Page 14 of Guarding Truth
Ivy didn’t laugh—not that he was known for his humor. He just wanted to see her smile.
“I worry about you, Uncle Caleb. You don’t have anyone watching your back.”
“Hey, kiddo, come here.” He held his arms open and she filled them. “You don’t have anything to worry about. You let me worry about our protection.”
Caleb’s mind spun with plans for security. Because he’d protect Ivy at all costs. School might be the safest option for her tomorrow while he figured out the next steps. He’d let the school resource officer know the situation. He wasn’t taking any chances.
These hackers had messed with the wrong family, and next time, he wouldn’t be caught unprepared. Despite reassuring Ivy, in his heart, Caleb wondered when these men would strike again.
* * *
TUESDAY, 8:30 A.M.
“Can you please try to stay on Noelle’s good side today?” Raven Vega greeted Juliette the second she walked through the front door to the Elite Guardians’ office.
Great. So Noelle wasn’t over her irritation from yesterday’s bank robbery. Not the way she wanted to start her day. Juliette and Noelle had forged a friendship, but Noelle ran the office. They didn’t always see eye to eye on how to handle certain situations. But someone had had to intervene in that bank robbery before an innocent person got hurt.
She pasted on a smile. “Good morning to you too, Raven.” She placed the box of donuts on the edge of the reception desk. If Juliette needed to stay on anyone’s good side, it was Raven’s. The eccentric administrative assistant’s gothic attire only added to her allure. By day, Raven kept all the bodyguards in line and organized. By night, the woman moonlighted as a tour guide for one of Savannah’s historical tours, enchanting tourists with tales of the city’s mysteries. When Juliette needed to find anything in Savannah, Raven was the first stop.
“Noelle is looking for you. But you have an early morning visitor right now.” Raven nodded to the waiting area at her right. Juliette stuck her head through the doorway to the waiting room that used to be her grandmother’s formal living room back in the day. A young girl sat in a chair, her backpack crammed under her feet.
She ducked out of the doorway and turned to Raven. “Shouldn’t she be in school? Who is she?” Juliette dropped her voice to a whisper. The girl couldn’t be more than ten or twelve, and where were her parents? Noelle would have to wait. Juliette’s trouble radar dialed into the girl in front of her.
“I don’t know. She asked for you by name and said she needed a bodyguard.” Raven shrugged.
Okay then. Juliette crossed into the waiting area and stood in front of the girl. “Hi, I’m Juliette. What’s your name?”
The girl sized Juliette up with striking emerald green eyes. Before the kid could respond, Juliette’s protective instincts overrode all other senses, and she peppered her with questions. “Where are your parents? Do they know you’re here?”
Ivy took a deep breath. “I?—”
“Actually, how old are you? Shouldn’t you be in school? How did yougethere? I should let you talk…”
“Ease up there, Sherlock.” Raven’s mouth turned up with the hint of a mocking smile. “Give her a chance to answer.”
Juliette shook her head and squatted in front of the girl. “Tell me why you’re here.”
After a several second pause, the girl spoke with a pace that matched Juliette’s rapid-fire style. “I’m Ivy Covington. My parents died in a car accident approximately three years ago. No one knows I’m here. I’m twelve. Yes, I should be in school. I walked from the campus; it’s not too far from here. I’m here because I need your help. Well, technically my uncle is the one in trouble.”
Ivy Covington. Juliette ran the name through her mind’s database. It sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it. She sank onto the couch next to Ivy’s chair. “Why me?”
Ivy pulled out a picture frame from inside her backpack, handing it to Juliette. “Is this you? In the picture from basic training?”
Juliette stifled a gasp. Nostalgia slammed into her like an ocean wave as her past resurfaced. The group photo from graduation day had creases in it, and the colors had faded, but the memories were sharp and clear. Staring back at her from the frame were Caleb and Laz, two of her best friends from that class.
She never let herself think about Laz.
“I haven’t seen this picture in years. Basic training was ten years ago. Where did you get this?”
“So, it’s you in the picture, right?”
Juliette handed the frame back. “That’s me.” She resisted bothering Ivy with more questions. The girl needed space to open up.
Ivy flipped the picture for Juliette to see and pointed to one of the men in the photo. “My uncle.”
A knot clenched in her stomach. She nodded, now remembering where she’d heard Ivy’s name. Caleb used to talk about her all the time. “Your uncle and I were good friends. We met in basic training and both went into separate branches of the Army. I became a Ranger, and he wound up working as a computer analyst. We eventually lost touch though.” Recollections swirled around her like fog in the morning.
Caleb Styles. The name sent her mind reeling. The last thing she wanted to do was revisit her Army days. After all this time, what would she say if she came face-to-face with the man she’d left lying in a hospital bed after he’d risked his life to save hers?