Christmas Guardian

by Delores Fossen

  “Kinley Ford,” Strahan greeted. He stopped right next to the police cruiser and didn’t even glance at the chaos in the aftermath of the explosion. He kept his attention fastened to Kinley. “I’ve been looking for you for a long time. You’re a hard person to find.”

  “I could say the same about you,” Jordan countered. The sirens grew louder, and Jordan knew it was only a matter of seconds before the fire department arrived. “Are you responsible for the explosion?”

  “Me? Of course not.”

  Jordan studied his expression but couldn’t tell if the man was lying. “Then why are you here?”

  “Bad timing on my part. I stepped from my car, and boom! I take it no one was hurt?”

  “No one,” Jordan assured him. The fire engine and a bomb squad van pulled to a stop in front of the house, and the men began to hurry toward the point of origin.

  Now Strahan’s ice-blue eyes turned toward Jordan. “I understand you’re searching through my background. No need. I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”

  Right. Everything that wouldn’t land him in a jail cell. “I’d be very interested in having a conversation with you.”

  “Yes, I’ll bet you would.” Strahan turned back to Kinley. “And how about you? Are you finally ready to talk to me?”

  “I’ll talk to you,” Kinley said, stepping out from behind Jordan. “But I know nothing about the missing research information.”

  “Maybe. Sometimes people know more than they think they know.” And with that cryptic response, he turned and walked toward one of the uniformed officers. “Jordan Taylor believes I had something to do with this. How soon can you exclude me as a suspect?”

  The officer looked at Strahan as if he’d just sprouted a third eye. Then the cop looked at Jordan, obviously waiting for an explanation.

  “I want him questioned,” Jordan finally said.

  “All right.” The officer glanced around and motioned for another uniform to join them. “I’ll have him taken down to headquarters.”

  Strahan started to walk away with the officer but then turned to face Jordan and Kinley. “I’ll call you and set up a meeting. It’d be in all of our best interests if that meeting were to happen today.”

  Jordan wasn’t so sure of that. He needed to get things under control here at the estate before he dove into new waters with the likes of Strahan. However, the man might be able to give them answers to put an end to all of this.

  “You two need to move farther from the house,” one of the firemen shouted to Jordan. “Just in case there’s a secondary explosion.”

  Jordan heard the change in Kinley’s breathing and knew she was thinking of Gus. He caught on to her arm and headed not for the cruiser but the guesthouse just inside the high wrought-iron fence that ran the entire perimeter of the backyard. He needed to find a private place where he could monitor security and make sure no one tried to get into the nursery area.

  “We’ll be in the guesthouse,” he told the fireman, and Jordan headed there before anyone could object.

  Later, of course, Kinley and he would have to give statements, but that could wait.

  “We need to check on Gus,” she whispered.

  Jordan intended to do that ASAP. They hurried through the side gate and to the guesthouse. It had a keyless entry, and he punched in the code so they could enter the three-room cottage. He shut the door, locked it and immediately put another code into his PDA so he could rearm the estate’s internal security system.

  If someone went into the house, he’d know about it.

  Then he clicked the screen to surveillance so he could take a look at the nursery. He turned the screen toward Kinley so that she could see Gus calmly watching a DVD with cartoon characters.

  “Pamela and Elsa will guard Gus with their lives,” Jordan reminded her.

  She nodded and dropped back so that she was leaning against the door. She was pale. Shaking. And her breath was gusting to the point she was close to hyperventilation.

  “I did this,” Kinley said. “I brought this danger to Gus.”

  “No.” Jordan couldn’t believe he was on her side. But he was. “This has been brewing for a long time, and the only way it can end is for the person to be caught.”

  Jordan could see that now. He couldn’t build a shelter strong enough or hire enough bodyguard-nannies to protect Gus. If they ever hoped to have a normal life, the danger had to stop.

  Kinley shook her head. “If I leave—”

  “It won’t do any good. Burke and Strahan have both already connected you to me. That means they’ve connected us to Gus.”

  Tears sprang to her eyes. “God, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  Jordan hadn’t intended to touch her, but he couldn’t just stand there while she fell apart. He pulled her into his arms, and she relaxed as if she belonged there. Not exactly a comforting thought.

  “Once we get the all clear,” he explained, “I’ll add more security measures, and if Strahan doesn’t call back, I’ll phone him to set up a meeting.”

  “What about Burke?”

  Yeah. Burke had been on his mind, too. “Burke’s a problem. Maybe Cody and Desmond as well.”

  She pulled back, blinked back more tears. “You think Cody or Desmond could be behind this?”

  “I can’t automatically rule them out. Both were upset that I sold Sentron.” But he didn’t want to believe his former employees would turn against him.

  Of course, there was the issue of money. In addition to the substantial reward being offered by the insurance company, there was a lot of cash to be made if that antidote research resurfaced. Maybe this wasn’t personal. But even then, Jordan couldn’t quite wrap his mind around such a betrayal.

  Since Kinley was staring at him and still looking very fragile, he showed her the image of Gus again. “See? He’s fine, really.”

  “Why aren’t you mad at me?” she asked. “You warned me this could happen. You told me I should have stayed away.”

  Yeah. He had. But if their situations had been reversed, he would have done the same thing. Nothing could have kept him from seeing Gus.

  “We’ll get through this,” he promised, though he wasn’t sure exactly how he could make that happen. He only knew that he had to. No case had ever been this important.

  “You love Gus,” she said, with those tears still shimmering in her eyes.

  This was almost as uncomfortable a topic as the attraction between Kinley and him. “I don’t talk about my feelings a lot,” he answered. Which was an understatement.

  “I understand.”

  He made a sound that could have meant anything and checked the PDA screen to make sure Gus was still okay. He was.

  “I saw the newspaper articles when I was trying to figure out if you might have Gus,” she added.

  Then, she knew that his entire family—his parents, his brother and his sister—had all been kidnapped and then murdered.

  “When you were eight years old, your father was an archeologist in the Middle East working on a sanctioned dig,” Kinley continued. “All of you were taken hostage. Only you escaped.”

  “I didn’t escape,” he corrected. “The kidnappers released me so I could deliver a message to the American embassy that my family would be killed if other political prisoners were not released. Negotiations failed. My family died. End of story.”

  But not the end of the emotional baggage it’d created. He’d always have that particular dark passenger lurking in his memory.

  She reached up and smoothed the worry lines on his bunched-up forehead. Until she did that, he had not even been aware of his tense expression. She came up on her toes and touched her lips lightly to his. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to dredge up old memories.”

  She didn’t have to dredge. They were always there. They drove him. They’d made him successful. Because no matter what he did in life, he’d always be trying to save them. An impossible task, and one that had gnawed away at him.

/>   Until Gus came into his life.

  Yeah. He loved the little boy. And that scared the hell out of him. Because the last time he’d loved someone, he hadn’t been able to save them. They’d all died.

  She took his hand, moved them closer to the screen and smiled when she saw Gus. “You’ve done an amazing job with him. He’s happy, very well adjusted.”

  Kinley brushed her mouth over his again. No doubt a gesture meant to comfort, but his emotions were right there, right at the surface, and he didn’t play fair the way she was doing.

  He kissed her.

  Why, he didn’t know.

  Yes, he did.

  He always wanted to kiss her, and this was an excuse to do it. The sky-high levels of adrenaline. The fear. The strange union they’d been forced to form because of a child. All of that seemed like logical reasons even if they weren’t.

  The taste of her soothed him. It seemed to trickle through him, as if she’d touched him with those delicate fingers. And then she did touch him. She wound her hands around him and slid her fingers into his hair.

  Everything stayed simple. Easy. Just a kiss. But just as quickly, it changed. Jordan moved closer the same moment she moved toward him.

  Their bodies met.

  And the fire blazed.

  Oh, man. This was such a bad idea, but he didn’t stop. In fact, he made things worse by sliding his left hand down her side and to the curve of her hip. Jordan gripped on to her and dragged her closer until his erection was right against a part of her that he wanted more of.

  Kinley moaned. It was silky and rich. And she moved, too. Her sex against his caused a multitude of sensations. All good ones. Except for the dirty thoughts he had about what he wanted to do to her.

  A groan rumbled deep within his chest.

  “We can’t do this now,” Kinley mumbled against his mouth.

  That made him curse. Because she was right. And because she’d added now. That left the door open for sex at a later time.

  Jordan forced himself to pull back, and he met her gaze. He considered a lecture—meant more as a reminder for him than her—to reiterate that they shouldn’t get involved. But he’d be wasting his breath. Sex would happen. It was inevitable. Now he just had to figure out how to handle the fallout.

  The knock at the door caused Kinley to jump, and Jordan moved her to the side and got his weapon ready. However, he soon discovered their visitor was one of the men who’d arrived with the bomb squad.

  “Sgt. Hernandez,” the man said, identifying himself. “We’ve made a check of the house exterior, and we found the fragments of the detonator. It set off an I.E.D., an improvised explosive device. It was meant to do some damage, and if anyone had been walking near it at the time of detonation, they would have been seriously hurt or worse. You guys were real lucky.”

  Jordan had to take a deep breath. Now the question was, had the I.E.D. been left for Burke, or had Burke been the one to leave it?

  “We need to know who’d do something like this,” the sergeant continued.

  “Yes. We want to cooperate, but is it possible to take our statements here at the estate?”

  The sergeant stared at them. “Most people want to get away from something like this.”

  “I understand, but Ms. Ford is shaken up. It’d be easier on both of us if we could stay here.”

  And that way he’d be close to Gus.

  “Okay.” The sergeant nodded. “I’ll send someone in to take your statements. Stay put, though, until we’ve finished cleaning up those bomb fragments.”

  “Will do.” Jordan said goodbye, closed the door and relocked it. He looked at Kinley. “We’ll have to tell them the truth about everything but Gus.”

  She didn’t get a chance to concur because his cell phone rang. It was a call he’d been expecting from his friend, Agent Cal Rico. “Cal,” Jordan answered, “please tell me you can help.”

  “Absolutely. I can have security measures in place within the next two hours. I can make your estate a fortress.”

  “Good. Because we’re going to need it. One more thing. I need to arrange a meeting, and it can’t be at the estate. I want to have it at my training warehouse. You know the location?”

  “The one off Bulverde Road.” He didn’t wait for Jordan to confirm it. “Why there?”

  “Because I can control the security while you keep a watch on things here at the house.”

  “But if you’re going to be at the training facility, then why have me at the estate?”

  For the biggest reason of all: Gus. “I’ll explain that when you get here. Thanks, Cal.”

  Jordan ended the call. That was phase one. For phase two, he took out Strahan’s number that Cody had given him, and he sent a secure text message to both Strahan and Burke.

  Meet me at the training facility. Seven o’clock tonight. Come alone.

  Kinley’s eyes widened when she saw the message. “You think that’s a safe thing to do?”

  “No.” It was far from safe. But one way or another, Jordan was going to get answers.

  Chapter Nine

  Kinley stared at the building in front of them.

  The training facility was indeed a warehouse. A huge one with a dark gray metal exterior that looked exactly like the dozen or so other warehouses that surrounded it. This was not the part of the city that tourists normally saw. It was isolated and downright spooky with the winter mist in the air and lights streaming over the metal.

  While he drove into the parking area in front of the building, Jordan entered a code on his PDA, and large doors slid open so he could drive right inside. Another code closed the doors, and while Kinley approved of them not having to walk across the parking lot, the inside of the warehouse was nearly as creepy as the exterior.

  Even in the dim light, Kinley could see the center of the building was open from front to end. At least a five-hundred-foot stretch. But the sides were a different matter. Not exactly open space. There were ropes dangling from the ceiling, climbing webbing and what appeared to be bunkers and rooms painted in camouflage.

  “I used to train agents here,” Jordan explained.

  He grabbed two thick legal-size manila envelopes, stepped out, entered something else on that PDA and more lights flared on. She didn’t know what was in the envelopes, but Jordan had been working in his office for most of the afternoon while she spent time with Gus.

  Even with the lights, the place still seemed just as intimidating. The place loomed over and around her, and Kinley wondered if this had been the safest place to meet Burke and Strahan. While she was wondering, she hoped that Agent Cal Rico was as good as Jordan claimed because the man was essentially responsible for keeping Gus safe. However, if this meeting went well, if she could convince Burke and Strahan that she knew nothing about the missing research, then the danger could possibly end here tonight.

  And she’d have a safe Christmas with her son.

  Kinley got out of Jordan’s Porsche and walked toward where he was now standing. Her footsteps echoed on the concrete floor. “You said Agent Rico would call immediately if there was any sign of trouble back at the estate?” She already knew the answer, but Kinley needed one more reassurance that coming here wasn’t the biggest mistake of her life.

  “If there’s a problem, Cal will call us,” Jordan verified. “He has a daughter a little younger than Gus, and he knows what it’s like to have a child in danger. Don’t worry. He’ll protect Gus.”

  Oh, she’d still worry. Nothing would stop that.

  She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. She was wearing a jacket and wasn’t especially cold, but she still felt a chill inside her. “Does Burke own this place now?”

  “No. He has his own training facility. I decided to keep this for a while in case I ever started another agency.”

  She nodded, then checked her watch. It was still a half hour until the meeting was supposed to start. That seemed a lot of time to kill, especially since she was already antsy to get
started.

  And to get back to the estate.

  “Follow me,” Jordan instructed. He led her to the right side, through a set of rooms that looked like something from a movie set. They had doors, windows and even some furniture.

  There were bullet holes in the walls.

  “I had a tunnel built beneath the place,” he explained. “And there are all sorts of training tools. Rappelling gear. Rifles that shoot dummy bullets.”

  “There were real bullet holes in that wall back there,” she pointed out.

  He nodded. “Sometimes, we train with live ammo.”

  Good. She hoped his friend, Cal Rico, had as well. That way, if this turned into a worst-case scenario, he would know what to do.

  They walked to the midway point of the warehouse where he dropped the two manila envelopes on the floor.

  “Are you going to tell me what’s in those?” she asked. “The last time I brought them up, you dodged the question.”

  “They’re our freedom, I hope.”

  And with that cryptic response, he took her up a flight of stairs to a room that was half metal on the bottom and thick glass on top. “This is the observation deck and command center,” Jordan explained. “It’s bulletproof and has complete communication capabilities. I can control everything from here.”

  He pointed to the open space in the center below them. “That’s where Burke and Strahan will be.”

  Kinley felt the instant relief and knew then the reason he’d chosen this place. They couldn’t have this kind of safety at the estate. This way, Burke and Strahan wouldn’t be anywhere near her son, and Jordan and she would be tucked away in that observation area.

  “And the envelopes?” she reminded him.

  He sank down into one of the two chairs and clicked on some equipment mounted on a console that half circled the deck. “Among other things, I’m giving them copies of your encrypted notes.”

  Kinley’s mouth dropped open. “What?”

  “I’m hoping they’ll find something to lead them to the person who stole the research. Since I know that wasn’t you, it’ll get them off your trail.”