can be sure you’re safe.”
“Stupid stalker,” Diana said mutinously. “Ruining my good time.”
Selena barely held back her impatient sigh. “Yeah, stalkers will do that. Now, can I please have your phone?”
“Fine!” Diana shouted now. “Fine, fine, fine! Take it, Mom!” She threw the phone on the seat between them. “But if I want to use it, you give it back to me.”
Selena nodded, still calm and patient. “Thank you, Diana.”
“Whatever,” the other woman muttered. “Can I go in now?”
“You sure can,” Griff said, thinking that the time had come for him to give Selena a break and take his turn babysitting the brat. “Stay right behind me, yeah?”
“Oooh, yeah.” Diana perked up. “The view of you from behind is awesome .”
Griff started a bit and Selena gave a tiny laugh. And just like that, they were back in sync, back on the same side. They inserted their earpieces, still grinning at each other.
They entered the club without any trouble at all, and Diana immediately took off to the bar. Without a single word, without even a single look, Selena and Griff went in to their well-established and familiar patterns of guarding a principal: Griff never took his eyes off the client, while Selena looked everywhere but at the client. They were both totally alert and they spoke constantly over their headsets. Within minutes, they’d scoped the club, its patrons, the layout. Everything looked normal, even tame, and their spidey-senses and killer instincts relaxed ever so slightly.
So when it all happened and everything went straight to hell, they never saw it coming. And they barely survived it.
**
It was almost two o’clock in the morning when Diana decided that she wanted to go home. Sadly, she’d decided to not go alone. The guy that she’d picked up was the usual idiot: a tall, good-looking, rich idiot, to be sure. But still an idiot.
Selena had already snapped a few pictures of him on her cell and sent it off to Solid Security’s twenty-four-hour IT team. Within ten minutes of getting the picture, they’d e-mailed Selena the idiot’s entire life. Seeing as he was a trust-fund brat with absolutely no real education or solid ambitions at all, it was not impressive reading, but there were no red flags, either.
“So, green light on Casanova?” Griff said in Selena’s ear.
“Yeah, I guess so,” she spoke back softly. “No way he’s our bad guy.”
“OK.” Griff sighed. “So I guess we’re taking them back to her place.”
“Yep. You ready to move?”
Griff’s eyes were nailed on Diana and the guy as they sucked face like teenagers. “Oh, yeah. I’m so ready to get these two behind closed doors. Watching this for the past three hours has been damn painful.”
“I’ll just bet.”
“Next time, we switch and you watch her make out with random strangers.”
“Deal.”
“Great. So I’ll go and tell them we’re ready… you get the door.”
“On it.”
Selena stepped outside, gave the parking lot a good, long look. The autumn sky was pitch-black, but the area was well-lit and there were two hulking bouncers standing about fifty feet away having a cigarette, watching the door. They nodded at her, she smiled back. She gave one more searching look around, spoke in to her headset.
“OK, Griff. The coast’s clear.”
“Got that. We’re coming out.”
The door opened behind her and she gave a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure that it was Griff, Diana and the idiot. When she turned around again, he was on her.
Where he came from, Selena had no idea. He was moving fast, though, and all she saw was a flash of something silver and dangerous, and then there was blinding pain on the left side of her chest. She fell to her knees, all out of breath. She gasped for air, looked down, saw blood on the front of her shirt.
Fuck. I’ve been stabbed.
There was shouting from the bouncers now, Diana was screaming, the stalker was hollering about Diana being a
“Stupid stalker,” Diana said mutinously. “Ruining my good time.”
Selena barely held back her impatient sigh. “Yeah, stalkers will do that. Now, can I please have your phone?”
“Fine!” Diana shouted now. “Fine, fine, fine! Take it, Mom!” She threw the phone on the seat between them. “But if I want to use it, you give it back to me.”
Selena nodded, still calm and patient. “Thank you, Diana.”
“Whatever,” the other woman muttered. “Can I go in now?”
“You sure can,” Griff said, thinking that the time had come for him to give Selena a break and take his turn babysitting the brat. “Stay right behind me, yeah?”
“Oooh, yeah.” Diana perked up. “The view of you from behind is awesome .”
Griff started a bit and Selena gave a tiny laugh. And just like that, they were back in sync, back on the same side. They inserted their earpieces, still grinning at each other.
They entered the club without any trouble at all, and Diana immediately took off to the bar. Without a single word, without even a single look, Selena and Griff went in to their well-established and familiar patterns of guarding a principal: Griff never took his eyes off the client, while Selena looked everywhere but at the client. They were both totally alert and they spoke constantly over their headsets. Within minutes, they’d scoped the club, its patrons, the layout. Everything looked normal, even tame, and their spidey-senses and killer instincts relaxed ever so slightly.
So when it all happened and everything went straight to hell, they never saw it coming. And they barely survived it.
**
It was almost two o’clock in the morning when Diana decided that she wanted to go home. Sadly, she’d decided to not go alone. The guy that she’d picked up was the usual idiot: a tall, good-looking, rich idiot, to be sure. But still an idiot.
Selena had already snapped a few pictures of him on her cell and sent it off to Solid Security’s twenty-four-hour IT team. Within ten minutes of getting the picture, they’d e-mailed Selena the idiot’s entire life. Seeing as he was a trust-fund brat with absolutely no real education or solid ambitions at all, it was not impressive reading, but there were no red flags, either.
“So, green light on Casanova?” Griff said in Selena’s ear.
“Yeah, I guess so,” she spoke back softly. “No way he’s our bad guy.”
“OK.” Griff sighed. “So I guess we’re taking them back to her place.”
“Yep. You ready to move?”
Griff’s eyes were nailed on Diana and the guy as they sucked face like teenagers. “Oh, yeah. I’m so ready to get these two behind closed doors. Watching this for the past three hours has been damn painful.”
“I’ll just bet.”
“Next time, we switch and you watch her make out with random strangers.”
“Deal.”
“Great. So I’ll go and tell them we’re ready… you get the door.”
“On it.”
Selena stepped outside, gave the parking lot a good, long look. The autumn sky was pitch-black, but the area was well-lit and there were two hulking bouncers standing about fifty feet away having a cigarette, watching the door. They nodded at her, she smiled back. She gave one more searching look around, spoke in to her headset.
“OK, Griff. The coast’s clear.”
“Got that. We’re coming out.”
The door opened behind her and she gave a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure that it was Griff, Diana and the idiot. When she turned around again, he was on her.
Where he came from, Selena had no idea. He was moving fast, though, and all she saw was a flash of something silver and dangerous, and then there was blinding pain on the left side of her chest. She fell to her knees, all out of breath. She gasped for air, looked down, saw blood on the front of her shirt.
Fuck. I’ve been stabbed.
There was shouting from the bouncers now, Diana was screaming, the stalker was hollering about Diana being a
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