Page 51 of Guarding Truth
She got up from the bed and paced. All she needed was for Layna to give her a time and place to meet, and she’d turn everything she knew in to the FBI. Uncle Caleb would have to let her go undercover to the meeting, to try and get evidence. They needed real names, not just fake screen names.
Uncle Caleb would finally be safe.
She also wanted to warn Layna that her brother was a bad man. Layna seemed nice, not the kind of girl who would do illegal things, which meant she probably still had time to get out of Rushmore.
One of the agents was about to take a fifteen-minute break, and the backyard would be empty for a few minutes until the other agent swept in. Now was her chance.
She cracked the bedroom door and tiptoed down the hallway toward the living room. She didn’t see Noelle or Juliette but knew that at least one of them would be up, so she had to act fast. Near the garage door, she located the keypad to the alarm. She recalled how the guy on YouTube had been able to reset the password to the manufacturer’s setting and prayed it worked. Otherwise, she’d set it off.
She tapped one button, and it let out a faint beep. In the still of the night, it might as well have been a car horn blaring, but she held her breath and nothing stirred. So she kept going, disabling the device.
No turning back now.
She really needed a code name for her operation. Something cool and edgy. She’d have to think about it when she wasn’t stressed about accidentally setting off the alarm and waking up the whole neighborhood. But she managed to do everything the man in the video had, and with three long beeps, the alarm lights turned off.
That was close.
And she’d managed to do it all without running into Juliette or Noelle. Maybe she could take a chance and walk right out the back sliding glass door.
She headed to the door and peered through the blinds to make sure agent number two wasn’t early with his routine. With the backyard empty except for some creepy shadows, she pushed the sliding door open just enough to duck out. The cool night air sent a shock through her system. Why hadn’t she brought her thick jacket? But there wasn’t time to go back. It was now or never.
“Busted.”
She stifled a scream as a hand clamped down on her shoulder.
She turned. Juliette and Noelle stood behind her.
“Ivy, what exactly are you doing?”
TWELVE
FRIDAY, 2:05 A.M.
“Did you really think you could sneak out of this house, knowing there are two professional bodyguards on duty?” She tried to keep the sharp edges out of her tone, but this girl kept pushing the edges of Juliette’s patience.
Ivy stared at the ground but said nothing. For being so brilliant, Ivy had a lot of life lessons to learn. Why would the girl put herself in jeopardy like this?
Juliette hadn’t anticipated Ivy sneaking out, but she’d been wide awake in bed, replaying the events of the evening on a loop in her mind.
Because there’d been something spicy going on in the kitchen earlier, and it hadn’t been the salsa.
She and Caleb had kissed. Her lips tingled at the thought. How was she supposed to do her job when her insides went all school-girl crush when he walked into the room?
Okay, Montgomery, time to get your head in the game.
She was a professional bodyguard, and Caleb, a client. She couldn’t run around fawning over a man when she needed to have one hundred percent of her attention focused on his protection. Not to mention that she and Caleb weren’t meant to be together.
When she’d heard Ivy’s feet padding down the hall, instincts had kicked in and she’d followed her. The girl wasn’t going anywhere on Juliette’s watch.
“Ivy, what’s this about? You understand that your uncle and I are trying to protect you, right?”
Ivy sighed. “I just want some fresh air. Can we at least sit on the patio for a few minutes?”
Juliette looked into Ivy’s eyes and saw the stress and sorrow she carried. She turned to Noelle. “Why don’t you get some rest, and I’ll stay up on watch. I’ll radio the FBI and see if they’re good with us sitting on the patio for a few minutes.”
Noelle nodded and stood guard by the sliding glass door. This situation had more to do with Ivy acting out than anything else. Juliette knew Noelle wouldn’t rest but would stay up and guard the door while she and Ivy chatted.
Juliette picked up the analog two-way radio from the end table in the living room and asked the FBI agent on duty if they could sit on the patio. A crackle responded, and then: “We’ll sweep the backyard for any signs of trouble, and you two stick close to the house. But it should be okay for a few minutes. We’ll be watching.”