Page 17 of Come Fly With Me

“Here.” She thrust the stun gun at Kirsty. “It’ll just be confiscated anyway.”

She stepped over the downed woman and grabbed her handbag—all too aware of the footsteps rushing down the stairs. “See you tomorrow, girls,” she called to the bairns before heading out the door.

By the time Lake set foot inside the shop, Betty was heading to the newsagent—to get herself a replacement ice cream cone—her two new Tasers tucked securely into her underwear. With a grin at the sparkling blue loch, she considered the day a success.

The Deal

This story takes place after the epilogue of Caught.

“No.”

Lake Benson stared up at the oversized man who was now a partner in his security business. “After all my explaining, all you have to say is no?” He tried to sound surprised, but he wasn’t. Samuel Dayton wasn’t called Grunt for nothing. The taciturn American only spoke when he had something to say. Apparently, now, that something was ‘no’.

“Look,” Lake said as he rested his forearms on his desk, “it’s you or Violet Lee; everybody else is on assignment. And I can’t send Violet. She’d probably kill the guy.”

Grunt’s face didn’t change as he stared at Lake from the other side of the desk. “I don’t take assignments.”

That was true. Before signing on with Benson Security, Grunt had made it clear that he didn’t want to leave his family. Usually, that was fine. He ran teams from the office, taught new trainees, and designed electronic security systems for well-paying clients. The only time he left town was to support his friends, defend his family, or take holidays with his wife. It was all very admirable, but Lake was in a bind.

“This isn’t even a real assignment,” Lake said. “It’s a cakewalk. Three days acting as bodyguard for a spoiled pop star.”

“Claire needs me. What if something happens at home?”

Lake managed to stop himself from saying that Grunt’s wife would probably appreciate a weekend break from her husband. Because, the truth of the matter was, Claire was just as joined at the hip with Grunt as he was with her.

“She can spare you for the weekend. You’re only a couple of hours away if you need to get back fast anyway. And it’s not like she’s pregnant.” Grunt couldn’t be pried from his wife’s side using a crowbar when she was pregnant. At that thought, Lake felt the blood drain from his face. “She isn’t pregnant, is she?” He didn’t think their team could go through another hospital visit to ensure that Grunt didn’t massacre the doctors while his wife was in pain. Not right then anyway, not while they were so damn busy.

“No,” Grunt admitted. “She isn’t pregnant.”

“Then you need to do me a favor and take this job.” Lake swiveled in his chair and looked out through the first-floor window, over the high street, to the lingerie shop his wife owned. They were a lot alike, he realized, Grunt and him. Neither of them liked being away from their wives. It was the reason his internationally renowned business was headquartered in a small town in the Highlands rather than its London office—Kirsty wanted to stay in Invertary, and Lake wanted to be with Kirsty.

He looked back at the man-mountain sitting opposite. “What’s it going to take to get you to—”

“Babysitting,” Grunt said before Lake could finish.

Lake groaned. “You set me up, you bastard.”

Grunt looked pretty damn pleased with himself. “I work this weekend; you babysit for a weekend. Hour for hour.”

“This is bullshit, and you know it.”

“Check my contract. It says I don’t need to take any assignments based outside of Invertary unless I choose to do so.”

“Why the hell did I agree to that?” Lake grumbled.

Grunt shrugged and continued to grin.

“Fine.” Lake caved because he had no choice.

Grunt stood and held his hand out for the paperwork. “Nice doing business with you, boss.” Then he sauntered from the room.

Lake’s head fell back, and he groaned at the ceiling. A weekend of Grunt’s wild kids. Just what he didn’t need. Unless…

He sat up straight and reached for his phone. Grunt had only demanded a weekend of babysitting. He hadn’t specified thatLakeneeded to do it. With a smile on his face, he dialed Josh McInnes. If there was anyone in Invertary who could be talked into babysitting, it was the gullible American singer.

* * *

Claire Dayton had decidedto wait for her husband in the town’s new ice cream shop. The owners made the best ice cream on the planet.Realice cream. Made from scratch,withcream. It was heaven.