Ellie was shoved outside the gate into a group of protesters. Nervousness ate at her as she stood there to wait for her car. She glanced at the anti-New Species group and looked away quickly when she met suspicious glowers aimed at her. The protestors didn’t know her association with the New Species but they’d seen security escort her out. She inched closer to the gates when a few of the protesters approached.

“Back away,” one of the guards demanded, reaching for his weapon.

Ellie froze. “I’m waiting for my car. They don’t like me.” She jerked her head toward the people behind her. “Can’t I wait here so I’m safe until my car comes? Is that too much to ask?”

The security guard smirked. “Move back to the line now or I’m going to have to make you.”

He looked totally sincere. She spun away and moved ten feet back to the line painted on the ground. Some of the protesters were within a yard of her now. One of the men glared at her and walked closer. He was a burly thug sort and he appeared to be a reject from prison with badly inked tattoos on his bare arms.

“Who are you? You came from inside. Are you one of those bleeding-heart animal lovers?”

She swallowed. “Please leave me alone.”

A woman protester glared at her and turned to face one of the guards. “Who is this woman?”

The guard didn’t even glance at Ellie. “She worked inside but just got canned.”

Ellie gaped at the guard for ratting her out and instantly sensed the hostility that came from the people around her. She again moved closer to the gate, fearful. Some of them belonged to the same group who’d stormed Homeland. The guard with the shotgun shook his head at her.

“I ordered you to get back.”

“Yeah,” one of the protesters yelled at Ellie. “Why don’t you come over here, bitch? We’d love to have a chat with you.”

Ellie studied the crowd. They weren’t walking around anymore, carrying their hate signs. They watched her and drew closer together, mob style. Their signs were gripped as if they were baseball bats and terror filled Ellie. She faced the gates again and grabbed at the bars.

“I will sue every one of you if you let them harm me and you will be canned right along with me.”

“So leave,” one of the security guards snorted at her. “They can’t attack you if you aren’t here.”

“I can’t. My car and my personal belongings are being brought to the gate. I don’t even have my purse.”

He shrugged and smiled coldly. “It’s not our job to protect you anymore. You’re an ex-employee so fend for yourself and back away before we have to force you.” He paused. “And roughing you up would be my pleasure. We heard you want us all fired so those New Species can take our jobs.”

“What is going on here?” An angry male voice came from above, from the catwalk.

Ellie peered upward. She didn’t know the New Species by name or by face. His features revealed him to be one though and he also wore a black SWAT-type outfit with the letters NSO across his chest.

“Nothing,” the security guard called up.

The New Species frowned as he met Ellie’s gaze. “I’m an NSO officer and I’m in charge. Why are you out there?”

“I’d been fired.” Ellie glanced over her shoulder at the crowd behind her. “I have to wait for my car to be brought to me before I can leave. Security refuses to allow me to wait inside and I’m really kind of in a jam here.” She looked back up at him. “I’d really like to be safe while I wait.”

Someone threw something and hit Ellie on the side of her arm. She winced and spun around to see what had nailed her. A soda can lay on the ground and dark liquid sprayed from where it had ruptured. Ellie backed away from the protesters, inched along the gate as someone else threw something. She barely ducked out of the way as a full water bottle bounced off the metal bar next to her head.

“Get her inside,” the NSO officer ordered. “Now!”

“She’s been fired,” the security guard explained. “She’s not our damn problem.”

“I am ordering you to do it now,” the NSO officer snarled. “Secure her to safety. Don’t make me say it again.”

Relief flooded Ellie as one of the security guards glared at her but pointed to the entry section of the gate. Something else flew and hit her shoulder. She didn’t see the object but it hurt. The gate opened as the crowd pitched something else but it missed this time, barely, as she lunged to get on the other side of the fence. She rubbed her shoulder where she’d been struck and looked up, intending to thank the NSO officer, but he’d disappeared.

“Stay by the gate,” the security guard closest to her ordered.

She nodded. She’d happily wait there for her car while she watched the protesters from safety. They glared at her and still hadn’t resumed their circling protest. Assholes, she thought, and turned her back on them. She wished she could sit down but the ground didn’t appeal to her. She closed her eyes, hugged her body, and hoped she wouldn’t have long to wait.

“Ms. Brower?”

Ellie opened her eyes, surprised to see Fury approaching with the NSO officer who’d ordered the security guards to allow her back inside the gate. Fury wore jeans, a black long-sleeved shirt, and a pair of boots. His hair had been pulled back into a ponytail and he looked furious. Her heart immediately started to race at the mere sight of him. Despite his angry, tight expression, he looked sexy in his casual outfit that displayed his broad shoulders and trim waist. He stopped about four feet in front of her with the NSO officer on his immediate right.