Forever Guarded

by Kathleen Brooks

  “Are you okay? You’re all red.” As soon as Aiden pointed that out, Piper was sure she turned five shades redder in embarrassment. She needed to focus. Get dangerous sample from lab. Keep it safe. Fix it so the whole world doesn’t die. Not focus on a sexy, panty-dropping Brit.

  “Good. Just worried about my sample. Let’s go.”

  Aiden looked around the field as the cows lumbered by them. “Where is it?”

  “Underground.”

  “Clever,” he said with admiration in his voice. And what that did to her panties was going to be left unsaid.

  * * *

  Piper showed Aiden how to enter the lab. He made her wait in the field while he cleared the lab and hurried back out. “Get what you need. I’ll stay out here.”

  Piper nodded and headed into her lab. She ran for the cooler and pulled out a holding tank that would keep her sample at the right temperature for transport. Piper opened her refrigerator and pulled the samples from inside. She secured them safely in the cooler and looked around for anything else she might need.

  Ah, jackets. She had a box of them. She’d get one for herself and one for Aiden. Piper hurried to the small storage closet and dug through her box of jackets picking out the correct sizes. She was halfway across the room when the earth shook and the cooler bounced dangerously close to the edge of the table. Her breath lodged in her throat as Piper shoved rattling stools aside and leapt forward as the cooler gave up purchase and fell.

  With hands outstretched, Piper dove for the small cooler. She hit the cool concrete floor hard with her chest and stomach as her hands closed around the hard shell of the cooler. Air whooshed out of her lungs as the earth shook again. This time the sound of gunfire accompanied it. This was no earthquake. They had found her.

  10

  Aiden fired on the pickup truck as it tore through the field straight at him. Cows thundered by in panic as a man fired a rocket grenade launcher at Aiden. He dove to the side and took cover behind a thick tree as the grenade exploded far enough away to not harm him.

  Aiden reached into his suit and pulled out another magazine and reloaded. He shot at the person holding the launcher. His second shot found its mark and the man fell from the truck into the path of stampeding cattle. Another man riding in the back who had been loading the launcher picked it up and fired at Aiden. Aiden cursed as he was forced to retreat farther from the entrance to the lab. He just hoped Piper would stay put.

  Since they were a man down, Aiden charged as soon as the shot exploded. The man would have to reload, and Aiden would be ready for him. He stood his ground, lined up his shot, and waited. The second the man stood with the launcher, Aiden fired. The man went down. Aiden prayed there were no more men riding in the back of the pickup.

  “Aiden!”

  Ah, bollocks. “Get down!” Aiden yelled as Piper ran toward him.

  The passenger window of the pickup rolled down and Aiden was already running toward Piper as the first shot was fired. Aiden’s heart stopped when the bullet slammed into Piper’s chest, sending her flying backward and falling hard to the ground.

  “No!” Aiden yelled as he stopped, aimed, and emptied his clip into the windshield of the pickup. It veered suddenly to the right, the front tire clipping the tree trunk sticking up out of the ground, causing the front tire to lift off the ground. Aiden didn’t watch the truck flip. He dropped to the ground, hitting it hard, as his hands were searched for a pulse on Piper’s limp body.

  “Ow,” she groaned. Aiden felt relief wash through him as he almost fell down. And when her eyes fluttered open, he finally let out the breath he’d been holding. “That hurt like a stick in the eye,” she gasped as he continued to look for blood.

  Aiden ran his hands over her shoulders, down her chest, over two breasts he would remember later how wonderfully they filled his hands, and over her stomach. “Where’s the blood? I saw you shot,” he asked more to himself than to her as he lifted her clothes up to look at her skin.

  “Hey!” Piper yelled as she tried to shove down her clothes, but it was too late. He saw where she was hit. There was an angry bruise forming slightly above her left breast, just inches from her heart.

  “Stop,” Aiden ordered as he stared. That wasn’t possible.

  “Listen to me,” Piper said in a ticked-off voice as she tried to wriggle out from his grasp, but Aiden put his hand on her exposed stomach, and she instantly stilled.

  “I saw you shot,” he said with confusion.

  “It’s my jacket. I told you, I’m into nanotechnology. This jacket and other clothing items will be hitting a small select market soon. They’re bullet- and knife-proof.”

  “I don’t believe it,” Aiden said with disbelief. The jacket was just a windbreaker.

  “Do you see a bullet lodged in my chest?” Piper asked sarcastically. Aiden looked back at her chest. No bullet. But a pair of beautiful breasts encased in the ugliest cotton bra he’d ever seen. It was white, but there were black lines of various spacing across it.

  “No. What’s on your bra?”

  “DNA sequence, now would you let me up?”

  Aiden grinned as a whole slew of dirty thoughts ran though his mind. “I kind of like you like this.”

  “Ugh! Let me up. I have to check my sample.”

  Aiden rocked onto his heels as she shoved her top and jacket down. She was blushing again, and it was definitely affecting him. Especially when she rolled over and crawled to the cooler with her ass wiggling in his face. This assignment was going to kill him. One way or the other, he was a dead man.

  * * *

  Piper unlocked the cooler and looked inside. Her heart rate instantly slowed when she saw the sample was safe inside. “It’s safe.”

  “Good, now let’s get you that way,” Aiden called as he walked toward the truck. He kicked a window in and pulled a man from it. Piper gagged slightly. She’d never really been around a dead guy before, especially one missing part of his head.

  “Who is he?” she asked and was slightly embarrassed when her voice cracked.

  Aiden took a picture and stood. “I don’t know. I just texted Nash. They’ll be here soon.” Piper watched as Aiden bent down and started going through the man’s pockets. He pulled out a phone and Piper inched her way closer as she clung to the cooler.

  “What did you find?”

  “His cell phone. The last text was GPS coordinates to this location and a picture of you—a picture taken this morning in the café. There’s someone who doesn’t belong in Keeneston.”

  “Let me see,” Piper said, ignoring the dead guy as she rushed over to grab the phone. “Angle is all wrong. It was taken from outside. We would have noticed someone inside.”

  “The car that was following us. It had to be them.”

  Piper nodded as she scrolled through the rest of the texts. “Dudley,” she gasped as she turned the phone for Aiden to see. There was no doubt about it now. Dudley Fieldhouse had sold her out. The text instructed the driver to be at the Lexington lab at five tonight, and Dudley would let him in the back door if he knocked twice, paused for three seconds, and knocked twice more. I don’t believe this.” Piper plopped onto the ground and stared out the now calm cows at the far end of the pasture. “He’s been with me for years. I thought he was my friend. Why would he do this?”

  “Money, fame, jealousy. I’ve seen it all,” Aiden said, taking the phone from her and scrolling through more of the messages. “But it’s clear Dudley’s contact isn’t this man. He’s a lead, and we need to talk to him to find out exactly who he’s been talking to.”

  Piper nodded absently as the sounds of sirens in the distance could be heard. Aiden got up and went person to person taking their cell phones and pressing their fingers to the home buttons so he could access them. He took photos of texts with his phone as Matt rolled up in the sheriff’s cruiser and Nash and Nabi pulled up in a Desert Farm SUV.

  “Are you all right, dear?” Nabi asked as he rushed toward her. He wasn�
�t quite at uncle status for her, but he was close. He’d always taken care of Ahmed and Mo’s kids along with their friends. He’d taken over as head of security for the royal family when Ahmed retired. Similarly, that was what Nash would do when Nabi retired.

  “I’m pissed,” Piper said, looking at Nabi’s worried face. “I was shot. That asshole shot me. But then Aiden shot him, so ha!”

  Piper stood so fast, Nabi had to jump back. It was like a delayed adrenaline surge. Her body was shaking and her breathing was heavy. “I’m going to kill him. If Dudley thought he would get away with this, well, he was just delusional. And it won’t be fast like a bullet. Oh, no. I have a much better idea.” Piper stormed off for her lab as she failed to notice the four men staring slack-jawed at her.

  When she returned a few moments later, the men were looking through the phones. They paused when they saw her, and Aiden handed the phone to Nash.

  “Luv, what’s in your hand?” Aiden asked politely.

  “Just a little virus that will make Dudley double over in pain, vomit, and shit himself for forty-eight hours before it slowly eats his organs and causes a horrific death,” Piper said cheerfully.

  “Um, maybe you should let me take that,” Aiden suggested as he held out his hand.

  “I’m the expert in this case. If you want to shoot or stab him, he’s all yours. But this is my way. Let’s go.”

  Aiden looked to the others who suddenly looked interested in the grass. “Sorry, I don’t have diplomatic immunity,” Matt said when he looked up. “I’m out.”

  Nabi let out sigh. “I’ll go with them.”

  A second police cruiser pulled to a stop as Deputy Cody Gray got out and looked around. “Well, I can say one thing. It’s never boring here.”

  Piper rolled her eyes. This wasn’t going to be boring either. She was going to make Dudley pay for this. Trying to kill her was one thing, but turning her project over to make it into a weapon of mass destruction was downright evil.

  “Um, you do have an antidote for that, right?” Aiden asked as he caught up with her.

  “Of course. I developed it a month ago. I’ve just been too consumed with this project and haven’t sent it off for mass production. That’s why I picked it. Dudley doesn’t know I have the antidote.”

  “I always thought you were the nice one,” Nabi muttered. Well, she might have been, but that was before being shot and betrayed.

  11

  Piper muttered the whole drive into Lexington. The anger had built and built as Aiden and Nabi kept giving her side glances as if they were afraid she’d blow at any moment. Of course, she knew she was losing it. She was losing her Southern manners, and she was losing her willingness to always be polite. Don’t cause a fuss. Well, screw that. She was going to make Dudley pay for this.

  “We need to clear the lab,” Aiden told her as they pulled to a stop out front. The broken window had already been replaced and Piper looked in at the secretary sitting out front.

  “Except for Dudley. He’s mine.”

  Nabi nodded, got out of the SUV, and disappeared inside. A moment later, the lab was empty except for Dudley. Nabi opened the lab door and waved at them before going back inside.

  “Now, luv, remember to breathe. Are you sure you don’t want me to hold the deadly virus?” Aiden asked without the fear she’d seen in Nabi’s eyes. Nabi wasn’t used to her freaking out and was scared. Aiden didn’t know any better.

  “I’ve got this,” Piper said with confidence as she tightened the grip on the syringe. “But y’all might want to put on gloves and a mask.”

  Aiden grabbed the protective gear next to the door and handed some to Nabi as they entered the lab. Dudley was standing at his table with his eyes in a microscope. He looked up when he heard her stop next to him.

  “Oh, yeah. I figured you were coming in when the lab was cleared out. How are you feeling? I can’t believe you were robbed here,” Dudley said with such concern that Piper almost bought it.

  She sneered at the pudgy man with the slightly balding light brown hair, big bushy beard, and dressed in a shirt with a DNA sequence that sadly resembled her bra. Maybe she needed some nicer underwear.

  He looked surprised at her reaction and took a small step back. “We need to talk,” Piper said between clenched teeth.

  “Look, mate,” Aiden said calmly as he stared Dudley down, which wasn’t hard since Aiden towered over him and was all muscles instead of fluff. “Do you see the crazy scary look Dr. Davies is giving you?”

  Dudley nodded.

  “So, cut the shit and tell her what you did.”

  Dudley’s eyes were wide as he looked back and forth between them and then over to Nabi, who, he decided, looked the most friendly. “What is he talking about?”

  “You almost got me killed. I was shot! And then you dare ask me what this is about?” Piper snarled, her voice so deep and animalistic that it was unrecognizable.

  “You were shot?” Dudley asked as his voice rose. “Are you okay?”

  “Too bad for you, I lived.”

  Dudley’s face creased in bewilderment. “I don’t understand. Of course I’m glad you lived. Why would you think otherwise?”

  Piper growled and Aiden stepped back in. “Maybe because you told someone what she was working on. You sold out your boss so someone could weaponize the viral nanotechnology she was working on.”

  “What?” Dudley sputtered, but his bright pink cheeks gave him away. Piper lunged, Aiden grabbed Dudley, and Nabi grabbed her.

  “Let go of me!” Piper yelled as Dudley seemed to seek protection from Aiden.

  “Sorry, mate, I’m not here to protect you. I’m here to protect her. Nabi—” Aiden had Dudley in one hand and held out his other to Nabi, who plucked the needle from Piper and handed it over.

  “Let me go,” Piper growled.

  “Let the professional killers handle this, babe,” Aiden said with a slow threatening grin for Dudley. “This is . . .” Aiden looked to Piper questioningly.

  “C1B3.”

  Dudley tried to pull away, but Aiden had him tightly in his grasp as he popped off the cover to the syringe. “So, you know what this is?”

  Dudley nodded frantically. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to tell anyone about your project. I was just showing off. I was trying to make myself sound more important than I am. You’re beautiful,” Dudley cried to Piper. “You wouldn’t believe how hard it is for a man like me to get a date. I wanted to impress her. I’m even meeting her tonight for the first time.”

  Dudley started to whimper and sniffle as if he were seconds away from bursting into tears. Piper felt her body relax and almost laughed out loud at Aiden’s face. He looked ready to slap Dudley’s sniffles away.

  “Tell me more about this date,” Aiden ordered.

  “She’s a model from Asia. Can you believe it? She found my profile on a dating service and contacted me. She said she was coming here in May for the horse races and hoped I’d be her date. Then last night she texted saying she would be in town for tonight only, and she wanted to stop by the lab.”

  Nabi let go of Piper as Aiden put the cap back on the needle. “Let me see all your electronic devices,” Nabi ordered as he held out his hand for Dudley’s phone. “Unlock it, genius.”

  Dudley unlocked his phone and handed it over to Nabi. “Did you talk to her on your computer?”

  “Yes,” Dudley admitted, hanging his head. “I know I wasn’t supposed to use a work computer for it, but my other computer’s video camera isn’t working, and I really wanted to talk to her in person, you know? And see her on a bigger screen. She’s so beautiful.” Dudley sighed.

  “Unlock it too,” Nabi ordered. “Any other electronics you used to talk with her?”

  Dudley shook his head. “Am I fired for telling her about your project? I might have made it sound as if I were more involved with it than I was. But I swear, I didn’t give many details. I just told her all the good it could do.”

  “And
the bad?” Piper asked. When Dudley cringed, she had her answer.

  “I hate to tell you this, but you were played,” Aiden said, letting go of the man.

  “Played? How?” Dudley asked.

  “Is this the woman you talked with?” Nabi asked, turning Dudley’s phone for him to see.

  “Yes, that’s my Kimmie.”

  “No, this is an actress from Shanghai named Zhang Li,” Nabi told him before he picked up his own phone and ordered Nash to find all bank transactions for Zhang Li.

  “An actress?” Dudley asked with confusion and hurt written all over his face as the realization began to sit in. He dropped onto his stool with his shoulder slumped forward. “I was played. I should have known a woman as beautiful as that wouldn’t want anything to do with a nerd like me.”

  “Some people find intelligence incredibly sexy,” Aiden said even though Piper realized he was looking at her when he said it.

  “Not attractive ones,” Dudley muttered and Piper’s face flushed. Aiden was beyond attractive.

  “If it makes a difference,” Nabi started as he read through the private conversations between Dudley and the actress, “it appears he didn’t mean to sell you out. This actress must have been coached, or more likely, it was Phobos or one of his men doing the chatting, and they just used the actress when Dudley started asking to see her. He was catfished.”

  Dudley’s shoulders shook silently, and Piper could no longer be angry when it was clear his heart was breaking. Well, she was still angry, but she no longer felt like killing him. Now she just felt sorry for him.

  “I’ll work on tracking this down, but in the meantime, let’s use this to our advantage,” Nabi said as he set the laptop on the table. “Should we send them on a wild goose chase?”

  Nabi didn’t have time to type anything when a new message came across. “They’re writing,” he said seriously. Piper sat up and held her breath as she waited for Nabi to read the message.