Novack frowned. It wasn’t like he’d been smiling before, but the expression took on a deeper tone. “You here to throw me out? I heard this is now some kind of nature preserve.”
A few months before, a friend of theirs had needed them to help the town out by becoming the owners of a large tract of land a group of developers wanted to purchase from his company. Cole Roberts had come up with a plan that cost him, but saved the land from transforming from gorgeous forest to an outlet mall and all the stuff that came with it.
Roberts had trusted Nell to protect the land. It was a good thing, too, since Nell would have been the chief protestor of the development.
“Of course not. We would never do that,” Nell assured him. She started walking toward the dilapidated cabin.
Henry moved in front of her. “Hey, let me go first. He’s got this place trapped.”
“Trapped?” Nell asked.
Novack sighed. “Who told you?”
“I don’t need anyone to tell me. I can look around the ground and spot at least four places where you’ve laid out traps,” Henry said. “It looks like they’re alarms, but if you’ve got something set up that could hurt someone, then we really do need to talk. People hike out here.”
“Traps?” Nell was looking around the yard. “Like for people? Or is he hunting? Because I can help him set up a garden if he needs food. Also, there are tons of edible plants out here. There’s no need to kill animals.”
“They’re strictly alarms, Flanders,” Novack replied. “I don’t like being caught off guard, but I’m not trying to punish hikers or anything. I’m surprised you can see them. I wouldn’t have expected a professor to know what a trap looks like.”
He knew what it meant to sneak up on a paranoid target, and he knew how to set a hundred traps to protect himself. It was good to know there was one person in town who hadn’t heard the stories about him.
“Oh, Henry wasn’t a professor,” Nell replied. “That was his cover. He was an assassin with the CIA.”
Novack laughed. “That’s a good one. What do you really need?”
“I was not an assassin.” Sometimes her anger came out in little ways. He had to deal with her patiently, but he couldn’t let her forget the truth. “I was an operative, and I managed other operatives.”
“Did you assassinate people?” Nell asked in a prim tone.
He’d promised he wouldn’t lie to her anymore. “Only people who deserved it. Bad people.”
She snorted. “So you say.”
“And it wasn’t the biggest part of my job,” he continued. “I mostly tried to stop terrorists from blowing things up around the world.” He turned back to Novack. “I need to be out of town for a couple of weeks so I can settle some old debts. But I need someone to watch over Nell.”
Novack’s brow rose. “Someone wants to hurt Nell?”
Nell shrugged. “Probably. The activist’s life is not for the faint hearted, but most of the people I anger are satisfied to call me bad names on the Internet. Henry, however, has many enemies, and they prefer to show their rage in person. He’s killed all the ones who’ve come to town so far, but I prefer nonviolent methods.”
They’d gone over this. “I told you, love, they are not going to listen to lectures.”
She frowned his way. “You don’t know. I haven’t tried. I can be very persuasive.”
“What kind of joke is this?” Novack asked. “Because it’s funny, but I’ve got things to do today.”
“Really?” Henry couldn’t think of what the man needed to do. “Do you need to brood some more? Contemplate the dark turn your life has taken, perhaps?”
“I did have a book I was reading,” Novack replied.
Nell sighed and sent Henry a look that told him snark was not appreciated before turning to the big man. “Michael, we’re not pulling a prank. And I do know that there are people in the world who would like to hurt me to get to Henry. I was hoping you could stay with me while Henry’s gone.”
“Why would anyone want to hurt Henry? Look, I could believe that the professor here might have worked some desk job,” Novack began.
Nell turned to Henry. “He’s not going to believe you. You have to show him.”
He was going to get killed. He could see it easily. At least then Nell might forgive him. She would probably feel sorry for him. She would bury him in the backyard and grow organic tomatoes over his dead body.
“Show me what? You going to send the professor to assassinate me?” The thought obviously amused the former marshal. “I’d love to see that happen. It might make the last year worth it.”
If there was one good thing to come of all this mess, it would be proving everyone who thought he was weak wrong. They saw the sandals and the tofu and saw vulnerability. They should know he’d always been able to protect the woman he loved. He was on Novack before the marshal could move. The other man barely had a chance to gasp before Henry had taken his rifle and had him on his belly, his own gun pointed at his head.
“Hey,” Novack complained.
Nell simply stepped onto the porch. “See. He’s good at that. How about I make us some tea and we can talk? I do need a bodyguard. We can work out payment, and perhaps you can fix up your cabin. And the good news is I’ll cook all the meals so you don’t have to worry about eating well.”
Novack’s hands came up. “All right. I believe you. Now tell me what’s going on and I’ll tell you if I can help. As you can see I’m out of practice.”
Henry backed off and Novack pushed himself off the porch. “I need you in practice if you’re going to guard my wife.
