Man with the Muscle by Julie Miller

Author:Julie Miller
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2010-08-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

“See?” Audrey said, her tone a mix of high-class attorney and told-you-so bravado. “My father paid a fortune for the best. State-of-the-art. You can only get through the gate if you have a pass card to swipe or you punch in the code—which changes daily.”

Alex handed back her security card and waited for the tall wrought-iron gates at the end of her driveway to swing open. Despite the modern additions of technology, this place was like the castle keep out of some damned fairy tale. Tall granite and limestone walls covered in ivy faced the street, and the lights on the other side of those walls illuminated a stand of massive ancient oak trees and a long brick driveway leading up to…well, he couldn’t quite make out anything through the skeletal branches beyond a three-story tower and a pair of porch lights. This place might be steeped in old money and architectural history, but it was built for privacy from the outside world, not security. “How many employees and family members have these cards?”

“There’s just Dad and me. A cook, housekeeper, groundskeeper—although, they typically use the service entrance in the back.”

That was already too many people with unrestricted access to the house.

“When they bring in extra staff, or we have guests, we make different security arrangements.”

“By issuing extra cards?”

“Sometimes. Or—”

“—you leave the gate open. Hell.” She wasn’t going to make guarding her easy, was she? Alex squeezed the truck’s steering wheel in his fist, guessing that another cautionary warning from him would lock Audrey firmly in independent ice princess mode, and rule one for a successful protection operation was to maintain the cooperation of the person he was protecting.

The forbidding rock walls that closed off the grounds from the rest of civilization might explain her desire to take the brisk, open-air walk from the courthouse to her office this afternoon. But the more he saw, the more he realized the sense of security Audrey lived with was false. True, Quinn Gallagher’s security designs were the best in Kansas City, maybe even the country, and getting inside wouldn’t be easy while the system was engaged. But if a perp ever did get beyond those gates, he’d have free rein to commit whatever crime and wreak whatever terror he wanted without anyone on this side of the walls knowing it before it was too late.

Alex pointed to the rotating cameras and motion sensors at either side of the gate as he drove inside. “Are the guards who handle the codes and equipment on-site?”

Audrey’s weary sigh echoed across the cab of his pickup truck. But her posture stayed ramrod straight. She was withdrawing into prickly defensive mode again, a far cry from the soft, needy woman who had melted into his kiss less than an hour ago, and clung to him as if he was an anchor on the streets this afternoon. “Not unless Daddy hires extra security for certain events. Otherwise, the system is monitored at the Gallagher Security offices. We’ve

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