3. Archer #2
“Once I figure out her schedule, we’ll need to set it up so she has round-the-clock coverage,” I explained. “ I’m also hoping I can talk her into taking some time off work and going off the grid somewhere.”
“No can do,” she replied, coming down the stairs on my left while carrying her dog in her arms. “ I have several big stories and events lined up this week, but I might be able to finagle some days off the following week after I talk with my boss.”
She turned left at the bottom of the stairs toward everyone in the living room, her dog now growling ferociously—well, as much as a fifteen-pound dog can.
Ruthie, who had been across the room from me on the couch, stood up and walked over to Ace .
“Hi, I’m Ruthie . Nice to meet you. Who is this precious friend?” Ruthie asked her, extending her hand out to let her dog sniff her.
“I’m Anna , and this is Percy . It’s nice to meet you, too.”
“They may look like a bunch of grumpy assholes, but I’ll fill you in on all their secrets so we can make them fall in line,” Ruthie told her, causing grunts and chuckles from the rest of the room.
Ace smiled back at her. “ Thank you. I just might need that.”
We all stood there for a few silent seconds before I spoke up. “ Ace , can you tell us…”
Ruthie interrupted me with a high, dramatic sigh.
“ Since all of you are heathens, I’ll be the civilized one in the group.
” She turned to Ace again but made sure to speak loud enough for all of us to hear.
“ Would you like a drink, Anna ? Since none of these men have any manners, I can get it for you.”
Ace’s grin got even wider as she replied. “ I’m okay for now, but thank you for the offer.”
Ruthie nodded and then looked at me pointedly. When I only raised an eyebrow, she sighed and put a hand on Ace’s arm. “ You’ll get to know them all well, but for now…quick introductions.”
She pointed at everyone, minus Vince and me, telling Ace who was whom, before giving me the stink-eye and then making her way back to the couch.
Feeling properly scolded but also ready to move this conversation along, I turned to face the whole group.
“ Ace , can you tell us what your schedule is like for the next few days? You said you will have some work events to go to, but I need you to be covered and protected at all of them, so we need to know what we’re up against, and we can plan ahead, especially if they’re in public places. ”
“I have a feeling you won’t like my schedule for tomorrow, then,” she started to explain. “ I didn’t have to work the late show tonight—which I usually do—because I am covering a 5k charity race tomorrow morning.”
Of course she was. An event that would have tons of people and a security logistics nightmare.
“That starts at nine a.m. tomorrow, and then I’ll head back to the station to write a script and get a piece ready that can run for the later shows. Then I have a meeting with my personal trainer tomorrow afternoon.”
“What gym do you go to for the trainer?” Vince asked.
“The one at my apartment complex, though we usually just run outside at a park,” Ace responded and then turned to me. “ I was thinking maybe I could invite her here and we could run around your property and then use your small workout room if that’s okay?”
That wasn’t a half-bad idea. I’d have Axel run a background check on the trainer, but keeping them on the property would be safer.
“What’s her name?” Axel asked, sitting on a stool he’d brought over from the kitchen, clearly on the same page as me.
“Sara Garrett . I’ve worked with her since I moved here—she’s great.”
“Yeah, let’s plan for her to come here. What time are you supposed to meet her?” I asked.
“Three o’clock,” she responded. “ I’ll text her tonight and let her know. After tomorrow, I’m off work until Wednesday , but I’m meeting up with some colleagues on Tuesday for curling.”
“For what?” I asked.
“Curling,” she replied. “ You know, the sport where they have rocks slide on ice while people sweep in front of them with brooms.”
“I think I’ve seen that in the Olympics ,” Ruthie said.
“It’s a highly underrated sport and one built of champions,” Axel chimed in with his Swedish accent. “ I volunteer for this mission of curling while bodyguarding.”
Of course he would.
“You play?” Ace asked him.
“Not since I moved to this country, but yes, I played a lot back in Sweden .”
Ace smiled at him—the first genuine smile I’d seen on her face since I picked her up—and I felt a bit of jealousy roll through me.
“Alright, we’ll both go with you to curling,” I told her, so she knew she wouldn’t have to give up everything just because of this threat. Plus , I wanted to butter her up a bit because there were going to be changes.
“Your friend already offered to go,” Ace interrupted. “ You both don’t need to go. One bodyguard will be fine.”
“I don’t mind going,” I told her.
“Look, Archer ,” she said, her hand going to her hip. “ Just because we were married once a long time ago does not automatically make us besties again.”
There were a few snorts from the room before she continued. “ I understand staying here is safer than my place and having you tag along for some things is going to be required, but you don’t have to be the only one. I’m perfectly fine using any one of your qualified men or women if you have any…”
“We do,” Ruthie chimed in excitedly. “ Her name is Delia .”
“Great,” Ace replied, clapping her hands. “ If we’re going to make this work, you’re going to have to spread the load because I’m not spending every waking minute with you.”
Jesus, this woman was going to be the death of me.
“Let’s figure out the next twenty-four hours first, and then we can circle back on all the other days,” I told the room.
We spent the next hour talking out how we would plan to cover Ace tomorrow at the event. She also agreed to give me her news director’s and general manager’s phone numbers so I could talk to them both about security measures at work.
“I don’t want them knowing all the details,” she added.
“It’s better if they know what we’re up against so they can give me the freedom to do what I need to do to protect you,” I explained.
“No. It isn’t.” Her voice started to pick up and get heated.
“Ace, I can’t do my job properly if I don’t have everyone on the same page with all the facts,” I argued.
“Then you aren’t very good at your job if you can’t be flexible,” she snapped back.
Damn, I liked this side of her.
“Can we just tell them I have a stalker who threatened me instead of adding in the mafia elements and the bounty on my head?”
“Do you think they’ll believe that?” Diego asked.
She gave a dark chuckle. “ You should see some of the emails that come in to our staff every week. Yes , they’ll believe it.
They honestly won’t even bat an eye at it.
If it’s a stalker, it’s not only believable, but oddly common.
But if it’s the mafia and they want to kill me— I’m afraid they’ll want to cover that as a story, and I don’t want that. ”
I didn’t want that either. The more contained this was, the easier it was for professionals—like us and the cops—to handle it.
Ace sighed, took a breath, and turned back to me. “ Look , I’m sorry I bit your head off and said you were a loser asshole.”
“You didn’t call me an asshole,” I replied.
“Oh. I must have just been thinking that part,” Ace mumbled, though loud enough for everyone to hear, triggering multiple snorts and snickers in the room.
“Oh, I like her,” Ruthie said with a chuckle and then turned to Ace . “ I think we’re going to get along really well.”