Embattled Home by J.M. Madden

of a mile, the incline steadily climbing until they reached a rocky slope. A long, low ranch house was nestled into the mountain, the stone front partially camouflaging it. A good-sized barn, big enough for a few horses if they wanted, sat back in the pine woods off to the right, as well as a good-sized paddock for grazing.
    The foreman that used to live here had had several kids. There was a wood-framed swing set in the dry front yard, surrounded by mulch. Mercy leaned up to get a closer look as he parked the truck.
    “Mommy, can I go swing?”
    Lora glanced at him to see what he thought and he nodded to her. “I think she’ll be fine up here. We can see people coming from miles away, literally. The back of the mountain is pretty much impassible. Let her run.”
    “Okay, Mercy. But just stay on the swing set, okay?”
    Her little blond head bobbed. “I will Mommy, promise.”
    Chad let himself into the house. It didn’t look like anyone had been here since he last had, more than a year ago. Dust coated the surfaces of the furniture. Heading to the back of the house, he flipped the master switch on the power box and turned the water valve to ‘open’. The hot water heater started to hum.
    Moving from room to room, he made sure no critters had gotten in. Lora explored as well, removing dust covers here and there. There were three bedrooms. Lora and Mercy could share one, and the four guards could share the other two. They would be working alternate shifts, so it would work out.
    When he left the bedroom, Harper had just ducked through the front door. Chad motioned to the bedroom behind him and told him the schedule. The big man nodded and moved to drop his bag inside the bedroom door, then moved through the rest of the house, obviously memorizing the layout.
    “I’m going to hike out back,” Harper told him.
    Chad nodded, understanding that he would be a while. The former SEAL sniper preferred the outdoors and it suited him. He would only come indoors when he absolutely had to. Harper’s first priority on any new op was to find the most advantageous, defensible position.
    Flynn sat in a chair on the front porch. “Just what exactly are we supposed to do out here?” he grumbled.
    “Protect Lora and her daughter at all costs until we find a way to get the ex off her tail.”
    Flynn scowled at him. “I know that. I mean out here.” He motioned to the broad expanse of open land surrounding them.
    To Chad, the open land around the house presented all kinds of opportunities. “Sorry, Frogman. I’ll find work for you to do, if that’s what you’re worried about. You won’t be bored. Sorry there’s no water around.”
    Flynn snorted, pulling his cell phone from his pocket. “I’ll be damned. At least there’s service.”
    Chad left him scrolling through the screens of his phone.
    Their biggest priority was to give Duncan time to dig into Derek’s business to look for dirt. He needed to talk to Lora and see if she had any further insights. Any information they could gather would be better than what they had now, which was very little.
    Chad found Lora hanging clothes in the closet of her bedroom, next to a few of Mercy’s little things. She was staring off into space, holding a hanger when he stepped into the room, so he made a little extra noise so that she wouldn’t be startled. She looked up with a faint smile tugging the corners of her lips and Chad ground to a halt. The old yellow light above her head softened the bruises on her face and he could see the attractiveness she tried to hide with her bulky sweaters and crossed arms. That one small smile gave him an insight into her personality he didn’t think she would want him to know.
    That she played her looks down deliberately.
    It didn’t hit him until just that moment, but he had never seen her dress to be seen. Everything item of clothing she wore tended to be tan, pale green or cream. No glaring colors or fabrics. Nothing to draw the eye. She