Her Surprise Protector

by J. P. Comeau

  Bree’s favorite meal was breakfast, so I left her alone with the confidence that she would eat her sliced fruit and grabbed the full bag in the kitchen trash can. Unlocking the back door, I stepped out. Something crackled under my foot, and I figured a bit of wax paper had fallen out of the bag or something. I’ll toss the trash in the can and come back for it.

  I did, but it wasn’t wax paper. It was a meticulously-folded square of paper, and I didn’t need to look any closer to know exactly what it was because I had seen ones like it before.

  For a moment, I just stared at the folded note, tears burning in the back of my eyes until they crept to the front and trickled down my cheeks. Why couldn’t Oscar just leave us alone?

  I didn’t know if I wanted to read the note, so I picked it up and stuffed it into my handbag. I dropped Bree off safely at the daycare, parked my car at work and headed inside, finding myself with about fifteen minutes until I needed to begin my workday.

  Heart heavy but aware that I needed to know what it said, I took the note out of my purse and unfolded it slowly - not as bad as I expected, honestly, but not good either. Oscar was getting more…unpredictable. The note mixed apologies and professions of love with angry insults and worrying threats of what would happen if I ignored him. Both issues scared me equally. What if I unblocked him on my phone and called him, would that help? Maybe if I talked to Oscar, he would think I wanted to work things out or give him a chance, and he would stop stalking me.

  I crumbled up the note and threw it into the trash can as hard as I could. That wouldn’t work, Elena. That’ll just make Oscar more eager and give him hope.

  Unlike the previous two days, today flew past with a speed that frightened me as much as Oscar did. It was like time was working with him, trying to hurry me along until I had to pick up Bree and go home where he could haunt my every move.

  Finally, at lunchtime, I couldn’t take it anymore. I found an empty office and called Riker.

  “Hey, Elena,” he answered after a single ring, sounding a little surprised. “Aren’t you at work?”

  “Yeah. But, uh…Oscar came back last night-”

  “I know,” Riker interjected.

  “You know?”

  “Yeah. Security cameras picked him up, but he was gone by the time the guard got there. I didn’t want to bother you until I had more information.”

  “He left a note, Riker.”

  “Oh… I wasn’t told about a note.”

  “They may not have seen it. It was on the grass near the back door. I stepped on it when I took out the trash.”

  Riker paused for a moment, and I heard indistinct voices in the background. “I have to go, Elena, but I’m going to handle this myself. I promise. No one is going to bother you tonight, and I’m going to call you later with details, okay?”

  Knowing Riker, he intended to triple the number of guards and sit outside my house himself. So, I nodded my head and whispered, “Okay.” That wasn’t what I really wanted, though. I wanted to see Riker so that he could hug me and tell me everything would be fine. “Let me get back to work,” I added, recovering my resolve. “And I’m sure you’re working, too. I didn’t mean to bother you.”

  “The only person who bothers me is your ex,” Riker told me. “Just hang tight. Why not take Bree somewhere after work and wait for me to get home? Just keep your phone on you.”

  We both returned to our jobs, and I did as he asked and kept my phone handy. After work, Riker texted me with a quick, “Where are you?” and showed up at the playground minutes later.

  Now that Riker was in front of me, I could get that hug. I wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his shoulder and shutting everything out for just a moment.

  “Are you okay?” he whispered into my hair.

  “Yeah,” I said truthfully. “I’m kind of tired. I just wish he’d leave us alone.” My eyes found Bree as I peeked over Riker’s broad shoulder.

  “He’s going to, because I’m going to deal with him.” Arms still around me, Riker sat us both down on the playground bench where we could watch Bree. “I have everything figured out. You’re going to come to New York City and live in the penthouse with me until this is all sorted out.”

  “I’m-” I lost my voice, thoroughly taken aback. “To live in…in Manhattan? I couldn’t possibly. My job…”

  “Is taken care of. I talked to your boss. This isn’t unwarranted,” Riker pointed out. “Your safety is threatened. It’s too dangerous for you to continue living in your home because of Oscar. It’ll be better for you and Bree if you both get out of the house for a while. We’ll leave your car in Montauk and Oscar will have no idea that you’ve even gone.”

  The Sunset Security logo on Riker’s polo drew my gaze, and I studied it while I considered his offer. I wasn’t so sure that it was an offer, actually. Riker might grab Bree and I in his arms and carry us all the way to Manhattan himself if he thought we were in danger…which he clearly did. I had never seen Oscar as a violent man until the day he had put his hands on me and Riker had shown up to stop him, but that moment had redefined the way I thought of Oscar. Now, in my mind, he was capable of anything, and Riker was an experienced professional. If he thought the threat was real, I should listen to him.

  But…Manhattan. I had never much liked the city, preferring to enjoy the peace and quiet of Montauk. Living in the city would take a lot of getting used to, and I wasn’t sure I would like it at all, especially if I couldn’t work while I was there. Who knew how long it would take to catch Oscar? Bree and I could find ourselves in the city indefinitely.

  I mentioned this concern to Riker, and he pulled me closer to him on the bench. “I know. I don’t like to live in the city either, really. I can’t promise sorting this out will happen quickly, but I can promise that I’ll make it happen as quickly as possible. Will that be enough?”

  “I guess it’ll have to be,” I replied, not entirely happy about it but unable to complain further to those concerned brown eyes that wanted so badly to help me. “Sorry. I don’t mean that what you’re doing isn’t enough, not at all. I just don’t like being driven out of my own house by Oscar, not when he’s already taken so much from me… and…well, you too.”

  Riker laughed. “I know you don’t. You hate letting anyone tell you what to do. And, Oscar has given me the opportunity to… get to know you and Bree. The way things were going in my life… as far as I’m concerned Oscar was a Godsend.”

  I smiled up at him, the knot in my chest easing a little. “Life is full of surprises.”

  “Will you both come stay with me until we leave for New York City?” Riker asked. “Then I can give security the go-ahead to be more thorough.”

  “I was about to ask if we could,” I admitted. The thought of sitting in my house, curtains drawn, knowing the sun was setting and just waiting for a shadow across the moon or a sound to come from outside… No thank you. I scooted a little closer to Riker.

  “Of course. I can follow you home in my car and keep an eye out while you pack.”

  I shook my head. “No, that’s okay. I’ll head home with Bree in a minute and grab my things, then meet you at your house. Seriously,” I insisted, easily anticipating his argument. “It’ll still be daylight, and security is still watching my house. I’ll be fine.”

  “Okay.” Riker must have sensed that convincing me to live in Manhattan for a while had been enough of a win, and it was unlikely I would agree to more of his ideas. “Just keep your phone on you and call if anything happens.”

  “I will,” I promised. “What happened with Oscar and the security guard, anyway?”

  “Oscar ran when he saw the guard’s flashlight, then he jumped the fence into your neighbor’s backyard. Unfortunately, they are away.”

  “Maybe their security caught him.”

  “They didn’t. I talked to my contact at Hilltop Security this morning. That’s how I know the owners of the home are out of town. And their security didn’t get there i
n time. The police didn’t make any arrests or spot anything out of the ordinary last night, either.”

  “Oh, how could I be so lucky,” I commented, a little disappointed. How convenient would that have been? Bree and I could have stayed safely in our Montauk home, avoiding this impromptu trip to the city.

  Maybe I needed to stop thinking about it as a trip to the city. Instead, I should take it as a chance to get to know a new side of Riker. The Riker who spent time with me on weekends was lighthearted, pleased to be back in the Hamptons and fun to be around. Not that he wouldn’t be like that during the workweek too, but it didn’t stop me from being curious. What was he like when he came home from a long day at work? There was so much I still didn’t know about Riker, and I would learn a lot by living with him, even if it was only for a short time.

  “Lucky for me.” Riker grinned. I had to rewind my thoughts until I remembered that I had said “lucky” last.

  “I guess it is for me too,” I admitted. “Just a little unexpected. Let me grab Bree and head home before it gets dark though, okay? I’ll text you when we’re on our way.”

  “Sounds good. That’ll give me just enough time to get home and take care of one or two things.” His brows drew together, sharpening his eyes into a glare. Sometimes, I forgot that Riker was a CEO. He still could look as forbidding and intense as those first two times I had met him.

  “Bree! Come on, Honey,” I called to her, crouching at the entrance to a tunnel low to the ground. “Come to Momma. Dinner time!”

  Eagerly, Bree came crawling toward me and let me scoop her up in my arms. She could eat at home while I got us ready to go. We would be out of our house in no time and settled into Riker’s well before dark.

  Chapter Eleven

  Riker

  The apologetic voice on the other end was cut off abruptly when I ended the call, practically seething. During the conversation with the security guard assigned to Elena’s house, I had used every ounce of willpower I possessed to keep my voice civil.

  I understood that no one was perfect. I wasn’t perfect. But I did my best to hire talented, dedicated people to work in my company. And I had hand-picked Jack and his partner to watch Elena’s house. While I didn’t expect anyone to be perfect, I did expect them to follow instructions and put forth their best efforts.

  After giving it more thought, I supposed Jack had partially followed my instructions. Since Elena’s property was surrounded by multi-million dollar homes, I had explicitly instructed Jack and his partner not to trespass in the event of a chase. If my guys chased him onto someone else’s property, we might not get that needed proof, and my guys could get arrested for trespassing themselves instead. I wanted to catch Oscar more than anything, but I had to do it right - the reason Elena would stay with me until I made that happen.

  No, it didn’t bother me that Jack hadn’t managed to catch Oscar when he jumped the fence and got away. What bothered me was something so incredibly obvious that it flabbergasted me that Jack hadn’t thought of it himself. Jack had seen Oscar on the cameras. He had watched Oscar stop at the back door and reach into his coat pocket before he investigated in person. Since Jack knew about the threatening notes left in the past, it should have been abundantly clear what Oscar was doing.

  Instead of checking the back door and the mailbox for notes, though, Jack decided to leave that for Elena. I could have explained the situation in person this evening and saved Elena a lot of worry and stress if Jack had found the note himself.

  His answer when I called to ask why was, “I didn’t think to check for a note.”

  “And I don’t hire people incapable of using their brains either,” I had told him before I realized I was getting too angry and needed to take a moment to calm down. Jack was back in the van now, probably staring at his phone and waiting for me to call him back and tell him he was fired.

  Elena would be here in a few minutes, and I needed to check the guest bedroom and make sure everything was ready for her and Bree. As I straightened things and checked surfaces for dust, my anger gradually melted away.

  There’s no point, I realized, finally reaching a state of calm. Staying angry about something I couldn’t change was not only pointless but wouldn’t help Elena feel any better either. And about not following instructions…well, I hadn’t told Jack what to do if Oscar left a note, and the camera hadn’t definitively picked up the small piece of paper. I was a bit unfair… Jack didn’t deserve all that…

  I sighed. I hated apologies – specifically, I hated apologizing. Seldom did I see a real reason for it, and often, apologies had no place in the business world. Putting a twist on being wrong so that I came out right in the end was a skill I had spent many years perfecting.

  Still, apologizing to Elena had been the best thing I’d done in a long time. So, maybe a few more wouldn’t hurt. I need to call Jack and explain I may have jumped to conclusions.

  Finished with the guest room, I sat down in the living room to wait for Elena. The idea of Oscar prowling around her property at night tightened my fists, causing my nails to dig into my palms. Jack wasn’t to blame at all. I should have been there. I should have been the one to come to her rescue and handle things.

  The truth relaxed my fingers. No matter how much I wanted to protect Elena, she needed to know that Oscar was still around. She could handle the truth, as she had shown today. But God, if I could have kept her from the facts and saved her mental anguish, I would have moved the entire state of New York to do it.

  Within the hour, my phone lit up with a call from Elena. I knew what the call meant so I didn’t bother answering. Instead, I tapped the button to open the front gate. I took the few feet from the living room to the front door at a jog and exited just in time to see her blue Toyota pull over to the side of the driveway.

  “Is this okay?” Elena asked as she turned off the ignition and stepped out. “I wasn’t sure...”

  I kissed her before she could finish, knowing our height and the roof of the car would hide us from Bree’s view. “You’re perfect. Oh, you mean the car!” I exclaimed, glancing at the vehicle meaningfully. “Yeah, the car is fine.”

  “You’re impossible.” Chuckling, Elena went to the other side to extract Bree from a mess of toys she had somehow managed to drag out during the short drive.

  “I got the guest room ready for you,” I called after her. Elena had been to the Eagle’s Perch a couple of times by now, of course. But usually, if we wanted to chill and watch a movie or something, we did it at her already childproofed house where she could keep an eye on Bree. Payton – who I had also met – insisted that she never minded watching Bree, but I knew that Elena didn’t like pushing her daughter off on her friend every weekend.

  Elena. Thoughtful Elena. She never wanted to be a burden and continuously reminded me of that. But she didn’t realize all I wanted was to make her happy anyway I could.

  “Thanks. Can you grab a bag out of the trunk?”

  I did one – actually, two – better and grabbed two bags, then led the way inside. Bree stared around with big eyes, and I realized that we would have to keep a close watch on her in this massive house filled with fragile and dangerous things. Tomorrow, I would run to the store and grab a few baby gates so we would have less square footage to worry about at least.

  A fond smile tweaked my lips as I watched Elena stride purposefully around the guest room, setting up their things. No doubt, Elena would protest. Buying a couple of baby gates for such a short time would be a waste of money to her. I would convince her we could use them in Manhattan, too. It had been many years since a child had roamed around inside the penthouse.

  After Elena convinced Bree to settle down, and put her to bed, we stepped outside onto one of the decks near the guest room to visit. But Elena left the door to the house cracked in case someone decided to go on an unauthorized nighttime adventure. Keeping our voices low, we talked about Oscar, Manhattan, what our time together there would be like, how Bree woul
d adjust, what to eat for breakfast tomorrow…anything that happened to come up. We talked late into the night, only going to bed when we suddenly realized that we might see the sun come up over the ocean if we waited much longer.

  I paused outside the room with Elena, suddenly realizing that this was where I would have to leave her for the night. Unless…

  Elena smiled at me and gave me a kiss that told me she knew exactly what I was thinking. “I’d like to sleep with you, but I don’t want to leave Bree alone tonight. She’ll come get me if she wakes up and needs me, but she wouldn’t know what room I’m in. Maybe tomorrow night…okay?”

  “Of course.” Elena let me kiss her, then disappeared into the guest room.

  The next day was Sunday, and we enjoyed a quiet morning together. In the early afternoon, Elena took Bree for a playdate with Payton and Michael so they could visit and get Payton up to speed before we left for Manhattan. Their visit gave me time to do two or three chores here in the Hamptons. Since Elena would be staying at my penthouse, I would be only returning to the Hamptons occasionally to check on her home.

  Then, after we had a nice, home-cooked dinner, we piled into my car and drove to the airstrip to fly to New York City.

  “This is Bree’s first time on a plane,” Elena explained, attempting to disentangle fistfuls of her shirt from Bree’s tiny, clinging hands while the child stared dubiously at the aircraft.

  “Oh, really?” I had flown so many times that the idea anyone hadn’t been on an airplane felt foreign. “Let’s make sure she enjoys it, then. The pilot keeps ice cream bars on the plane. Klondikes are his favorite.”

  “Yum, they are Bree’s favorite too,” Elena giggled.

  Bree might not have known what to make of the big, vibrating metal monster with wings, but she understood what Klondike Bars were. So, only a little coaxing convinced her to climb the steps with us both waiting anxiously behind to catch her should she suddenly decide to bail. Once she was aboard and sitting in a comfortable chair, messily gnawing away at an ice cream bar, we could relax and enjoy the flight ourselves.