Dragon Gate Read Free

asked.
    “Definitely.”
    “I’m in,” she said. “I’m off to the ladies’ room.”
    When she left, I said, “What’s the job?”
    “Have you heard of Graham Noble?”
    “Sounds familiar but I can’t place him.”
    “His family owns The Steam Room and a few other businesses in Boulder.”
    “That weird spa I see advertised on TV all the time? What’s their slogan? No Pain, Still Gain or some shit?”
    “Yes, and Let Off a Little Steam. ”
    “The girl in the commercials is cute,” I said.
    “That would be Rayna, Graham’s sister. Their father was murdered this morning outside his office building.”
    “Sorry to hear that.”
    “The killers will be after their entire family. Stephen Noble’s brother is part owner of the spa, and Stephen’s wife runs a hospice.”
    “You want me to find the killers? Shouldn’t that be a job for the Boulder Police Department?”
    “I want to hire you and your team to protect the family. Graham and Rayna in particular, but the rest if they’ll cooperate. Graham and Rayna do a lot of charity work and public appearances. They’re wealthy and popular and they’ll need a protective team.”
    “Why are you doing the hiring, Mike? Shouldn’t they hire a firm?”
    “Stephen was a friend. He asked me to provide protection for his children.”
    “So they don’t even know about this?”
    The waitress returned with Mike’s credit card and thanked us, so Mike didn’t answer until she wandered off to another table.
    “They know.” He signed the check and added a less-than-generous tip—typical. “They don’t think they need protection, and they don’t trust wizards, so they won’t allow us to send anyone who’s part of the magical community. In order to serve Stephen’s wishes, I need you.”
    “You knew this was coming when I hired that skinny girl last year.” I pretended not to know her name was Darla or that I’d gotten her killed that day before I found a way to set things right. I’ll never forget the look on her face when she died, but I try instead to remember her relief when she didn’t have to do much beyond a simple summoning spell on the reset.
    “I suspected you’d be the right person for the job if it came up.”
    “So this is for you and not for DGI?”
    “Stephen was on the board for DGI.”
    “He was a wizard?”
    “No.”
    “I thought only wizards could serve on the board.”
    Mike shrugged. “We make exceptions in certain instances.”
    “He paid you.”
    “What?”
    “The only thing that matters more to you guys than a magical pedigree is cold, hard cash.”
    I wasn’t a big fan of the folks at Dragon Gate Industries. They charged for their services when they make plenty of money from their legitimate, nonmagical engineering firm, not to mention their real estate holdings and investments. However, I did owe them for loaning Darla to me and for a few other little things.
    “Graham and Rayna need your help, Jonathan. And we’ll pay you a nice fee for your protection services.”
    “We’re not normally in the protection business.”
    “Nonsense. Our files indicate that you’ve had training as an executive protector through a well-respected firm and that you occasionally provide these services for visiting celebrities.”
    “Protecting a TV star making a convention appearance is a lot different than protecting someone who has active death threats from a credible enemy who’s already proven their abilities by killing someone close to the target. The Nobles should hire a firm that specializes in this sort of thing.”
    “Are you saying you think you, Kelly, and Brand can’t protect two people from a few bad guys?”
    “What I’m saying is that counting Esther, there are only four of us. To provide a proper protective detail would require a larger team.”
    “They won’t go for that.”
    “Do they realize that in many cases, simply having a team visible will make an assassin give up? Most assassins don’t want to get