She looked at him. “More dead bodies?”
“I know you didn’t want any details beyond what you’re working on, but Callum found ties between Joaquin Martinez and—”
“Adil Garrison,” she finished for him.
“Yes. How did you know?”
“I figured that out after looking at the details of the first two robots. The chemicals and gene work done on the two of them wasn’t just similar to what I developed, it was exactly the same regimen.”
“I’m sorry,” Mark said. “But if Joaquin was connected to Garrison and is using your regimen, he has to know you exist. You could be in danger.”
Chapter 8
Mark was getting too old for this sleeping in the car shit. He’d done it enough in his years working as a bodyguard to know the trade secrets: best types of food and drinks to have, the ways of keeping yourself awake and focused in the deepest hours of the night, how to clench and release different muscle groups so he’d be ready to move without stiffness if the situation arose.
But it all still sucked.
At least his peripheral neuropathy wasn’t acting up. That was both the good and bad part about the condition—it could go weeks or months at a time without flare-ups. He never knew when it was going to hit him. It was forcing him to learn to live a day at a time.
It was just before midnight when he got a text from Jenna.
Stop being Creeper McCreepy and come sleep on the couch.
He had to laugh at that. The woman was definitely not quiet and reserved.
Mark had never gone for quiet and reserved.
He grabbed his gear and headed back toward her house. Jenna had been surprisingly calm at hearing about the link between Joaquin and Adil Garrison. Granted, Garrison was serving life in prison without the possibility of parole, so he couldn’t hurt her. But Mark had expected more of a reaction from her.
She may be confident there was no danger, but until they knew for sure Joaquin wasn’t targeting her, Mark would be on her like glue.
Not that that was any sort of hardship.
As he got to the front door, she again opened it, staying back from the outside. Once he was in, she reengaged the multiple locks on the doors.
“Same locks as your house in Denver?” he asked.
She shrugged one small shoulder. “I actually got a little lazy in my Denver house. Too complacent. That’s how Wilson was able to pull his little stunt. I’m taking measures to rectify that.”
Mark winced. “I’m the one who led Wilson to you. That’s on me. I’m sorry.”
He would never forget the sight of her curled into a ball on the floor, completely helpless, terrified of being taken into custody by the Europol agent.
“He was determined to find Bronwyn and me eventually, so don’t blame yourself. It was an important lesson for me. Like I said, I’d become too complacent.”
He tilted his head to the side. “You’ve upped security at your house there?”
“There. Here. All of them.”
“All? How many houses do you have?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Six.”
“Holy shit. Why do you need six houses?”
She walked past him and motioned for him to follow, leading him back to her living room. A pillow and folded blanket were already on the couch. “I like to have options.”
“In case you need to go to ground?”