Free The Last Target by Christy Barritt Page A

Everyone will be on full alert.”
    Rachel nodded, but she could feel the bulletproof vest underneath her shirt. She knew that it didn’t matter that safety precautions were taken. There was an inherent danger in them simply being there.
    Perhaps they were putting the other children’s lives at risk. What if something happened to one of them because of her? Maybe they should just go back to headquarters and for the good of everyone involved simply stay there for as long as it took, even if that meant years.
    “It’s going to be fine,” Jack said. Why did he always seem to know her thoughts before she expressed them? Was she that transparent?
    Before the zoo, they stopped at a restaurant. Jack got in the driver’s seat and Denton climbed into an awaiting vehicle. The remaining five minutes it took to get to the zoo were silent, except for Aidan. Rachel tried to keep her thoughts positive. It seemed an impossible task.
    At the zoo, they found a parking space. Rachel held tight to Aidan’s hand as they crossed the parking lot. She walked with baited breath, half expecting to feel a bullet whiz by. Instead, she heard children’s laughter, the sound of the wind brushing across the maple trees in the parking lot, the splash of fountains in the distance.
    Aidan’s teacher, Patricia, smiled when she spotted Aidanand Rachel. Aidan ran to greet her with a hug before skipping on to join his classmates in line by the entrance. Rachel’s gaze remained on him except for an occasional glance at Patricia.
    “I’m so glad Aidan could make it. I know it means a lot to him.” Patricia’s gaze traveled to Jack, and her eyes glinted with curiosity. “And who is this?”
    Rachel looked up, her tongue suddenly tied. How did she explain Jack? She’d been so preoccupied with Aidan’s safety that she hadn’t even thought that far ahead. Before she could even butcher some type of response, Jack’s arm went around her waist. He reached forward with his other arm. “I’m Jack. Nice to meet you.”
    Patricia’s eyebrows shrugged. “Lovely to meet you also. You’ve got yourself a good one here. We all just think the world of Rachel.”
    Rachel’s tongue felt like sandpaper. She wanted to reject Patricia’s idea that they were together. But what could she say? That Jack was the CEO and founder of Iron, Inc., and he’d been hired to protect her? That wouldn’t exactly be the best route to keeping this whole thing under wraps. Besides, the area where Jack’s hand met her waist seemed to be firing neurons that she didn’t even know she had, making it hard to think clearly.
    Jack grinned beside her. “You all think correct. Rachel’s great.”
    Rachel’s cheeks flushed. What was going on? Why was she suddenly clamming up, losing her words? All because Jack was pretending to be her date?
    Patricia winked at her before hurrying back to the kids. “I know Aidan’s glad you could all make it. This is going to be a great day!”
    Rachel could only hope.
    Rachel found Aidan in line, talking happily with hisfriends. She looked back up at Jack, whose closeness was doing nothing for her nerves. “They think you’re my date.”
    She couldn’t see what his eyes were doing beneath what must be agent-issued sunglasses. “Let them think what they want to. What would you rather them think? That I’m your bodyguard?”
    A date did make the most sense. And she was a grown woman. She was allowed to bring dates with her. Still, the idea seemed so foreign to her.
    “They’re going in.” Jack offered her his hand. She stared at it a moment. “I don’t bite. I promise.”
    She laughed airily. “I know.” Hesitantly, she reached forward. His strong fingers gripped hers and suddenly her legs felt like jelly. Despite that, she followed the class through the gates and into the zoo.
    Her gaze shot around the benches at the zoo entrance, looking for agents stationed around the perimeters. She spotted couples sitting together, a maintenance man