Bodyguard

Chapter Seven

Spike came back in to report around three. Ronan talked to him alone in the office, Elizabeth busy out front. She had expressed concern that people would stay away when they found out there'd been an attempted robbery at her store, but apparently, curiosity was a greater motivator than fear.

"Saw a car with two guys," Spike said. "They went by a couple of times, slowing down to watch the shop. Fourth time they went by, one of the guys was on the phone, then all the sudden, they take off. Haven't seen them since."

"Did they see you?" Ronan asked.

"No one sees me if I don't want them to."

"Anything else?" Ronan asked.

"No, just those guys. I'll keep an eye out for them."

"Thanks."

Spike shrugged. "Hey, it's my job." He went out the back door to the alley, his movements spare and quiet.

Ronan watched from the office doorway as Elizabeth went about her business. She was a natural at selling, he decided. He watched her greet her customers, talking to them in a friendly way without getting too personal. This was a novelty store, which meant she sold everything from T-shirts with funny logos to plastic handcuffs. Nothing distasteful, just fun stuff that people mostly bought as gifts for friends. The customers tended to be upbeat, laughing with each other over the zany thing they'd give whoever for a birthday, retirement, anniversary, bridal shower, bachelor party.

Elizabeth had a way of putting people at their ease, helping them find exactly the right thing. Ronan saw, though, that she maintained a distance. That made sense while she sold things to perfect strangers, but he'd noticed it at the house too. Elizabeth didn't let anyone get too close. She was friendly, yes, but any personal question was deftly turned aside or evaded.

Ronan had asked Sean to run her name in the database. Sean had access to a vast network, built by Guardians over the last two decades, which contained more information than any non-Shifter could possibly imagine. Humans didn't know about this network, which ran on a lot of technical know-how coupled with a little bit of magic. Only Guardians knew how to access it, and only Guardians were allowed to use it--Guardians being those Shifters who stuck their swords into the bodies of dead or near-dead Shifters to send their souls to the afterlife.

Sean had run Elizabeth's name but turned up nothing. She had no police record, not even a minor traffic ticket, and neither did Mabel. Elizabeth was thirty, according to her driver's license, and had lived in Austin for about six years, owning the store called SoCo Novelties for five. She'd bought the business as a whole from the previous owner who'd retired.

Ronan thought about how she'd skillfully plucked Kim's card from his pocket, and wondered again. Elizabeth Chapman had picked pockets before, and she fought like a street kid. Juvenile records were sealed, sure, but not to the Guardians. They could hack anything.

Sean had added the little detail that there was no record of Elizabeth at all before her move to Austin. A reference to an address in El Paso when she'd rented an apartment upon her arrival in Austin, but that El Paso address turned out to be bogus. She'd used her store as proof of residence or proof of income for everything else, including the small house she'd purchased a few years ago. She paid all her taxes, no under-the-table dealings, and had a social security number, bank accounts, and IRAs for herself and Mabel.

So who had Elizabeth Chapman been before she'd become Elizabeth Chapman? And why had she needed to turn into someone else?

The store did brisk business, but Elizabeth closed down at eight when the crowd started to thin. People still wandered the streets to seek restaurants or to walk down to the bridge to watch the bats emerge, but all but the most dedicated shoppers departed. Elizabeth turned off her sign and locked up.

"I'm making this deposit tonight," she said, heading toward the office. "You've been here all day, Ronan. Don't you have a job of your own?"

"Starts at nine," Ronan said. "I'll take you to the bank on my way."

"You go. Spike can drive me. I don't want you to be late because of me. You've already done so much."

Ronan stepped squarely in front of her. "Spike drives like a maniac, and he's heading the same place I am. You're stuck with me, sweetheart."

"What place?" Elizabeth caught up her lock bag and turned out the lights. "Where do you work, anyway?"

"Shifter bar." He opened the back door for her but walked outside first, as Shifters did, to check that the way was safe. "I'm the bouncer. Come and say hi to everyone."

Ronan took her on his motorcycle to the bank around the corner and stood close guard--at the same time keeping himself out of sight of bank cameras--while Elizabeth put the deposits into the slot. After that, she was free.

As Ronan pulled out onto Congress and headed for the bridge and downtown, Elizabeth again felt the heady joy of simply riding with him. She wished they could go on through the city and keep on riding, to the long, empty stretches of highway Texas had so much of. Out there, in the darkness, they could find freedom.

But Ronan had people to take care of, as did she. Responsibility was a tether, but at least in Elizabeth's case, it was a tether of love. She thought, as they sped toward the illuminated dome of the capitol building and the Saturday night craziness of Sixth Street, that the tether Ronan had found here had become one of affection, even if it hadn't started that way.

Ronan drove through downtown and out again into darkness and more derelict streets. He pulled up in front of a bar near the open field that led to Shiftertown. The bar was a squat, dark building with no windows and a small parking lot already filled with people. No, not people . . . Shifters.

There were plenty of humans in the mix too, Elizabeth saw as they dismounted and walked to the bar. Shifter groupies, mostly, she saw--humans of both sexes who liked to hang out with Shifters, some wearing fake Collars. More than one woman looked at Ronan with appreciation and calculation, which irritated Elizabeth for some reason.

The bar inside was crowded, with tunes playing on a jukebox and Shifter waitresses hurrying back and forth to serve beers and take away empties. The bartender was human, Elizabeth saw. Maybe Shifters weren't allowed to actually dispense the drinks. Liam Morrissey didn't own this bar, she knew--a human did. Shifters couldn't own property, but Liam could work for the human owner and manage the place.

A number of Shifters greeted Ronan by name or slapped hands with him as he went by. Interestingly, many greeted Elizabeth by name, including the six-foot blonde called Glory who was a regular at Elizabeth's store, but they were deferential, looking to Ronan first.

Ronan led Elizabeth through the crowd, staying close by her side. Some of the groupies looked at her with envy, some with resentment.

Kim Fraser came forward to meet her. She opened her arms to Elizabeth and gave her a hug with a squeeze. "I'm glad you came. Let's go into the office."

Elizabeth threw a glance to Ronan, who shook his head. "What's up?" Ronan rumbled.

"Nothing terrible. Liam just wants a word."

Elizabeth stopped. "I want to call Mabel. We like to check in with each other."

"Mabel's here." Kim pointed across the bar to where Mabel sat in a booth with the lanky Connor Morrissey, Scott, and a dark-haired Shifter woman who was obviously pregnant. The dark-haired woman gave Kim a nod, said something to Mabel, and pointed. Mabel looked around and sent Elizabeth a cheerful wave.

"Andrea will take care of her," Kim said. "Mabel was getting antsy, cooped up at Ronan's, so Liam said it was all right if she came. Don't worry. She's in good hands."

Elizabeth was going to have to have a talk with Mabel. Mabel was of legal age, so that wasn't a problem, but she looked way too cozy laughing and talking with the Shifters. Mabel was very accepting of people as they were, something Elizabeth had always admired about her, but then, Mabel wasn't the greatest judge of character, either.

Or maybe Elizabeth was being too protective. She'd always gone back and forth about Mabel, torn between wanting to shield her from the evils of the world and fearing to stifle her with too much restriction.

Kim guided Elizabeth to a door marked "Private," and Ronan came so close behind her that Elizabeth felt his body heat.

On the other side of the door she found Liam Morrissey inside a cluttered office. Liam sat behind a desk, his long legs propped on the desk's top, and he held a baby on his lap.

Elizabeth wasn't sure which was more incongruous--the child held up by Liam's big hands or the man standing on the other side of the room with a huge sword strapped to his back, the hilt slanting above his head.

"He's underage," Elizabeth said, looking at the baby.

" She ," Liam said. "Katriona Sinead Niamh Morrissey. Sinead for her auntie, Niamh for her grandmum, and Katriona because we like it. Born three months ago."

"And you'd think she was queen of the gods," Ronan said. "The attention she gets." Ronan went around Elizabeth to the baby and gently poked her stomach.

"Shifter?" Elizabeth asked.

Kim reached for the child. At the same time her hands closed around Katriona's waist, Liam leaned up to Kim and kissed her on the lips. It was a warm, loving kiss, the look in Liam's eyes heart-melting.

Elizabeth's thoughts flashed back to Ronan licking the corner of her mouth earlier this morning. His lips had been smooth and warm, soothing. And arousing.

She swallowed and made herself not look at Ronan as Kim snuggled Katriona under her chin.

"I can't wait to see what her wildcat looks like," Kim said. "We won't know for a few years. Shifter-human cubs are born human and then shift when they're about three. Pure Shifter cubs do it the opposite."

Kim bounced Katriona as she talked, Katriona looking at everyone with round blue eyes, while trying to stuff her entire fist into her mouth. Kim moved across the room to the swordsman, who relaxed his grim stance to touch the baby's nose.

Ronan was the only one not at ease. "What do you want, Liam? Elizabeth's had a long day. I brought her here because I thought she could relax a little and then go home."

"She will." Liam retained his nonchalant pose, feet on the desk, hands now laced behind his head. He was watchful, alert while pretending not to be.

Ronan took a step closer to Elizabeth, and she felt the tight muscles of his arm brush her shoulder. "What do you want, Liam?" he repeated, an edge to his voice.

"Just a chat. First, to tell Elizabeth that we're grateful to her testimony that kept you out of jail." Liam gave her a nod. "It was brave of you to stand up for him."

"It was brave of Ronan to rush a guy with a pistol," Elizabeth said. "I couldn't let him take the fall for that."

"But so many humans would." Liam's gaze held no hostility, but at the same time, his blue eyes fixed on her, catching her like a fly in a web so finely spun it was undetectable until too late.

"You're unique, Ms. Chapman," Liam said. "So unique that I can't find out anything about you. Not one single scrap of information. Correction-- Sean can't find out anything about you, and Sean is a master at it." He glanced at the swordsman across the room who said nothing.

Elizabeth's mouth went dry, and she felt control of her life washing away like a branch caught in a flash flood. She'd thought herself safe--she was supposed to be safe. No one will ever be able to crack this, her friend had told her, and she'd paid good money for him to make sure it never happened.

"But you know all about me," she said, forcing her voice to remain steady. "I own SoCo Novelties, I'm Mabel's sister, and I don't mind Shifters coming into my store. That's all there is to know."

Liam's voice remained soft, but he had no need to shout to let her know he held the authority in this room. "You see, Elizabeth, it's my job as Shiftertown leader to protect my Shifters. You were great to help Ronan, and I'm happy that you were. But Ronan's putting himself on the line to take care of you, and that's a big risk to him. A risk to him is a risk to me and to all the Shifters living in his house. Maybe your secrets are innocent ones; maybe they represent no danger." Liam's feet came down, and he rose, tall and intimidating, his charm gone. "But maybe they do. So I need you to tell me the truth, Elizabeth Chapman, before I let you out of here. Who exactly are you?"