Guardian For Hire

by Christine Bell

  For Allison. I couldn’t have done this one without you. Brainstorming FTW.

  Chapter One

  Sarabeth Lucking stared at her monitor without blinking, utter disbelief keeping the horror temporarily at bay.

  Nico Stefanopoulis, alleged con man and principal player in the high-profile scandal that occurred at his couple’s retreat, The Healing Place, was found dead today in his Los Angeles penthouse apartment. LAPD has refused to comment on the cause of death, but the Times has learned that Stefanopoulis is not the only person involved in the notorious blackmailing scheme to have met with tragedy in recent weeks.

  Her fleece hoodie, damp with sweat from that morning’s run, chilled against her skin, and she suppressed a shiver. There was no need to scroll down and read further. She knew the rest. First Liza. Then Marcel. Now Nico. It didn’t take a PhD to see the pattern.

  Bracing her elbows on the desk in front of her, she buried her head in her hands. Tears pricked the back of her lids, but she blinked them back. She wouldn’t cry for that bastard. He’d ruined her life…all of their lives with his greed and dishonesty.

  And now he was dead.

  Salty droplets streaked down her cheeks and plunked onto the keyboard, skittering off the well-worn keys. Damn it, Nico.

  Her landline jangled, jarring her from her dark thoughts. When the story about the retreat broke a few months before, she’d had no choice but to change her personal number. Now, only four people had it, and she knew exactly which one of them was on the other end of the line. She slipped off her glasses and swiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt.

  “Hello?”

  “Are you okay?” Lindy demanded, concern coloring her usually peppy tone.

  “I’m fine. I guess you saw, then.”

  Lindy sighed. “Owen heard from Gavin last night, but I didn’t want to call and wake you. I figured it might be the last time you get to sleep in your own bed for a while.”

  The silence crackled over the line, but Sarabeth refused to fill it.

  “Sar?”

  She swallowed hard.

  A growl of frustration preceded Lindy’s voice blasting over the line. “Damn it, I’m not asking this time. If you don’t let us do this, I’m coming there, tossing you into a giant sack, and dragging you back here with me. You can’t stay in Chicago. It’s not an option anymore.” Her friend blew out an exasperated sigh and her tone gentled. “I know this is hard, but you’ve got to try to look at this from my point of view. You want to call Marcel a fluke? Fine. Liza an odd coincidence? Whatever. But there’s no denying it now. The former employees are being picked off one by one. This is happening, girlfriend, and ducking your head in the sand could get you killed.”

  The dull throbbing between her eyes radiated outward. “I wasn’t part of it. I didn’t do anything wrong. Maybe—”

  “Maybe?” Lindy’s tone had gone from exasperated to shrill. “You might be willing to risk your life on a maybe, but I’m not. I only have a handful of friends in this world, and one of them is an eighty-year-old woman, so I’m afraid I can’t spare you. Get your bottom in gear. We’re getting you out of harm’s way.”

  “I’ll think about it,” she mumbled.

  “Nope, no time for thinking. Throw a suit and some undies in your purse and—”

  “Lin, remember we’ve already agreed? I’m nothing like you.”

  Silence crackled over the line before her friend responded cautiously. “Sure.”

  “And that was good because?” Sarabeth prompted.

  “There needs to be one sane person between us. I know, but—”

  “No buts. I said I’ll think about it and I will. I’m not running off half-cocked with my underwear in my purse like some politician’s mistress after his wife comes home early from Tahoe.”

  There was another long pause before Lindy’s guilt-laden voice came over the line. “Umkay, but, uh…while you’re thinking about it, you may wanna start packing. Gavin’s going to be there soon.”

  She stifled a groan. Lindy and Owen’s friend Gavin McClintock was apparently some sort of security expert they’d been harping on her about since this whole mess had started. They wanted to hire him to protect her, but Sarabeth had flatly refused every time they’d brought it up. When Lindy got her mind set on something, though, she barreled ahead like a miniature steamroller. Sarabeth should’ve known this was coming.

  “When you say ‘going to be here’ you mean Chicago, or…?”

  “Like at your house. In an hour or so. Owen had him leave first thing this morning.”

  “Aw, Jesus, Lin.” Perfect. A new layer of manure added to her already majorly crappy month.

  “At least talk to him,” Lindy pleaded. “Listen to what he has to say. For me. Owen says he’s the best in the business, and if you let Gavin take care of you, I know everything will work out fine. I can feel it.”

  Time to concede the battle and look ahead to the war. She’d talk to the guy, but that was as far as it was going. “Fine. But don’t get your hopes up. This is a meet and greet only. I’m not going anywhere until I’ve had a chance to think things through.”

  “If something happened to you, I’d never forgive myself.”

  Lindy’s voice was filled with regret, and the anger drained out of Sarabeth in a whoosh. Lindy and Owen were responsible for cracking The Healing Place con. The year before, Owen’s sister had been bamboozled out of three quarters of a million dollars by Nico, but no charges had stuck. Owen had made it priority number one to prove that Nico was a high-stakes career con man and see him punished to the full extent of the law. When Nico had opened The Healing Place couples retreat, Owen had hired Lindy to act as his wife so they could go undercover and find out if the business was a front for another con. Unbeknownst to Sarabeth, who was the couple’s therapist on staff, it was. She and Lindy had met at the retreat and became fast friends. In spite of all the drama that followed, they’d managed to stay that way, and Sarabeth couldn’t imagine her life without Lindy now.

  “Don’t even go there. Just because you guys exposed Nico for the cheat he was doesn’t make you responsible for anything that followed. You did the right thing,” Sarabeth said.

  If only that were true for her, as well.

  She’d been so excited about the lucrative and possibly career-making opportunity Nico had presented, she hadn’t looked hard enough at the fine print. If she had, she would have known it was too good to be true.

  Lindy sighed heavily into the phone. “I know that in my head, but in my heart, I can’t help but feel like I’m partly to blame for you being in danger. Please. Keep an open mind. For me. Once you listen to what he has to say, I know you’ll see it my way.”

  She wasn’t sold, but agreed to hear the guy out. She and Lindy said their good-byes and she disconnected. There was nothing to do now but wait and see what this Gavin person proposed. She stared at the article on the screen for another long moment before x-ing out. Maybe things would be clearer after she glugged down her coffee and had a shower.

  The hot water and caffeine combination did clear her head some, and when she emerged, it was with renewed energy and resolve. Nico had already stolen too much from her. She’d lost the job she never should have taken in the first place, her professional credibility was in the outhouse, and her nights were long and nearly sleepless. No way was she leaving her home and her business—or what was left of it, at any rate—on top of it.

  She’d talked to Gavin McClintock on the phone once, after the second murder, and she hadn’t appreciated his know-it-all tone or overbearing attitude one bit. If the ex-military thug wanted to follow her around the city, maybe she’d consider it, but she wasn’t running away.

  That settled, she went about her u
sual morning routine, preparing to go into the office. These days that entailed little more than shuffling around paper and reading psychology journals, especially on a Saturday, but she needed that routine to anchor her now more than ever.

  She quickly donned a tailored pantsuit and coiled her hair into a knot on top of her head. Just as she slicked a layer of nude gloss over her lips, a knock sounded at the door. She peered at her watch with a frown. Twenty minutes early. She hadn’t even agreed to this yet, and the man was already disrupting her schedule.

  She crossed the room to the entryway and pasted a cool smile on her lips. He’d come a long way, five hours by car, as a favor to a friend. Good manners dictated that she not let him see her frustration. She opened the door with a polite, “Hello.”

  “Nice digs,” he said, crowding into the doorway.

  A blast of awareness sucked the breath from her lungs as a big body pressed against hers. She took a step back to give him some more room. He just seemed to take up so much of it. It was like a wall of muscle had planted itself square in the middle of her personal space. A tall one, to boot. She was no slouch at five nine, but he had her by a solid six inches even with her two-inch heels. She craned her neck to meet his annoyed gaze.

  “Mr. McClintock?”

  “That’s me.” Firm lips twisted into a semblance of a smile before flattening again. “Now can you tell me why you opened the door and let me in before asking that question?” His hazel eyes were flecked with gold and should have looked warm, but instead they were bleak, like a lone jack pine on a February day. His coal-black hair was nothing more than a suggestion, the crew cut style adding to the severity of his look. He arched his dark brows, clearly awaiting an answer.

  Hot anger ignited her vow to be cordial, burning it to a cinder in two seconds flat. She wasn’t about to allow this Neanderthal to intimidate her. “Lindy told me you were coming at this time. And unless The Rock is on hiatus from shooting his latest film, I didn’t it think it likely that another ludicrously gigantic man in a black leather jacket over a too-tight T-shirt was going to show up at my doorstep at eleven a.m. on a Saturday.” She scowled at him. “Honestly, who else would you be?”

  He glanced outside the door, left and right, and then closed it behind them, blocking out the unseasonable chill. “It’s not eleven yet. I’m early. And I could be a person coming to kill you. You know, like all those other people who worked at that resort with you before they embarked on their new careers pushing up daisies.”

  He didn’t come right out and say “Duh,” but his tone definitely implied it, and her cheeks warmed under his scrutiny. He was right. She’d only taken a quick glance out the peephole before swinging the door wide open.

  “Of course you’re correct,” she said stiffly, banking her anger. “I’ve never been in this position before so this is all new to me. I’ll be more careful next time.”

  “There won’t be a next time because you won’t be here.” He turned without waiting for a response and strode in the direction of the kitchen, seeming to take stock of his surroundings as he went.

  She scurried after him, nudging her glasses farther up on her nose. “Where are you going?”

  “Into the kitchen so we can talk,” he said as he approached the table. He picked up the chair and flipped it backward to straddle it. “Got any coffee made? I’ve been on the road since five and didn’t want to take the time to stop.”

  Because he’d promised Owen he would get there as quickly as possible to help her. Guilt pricked at her, and she grudgingly went to fill a mug. “I assume you take it black?” she asked, setting it in front of him.

  “Why would you assume that?” he asked with a mocking grin. “Cream if you got it, and three sugars.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. He probably only drank it that way to throw people off. As she bustled around the kitchen gathering the fixings, she recalled something Lindy had said about him. Supposedly he was originally from Scotland, but most of the brogue must have been forced out along the way. Barely a hint remained in the silky baritone. Probably not enough room for it with all that judgment, she thought with a sniff. She set the cream and sugar at his elbow along with a teaspoon.

  “Have a seat,” he said.

  She bristled at the tone but pulled out a chair and sat. No point in being pissy. She expected she’d have a fight on her hands soon when she told him she wasn’t going with him. No reason to expedite it.

  “You’re a smart lady, so I’m sure you’ve already put it together, but I’m going to confirm it for you because I get the feeling you don’t appreciate the seriousness of the situation. Three people from your former place of work have been killed, and if you’re not next, you’re pretty damn near it.”

  She winced but held his matter-of-fact gaze. “I wasn’t a part of the grift. I was a legitimate employee of a company I thought was committed to helping couples through a rough time, and I did that to the best of my ability. I was cleared of all charges and released. The people who’ve been killed were all either under investigation or had already been charged with a crime and were awaiting trial.”

  “So far,” he conceded with a curt nod. “But this could be the tip of the iceberg, and we can’t assume that anyone on the payroll is safe. I’ve been doing security for a long time now, both in the army and in the private sector. Trust me when I tell you this is a high-risk situation.”

  “Then why aren’t the police here offering me protection? Surely if they agreed with your assessment, I’d have been notified,” she asked, wrapping her arms around herself to ward off the sudden chill.

  “The victims weren’t living in the same states, and none of them died the same way. Marcel Renault, hit-and-run. Liza Ingram, aka Shirleen Dennis, death by drowning. They haven’t released this info yet, but my source tells me that Nico was shot in a staged burglary. The cops are only connecting the dots now. Whoever’s doing this has a long reach and vast resources.” A muscle leaped restlessly beneath his hair-stubbled cheekbone. “If you think a couple of nighttime patrolmen driving past your house is going to stop them, I would question whether or not you’ve spent your morning sniffing glue.”

  He was scaring her, but it only made her want to burrow even deeper into her cocoon. Now that law enforcement knew the deaths were connected, they would catch the perpetrator and it would be over in no time. Surely, if she kept her head down and kept a careful eye out, she’d be all right. She’d done nothing wrong, and she wasn’t about to run off like some sort of criminal. Not when she needed to be here to try to rebuild her business and reputation. Running would only make it look worse than it already did.

  She swallowed hard and shook her head. “Be that as it may, I’m not going.”

  …

  Gavin flexed his jaw and tried not to let his annoyance come through in his tone. What was that saying about flies and vinegar? He aimed for empathetic. “Listen, Sara. This—”

  “Beth,” she interjected primly. “My name is Sarabeth.”

  Only steadfast willpower drilled into him at Ranger School kept him from rolling his eyes at her. “Fine,” he conceded with a brisk nod, empathy drying up faster than a slug in the Sahara. “Sarabeth.”

  Her full lips were pinched into a determined line, and he nearly groaned. He’d known his share of stubborn women. Hell, he’d even bedded a few. This one took it to new heights. He owed Owen a favor, but begging this fool-headed lass to let him save her life was pushing it. She wanted to stay, no skin off his ass. He’d done his part by driving up and laying the facts out for her.

  “This can go one of two ways,” he continued, mind made up. “You can come with me, and do as I tell you. In exchange for your cooperation, I will ensure that you end the month without any more holes in you than the ones God gave you to start. Or you can stay here, and I can tell my old buddy Owen that you opted not to take him up on his generous offer. I’m not exaggerating when I say that nothing would make me happier.”

  Her green eye
s narrowed, and she shook her head. “It seems we’re in agreement about something, at least. I can think of little I’d want to do less than spend the foreseeable future in your company.” Her tone dripped acid as she shoved her chair away from the table and stood. “Now that we’ve settled that, I need to get to my office.”

  Dismissed. She’d been borderline polite about it, as her posh breeding clearly dictated, but it was an obvious dismissal nonetheless. He was officially off the hook. He was about to stand, but some nagging sense of responsibility made him press one last time. “You can’t go on as if nothing’s happening. You do realize that, yes? Can you go away for a while…leave town?”

  She shook her head. “Until I hear from the police, I’m staying put. The other deaths happened weeks apart. There’s no reason to believe that, on the off chance I’m viewed as guilty by association in this mess, anything would happen before the authorities have a chance to set up some protection for me if they feel it’s necessary.” She glanced pointedly at the slim gold watch on her wrist. “I’ve really got to go now. Shall I see you out?”

  He slapped his thighs and rolled to his feet. “That would be great.” He picked up the fussy miniature cup she’d set in front of him and drained the contents before setting it down. “And thanks for the coffee.”

  As she led him through the painfully neat Victorian house, he couldn’t help but watch her move. Even all buttoned-up, she had a real grace about her. The gentle sway of her trim hips held his reluctant gaze captive until she paused next to a table in the entryway. She collected the set of keys resting there and swung the front door open.

  “It’s chilly out today. You going to get a coat?” he asked without thinking. He wanted to bite his tongue off. What did he give a shit whether this woman wore a jacket or not? Maybe it was the ridiculous little glasses she wore perched on her nose like a prairie schoolmarm. Maybe it was the fact that, in spite of the bluster, her hands were trembling. Whatever was throwing his protective instincts into overdrive, he didn’t like it.

  “Of course,” she said curtly. “After I warm up my car and gather the rest of my things. It was a real pleasure, Mr. McClintock.” As she held out her right hand toward him for a shake and aimed her car remote at the Volvo parked in the driveway with her left, his skin crawled in an all-too-familiar way.

  Shit.

  “Don’t press tha—”

  He was a pretty smart guy and, rationally, he was well aware that light traveled faster than sound. But in that moment, it was all about the boom as the Volvo promptly exploded into a gigantic fireball. Working on pure instinct, he dove forward, tackling the doctor to the hardwood floor like a linebacker. Covering her body with his own, he braced himself for a second explosion or the biting rain of shrapnel. Ten seconds passed, and neither came.

  As he waited for the monotone buzzing in his ears to fade, he pushed his torso away from Sarabeth’s to do a cursory inspection. Her eyes had gone glassy with shock, which was to be expected, but he saw no blood or obvious signs of injury.

  He rolled off Sarabeth and onto his feet. She stared up at him, her mouth opening and closing wordlessly until he reached for her. “It’s okay. You’re going to be fine, but we’ve got to go. There’s no choice now, Doc.”

  She hesitated, but then nodded, still dazed. And when she slipped her elegant hand into his, he couldn’t shake the accompanying sensation of a hook sliding neatly into his gullet.

  Well, fuck all.

  Chapter Two

  Sarabeth stood on shaky legs and tried to focus on Gavin’s lips. He was saying something, but she couldn’t quite make it out…

  I’ll gut you.

  Well that couldn’t be right—he’d tackled her to the ground in an attempt to protect her.

  A-ca-choo.

  Clearly not. An absurd giggle built in her throat and spilled over. He didn’t look surprised at all by her bizarre reaction to almost getting blown up. In fact, he rubbed her back in slow, soothing circles while uttering the same words over and over again. Finally, the buzzing in her ears subsided, along with her laughter, and the words became clear.

  I’ve got you.

  “Th-thanks, I’m okay now,” she said through chattering teeth, and stepped back, wriggling from his all-too-comforting touch.

  His tone was low and urgent, piercing her mental fog. “I need you to focus, okay Doc? People are going to start coming outside and see what the fuss is. The cops will be here any minute, I imagine. We need to get gone before that happens. You with me?”

  She nodded. “I can’t. I’m not even packed. I need to…” As she turned toward the stairs, he stopped her with a hand on the shoulder.

  “No time. We’ll get everything you need on the road.”

  He looped an arm around her and navigated her over the glowing chunks of metal that used to be her car littering her front porch and walkway. Thankfully, he’d parked in the street, and she noted dimly that his car looked none the worse for wear. He opened the passenger door and helped her in right as she noticed sirens wailing in the distance.

  She slid in and buckled her belt, on autopilot. What in God’s name was she going to do now? She couldn’t possibly stay with this ginormous, intimidating stranger, but at the same time, someone was indeed out to kill her. And if Gavin hadn’t shown up?

  She could have wound up with a face full of twisted metal.

  A wave of nausea gripped her, and she leaned forward to rest her head on the dashboard. Gavin slid into the driver’s seat a moment later.

  “We’re good now. Don’t think about it. Just breathe.”

  He slid the key into the ignition and turned it. It wasn’t until it started with a grumble that she realized she’d been holding her breath. A moment later they were on the road, speeding toward the interstate. It would probably be a long time before she was able to get into a vehicle without fear. Yet another thing Nico had stolen from her.

 
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