Her Surprise Protector

by J. P. Comeau

  Every once in a while, I heard cars motoring down the road past the end of the driveway. That wasn’t too unusual, but almost all traffic stopped around one AM, and that was what made the car I heard in the distance at one-thirty an oddity. I listened to it, thinking about how good a pillow would feel against my head right now, and the trip back to the city I still had ahead of me. Throwing in the towel seemed like the only option.

  I waited for the car to whoosh closer. Then the sound would fall off into the distance. The car did approach, but no sound of displaced air followed in the expected pattern.

  My eyes snapped to my phone screen, and my heart shifted to a steady, cold beat. The camera near the mailbox showed a car parked barely in view, and I was able to watch the driver-side door open and close.

  Finally. I couldn’t give in to relief yet, though. I had to catch and arrest Oscar for trespassing, first. To do that, I had to patiently wait until he entered the house. Or if he tried to break out a window, I would arrest him for breaking, and entering. My phone lit up. “Boss, you’ve got company.”

  “Yep… Give me a few minutes.”

  “10-4”

  Gray and shadowy, Oscar crept down the driveway, and I crept down the hallway. Unbeknownst to him, we drew closer to each other, both filled with purpose.

  The faint sound of footfalls grew closer, and I knew it was nearly time to execute my plan. Either Oscar would walk through the unlocked door, or he would leave. I couldn’t risk peeking around the corner of the hallway, but I could listen. Oscar turned the knob of the screen door first – I heard the squeak as it swung open.

  Quiet footfalls announced an unauthorized entry as Oscar crossed the threshold and entered the house. They paused waiting when the door jamb creaked, but the lack of response from within the quiet house imbued them with the courage to continue. I knew where those feet would go. They would take the corner of the hallway and head toward the end – to Elena’s room. In other words, straight to me.

  Every second brought the footfalls closer, and each step shot a thrill of energy through my body. I pressed my back against the hallway wall, ready, silent and waiting.

  A shadow stepped around the corner. I couldn’t make out all the features of his face, but that didn’t matter. He was a male of average height. And the silhouette matched the picture of Oscar, Elena had shown me. It was all I needed for the all-out tackle I used to bring him to the ground.

  He let out a surprised shout and immediately began to struggle for all he was worth. Luckily, scum like him was worth very little, and I outmatched him in every way. I had his arm twisted in a brutal lock before he could even try to rise, and a gasp of pain replaced the threats he had been spewing.

  I had to resist the urge to move my hold on his arm to his neck, where I could do a lot more damage and really show him what I thought. Instead, I settled for giving his arm one last malicious twist, then reached for my handcuffs. Oscar decided that since my grip loosened, that meant I wasn’t paying attention, and I was forced… Okay, who was I kidding, I thoroughly enjoyed the headlock I put him in so he would stay still. “I’m supposed to be here!” he spluttered now that I wasn’t twisting his arm or resting the full force of my body weight on his back, trying fruitlessly to break out of the headlock with his arms cuffed behind his back. “Elena, she’s a friend of mine, I know her-”

  “Oh… So, why were you sneaking in to see her in the middle of the night? Shut your mouth before I do it for you.” Holding Oscar’s arm, I fished my phone out of my pocket. “Hey, Jack? Got him. Bring the van around and call law enforcement. Tell them we’re on the way.”

  I had to grin. I could see Oscar’s eyes glaring at me in the dim light filtering in through the bedroom window. This creep should make me incredibly angry, but all I felt was relief that this was all over, and I could go home to Elena and give her the good news.

  Jack came with the van. I shoved Oscar into the back seat, hopped inside after locking up the house, and rode with them both to the police station. Based on my company’s reputation, the digital evidence from the cameras, the threatening note in Oscar’s pocket, and Elena’s previous complaints, Oscar was arrested right away.

  From here, court dates would be all we had left to deal with. Somehow, I doubted Elena would mind going to them, though.

  “Good work,” I told Jack good-naturedly once he had dropped me off at the mansion. “Go home, get some sleep, and I’ll keep you in the loop if you’re needed for anything else on this one.”

  Jack was very willing to catch up on his rest, and I was too. I would give myself the day off tomorrow, sleep here tonight and fly back to New York City first thing tomorrow morning. I couldn’t wait to see the look on Elena’s face when I told her the news.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Elena

  “You did it!” Those three words were all I could think of to say when Riker descended the steps of his private jet onto the runway in Manhattan. “You did it,” I repeated, laughing after I had thrown the arm not busy holding Bree around his neck and stood on tiptoe to give him a bear hug.

  “Of course, I did. Did you actually believe I wouldn’t?” Riker asked, retrieving the luggage he had dropped in the course of my near attack.

  “I never doubted you would,” I said, only somewhat fudging the truth. I had half-feared that Oscar would never return and give Riker a chance to end this. But, given that chance, I had never doubted Riker’s ability to take him down. “He’s really gone?”

  “Yep, he’s really gone,” Riker promised. “You’ll have to testify in court, but we got digital proof he was trespassing. And we found one of those threatening notes he’s been leaving you in his pocket. No, I won’t tell you what it said. It’s time to leave that in the past, Elena. Oscar is going to prison, and we’re going to file a restraining order against him. So, when he’s released from jail, he’ll never come near you and Bree ever again. Ever!”

  “That’s such a relief,” I admitted, my voice muffled against Riker’s broad, comforting shoulder. “I’ve just- I’ve been wondering how to deal with Oscar for a long time. Years.”

  “Not anymore.” Riker kissed the top of my head. “Let’s go to the apartment, have some lunch, and then I’ll help you pack. You’re going home, Elena.”

  Going home. Those words were the sweetest I had heard in my life.

  Bree looked on with her usual innocent, wide-eyed expression. She didn’t get what had happened, not yet. She would when we went back to Montauk, and she started seeing her daycare friends and Michael again. Home was the place where you belonged, and to us, that meant Montauk.

  Riker felt it too. I knew that. It hadn’t escaped me that he hadn’t said, “Let’s go home and pack.” Riker loved the Hamptons. The Eagle’s Perch was his home, not his penthouse in Manhattan. If his work wasn’t here, well…I had the feeling he would turn his back on the city and never return.

  Riker had stepped away to help his pilot load his bags into the trunk of the car, leaving me to experience all these realizations. I wasn’t done; one more thing pushed its way into my head. Putting Oscar away wasn’t just good news for me. Riker, too, had been kept in Manhattan, staying with me and comforting me whenever I felt down or hopeless. He must have missed the Hamptons as much as I did.

  So, when he came back, I kissed him again. He returned it, of course, and I couldn’t help but touch a finger to the little confused smile on his lips. “What was that for?” He asked.

  “Thank you. I so appreciate everything you have done for us.” I hoped Riker felt all the ways I meant those words.

  Riker pulled me down to my knees so we could have a group hug with Bree. “You’re welcome,” he said with sparkling eyes, “but I didn’t have a choice. I love you and Bree, and I’d do anything for you, anything.”

  Gazing across the top of Bree’s sandy, curly hair and into Riker’s eyes, I knew it was true, and my heart swelled so much that the only reason I didn’t suffocate was that we all had so much t
o do.

  A short car ride later, and we could get started. The three of us began packing right away, Bree even doing her part of picking up her toys. She could sense that something was up, and she held her concentration for all the stuffed animals and two of the dolls before she forgot and started playing. I helped her with the rest, finished my own packing, and then, well…then we left. Just like that, after over a month of living here together, all three of us rushed out of the penthouse door without looking back.

  A tiny twinge of nervousness took my stomach and tightened it, taking the insides and squeezing them together without telling me why. Oscar’s gone, I reminded myself, trying to rediscover that triumph I had felt when Riker gave me the news. Everything is fine now.

  But everything didn’t feel fine. Something in my gut wriggled and squirmed, waving its arms around to get my attention.

  “Are you okay?” Riker asked after he had buckled Bree into her seat on the plane while I stowed her bag away under the seat.

  I wished he wouldn’t do that. Riker had some sort of Elena-sense that told him something was off about me before I even knew how to put a name to my feelings, which meant I didn’t really have an honest answer to that question yet. “Yeah.” I smiled, trying to make the word feel true. “It’s just so sudden, you know? But a good sudden.”

  “I know exactly what you need.” The plane revved and began rolling forward to line up for takeoff, but Riker stood up from his seat and walked over to the in-house…in-jet? Bar.

  “I can wait until we land to drink,” I protested, fairly sure that even though Riker owned this jet, he wasn’t supposed to be walking around during takeoff.

  “Aw, really?” Riker managed to look both pouty and mischievous as he poured two glasses of red wine to spite my words. “I guess Bree will have to drink this with me.”

  “Just give me the glass.” I lightly slapped his arm after I took it. “Now, sit down, please.”

  He did, after reaching for Bree’s bag, handing her the doll she was holding the very first time they had met and helping her open a juice box. I stared at Riker unabashedly, eyeing him with contemplation, interest, and love until he noticed and gave me one of the smiles he reserved only for me. “What?”

  “It’s just…” I stopped, realizing that wasn’t how I meant to start. “Remember when we first met? And when we second met?”

  Riker shook his head at the term second met, but answered positively with his voice. “I couldn’t possibly forget those times. I nearly made the biggest mistake of my life.”

  “But you didn’t, and I love you,” I hastened to assure him, knowing I would do anything to keep those brown eyes from turning remorseful. “It’s just…you’re so thoughtful. And caring. And sometimes it still surprises me.”

  “Probably because I’m not this way with everyone. Just the people I really care about, and that list is pretty short since my parents passed away.”

  I was so used to Riker’s teasing that I never really knew how to take his serious side. I would learn that in time, though, and I had already learned a lot in the month we had lived together. I never wanted to stop learning about Riker, and I knew one thing that I’d like to start with, if he’d let me. “Riker, will you let me read your poetry? Please?”

  He twisted one of his fingers in his other hand, rubbing at the callous on his palm. “I…maybe. Ask me again tonight after a couple more glasses of wine.”

  “Will do.” Wine helped me write poetry, so maybe it would help him read it. I dropped the subject for now, though, determining to remember his promise.

  By car, the drive from Manhattan to Riker’s mansion on Cooper’s Beach was about two-and-a-half to three hours, depending on traffic. I could understand why he had invested in a private jet, because the aircraft got us there in minutes. Despite the initial cost of the jet and the continued cost of fuel and the pilot, if Riker made the trip every weekend, this was definitely the better solution…since he could afford it.

  The airstrip where Riker’s jet always landed was closer to his home than mine. So, we made a quick stop there to drop off Riker’s things, then continued to my house. I sat in his Mercedes, craning my neck as we wove around the familiar streets, waiting for my home to come into view.

  The angled, protruding corner of the roof appeared around the side of a familiar tall dune and stand of bushes, followed by light blue clapboard siding, large windows, and a neat screen door nestled into a grassy yard amidst the surrounding dunes. I knew all these features so well because they belonged to me, and just seeing them from down the road was enough to let me finally sit back in my seat and relax.

  “Home sweet home,” I couldn’t help but murmur as I pulled my car up to the house just the way I liked it and put it in park.

  The words were a mistake. My sense of ease and comfort disappeared, and that same hollow, indeterminate feeling from earlier reemerged. A part of me shied away from my own home, and I still didn’t know why. Was it a lingering fear of Oscar? No, no way. I trusted Riker, and if he said Oscar was gone, then Oscar was gone.

  I didn’t have time to think about it because I had to get Bree and all my belongings out of the car and into the house. Bree didn’t want her juice box, or any of her toys for that matter. She was too keyed up by the flight and our sudden return home. My daughter reminded me of a puppy who hadn’t been home in a while. Her cute curiosity made me smile as I watched her trying to ensure that everything was still as she remembered. I needed to unpack, though, and Bree was in full-on exploration mode, which could take her anywhere and get her into all sorts of trouble.

  Riker being Riker, he sensed my dilemma immediately. “I got this,” he promised. “Go ahead and unpack.”

  Taking my time to put each article of clothing, personal products, and miscellaneous objects away helped clear my mind and gave me a feeling of satisfaction that my home was back in order. If I had just set down my bags and said, “I’ll deal with these later,” unpacking would have been on my mind while I tried to relax and spend time with Riker.

  When I had finished putting everything away, I headed out of the sanctuary of my room into the slight chaos that was the living room. Bree had apparently decided that because Riker was following her around, he wanted to play a game of chase. Giggling wildly and breathlessly, she ran in her uncoordinated way around and around the couch, saying over and over, “Catch me if you can!”

  I stopped in the hall for a moment to watch the game. As any good adult should, Riker never caught Bree except after she had spent a minute or two evading him, letting her have her fun and feel accomplished. When he did catch her, he lifted her high, his strong arms soaring her around like an airplane while she laughed and kicked her tiny legs in excitement.

  He’s…he’s a great dad, I realized suddenly, my heart barely able to handle the adorable moment. Throughout the entire month, we had just spent together, Riker had been perfect with Bree. I could hardly believe he hadn’t had a child himself or spent time around kids at all, but I knew he would never lie to me.

  To some, it might have seemed strange, but I liked to go into the kitchen and cook something when I got back from a trip. Besides, it would be dinner time soon. “Do you have to go back to Manhattan tonight?” I asked, already knowing the answer. It was Monday, which meant tomorrow was a workday.

  “Nope. I took a couple of days off, and I’m working remotely on Wednesday and nearby in the Hamptons on Thursday. I wanted to take some time and help you both get settled in.” Riker held Bree away from him with a wry face when she took a fistful of his hair and tugged a bit too hard. “I’m wondering if I should rethink that decision, though.”

  Bree and I giggled in unison. “Okay. I’ll make dinner then, and you can stay over if you want. Does chicken and shrimp stir fry sound good? I don’t have anything fresh, I’m afraid.”

  “That sounds great. Bree and I will just wait patiently.” Bree immediately ran off down the hall toward her room, and Riker jogged after her. />
  Chuckling to myself, I started some music on the speaker in the kitchen, swaying along to the relaxing tunes while I cooked. Soon enough, dinner was done, and I dished out three servings of stir fry, one much smaller than the others and filled with meat and veggies, sliced in little pieces for Bree.

  “Dinner!” I called. A scuffling sound and a thud came from the hallway, and I glanced that way concerned. But Riker came around the corner with Bree balanced on his shoulders.

  “Her shoe fell off,” he explained, tickling the little foot until Bree shrieked with laughter.

  Dinner vanished quickly into our hungry tummies, then Riker helped me clean up. The food gave Bree another brief high of energy, but I could tell she was running on fumes. Today had been a long day, and even the most energetic kids couldn’t go forever.

  When Bree nearly nodded off over her big cardboard block set, Riker plucked her up and took her to bed. We tucked her in together, shut the door quietly, then went back to the living room to continue what we had started on the jet. We always kept a large selection of wines here. Riker and I had stocked up before we left for Manhattan with some of our personal and shared favorites.

  “Okay.” I leaned forward, glass in hand. “Tell me everything. What happened with Oscar?”

  “It was pretty funny, actually. So, what I did was…”

  I listened as Riker walked me through the setup, the wait and the final, action-filled moment when he had pounced on an unsuspecting Oscar as he had walked around the corner of the hallway. “I got him in a headlock immediately. Like I said, no contest…he was staggering around like a drunk idiot.”

  “Where did that happen?”

  “Right here,” Riker said, standing up to illustrate exactly where on the floor the takedown had occurred. “He tried to get away when I went for the handcuffs, so a headlock seemed like the best option.”

  “Well, thank you for showing so much restraint,” I said, still laughing. “I’m sure it must have been difficult.”