Still damp from the pool, Elise pivoted on her left leg while her right leg spun to the side and kicked out, knocking her would-be attacker’s legs out from under him. The impact of his body hitting the floor rattled the items in the nearest display case.

Like lightning, she pounced, her knife to his throat at the same time that a gun nozzle pressed to her side, cocked and ready.

Harry? His gray eyes crinkled at the corners. Elise blinked. What was going on? Her breathing changed, and her heart thundered at their close proximity. She stared, mesmerized, into his eyes while everything inside her went still.

“Not bad.” Harry sounded every bit as winded as she was.

Her hand clamped tighter on the sgian dubh’s ornately carved handle as she fought the urge to nick him for that piece of nonsense.

“May I ask what that was about, Benson? Who let you in?” She kept the blade poised just where the tip could slice his jugular.

Harry’s eyes glinted with amusement, but he kept the nozzle of his gun pressed to her side. The crooked incisor made its appearance as his lips stretched into a huge grin. “Just checking to see if you still had the skills.”

“And?”

“We’d both be dead, so I’d call that a draw.”

“I might survive your gunshot, but you, my dear Agent Benson, would be dead, and Sammy would be back with his mother.”

The smile disappeared as quickly as it had erupted on Harry’s face, wiped clean by her words. She released him, and he holstered the gun before he rose to his feet. Scowling up at him, she returned the knife to her pocket. Harry reached down and helped her up.

Bending sideways, she stretched, wincing as her hips protested from that kick.

“Dad?” A young voice quavered.

Both Elise’s and Harry’s heads whipped in the same direction. Neither of them had noticed Sammy—until now. The lad stood on the opposite side of the display case with a mace gripped in both hands, his eyes the size of saucers.

“I saw Lady Elise knock you down. Were you going to shoot her?”

Harry’s eyes went blank. “No, son, I wasn’t going to shoot her. Lady Elise thought I was a robber and defended herself.”

“But why did you point a gun at her? And why was she going to stick you with that knife?” Sammy’s eyes searched his father’s.

Elise raised her brows, curious as to how Harry would extricate himself from this one.