be in the dirt. Personally, I wouldn’t mind if my friend trussed you up like a Thanksgiving turkey and hauled you inside. But we’d prefer not to traumatize the lady.”
Rafe scooped up Adams’ weapons and followed Eli. As Adams stepped on the deck, Jon opened the door.
In the kitchen, Eli pointed to a chair at the table. “Sit.”
Adams glanced at the operatives, then scanned the room for threats before he took a seat. “What now?”
“Let’s talk.” Eli flicked a glance at Rafe.
He sat across from the soldier as Wolf Pack spread out around the room, blocking exits. “Why are you here, Adams?”
“Who are you?”
“Rafe.” He pointed at each of his teammates in turn as he introduced them. “Eli, Jon, and Cal. Your turn to answer my question. Why are you here?”
“Checking malfunctioning equipment. I was on duty when one of our cameras went black. You took it down, didn’t you?”
“You make a practice of pointing cameras at the bedrooms of your principals?”
He flinched. “Wasn’t my decision,” Adams muttered. “I argued against it. Orders came down through the chain of command to install the camera anyway.”
“Who issued the orders?”
A shrug.
