“Do you have any idea who might have pushed you in front of the car?” Mortimer asked suddenly, pulling her from her thoughts.
Elspeth shook her head unhappily. “I had no idea I was even pushed until Wyatt told me on the way here, and I didn’t get the chance to ask him about it,” she admitted, and then said, “Are we sure I was pushed? Who were the witnesses? Maybe I just stumbled off the curb or something.”
Mortimer was shaking his head before she finished the suggestion. “G.G. was one witness. He was watching out the window and saw someone push you and run off.”
Damn, Elspeth thought. Someone was trying to kill her. That was hard to believe. Good Lord, she’d only lived in Canada six weeks and hadn’t pissed off anyone that she knew of. Well, aside from Madeleine/Nina, she supposed. But Meredith’s thieving tenant was in jail. Now, if this was England . . . Actually, she couldn’t think of anyone in England who might want her dead either. She hadn’t got out much there thanks to her mother’s—
“Maybe it’s someone trying to hurt my mother by hurting me,” she suggested suddenly.
“Maybe,” Mortimer allowed, and added, “She’s old and difficult enough to have made enemies,” he said dryly. “Which makes it more likely than someone wanting to hurt you.”
“Exactly,” Elspeth said with satisfaction. It was always good to hear that she was more likeable than her mother.
“I’ll look into that possibility too, then,” he decided, jotting a note on a yellow pad on his desk. “But in the meantime, Alex is on her way here and she and Sam will watch you until dawn, when Lissianna and Rachel will take over.” After a hesitation, he added, “Greg might be bringing Lucy to join you as well. Lissianna says little Lucy has trouble sleeping without her there, and Greg says he does too,” he added with a roll of the eyes.
Elspeth’s eyebrows rose with disbelief.
“And if Etienne catches wind that Greg and Lucy are with Lissianna, he’ll probably wander over too to be with Rachel,” he finished with disgust.
“Mortimer, if it’s so dangerous I need guards, do you really think it’s a good idea to have a baby around?” She didn’t wait for an answer, but added, “Besides, my apartment only has two bedrooms, and it already has four people in it thanks to my mother and sisters deciding to visit. I don’t have room for five more people.”
“We can use the basement apartment.”
Elspeth swiveled in her seat to see Wyatt standing in the open doorway. While his comment had startled her, his presence surprised her more. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d left.”
Nodding politely at Mortimer, he entered the room and moved to stand beside her chair. “Valerian and Tybo mentioned that Mortimer planned to have you guarded, so I thought I’d come in and see if there was anything I could do.” Turning to Mortimer, he offered his hand, “Hi. I’m Wyatt MacKay.”
“Garrett Mortimer.” The head of the Enforcers stood up to take Wyatt’s hand. His gaze narrowed on the mortal’s forehead as they shook, and then he nodded and released his hand. “We’ll pay the rent for the basement apartment. I’ll arrange to have furniture delivered later today.”
“You don’t have to rent it. It’s free right now anyway,” Wyatt said solemnly.
“We’ll rent it,” Mortimer said firmly, and then smiled and added, “Martine and the twins can move down there to make room for Elspeth’s protection to stay in her apartment.”
Elspeth perked up. “Really?”
“It’s the smartest move,” he said with a shrug.
She grinned briefly, but then deflated and shook her head. “Mother won’t do it.”
“She will,” he assured her. “Sam will make her. She’s had a lot of practice dealing with powerful immortals since marrying me. The woman has no fear. She essentially lawyers them to death.”
Elspeth raised her eyebrows, wondering how exactly that was done.
“I’d be happy to help guard Elspeth,” Wyatt announced a little stiffly.
Probably because he knew Mortimer would refuse, Elspeth thought. Wyatt was mortal, after all, easy to kill in comparison to an immortal, and—
“I’ll get you suited up with guns and whatnot then,” Mortimer said, standing up.
“What?” Elspeth gasped with amazement as she lunged to her feet. “Mortimer, he’s mortal!”
“He’s also a former member of the JTF2,” Mortimer informed her as if that should mean something to her.
“I’ll never get used to this mind reading business,” Wyatt muttered, but Elspeth and Mortimer paid him no attention.
Elspeth was staring at Mortimer with bewilderment, mentally running through the possible meanings behind the initials JTF. Jazz Tune Fans, Just The Facts, Justice Truth Freedom, Junior Twinkie Finders, Jolly T—
“Dear God, stop!” Mortimer barked suddenly, and then, shaking his head, he asked with disbelief, “Jolly Titty Fondlers?”
Flushing with embarrassment that he’d caught that one even as he’d interrupted her, Elspeth shrugged helplessly. “Well, I don’t know what it stands for.”
“Joint Task Force,” he said abruptly.
“Oh.” Elspeth shifted on her feet and then sighed. “Some kind of think tank?”
“No, Elspeth. They’re like navy SEALs in the States,” Mortimer said wearily, and then frowned when she continued to look bewildered, and said, “Like the British SAS, but made up of Canadian soldiers.”
“Oh,” she said with understanding. She knew the British SAS were super soldiers who handled the more dangerous things that cropped up in the world, like coups, hostage situations, and so on. The idea that he belonged to the Canadian version of the same thing was more than a little surprising, though. Wyatt seemed like just your average nice guy. Although he did have a pretty awesome physique, and that air of command, she thought, eyeing him.
“Elspeth, Sam is in the kitchen,” Mortimer said, moving around his desk, headed for the door. “Why don’t you go see if Alex has arrived yet while I take Wyatt to the outbuilding to look at weapons?”
Nodding, Elspeth watched the men leave the room, and then sighed and pushed herself to her feet. She’d come expecting to work, but Mortimer thought she should take a day or two off to “recover” . . . under the watchful eye of his wife and her sister, apparently. At least until dawn, and then Lissianna and Rachel would take over. Her mother, however, would be there around the clock, she was sure. Elspeth didn’t think for a minute that Sam was going to be able to make Martine move down to the basement apartment. It was more likely her mother would make Sam, Alex, Lissianna, and Rachel stay there . . . without her.
Picking up the bag holding her ruined purse and its contents, Elspeth headed out of the office and along the hall to the front of the house, where the kitchen was situated.
“Good evening, Elspeth,” Sam greeted her cheerfully. “Looks like we’ll be hanging out for a while.”
“Looks like,” Elspeth agreed with a smile, her eyes widening slightly as she looked her over. Sam was dressed in black jeans, a black T-shirt, and black boots. She had a gun holstered on one hip, a TASER on the other, and a knife strapped to her leg on top of her jeans. “Looks like you’re armed for bear.”
“So is Alex,” Sam announced with a grin. “She’s in the bathroom. Should be out in a minute.”
“I’m back.”
Elspeth turned to see Alex entering the room, also dressed all in black and prickly with weapons. The woman had large eyes and a full mouth like Sam, but Alex wore her shiny brown hair in a bob while Sam’s darker hair was long and wavy.
“Cale says, ‘Hello, little sister,’” Alex told her with a smile.
“He doesn’t mind you playing babysitter to me?” Elspeth asked with a faint smile.
“Nope. He’d be here with us, but he’s helping Mortimer with a job,” Alex explained.
Elspeth nodded solemnly. “A lot of nonhunters are helping out right now.”