Double Jeopardy

by Cooper, KaLyn

  Ryleigh glanced right and left at the numbers as she strode down the long hallway. From her pocket, she dug out the miniature electronic key that looked similar to a customer rewards card from a retail store, the kind most people kept on their keychain. She stopped in front of the door across the hall from his apartment. She stood perfectly still staring at the card smaller than her thumb and the door handle.

  “Scan the barcode across the bottom,” Blake instructed.

  She held the small tab by the edges near the base of the metal door handle. “Where’s the scanner?”

  “Hold it a little closer.” Blake had the same reaction when he had moved in. “The motion from your hand will activate the scanning mechanism.”

  As her fingers neared the metal, red laser lines emitted from the bottom and circled. “Oh, wow. That’s freaking cool.”

  The lock clicked, and she pulled the handle down pushing the door forward. Blake was surprised when he entered the room behind her. It was an exact duplicate of his apartment. He’d always thought this was one of the smaller units. Although he was sure she would appreciate the larger size, she would not like being treated differently than the men she’d work with daily.

  Taking a few steps inside, she bent over and set the bags on the floor.

  Blake stifled a moan as her black dress slacks hugged her perfectly rounded ass. He wanted to pick her up, throw her on that king-sized bed, strip her clothes off while kissing every inch of newly revealed skin, then make love to her until they couldn’t walk. But they were a long way from that point.

  “Ryleigh, we need to talk.” He set the bags down and stepped closer to her. “I… I need to know—” The alarm on his phone dinged. “Damn. We only have five minutes to get to the range, and I have to give you a tour first.”

  Chapter 2

  Ryleigh had been so excited when her friend Katlin told her about the job at Guardian Security. As she neared the end of her military contract, she knew for certain she wanted out of the Army and as far away from clandestine operations as she could get.

  Living in New York City seemed perfect. Her new life there would be so removed from the block hovel she lived in while under cover for the CIA. Memories of choking dust along the Pakistan and Afghanistan border would fade and be replaced by streets filled with cars. The sustenance lifestyle she’d been forced into while gathering human intelligence would be long forgotten as she discovered the international flavors available to her with the big city’s never-ending list of restaurants. Small-town secrets would disappear with the anonymity of living amongst millions.

  Hopefully, Ryleigh could bury all thoughts of the traitorous bastard she’d once called partner…and almost married. She mentally shook her head. She’d been such a fool. Never again would she trust a man with her heart because she wasn’t sure she had one anymore. It had been ripped from her chest, smashed into a million pieces, then ground into desert dust.

  Oh, she still intended to marry and have the requisite two-point-five children she longed for more every day the closer she approached her twenty-ninth birthday. In a city the size of New York, she was sure to find a man who shared her goals in life. She didn’t need to love him. She only needed to like him enough to share her life and children with him.

  The job at Guardian Security seemed perfect. She could use the unique skill set she’d been taught during the secret Special Operations training where she’d met Katlin Callahan and the women who were her best friends in the world. Parts of her CIA training might also come in handy. She’d already used it more than once that day.

  When Ryleigh had looked up from the conference table into Blake’s wide blue eyes, she’d called upon every lesson in controlling bodily reactions. Seeing her former lover in the standard Guardian Security gray polo shirt that stretched across perfectly defined pecks and abs, surprised the hell out of her. She still wasn’t sure how she was going to be able to work in the same building as the man who walked hurriedly beside her pointing to doors and briefly explaining what lay beyond. She’d do her own reconnaissance of the building later in the day, right after she unpacked.

  Ryleigh had never been so thankful for an alarm in her life. Explaining to Blake why she’d left their encampment in Afghanistan so quickly was impossible. The secret training she had successfully undergone was highly classified, as were all her CIA missions.

  Finally reaching the range on sub level I, she and Blake grabbed sound suppressing earmuffs before they entered the room. Alex and Wyatt stood inside the door, deep in conversation. The company owner signaled for the two of them to go back out. Ryleigh couldn’t imagine she was in trouble already or that they had discovered the past relationship between her and Blake, but Alex seemed tense.

  “I didn’t expect to put you to work today,” Alex said apologetically. “But an interesting opportunity has arisen, and you are the perfect person for this job.”

  Yes. She mentally fist pumped. Perhaps this assignment would take her away from the office…and Blake. Not that Ryleigh was a procrastinator, but so much had been thrown at her in the last twenty-four hours she really needed time to think about the appropriate way to handle the man who had filled her body and her dreams.

  Wyatt smacked Blake on the shoulder. “I’ve selected you to partner with Ryleigh on this personal protection duty.”

  Ryleigh could feel the expectancy from Alex. “This will be similar to some of the work you did for the CIA. You’re going as personal protection for Duke and Ella Wainwright to Aragon Island off the coast of Panama.”

  “I’ve headed Mr. Wainwright’s security detail on a few overseas trips,” Blake noted. “If he’s expecting problems with the Panamanian government, why is he taking his wife? Are they expecting another coup?”

  “No.” Wyatt explained, “Mr. Wainwright has received what we have determined are credible threats to his life. The most recent one arrived an hour ago and threatened to kill his wife. He’s not expecting trouble on the exclusive island, but he’d rather be safe than sorry. That’s why you two are going.”

  “The two of us?” Blake’s jaw dropped slightly. “Me…and…Ryleigh?”

  “Yes.” Alex’s eyes narrowed. “Do you have a problem with that?”

  “Sir,” Blake protested. “If the Wainwrights are truly in danger, I’d rather have my standard contingent of six of my best men to protect him and his wife.”

  Wyatt shook his head. “Mrs. Wainwright is vehemently against any protection services. She believes the exclusivity of the resort, which owns the whole damn island, and their promised increased security, is enough.”

  Alex’s gaze moved from Blake to Ryleigh. “But Duke isn’t satisfied. He finally convinced Ella to agree to a man and a woman team.” When he smiled at her, she knew exactly what Katlin saw in her Latin lover. Damn, he was handsome. “I knew hiring you was a good decision.”

  Ryleigh wasn’t sure he really had a choice given that one of her best friends owned part of the company. Even so, she would do everything in her power to prove Alex right. He’d jumped far out on a limb for her. “Thank you, sir. I won’t let you down.”

  “Okay, so I’ll be protecting Mr. Wainwright, and Ryleigh will handle Mrs. Wainwright’s protection?” Blake asked. “Will they be staying in separate villas or hotel rooms?”

  Wyatt shuffled his feet and the corners of Alex’s mouth kicked up. “I’m only telling you this because I believe it’s necessary for you to know in order to effectively guard the Wainwright’s.” Alex took a deep breath and ran his hand over his angled face. “I’ve known Duke and Ella for several years. The man is a fucking genius and has done wonders with the family company. But I can tell you from experience, growth like that comes at a personal cost.”

  Ryleigh could see the truth in Alex’s eyes before he continued. “This trip was Ella’s idea, and she had it planned for months. I think, and this is just my personal opinion, she hopes to pull Duke away from his all-consuming work and back into their relationship.” Alex gr
inned. “Sometimes we men need a kick in the ass to see what’s right in front of us.”

  Under his breath, Wyatt quietly added, “Or bullets flying at us.”

  Alex chuckled. “Yeah. Some of us are denser than others.”

  Ryleigh would have to ask Katlin about that inside joke. Pulling the conversation back to the situation at hand, she asked, “So what’s our cover story?”

  “You’re traveling with them as their friends,” Alex explained. “But don’t ever forget, you’re there to protect them.”

  Once again, Blake clarified, “So I’m going as Mr. Wainwright’s buddy, and Ryleigh is going as Mrs. Wainwright’s BFF?”

  “No.” Wyatt dragged out the word. “You two are going as Mr. and Mrs. Seasnan.”

  “Seasnan?” Ryleigh and Blake said in unison.

  “Who the hell came up with that name?” Blake spit out.

  “Blame Katlin for that one.” Alex shrugged. “It’s Gaelic for bodyguard.”

  Ryleigh burst out laughing. “That sounds like Katlin. During training she used to come up with the most bizarre names for people and places, almost all of them based in Gaelic.” She looked at Alex. “You’ve heard from her lately?”

  A warm smile crossed his usually hard face. “Yes. A few hours ago. She’s on her way home.” He looked at his watch. “Sorry to cut this meeting short, Wyatt, but I need to catch a plane to D.C. Your center looks wonderful, as always.”

  Alex extended his hand to Ryleigh. “Welcome aboard Guardian Security.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Ryleigh would always appreciate what Alex had done for her.

  “You two need to get a move on,” Wyatt encouraged. “You are to meet the Wainwright’s at the helipad down near 34th St. in three hours.”

  Three hours? Ryleigh’s mind raced through everything she had stuffed into the duffel bags upstairs. In the past eight years, she’d worn an Army uniform, then whatever clothes the CIA deemed appropriate for her mission, they had provided. None of her personal clothing would be appropriate for the best friend of a billionaire’s wife.

  “I don’t exactly have the right clothes to pull this off.” Ryleigh hated to ask, but had to. “Do I get an expense account or do you have a deal with a local boutique?”

  “It’s a tropical island.” Blake slowly ran his gaze down her body then back up. It felt as though his hands had touched her bare skin and she tingled from her shoulders to her toes, especially the good parts in between. His smile was all male and hungry. “I’m thinking you should live in a bikini.”

  Ryleigh fisted her hands on her hips. “Not happening, cowboy.” As soon as the last word was out of her mouth, she regretted it.

  Blake’s light blue eyes flared with desire. Not the response she was looking for. Cowboy had become a term of endearment based on one of her favorite fantasies. Ryleigh had a thing for cowboys…well, actually, chaps. But then Blake had looked pretty damned hot in nothing but the Stetson he’d borrowed from his friend in a cavalry division.

  She hurried on, hoping no one else had caught their silent exchange. “There is absolutely no place to hide a weapon, least of all my Smith & Wesson, in a bikini.”

  Alex and Wyatt glanced back and forth between her and Blake.

  “Cowboy?” Wyatt gave voice to the questioning look mirrored on Alex’s face.

  Thinking quickly, Ryleigh interjected, “Blake. Like Blake Shelton. The country singer. Cowboy.”

  Out of the corner of her eye she saw Blake’s lips twitch.

  Alex grinned. “Well, you two are sniping like a married couple already. I don’t think you’ll have a problem with your cover. Now, as for your clothes, I think I might have the answer for that as well. You look to be about the same size as Katlin, perhaps an inch shorter but I don’t think that will matter.”

  “During our CIA training we usually had weekends off and would all go out clubbing,” Ryleigh admitted. “We’d loan each other clothes, on occasion.” Training in D.C. meant a lot of clubbing and Katlin often opened her amazing closets to her friends. Since Katlin had grown up in embassies around the world, she had the most awesome, and diverse, clothes of anyone Ryleigh had ever met.

  “Excellent.” Alex gestured toward the stairway. “We’re going to sub level III and see what she has hidden away.”

  Wyatt slid a glance at Alex. “Sir, there’s nothing down there except storage.”

  Alex gave him a knowing smile. “Yep. And you’d be shocked at what Katlin has stored down there.”

  Alex hadn’t taken two steps when he stopped and turned his attention to Wyatt. “Call Jorge and have him meet Blake wherever he thinks is best. Be sure to let him know he has one hour to completely outfit our man.”

  Alex and Ryleigh took the stairs down two levels. She could tell this was not usually on the new employee tour. As they crossed the concrete bunker between stacked boxes of everything from Kevlar vests to ammunition, Ryleigh spotted familiar wooden boxes stacked against the wall. If the stenciled markings on the outside were to be believed, they were filled with military grade M4 rifles, rocket propelled grenade launchers, and cases of C-4.

  Before she could ask any questions, Alex announced. “We occasionally provide special teams for homeland security and USSOCOM.”

  Suddenly Ryleigh realized why hiring her was not that far removed from Guardian Security’s usual hiring decisions. Briefly, she wondered if she would be asked to join in black ops at some point. She certainly had the training for it. “Understood.”

  At the back of the large room, Alex came to a row of locked floor to ceiling cabinets. He opened the third from the end labeled medium polo shirts. Shoving aside gray shirts on hangers, he touched an unseen place and a small door opened in the back revealing a palm scanner. At his touch, it lit up and the bar underneath traveled down then beeped. The wall of lockers dropped back several feet then slid behind the others. Lights automatically came on revealing a socialite’s dream closet.

  “Holy shit. These are all Katlin’s?” The white room was twice the size of Ryleigh’s upstairs apartment. Along one wall were some of the most beautiful gowns in a rainbow of colors, arranged from floor length, tea length, above the knee, to short sexy clubbing dresses. Another wall was filled with what she would classify as business dresses hanging next to three-piece suits that could pass as an FBI agent’s wardrobe. Stacked in one corner, on cubby shelves, were camouflage uniforms for every environment from snow to jungle. Given their assignment, Ryleigh would most likely need some of the black cammies. She headed there first, where she was the most comfortable.

  Alex slowly gazed around the room. “Katlin likes clothes, that’s for sure. As you know, her job doesn’t allow her to carry around a lot of suitcases, so as we have expanded Guardian Security, she has purchased and stocked locally appropriate clothing as well as grab and go clothes.”

  Ryleigh ran a finger over a heavily beaded gown that had to be designer. Although, she wouldn’t know, since she had never owned a dress that fine. “I… I couldn’t wear these.”

  Alex raised an eyebrow. “Why? They shouldn’t be that big on you. I’m sure they have someone who could alter it for you at the resort.”

  “No, that’s not the problem. I’m sure they’ll fit just fine, but what if something happened to one of these gorgeous dresses? I couldn’t afford to replace this.” Especially without Katlin’s permission to borrow it.

  Alex chuckled. “No problem. You now work for us, and the company can afford to replace Katlin’s dresses. To be honest with you, she probably wouldn’t miss it,” he said as his gaze swept the room. “You need to get a move on. You have to get packed and on your way to the helipad.” He thought for a minute then pulled out his cell phone. “I’m going to put you in touch with a personal shopper who will pick up the other things you’ll need and meet you at the helipad.”

  Ryleigh didn’t know what to say. She’d never been exposed to this kind of wealth, or service. Working for the CIA, they had provided her with the appr
opriate clothing she needed for the job. Once, she’d been able to shop their costume warehouse when she needed a dress for an inaugural ball, but the one she selected had obviously been worn and dry cleaned several times.

  Alex handed her his cell phone as he introduced her to Hadley. Ryleigh quickly answered the woman’s questions, then she handed the phone back to Alex.

  “Aha.” Alex looked at her sheepishly. “She wants me to take a picture of you and send it to her.”

  Ryleigh shrugged. “Go ahead. Any particular pose?”

  Alex repeated her question then said, “From the front and each side and back.”

  Ryleigh stood as still as possible and scanned the clothes while she made her quarter turns so Alex could snap the pictures and send them to the personal shopper. Mentally, she giggled. She had a personal shopper.

  In less than five minutes, Ryleigh had decided on three formal dresses, four clubbing style dresses, a couple casual outfits, and matching shoes. On an island, she figured sandals would be appropriate footwear. If she had to fight, she could easily slip out of them, and, to be honest, she was better barefoot anyway. Her two third-degree black belts in martial arts attested to that fact. She’d take her own running shoes and workout gear.

  On the way out the door, she saw shelves and shelves of purses, from small clutches to messenger bags. She knew Katlin well enough to know that they would hold her personal carry weapon. Looking at the outfits she had heaped on to Alex’s arms, Ryleigh started grabbing color-coordinated purses. This was the most fun she had had shopping in years. She normally hated the task, pinching every penny she could so she could send money home to her mother. The salary Alex had offered her would go a long way to helping pay down some of her mother’s medical bills that almost gave her a heart attack after fighting breast cancer for the second time.