Mia’s head snapped up at a sound that wasn’t anything like the faint echoes of music from the other end of the lake. For some reason, her instinct was on high alert especially since the additional security team was missing in action.
“Having dinner out here was a great idea,” Mia said for the sake of their nosy neighbor Patty, who was walking in their direction as Calvin approached the table.
The older woman wasn’t any cause for concern.
“You like me cooking for you.” He brought out the spaghetti and salad, slid it on the table, then leaned in, kissing Mia. He wrapped his arm around her waist, nuzzling her neck. “Maybe we should have dessert first.”
“I’ll not be reheating dinner tonight.” Pushing him away, she turned him back toward the house, then swatted that gorgeous rear end of his to send him on his way. “You need to go grab those breadsticks. I’ll open the wine.”
Calvin, who had never been married, enjoyed playing the role of husband a little too much. He winked before stepping off the planks and into the dining room. He paused at the door and glanced over his shoulder. “We need to do this more often.”
Most often wouldn’t happen. Tonight was the last day of her assignment, then she’d be back to her regular life and that didn’t include being a high security detail protector to a top secret invention and its handsome creator.
Several minutes later, she poured him a glass of red wine before fixing their plates. She scanned the area again and a tingle of suspicion ignited in her mind.
What’s taking him so long?
“Calvin, today would be nice,” Mia yelled. She perched on the chair, waiting for his smart response.
None came.
Mia placed the glass on the table and swept into the house. Calvin wasn’t in the kitchen. If he had slipped into his office to work instead of joining her outside, there was going to be a problem.
Mia laid eyes on Calvin as she rounded the corner, but his voice halted her in her tracks.
“Run, Mia. Run,” Calvin yelled, lunging for the stocky Asian man near the office door.
A hefty Black guy slammed his weapon across the back of Calvin’s head.
Mia sprinted down the hallway past the study and powder room, aiming to get her weapon. She kicked herself for not bringing it inside. They wouldn’t kill Calvin, but they could hurt him if he didn’t cooperate. She slid a cast iron skillet from the cooktop.
“Go get her,” someone yelled from the office.
Several things crashed to the office floor. Calvin put up one hell of a fight. Mere seconds had passed when Mia’s pursuer rounded the corner. She slammed the skillet into his chest, causing him to fly into the wall. He recovered and reached for her arm. The skillet crashed down onto his head with a backward swipe. This time, his body hit the ground, right on top of his gun.
Damn.
Her feet pounded on the hardwood floor as she raced for the front entrance, aiming to find some type of reinforcements. An armed man came off the path to the porch. She slammed the front door, locking it. Keys jiggled in the tumbler.
Mia ran top speed toward the kitchen ahead of a spray of bullets that landed in the cabinets. She slid toward the island like a baseball player trying to reach the home plate. She scrambled around the counter, bolting to the deck and made it to the table.
“Nowhere to run,” a man with an ivory complexion said as a Latino guy calmly stepped over the threshold onto the deck as though nothing out of the ordinary had transpired.
“Don’t be so sure of that.” She snatched the Ruger, aimed, and pulled the trigger five times taking out the biggest threat. Mia didn’t wait for the Latino man’s advancing body to hit the ground. She hit the stairs. The ivory man took cover in the dining room and held up on a perfect vantage spot.
Three armed men raced toward her. Damn, how many did they send?
Mia’s heart sank, but adrenaline kicked in as she turned back.
She had to make it to the Lincoln.
“Mrs. Atwood, don’t do it,” he yelled as she climbed from the patio chair to the railing.
He aimed his Glock and fired.
Mia took a flying leap from the banister and dove into the water.
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