The party soon lost interest in the bassist and his burning backside, conversation resumed and the DJ upped the music volume. A group of girls – super-fans who’d won a competition to meet their idol – approached Ash.
‘Can we have your autograph please?’ asked one of the girls, presenting their party invites for signing.
‘Sure,’ said Ash. ‘Do you have a pen?’
When the girl began searching in her bag, Charley produced her own pen from her back pocket – she’d come prepared this time. Ash autographed the invites with a flourish, then handed them back.
‘Yours too, Charley,’ insisted the girl with a hopeful smile.
‘Me?’ questioned Charley, blinking in surprise.
The girl nodded. ‘You’re a real inspiration. We all want to be Wild Cats like you!’
Taking the pen back from Ash, Charley signed her name next to his. Then the girls huddled close for a round of selfies with her.
‘Looks like you’re becoming a star yourself,’ Ash remarked as the girls trotted away, delighted with their collection of autographs and photos. ‘Before you become too famous, there’s something I need to say.’
Taking her hand, Ash led her to a gazebo in the far corner of the rooftop garden. With the guests clustered round the bar and pool, the gazebo was unoccupied and the surrounding potted plants gave them some privacy. He stopped by the rail, where the sun was setting pink-orange over the haze of LA.
‘I see you’re still wearing the bracelet,’ he said, the woven bands of white-gold gleaming on her wrist in the dying light.
‘Of course,’ she replied, feeling his arms wrap round her waist.
Ash gazed intently into her eyes. Once more it seemed only she mattered.
‘I wouldn’t have survived this tour without you,’ he said. ‘And, while I wouldn’t want to go through that hell again, I really don’t want this tour to end.’
‘Why?’ she asked, a little breathless.
‘Because it means you’ll no longer be with me. At my side.’
‘Surely that’ll be a relief?’ she said, trying to make light of their parting. ‘The fact you don’t need constant protection any more.’
Ash shook his head. ‘Charley, you’re my inspiration, my muse. I’ll be lost without you.’
He cupped the back of her neck in one hand and drew her close.
‘I told you I’d break your arm if you ever tried to kiss me again,’ she warned, but her tone was gentle and inviting.
Ash smiled. ‘Worth the risk.’
Charley felt her resistance crumbling. ‘I’m not one of your groupies,’ she said.
‘No, you’re my guardian angel.’
He leant in to kiss her and Charley knew she was about to break the cardinal rule of bodyguarding. Never get involved with your Principal.
The battle with her conscience didn’t last long.
She gave into him, her heart ruling her head. Their lips were no more than a breath apart when she heard a whirring sound like an angry mosquito. She pulled back from the kiss. Hovering in the air, only a few metres from them, was a drone with a camera attached.
‘For heaven’s sake!’ exclaimed Ash, glaring at the flying intrusion. ‘I can’t even escape the paparazzi fourteen floors up!’
Charley calmly picked up a stone from one of the potted plants, judged the distance and flung it at the drone. The stone struck it dead centre, cracking its casing, then rebounded and shattered one of its plastic propellers. The drone lurched sideways and plunged out of view.
Slipping her arms round Ash’s waist, Charley now drew him to her. ‘So where were we?’
‘I think about here,’ said Ash, pressing his lips against hers.
Closing her eyes, Charley lost herself in his exquisite kiss.
‘Ash?’ called Kay, her high heels clicking across the stone paving towards the pagoda. Charley quickly broke away from their embrace. ‘Ah, there you are! There’s someone I need you to meet.’
Ash squeezed Charley’s hand. ‘Wait here for me. I won’t be long,’ he whispered, then went off with his manager.
Leaning against the rail, Charley gazed out over the West Hollywood skyline, the city lights twinkling like stars. Realizing she’d crossed a romantic line with Ash, she felt overwhelmed by a kaleidoscope of emotions. Was there a chance of a real relationship or was that a farewell kiss? Could she remain his bodyguard and be his girlfriend too? Would she have to quit Buddyguard?
Whatever the answer, she had to face facts. Ash was a world-famous rock star with countless beautiful girls at his feet. She shouldn’t read too much into a single kiss, however intense.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out and glanced at the text – an Intruder alert.
The hotel corridor was deserted, with everyone on the roof for the party. Charley had spotted Ash and Kay talking with a famous film producer so decided not to disturb them. No one could access the penthouse floor without an authorized key card – so more than likely a security guard or a hotel employee had entered Ash’s suite, despite instructions not to service the room without advance notice.
Charley stood outside Ash’s suite. The door was closed and there were no signs of forced entry. The Intruder device was in place and undamaged. Taking out her spare key card, she slipped it into the lock and cautiously entered.
Subdued lighting illuminated the spacious lounge area with its deep leather sofa and private bar. The air conditioner hummed and the distant thrum of passing traffic drifted up through the open patio doors leading to the balcony. Outside dusk had settled and LA glowed like the embers of a dying fire.
On initial inspection the suite appeared unoccupied.
Her steps muted by the thick carpet, Charley crossed the empty lounge towards the bedroom. She peered inside. Nothing seemed to be disturbed. Ash’s suitcases were on the rack and his king-size bed untouched.
Then she noticed a light on in the en suite bathroom – and a twitch of a shadow.
With ninja-like stealth, Charley approached the door and eased it open.
Big T stood with his back to her, a black marker in his hand.
On the mirror, scrawled in disturbingly familiar handwriting, were the words:
YOUR GUARDIAN
ANGEL
WILL BE
YOUR ANGEL OF DEA
‘What the hell are you doing?’ exclaimed Charley, shocked and confused by what she was witnessing.
Big T spun round, the black marker now clenched in his fist like a knife. On seeing Charley, he lowered his guard. ‘I … just discovered this death threat,’ he explained.
‘But I saw you writing it.’
Big T’s weathered face hardened to stone. Then he gave her a sorrowful look. ‘I wish you hadn’t.’
He made a step towards her. Charley instinctively backed away. That’s when she spotted a red block, with a mobile phone taped and wired to it, perched on the basin’s vanity unit. She instantly recognized the putty-like block to be PBX.
‘What the hell, Big T!’ she cried, her eyes widening in alarm. ‘I thought you were Ash’s bodyguard!’
‘And I always will be.’
‘But that –’ she indicated the bomb – ‘looks like you’re trying to kill him.’
Big T responded with a single shake of his head. ‘I’m not one to kill the golden goose like Gonzo. My job is to protect Ash. In fact it’s the only job I know.’
As the veteran bodyguard moved steadily towards
her, Charley retreated through the bedroom into the lounge. ‘Then why the mirror threat and bomb?’
‘Because I must remain essential to Ash’s survival.’
‘What makes you think you aren’t?’
‘Kay Gibson.’ He scowled at the manager’s name. ‘Charley, I’ll let you into a secret. I sent the original hoax letter bomb.’
Charley almost stumbled over the sofa in shock at his confession.
‘That red she-devil wanted to fire me before the tour even started!’ he revealed, still advancing on her. ‘Thought I was too old for a bodyguard. But I proved I wasn’t by “saving” Ash’s life. It worked. My contract was renewed. She even gave me a pay rise!’ He laughed. ‘Then that Brandon began sending Ash real death threats. That’s when Kay decided to hire you.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘In fact she insulted me by hiring a teenage girl!’
‘But you’ve helped me, backed me up when things went wrong!’
Big T nodded, the smile on his lips both tender and regretful. ‘I like you, Charley. You impressed me from the start. I’ve seen many wannabe bodyguards come and go in my time. Until a person’s tested, you don’t know them. And very few have the right stuff. But you do.’
Charley found herself backed up against the bar. ‘Then why are you doing this?’
‘Because you’re too good. After defending Ash in Miami, then resuscitating him in Dallas, you started to eclipse me. And, when the student becomes greater than the teacher, the teacher must crush the student.’ The marker pen in Big T’s fist snapped in his furious grasp. ‘I tried to get shot of you! Give you a way out with the first threat on your mirror. If you’d told your colonel, you’d have been reassigned. But you kept quiet. That’s why I need you to be seen as a security risk to Ash – to fail in your duty while I’m the bodyguard that saves the day.’
‘But my assignment’s over. I’m no threat to you.’
‘Yes, you are,’ he contradicted, sorrow entering his old watery eyes. ‘Kay’s sacking me. You’re to be my replacement.’
Charley’s mouth fell open. ‘What?’
‘She spoke to your Colonel Black this very evening about extending your contract.’
Charley held up her hands. ‘Believe me, I had no idea about this.’
‘Well, you do now,’ growled Big T, closing in on her. ‘Tonight I was going to be the hero and discover the bomb. Change of plan, Charley – you’re going to discover the bomb.’
‘Me?’
Big T nodded, his expression grim. ‘Unfortunately, you’ll set it off “by accident” – a tragic end to a promising career. But at least you’ll have the consolation of dying in the line of duty.’
Charley bolted for the door. Big T lunged forward and seized her by the arm. ‘Sorry, Charley, can’t have you blabbing.’
‘Let me go!’ screamed Charley as he dragged her towards the bedroom.
‘Everyone thinks you and Ash are an item. So it won’t be suspicious if you’re found in his room,’ said Big T more to himself than her.
Unable to break his iron grip, Charley pulled out her phone and depressed the volume button. Intent on shocking the traitorous bodyguard senseless, she thrust the arcing metal studs into his large gut.
‘No, you don’t!’ said Big T, grabbing her wrist before she could make contact. ‘I saw what you did to Jessie.’
He slammed her hand against the edge of the bar, forcing her to drop the iStun. He kicked the phone under the sofa. Despite having both hands pinned, Charley booted him hard in the shins. His eyes flared with pain, but he didn’t let her go. With the practised brutality of a bouncer, he lassoed a muscled arm round her neck and trapped her in a crushing headlock.
‘Please don’t struggle!’ he said, his tone more imploring than angry. ‘You’ll only make it worse for yourself.’
Fighting for breath, her neck was crushed in his grip. Charley reached across to Big T’s hand, found his little finger and wrenched it backwards. There was a sharp snap and a pained grunt. But the pressure on her throat didn’t ease.
‘Nice try,’ he hissed through clenched teeth. ‘But I’ve broken too many bones in my lifetime to worry about a little finger.’
He began hauling her across the room like a giant with a doll. Charley clawed at his arm, but it was pointless. His muscles were as unyielding as steel.
‘Why did you have to find me?’ he muttered. ‘I had it all planned. No one was supposed to get hurt, especially not you. But you’ve forced me into this …’
Darkness began to seep into Charley’s vision. Then she remembered the kubotan pen in her pocket. Seizing it like an ice pick, she drove its reinforced point into a cluster of nerves in Big T’s forearm. The sudden unexpected jolt of concentrated pain ripped through him. Charley felt the headlock loosen and she stabbed the tip into his upper thigh. A second excruciating burst of pain caused Big T to crumple and he dropped Charley to the floor.
‘You really are a wild cat!’ he raged as he hobbled to the wall for support.
Gasping for air, Charley used the bar to pull herself up. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a flicker of movement and ducked. Big T’s legendary right hook whistled a hair’s breadth from her head. Knowing she wouldn’t survive one of those punches, Charley grabbed a glass bottle from the bar, spun round and smashed it on Big T’s bald head. Vodka and fragments of glass showered over him, but he barely flinched.
‘Now the gloves are off!’ he snarled, and brought a bottle hammering down towards her head. But her earlier strike had obviously had some impact for he wasn’t quite on target. The bottle caught Charley a glancing blow – enough to briefly stun and drop her, but not to knock her out. With her skull throbbing and her vision doubled, she collapsed beside the sofa.
‘Now stay down!’ Big T slurred, propping himself against the bar.
In her daze, Charley spotted the gleam of two metal studs beneath the sofa. Reaching out, her fingers found the edge of her phone. Desperately she tried to get a grip. Behind she heard a tinkle of glass and knew Big T was heading for her. He grasped the back of her top and pulled her away from the sofa.
With a hand clamped round her throat, Big T lifted her off the ground. Charley spluttered and gagged.
‘You were like a daughter to me,’ he said, looking at her with bloodshot eyes. ‘Believe me, I didn’t want it to end like this.’
‘Nor me!’ she gasped, thrusting the iStun into his chest. The points contacted straight over his heart.
Big T convulsed, choked and staggered back through the open patio door.
But one jolt wasn’t enough. The bodyguard was as strong as a grizzly bear. He still had her by the throat. Charley hit him again. Big T’s body went into spasm. He fell backwards and hit the balcony rail. It cracked under his weight. Losing his balance, Big T began to topple over the side.
He made no effort to save himself.
‘I’m so sorry, Charley,’ he gasped, regret in his eyes as he tumbled into the darkness.
But his muscles were still locked out by the iStun – and Charley was caught in his death grip. Screaming, she was dragged over with him.
‘The doctor tells me people who fall more than ten storeys rarely survive,’ said Colonel Black, standing stiff and awkward beside Charley’s bed in the intensive-care unit of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. ‘Big T died on impact, but his body broke your fall. You were extremely lucky.’
Charley stared down at herself, her eyes unfocused, yet seeing all too much.
Lucky
? she thought bitterly.
Her paralysed legs were sprawled on the bed, lifeless and bizarrely misshapen. She felt sick. They looked like a scarecrow’s in a horror movie, feet bent at unnatural angles. She couldn’t feel them. It was as if they weren’t her legs at all.
‘Mostly it’s positive news,’ the colonel went on, a leaden smile on his haggard face, but Charley was barely listening. ‘Your broken arm and cracked ribs will heal with no long-term effects. You haven’t got any pelvic injuries, which is a miracle – that can be problematic, even fatal. The only serious damage from the fall is to the base of your spine, but the doctors are doing more tests.’
Charley had little memory of the fall. She recalled the bright joy of the rooftop party, the thrill of her kiss with Ash and her wide-open hopes for the future. And she remembered the scrawled threat on the mirror, her deep shock and sadness at Big T’s treachery and the crushing grip of his fingers round her throat. Then she had been falling … plunging into a deep well of blackness. Drowning in darkness, she almost never came back up. Perhaps that would have been a blessing? For when she did surface again, she knew that not all of her had returned.
‘And I guarantee you’ll get the best care possible. No expense spared.’ The colonel paused and fished something out of his pocket. He tried to make eye contact with her and failed. ‘Charley, I realize this isn’t much after all you’ve lost but …’ He held up a small gold shield with guardian wings. ‘For outstanding bravery and sacrifice in the line of duty.’
When she didn’t react, he swallowed uncomfortably and placed it on her bedside table.
Charley ignored the gold badge … and Colonel Black.
‘Right. I’ll return tomorrow,’ said the colonel, a crack in his voice. ‘Is there anything you want?’
YES! A pair of legs that WORK! Charley screamed in her head.
When she remained silent, Colonel Black nodded goodbye and walked out.
Charley stared at the two lumps of meat that had been her legs, now propped on the bed. In her head a single maddening question repeated over and over …
Bodyguard: Target Page 30