“He’s an Italian national, known as The Blond in certain circles,” Big Tag said between bites.

Remy’s appetite fled in an instant. McKay-Taggart kept files on anyone Interpol flagged. And some Interpol didn’t even know about. “Are you talking about the assassin?”

“I am.” Big Tag sat back. “He’s known for his professionalism and his skill. His weapon of choice is a long-range rifle, but he’s used close-up tactics as well. The good news is Lisa doesn’t have a car for him to rig to explode. He’s an expert at that, too. Now we don’t know that he’s here for Lisa, but I find it interesting timing.”

She stopped and stared. “Why would someone assassinate me? The trial isn’t even going on. I doubt it will. They lost their best evidence. The prosecutor told me he didn’t think he would retry.”

“I think you’re their best evidence,” Taggart said quietly. “You can still testify.”

“But without the books to back me up, it’s my word against his,” she pointed out.

He saw exactly where Taggart was going and wished the boss would stay out of his damn business. He had this handled. “That’s true. That must be why the prosecutor is taking his time figuring out if he’s going to file the case again.”

“The fact that he doesn’t file the case now doesn’t mean Vallon’s off the hook. As long as you’re out here and willing to testify, this will hang over his head for years,” Taggart explained.

Lisa nodded. “I know, and I know what you think I should do. You want me to go into some kind of witness protection, but I’m not giving up my life, Ian.”

“You’ve already given up Sanctum,” Remy pointed out.

“That wasn’t about Vallon potentially offing me to keep me quiet. That was about pride. I can’t get myself there anymore. Next time, you should put the club next to a handy rail station,” she replied.

Taggart shuddered. “That would be horrible. Those things are human cattle movers. Have you smelled one in the middle of August? My point is you should come back. The last thing you need right now is to be isolated. That does nothing but help out the people who might try to hurt you. Someone will pick you up and take you home. I assure you no one will mind.”

“I’ll take her.” He didn’t like Taggart trying to arrange things for his sub. Not that they’d signed a contract yet, but they would. And he already had plans to keep her safe. Two nights a week at Sanctum would be two nights where nothing bad could happen to her. He was going to fix the other nights, too.

“I thought you were leaving.” Taggart winced. “Oh, was she not supposed to know that?”