Claimed by my Unexpected Protector

Chapter Twelve

Benny’s POV

My own detail, I’m still floating as I head toward the back door, my clothes from the morning bundled up in my right hand as I push my way out into the weather that is just as f.ucking awful as it was when I came in.

I’ve been hoping for this chance since I joined the Cadell’s, but it never seemed to come my way. I had started to assume that I was always going to be under the command of one of the more senior staff, like Lincoln or Hallick. The two of them have been here so long that they are practically part of the fixtures.

The Soldier and the Navy Seal are both legends in their own rights, and I have loved working under them, each has taught me so much, but I always wanted the chance to shine on my own as arrogant as that sounds, and now it’s finally here. It’s not a huge job, like a banquet or something, but I will have a small team, and I get to plan the entire detail myself.

I’ve spent all day going over the schematics for the first building that the visiting dignitary will be attending as he meets with one of our high ranking senator’s. The meeting itself is quite low profile, but I still need to be on guard for any potential threats to either of the important people that will be there. I have a rough draft of all the entrances and exits, any areas of risk and two escape routes planned if we need to get our charge out quickly. Tomorrow, I want to take a look at the second location and start a rough idea of what I need to do.

In total, the job will be three days in length with four different places to visit so not only will I be planning protection for all four venues, I’ll also be covering the guy’s overnight detail, which means staying at the hotel with him, can anyone say room service and monogrammed bathrobes?

Reaching my truck, I open the back door, throwing in my dirty clothes before slamming it shut and opening the driver’s side door and climbing in.

I push my wet hair out of my eyes, this weather is unbelievable, what is going on? I’m actually supposed to be here till six tonight, but with the weather getting worse and according to the bosses, there being no urgent work to do, we’ve all been told to go home early.

I glance at my watch, It’s one thirty, and I’m one of the last of the team to leave, only Harrison, Gage and Hallick are still here. Looking up at the sky through the windshield, I shake my head. It’s so dark it might as well be six o’clock and I’m silently thankful that Harrison decided to let us all go.

The Marine has always been a little uncomfortable with storms, and I know he refuses to let his wife, Eden drive in them, especially now that she’s pregnant. I don’t know if it’s to do with his time in service, but the man has always been very protective of all of us when it comes to storms as severe as this. As I was leaving, he was already on the phone to Eden, arranging to collect her from work.

Returning my attention to the truck, I turn the key in the ignition, the truck roaring to life, the heaters hitting me with cold air as I swear loudly. I forgot to turn them back down from this morning when I picked up Eralia from the side of the road.

The freezing air dies down as I shiver, muttering various curses under my breath, throwing the truck into reverse and backing out of my spot beside Gage’s beat up vehicle. The guy is loaded, not Callan rich, but enough to afford a decent set of wheels but he still drives the same piece of crap that he owned when I first joined the company.

Straightening up, I head out, skirting around the building and onto the main road, toward my home. Progress is slow as everyone tries to stay on the water slicked roads, a few assholes weave in and out of the traffic, causing other drivers to slam on their brakes, horns blaring loudly.

I’m damn hopeful that the road closure has lifted, finding a way around will be an absolute ball ache if it’s not as the weather is already making the rush hour traffic unbearable.

Thoughts of the detour from this morning draw my thoughts back to Eralia, the quiet woman who was walking to work in this less than six hours ago. She said she missed her bus, this morning, I assume that is how she’s getting home again . . . are the buses running though? It’s awful out here and sometimes they do cancel services due to the weather, does she have an alternative way to get home?

I tap my thumb on the steering wheel as I chew on my lip, Eralia is a grown ass woman, she doesn’t need me checking up on her . . .

Growling, I bark at the AI assistant on my phone that is hoked to my truck.

‘Call . . .’ I realise that I don’t have Eralia’s phone number, frowning I think before adding, ‘Mackenzie’s bakery.’

‘Calling Mackenzie’s bakery’ the smooth voice of the AI assistant replies before the phone starts to ring through my speakers. It rings over half a dozen times before there is a click and Mackenzie’s voice filters through to me.

‘Hi, you’ve reached Sugar and Nice, I’m afraid we’re busy making sweet treats right now, but please leave your name, number and a short message after the beep and we’ll call you right back!’

I end the call without leaving a message, are they busy? I glance at the time again, it is lunchtime, but with the weather like it is, how busy would they really be?

‘Call Callan’ I order, the phone ringing twice before my boss answers.

‘Yo?’ he states down the line, I can hear Maxton in the background so he’s definitely at home.

‘Hey man, I just called the bakery, but they didn’t pick up . .’ I start, suddenly feeling stupid. It’s not unusual for the phone to go unanswered.

‘Oh yeah, Kenzie shut early too, there was no customers, she’s on . . . oh wait . . . hey sweetheart! She just walked in, you want to talk to her?’

‘No’ I rush out quickly, ‘it’s fine, It was nothing important, I’ll pop in tomorrow to talk to her.’

‘Sweetheart, it’s Benny! He called the store, I just said you shut early because of the storm, he wants to talk to you’ the soldier shouts out, ignoring me, f***k.

‘You took a long time to get home, are you OK?’ Callan continues, his voice lower now indicating that the baker has come into the room.

‘Yeah, I just had to drop Eralia at the library, she had a book to collect’ Mackenzie replies faintly. ‘I offered to take her home, as the guy who she was supposed to get a lift from couldn’t get her as got called into work. She decided to just hang out at the library until he finished his shift instead. Bless her, she was soaked when she got in, she got a lift in with him this morning, I assume she must have been waiting out in the rain for him or something . . .’

I hang up the call without saying another word, my frown deepening, I picked Eralia up this morning, but it wasn’t planned, and we never planned for me to pick her up after work, so why did she tell Mackenzie that I am?

Instinctively, I take the next turning, heading toward the library where Mackenzie dropped Eralia off. It takes twenty minutes for me to get there, and when I arrive, the whole building is in darkness. There is a sign pinned to the door, and as I slow down beside it, squinting through my passenger side window, I can just make out ‘closed due to storm.’

F.uck! I look around wildly for any sign of the brunette, but the whole place is deserted. Did she manage to get a bus? Did someone else give her a lift? As unease settles on my shoulders, I shove the truck into gear and pull out of the library parking lot, heading down the closest road that leads toward the area that I picked the bakery assistant up this morning.