Personal Protector

“All right, then, I believe I have the perfect man for the job.” Victoria pressed the intercom button. “Mildred, please ask Ric Martinez to join this meeting.”

“Martinez?” Lucas frowned. “I don’t think I know him.”

“He’s fairly new,” Victoria agreed. “But he’s good. And he has the right background for the job.”

“Mind if I perform a little screening test of my own?” All signs of amusement had vanished from his expression. “After all, this is my one-and-only niece we’re talking about.”

Victoria shrugged lightly. “Be my guest.”

The door opened and Ric Martinez stepped into the room. Tall, dark and handsome, the man’s Latin good looks combined with his fountain of charm proved valuable assets in this business. Ric Martinez could charm or con anything out of anyone.

Ric’s gaze darted from Victoria to Lucas and back. “You wanted to see me,” he said as he closed the door behind him.

“Yes. Please have a seat.” She gestured to the vacant chair in front of her desk. Before Ric could sit, Lucas made his move.

“Close your eyes, Martinez.” Lucas stood next to Ric now, the barrel of his weapon pressed to the younger man’s temple. Despite his physical handicap, Lucas could still move with more stealth than most when it served his purpose.

Ric’s gaze, still locked on Victoria, widened, then narrowed with suspicion. “What’s going on, man?” he demanded uncertainly.

“Close your eyes,” Lucas snapped.

Victoria gave Ric a nod and he immediately complied. She had no idea what Lucas had in mind, but whatever it was, it would be harmless yet prove immensely telling.

“Okay, man,” Ric said stiffly. “Just stay cool.”

“Oh, I’m cool, Martinez.” The tip of the weapon bored a little deeper into Ric’s skull. “The question is, are you?”

“I’m anything you need me to be.”

“What did you see when you walked into this room?”

His eyes still closed tight, Ric frowned. “What?”

“Give your boss a profile on the man who might just blow your brains out in the next thirty seconds.”

“Black hair, with a bit of gray,” Ric began, his posture considerably more relaxed now that he had an idea what was expected of him. “Fairly tall, lean build. Fifty years old, maybe.” His brow creased in thought. “You have a small scar on your cheek just beneath your right eye. And you obviously use a cane.”

“Anything else?” Lucas barked impatiently.

“Oh, yeah,” Ric continued, in that cocky tone that set him apart from Victoria’s other investigators. “You’re wearing a knockoff watch, a cheap navy blue suit and loafers just like my abuelo used to wear.”

Victoria watched the smile inch its way across Lucas’s grim mouth. She smiled, as well. Lucas was definitely one of a kind. And so was Ric Martinez, the grandfather remark not withstanding.

“All right, Martinez.” Lucas lowered his weapon. “You can have a seat now.” Lucas’s smile widened to a grin when Ric’s annoyed gaze connected with his. “Unless, of course, you need to go change your shorts.”

“I’m cool,” Ric said, grinding the words out as he took the seat she had offered earlier.

“You’re right, Victoria.” Lucas settled back into his own chair. “He is good.”

“Does anyone mind letting me in on the joke?” Ric demanded, irritation clear in his tone. “I knew there was a certain level of risk involved when I signed on,” he said pointedly as he pinned Victoria with that dark gaze. “I just didn’t expect to find it in your office.”

Victoria reined in her smile and adopted a more businesslike expression. “Ric, this is Lucas Camp. He’s with a highly covert special ops organization of which I’m not at liberty to discuss. And he’s a very dear friend of mine.” Disbelief clouded the younger man’s eyes briefly. He probably wondered how she knew a man like Lucas. She knew a great many things that Ric was entirely too new in this business to even fathom.

Ric felt certain he wouldn’t soon forget this meeting. Just who the hell was this guy anyway? Ric shifted his gaze to the man who had held a gun to his head only moments before. Despite his lingering uneasiness, Ric leaned forward and extended his hand. “I would say that it’s a pleasure, Mr. Camp, but I wouldn’t want to lie.”

Lucas shook Ric’s hand firmly. “If you’d said it was, I’d have to change my opinion of you.”

“Ric, I have an assignment that I feel you are particularly suited for,” Victoria said, drawing his attention back to her and away from the man who had seriously annoyed him.

Ric straightened in his chair. Maybe he was finally going to get a real assignment. “That’s great,” he said with a new sense of anticipation. It was well past time that Victoria recognized his potential.

She passed a manila folder to him. “This is Piper Ryan,” Victoria explained. “She’s a news correspondent for WYBN-TV in Atlanta.”

Ric opened the folder as he listened. His gaze instantly riveted to the glossy head shot of a young and extraordinarily beautiful woman. “Whoa! This is one hot number.”

“Piper is Lucas’s niece,” Victoria added pointedly.

Ric’s gut clenched. Damn. He lifted his gaze to meet the death ray Lucas aimed in his direction. “I meant beautiful in a sisterly kind of way.”

Lucas’s intense gaze cut to Victoria. “And you’re certain he’s the best man for the job?”

Ric tensed. Damn. His first big chance and he screws up by sticking his big foot in his mouth.

“Quite certain,” Victoria affirmed.

Relief rushed through him. Maybe he hadn’t stepped too far out of line. “What’s the deal with Pi—Miss Ryan?” he inquired, doing his level best to ignore the daggers still emanating from Lucas’s deadly glare.

“One month ago Piper and five other reporters were invited to a secret press conference for a terrorist group called the Soldiers of the Sovereign Union, or SSU.”

Ric nodded. Though he hadn’t seen Piper on the news, he had watched some of the highly publicized results of the secret press conference. He remembered that the reporters had been blindfolded and taken to some remote location. The leader of the group had hoped to garner sympathy in the press. But what the media had reported was anything but sympathetic to the terrorists’ cause.

“I saw a couple of the news reports,” he told Victoria.

“Then you know that to date three of the reporters have died violent deaths at the hands of these people. The FBI is investigating and is providing protection for the remaining reporters, including Piper.”

“What role will I be playing?”

“Lucas is going to coordinate that part of the setup,” Victoria told him. “With your videographer expertise, I’m certain you will fit right in as Piper’s new cameraman. Your assignment will be to shadow her every step.”

“What about after work hours?”

“I’ve taken care of that, too,” Lucas answered this time. “I arranged for Piper’s next-door neighbor to win a two-week vacation in Hawaii. He left today. You’ll be apartment-sitting, so to speak, while he’s vacationing.”

Ric cocked an eyebrow. “And your niece won’t be suspicious of my sudden appearance in both her professional as well as her personal life?”

Lucas met Ric’s questioning gaze. “My niece is a very busy young woman. She won’t waste time wondering anything about you.”

Ignoring the blatant attempt to take him down a couple of notches, Ric smiled politely. “Good.” He rubbed at his chin a moment, his gaze lingering on the older man’s. “It does seem rather strange to me though that you don’t trust the FBI to take care of your niece. Any particular reason?”