Free The Loch Ness Legacy by Boyd Morrison Page A

responsible looking after you at all times,” Tyler said, “but it looks like you’re out of danger now.” Without going into excruciating detail, he told Alexa about Victor Zim’s threat and his subsequent death.
    Alexa’s expression went from fear to annoyance to comprehension in three blinks. She turned to Grant. “So that’s why you rushed over to the house all sweaty.”
    Tyler quizzed Grant with his eyes.
    “I was at the gym when you called,” Grant explained quickly.
    Alexa laughed. “And he smelled like he brought the whole gym back with him.” She looked at Tyler. “I’m in the clear?”
    Tyler hesitated, so Grant chimed in. “Unless Zim comes back as a zombie.”
    “It’s a long walk from California, so I’m not too concerned about that. Well, it looks like you guys have something to talk about, so I will get out of your hair.”
    “Where are you going?” Tyler asked.
    “I’m meeting a friend at Pike Place Market for some coffee.”
    “Dillman?” Grant said.
    Alexa nodded. “He just texted me. He’s not home this morning and thought it would be a good place to rendezvous.”
    “Is this the guy who was at Loch Ness with you?” Tyler asked.
    “The same.”
    Tyler was reluctant to let her go. Though Zim seemed to be out of the picture now, Alexa’s connection to Laroche was troubling. Something in his gut was telling him to keep her here.
    “Excuse us,” Tyler said to Grant and Miles. He took Alexa aside and lowered his voice.
    “Maybe you should wait for me,” he said.
    “Until when?”
    “Let’s go down there for lunch.”
    Alexa patted him on his good shoulder. “You can’t keep an eye on me twenty-four seven. Besides, I’ve traveled to twenty countries without you. I think I can handle downtown Seattle.”
    “But if Zim hired somebody to go after you—”
    “What are you going to do? Hire a bodyguard to follow me around for the rest of my life? The guy’s dead. I’ll be fine.”
    Tyler sighed. It was tough giving up the big brother routine. “Okay. How about I meet you at Etta’s and we can catch up?”
    “Good idea. I’ll let you both treat me to crab cakes.”
    “Me and Dillman?”
    “No, you and Grant. I want to hear his version of Paris, too.”
    Tyler shrugged. “There’s not much more to tell.”
    She gave him a concerned look and took his hand. “I know this isn’t the first time you’ve had to kill someone, but it still must have been difficult.”
    “It had to be done.”
    “Do you want to talk about it?”
    “You don’t need to hear it.” Alexa had been spared the ugliness of killing, which is why he’d never discussed his missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. There wasn’t a common frame of reference, and he was afraid she wouldn’t understand some of the things he’d had to do.
    “All right,” she said. “But you know you can tell me anything, right?”
    Tyler nodded. “Oh, I had a question for you. Have you seen André Laroche lately?” Because the FBI’s investigation was ongoing, Tyler wasn’t allowed to reveal that he was a suspect.
    Alexa furrowed her brow at the seeming non-sequitur. “No. I’ve been trying to meet with him, but Marlo Dunham—that’s his assistant—would only tell me he was unavailable.”
    “Has he tried to contact you?”
    “Why?”
    “Just curious about your plans while you’re here.”
    “Last I heard from him was a couple of days ago. He sent me an email about our search for the Loch Ness monster.”
    “Was there any clue to where he was going?
    “No. What’s this about?”
    “I’d like to meet who you’re working for. Has he ever asked you about me?”
    “Oh, yeah,” she said sarcastically. “Your name comes up all the time.”
    “I’ll take that as a no.”
    “You’re being really weird.”
    “Just let me know if Laroche calls you.”
    She looked at him dubiously, then slowly said, “Okay.”
    Tyler loved her naïveté. He’d seen unlikely people do some pretty awful things, so he