She would not panic. When Slick Micky had assigned Jim to her relocation, warning bells had gone off in her head. Why send the best security when she only needed a bit of muscle?
“And?”
He shrugged those wide shoulders. “Nothing. Except the toy-soldier thing.”
“Why did you try?”
“The boss heard a few things on the street.”
A chill raced down her spine. “What do you know?”
“Not enough.” He shifted and his warm palm covered her fisted hand. Instead of comfort, his touch sent a new awareness shimmering through her. “Micky heard there’s a hit on you, but the goal is to take Zach alive.”
Her heart leaped into her throat. “Who?”
“We only know you’re the first target. It looks like when Zach’s in the warehouse he’s safe, but based on what happened with me, I think when he’s out of the warehouse, any juiced soldier could find him pretty easily.”
The room took a long, sickening spin. Without Jim’s warm hand as a touchstone, she might have slid to the floor. “I bought a little farm. It was going to be a quiet, normal life.”
“Not for long,” Jim said. He gave her hand a squeeze. “We weren’t going to leave you out there alone.”
Well, that was something.
“Lorine, you can postpone the move.”
She glanced over at her son playing with his trucks. “But if we don’t flush the threat out now he’ll never have a normal life.”
Jim scowled as he nodded the affirmative. “The boss thinks if I’m with you, I’ll be able to get a read on the threat. Then we can take action.”
Restless, Lorine tugged her hand free and went to clean up the kitchen.
“Let me.”
He was behind her, crowding her. Rather than threatened, she felt a jolt of desire stronger than any full-
caff coffee could provide. “No, thank you. I need to stay busy while I think this through.”
“Can you at least think out loud?”
“Sure.” She loaded dishes into the sanitizer and pressed “start”. “A blood test would be a good beginning. I can compare your blood with his. When Zach was born I did a full panel, looking for anything out of the ordinary.”
“Smart.”
She smiled. “That baseline will tell me if anything has changed recently.”
“You mean, changed when he reacted to me?”
Lorine stopped puttering and studied him. His pensive frown, the sincere concern in his quiet brown eyes, had her feeling more affection than was wise. “Jim.” She didn’t know what to do with her hands, and crossed her arms to keep them still. When he met her gaze, she continued. “None of this is your fault.
If anything, you revealed a problem I needed to know about.”
His gaze slid back to Zach. “Is his father alive?”
“I doubt it. He was loyal to Kristoff beyond all reason. Though the official reports are vague, I’m sure he died trying to protect Kristoff. He wouldn’t have been anywhere else.”
“Who else would want the boy?”
“Considering all of this, no one with good intentions,” she said with a sigh. “If Kristoff manipulated his father somehow to test-drive something new, the only way to know for sure is to give the remainder of his team a chance at Zach.”
She watched Jim lean back on the counter. It was a struggle, here in the safety of her small kitchen, to keep her mind focused on the dangers waiting for them, rather than on the man who was igniting feelings she couldn’t afford to indulge.
“You’re awfully calm about this.”
She shrugged a shoulder. “You’re awfully good at security.” And awfully good with my son. “I suppose you have other things to do today?”
“A few details to deal with,” he agreed. “Thanks for lunch.”
Lorine walked him to the door, and Zach joined them, bouncing up and down until Jim scooped him up for a hug.
When Jim was safely on the other side of the door, Lorine indulged in a moment’s enjoyment of the girlish butterflies he sent winging in her tummy. The attraction was misplaced, ill-timed, and likely one-
sided. But it was nice to know she could still experience it.
Three
Jim stalked down to Micky’s office in a foul mood about the whole mess. When she wasn’t angry at him, Lorine tempted him to all sorts of insanity. After his juiced days with the Army, he hadn’t thought to be close to anyone for longer than a one- or two-night stand.
Respecting the house rules, he didn’t look for partners among the girls who ran contraband. They were family. Practically sisters. Keeping Lorine in that tidy box was becoming a serious challenge. Because she accepted him, or because she needed him?
Hell, they all needed him.
Good thing she and that cute kid of hers were moving away. Once they were safe, he’d count it a job well done.
With a curt nod for the guard posted outside Micky’s office, he rapped on the door. The permission was instant, and Jim walked in, closing the door behind him.
Without a word, he reached for Micky’s keyboard and took the office off the surveillance grid. He wanted complete privacy for this conversation.
“You’re in a mood.”
Jim ignored that. “Do you know who’s been hired to take the kid?”
“Not yet.”
“Did you see my message? Have you found any leads?”
“Not yet.” Micky shook his head. “You look rough around the edges. What’s going on?”
“I’ve got an idea.” He gave Micky an overview of Lorine’s theory and the first of a couple options he’d thrown together. “I could take the two of them out on the town for a couple hours. The aquarium would work.”
“Just a happy family outing?”
Jim rolled his eyes. The boss had romance on the brain since finding Trina. “Just a casual, covert exercise.”
“No.”
“I’ll rig a jammer for the kid to wear.” Jim sat back, not bothering to hide his frustration. “Whoever is after her knows she’s in Chicago, and they assume the kid is with her.”
“Agreed.”
“How about a little recon?” He patted his pocket. “I’ve got a few strands of the kid’s hair. If they’ve managed some sort of genetic trace, this might be enough to draw them out. Trina can use her powers to cast a mental illusion and make it look good.”
“Only if she knows where to cast it.” Micky sipped his coffee. “How about this? You take Lorine out tonight. Zach stays here. Keep the hair sample on you. Trina and I will tail you.”
“What about the warehouse?”
“Got a feeling?”
Jim grumbled. “I hate it when you ask that.”
Micky grinned. “I know. So do we have a plan?”
He hesitated, wondering how Lorine would react. “Double up security teams at the el and the street entrances and you’ve got a deal.”
“No one’s ever followed her as far as the el, but consider it done. Looks like we’ve got ourselves a double date,” Micky added.
Jim didn’t care for the smug expression. “A date would break protocol,” Jim said, feeling more regret than he should.
“Nah. As of last night, Lorine’s officially off my payroll. She’s fair game.”
They’d known each other for too long for Jim to take the bait. While he might admit to himself he was attracted to a woman who didn’t hate him for the lasting side effects of juicing, he wouldn’t admit that to the boss.
He messaged Lorine, and got an affirmative on the date, once she was assured of Zach’s safety.