by Cassie Miles
“Nothing to it.”
“What are you going to name her?”
Mandy tickled the tiny baby under her chin. “I didn’t pick out a name ahead of time because I thought it might be bad luck or something.”
She was so young, Tasha thought. So young, and yet a mother. “I remember when you talked about that.”
“So I kind of figured I’d do something mystical, you know?” Her gaze lifted from the baby and polled the three people in the room. “I figured I’d pick out a name from the first thing I saw when I gave birth.”
Tasha really hoped she wasn’t going to name her child Light Fixture or Nurse or Doctor. When she glanced at Mandy’s mother, she suspected the same thoughts were tracking through her mind.
“Sounds great to me,” David said.
Just like a man, Tasha thought. He was oblivious to the potential for a disastrous name choice.
“So?” David asked. “What’s the name?”
When Mandy looked directly into her eyes, Tasha caught her breath. Would Mandy name the baby for her? Without thinking, Tasha laced her fingers with David’s, wanting him to share this beautiful moment. A child bearing her name? That would be a sweet responsibility.
Mandy’s gaze shifted. She was staring at Tasha’s bright, oversize, red crystal earrings.
Mandy said, “My daughter’s name is Ruby.”
Chapter Six
While Mandy slept in her hospital room, Tasha changed out of her hospital scrubs and went to stand at the viewing window of the baby nursery. Nine other infants squalled, wriggled and slept, but Ruby—in Tasha’s totally biased opinion—was the most beautiful. Ruby lay very still with her eyes wide open, gazing upon the world with perfect innocence. Her whole life lay ahead of her.
David came up beside her, and Tasha sighed. “She’s wonderful, isn’t she?”
“A miracle,” he agreed.
“Thank you, David, for being here. Not many guys would have hung around for the whole ordeal of labor.”
“It’s my job,” he gruffly reminded her.
“Yes, of course.”
Tasha smiled. Of course, it was his job to guard her day and night, but his occupation wasn’t the real reason he’d stayed at the hospital, pacing in the waiting room. David was here because he was sincerely concerned. He wanted to support Mandy, a kid he hardly knew. His motives bespoke old-fashioned chivalry and reminded her that not all men were bastards like Green. There were good men, too. Men like David. “It meant a lot to Mandy to know you were here. And to me, too.”
“You were pretty cool about the whole thing.”
“Me? I was scared to death.”
“I didn’t think anything frightened you, Tasha.”
She didn’t reply. There were many things she must not share with him, and her fears had too many faces. There were nervous jitters and screams of shock, hysterical panic and horror. Sometimes, Tasha felt as if she’d known them all.
Her fears for Mandy came from concern and empathy—a clean fear, based on the reality of the physical unknown. Unlike the sickening terror she’d felt when Green had caught her and held her against her will, when he’d broken Jenson’s wrist. Tasha shuddered at the memory. Had it only been this afternoon? Less than ten hours ago? She remembered Green and Cerise as if from a distance. Their scheme felt like part of a different life. Yet their evil loomed over her like a tidal wave, poised to crash over her and wash away everything she’d worked so hard to achieve.
A dull fear hammered through her. Why, oh, why was this happening to her?
Seeking relief from her inner torture, Tasha gazed again upon Ruby. The baby’s eyes had closed. One tiny fist rested beside her cheek. She relaxed in the dreamless sleep of a pure being, a little angel. Tasha prayed that this infant would never feel pain, would never experience hatred or disappointment, would never be frightened. And when she encountered the inevitable hard times, Tasha wished for Ruby to be strong. These would be her gifts to Mandy’s baby: Strength. Wisdom. Bravery.
Tasha reflected upon her own pathetic lack of these three qualities. Facing Green, she’d been weak and helpless. In her conversation to Cerise, she’d agreed to a foolish endeavor. And brave? Now that Mandy’s baby was born, the uppermost thought in her mind was running and hiding from a future that could only be catastrophe.
“Tasha?”
She glanced at David. He was the one shining star in the murky darkness that enveloped her. Though she had no idea who had sent her a bodyguard, she offered grateful thanks to her unknown benefactor.
“There’s nothing else you can do here,” he said. “I’ll drive you home.”
She blew a kiss to Ruby and fell into step beside him. “I guess it’s time to get back to stone-cold reality.”
“Guess so.”
He seemed quiet and withdrawn, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. This had been an intense day for all of them.
They stepped through automatic doors into the cool September night, and Tasha shivered. She’d left her jacket at Bloom’s, hours ago, when the sun still shone warmly. While she was with Mandy, her own physical discomforts had been put on hold. Now the evening air felt chilly, and her stomach growled. “I’m starving. When we get back to my place, can we order a pizza?”
“You can do whatever you want.”
She cocked her head and looked up at him. His jaw thrust at a stubborn angle, and he avoided eye contact. “David? Aren’t you spending the night?”
“You don’t need a bodyguard anymore.”
“Why would you think that?” Never before in her life had she felt more threatened.
“Call it a hunch, but I don’t think anybody’s going to be after you. Not anymore.”
With a shock, she realized that he was correct. The bad guys had contacted her, and now they thought she was on their side. There would be no more threats unless she changed her mind. But how did David know?
She halted at the edge of the parking lot beneath a streetlight. What did David know? Had he been contacted by Green or Cerise? Though she hated to suspect him, she couldn’t help wondering if he was part of their scheme. But why? Warily, she said, “David, I need to know what you’re talking about. What makes you think the danger is over?”
Though be stopped beside her, he refused to meet her gaze. His constantly moving eyes peered into the thick darkness beyond the parking lot. His head turned at the wail of an approaching ambulance, and he watched as the flashing lights careered past them toward the hospital’s emergency entrance. This was a man who was accustomed to sudden violence. It was his job to anticipate an ambush before it actually happened. But what if he was part of the attacking force? The shadows that played across his features emphasized the sharp angles of his brow, cheekbones and chin. He looked hard, chiseled in stone, and equally implacable. “It’s best if I go.”
His low baritone snapped against her. There was a finality in his tone. He would say nothing more.
And Tasha wasn’t the sort of woman who liked to beg. She started walking again. “Okay, then. Go, if that’s what you want.”
But she longed to have him stay with her. Lacking the confidence in her own strength, she yearned for someone to lean on. Not just someone, she corrected herself. David. She needed David.
During those long hours when Mandy was in labor, she had eagerly looked forward to being with him for those few minutes when she could slip out to the waiting room. His silly gifts, his purely masculine confusion, renewed her. She had come to rely upon him in a way she could never express in words. At some point during Mandy’s labor, Tasha had come to the conclusion that David Marquis was a good man.
She didn’t want him to leave. Even if he was the ringleader of Cerise, Brown and Green, she wished David could be with her.
In silence, she slipped into the rental car beside him. Even now, when he was obviously angry with her, his nearness provided a sustenance that she desperately craved.
Too soon, he parked in front of her apart
ment building. Still not looking at her, he said, “Goodbye, Tasha.”
“It’s ironic,” she said. “During all that time when you insisted upon staying, I didn’t want a bodyguard. Now, when you tell me you’re leaving, I want you to stay.”
“I’d be in your way.”
“Look at me, David.”
He leveled a gaze into her eyes, and she saw a reflection of her own sadness. She rested her cold fingers on the sleeve of his blazer. “You don’t want to leave,” she said.
“I can’t be with you.” He placed his hand atop hers. There was a poignant warmth in his touch. “It’s best if I go now.”
“Why?”
“Listen, Tasha, I haven’t always been a bodyguard. I’ve done a lot of things in my life that weren’t exactly law-abiding. I’ve made mistakes. And I got away with it because I came from a wealthy family. But I changed. Permanently and forever.”
Tasha nodded. His history sounded like hers, except for the part about the rich family.
David continued, “Now I’m as straight-arrow as they come. I like my job. I like protecting people who are wrongly threatened. My work shifts the balance, you know?”
“I understand.”
“So it’s better if I don’t know exactly what you’re involved in. I didn’t lie to Officer Perry, but I didn’t tell him everything I knew.”
What was he talking about? “I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Not yet,” he said.
“Not for a very long time. Why would you think otherwise?”
“I’d rather not explain. Tasha, I don’t want to be forced to turn you in.”
How could he presume to know what was going on in her mind? Forced to turn her in? Like a criminal? A thief? She’d worked hard. She deserved respect, not suspicion. “Now you listen to me, David Marquis. I haven’t been a saint, either, but—”
“Don’t bother with excuses.”
“What?”
“I won’t lie for you,” David said. “I won’t cheat. And I sure as hell won’t steal.”
“Nobody asked you to.”
“I can’t be on your side, Tasha. What you’re doing is wrong.”
She snatched her hand away from his light grasp. “Of all the self-righteous, judgmental, arrogant—” She fought to control her temper. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of losing control. “You know nothing, David.”
“Give me a little credit. I’m not a complete idiot.”
“So you have some reason to suspect. So what! You’re wrong! But that doesn’t matter to you, Mr. StraightArrow. You’ve already tried and convicted me. Without even talking to me, you’ve decided I’m up to something illegal. Such a bad girl, so naughty, so evil.”
“Am I wrong?”
“I don’t have to prove my innocence to you.” Her anger erupted like Vesuvius. How could she have thought he was sensitive? He was cold, quick to condemn. “I will tell you this, David. You’re making a big mistake.”
His eyes hardened. “Would you want me to go to Inspector Henning with my mistaken suspicions?”
“For all I care, you can go straight to blazes!”
She leapt from the car and slammed the door hard. In just a few steps, she was inside her building. Running up the stairs, she went into her apartment and locked the door behind her. “Damn you, David. Damn your—”
Suddenly alert, she went silent. Something was wrong with her apartment. The drapes were drawn.
This morning, they were open. She’d left with sunlight streaming through the south windows.
The light in her bedroom was on. Tasha was certain that she hadn’t left any lights burning this morning.
Someone had been here. Or they were still here.
She would have been frightened, but anger consumed her. Storming through the bedroom door, she saw Green stretched out on her queen-size bed. His hands were folded behind his neck, and his head rested on her pillows.
Tasha glared at him. “Now I’ll have to scrub my pillowcases with disinfectant.”
“Where’s the boyfriend?” Green slung his long legs over the edge of her bed.
“He dumped me,” she snapped.
“Good. I didn’t like the boyfriend hanging around.”
“And I don’t like you coming into my apartment without permission. What are you doing here?”
“You were supposed to contact Cerise at six o’clock.”
“Well, excuse me. It slipped my mind. I was in a hospital labor room, helping deliver a baby.”
“Ah, yes. Your little assistant.”
“Mandy is her name.”
Tasha couldn’t believe she was actually snarling at this very large man. If Green had a mind to, he could break her in half without even blinking an eye. But he seemed disinclined toward violence as he pushed himself off the bed, yawned and stretched. His knuckles brushed the ceiling.
As he started toward her, Tasha turned her back on him and strode toward the kitchen. Though she didn’t want to appear frightened, she wasn’t about to stand in his path and be trampled in order to prove her point.
She yanked open her refrigerator door. Since she couldn’t very well order a pizza for only herself, she’d make something here. But what?
“You’ve got nothing to eat,” Green said. “I looked.”
“Did you?” It infuriated her that he had been in her apartment, lying on her bed, going through her refrigerator. He had no right to violate her privacy. Under her breath, she muttered, “If I’d known you were coming, I would have stocked up on raw meat.”
“What did you say?”
For a big man, he moved quietly. He stood close behind her, so close that she could smell him. The stinky miasma of expensive cologne and acrid masculine sweat reminded her that Green wasn’t like other men. He was a barely tamed animal, a monster disguised in a welltailored suit. He wouldn’t stand for teasing. He was dangerous, and she needed to control her hostility.
“I’m sorry,” Tasha said. Warily, she closed the refrigerator door and stepped back, bumping her hip against the kitchen counter.
“I don’t like you, Miss Lancer. I don’t like your attitude. You think you’re some kind of princess. Like you’re better than me. You think you can tell me what to do.”
“Really, I don’t. I didn’t mean to—”
“Shut up.” His mouth didn’t smile. His eyes were flat and dull, vacant of humanity. “You do as you’re told.”
She nodded. “I understand. I’m sorry. I was scared.”
“Shut up! I won’t hurt you unless you give me reason to. And you don’t need to worry.” He sneered. “I’m not interested in you as a woman. You’re not my type.”
That was a major relief!
“Too skinny,” he said. “I like my ladies to have some meat on their bones.”
Crudely, he cupped his hands in front of his chest. Any woman who could fill those huge hands would have breasts the size of basketballs. But Tasha prudently refrained from making any smart comment. Instead, she asked, “Did you have any other message for me?”
“Call Cerise tomorrow. Six o’clock at night. Same number.”
“I will.” Timidly, she added, “I guess you can go now.”
“What did you say?”
How had she offended him this time? “Nothing. I’m sorry.”
His huge hands braced on the kitchen cabinets on either side of her. He leaned down until his big, ugly face was only inches from hers. Panic raced through her. Was he going to hurt her? How had she offended him? She was afraid to ask. In the back of her mind, she heard the sickening snap of bone when he’d attacked Jenson.
He lifted one hand. His thick finger rested on the tip of her nose. “You don’t tell me when to go. That’s not your job. I decide when I’m going to go. You don’t give me orders.”
His sneer became a sadistic grin. His finger pressed harder on her nose, and a nauseated ache spread across her face into her sinuses. She gritted her teeth to keep from crying out.
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“I told you before, Miss Lancer, that you would do everything I said. You listen to Cerise. You don’t go to the cops. You do your part on this job.”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“You treat me right, Miss Lancer.” He removed his finger and stepped back. “Or else I’ll show you what it means to be sorry.”
She nodded, cowering before him.
“You need another lesson,” he said.
“No, please. I understand. I’ll do whatever you say.”
“Breaking that fool’s arm wasn’t enough to convince you.” Slowly, deliberately, he scanned her kitchen. His gaze rested on two large vases that she planned to take to the shop for displays. Green lifted the vases, one in each hand. “I could break you. Like this.”
“I understand. You don’t have to—”
He flung them onto the kitchen linoleum with such force that they shattered.
Glass slivers leapt up and bit into her legs like the stinging of bees. She stood frozen, afraid to move, fearful that she might inadvertently irritate him.
“Do you understand me now?” he demanded.
“Yes.”
“Don’t try anything cute,” he warned. “I’ll be around, Miss Lancer. When you least expect me.”
He left. As soon as the apartment door closed behind him, she ran to lock it. Not that her door lock and dead bolt were the least bit of deterrent. Green had gotten in here easily.
Low sobs rasped in the back of her throat. Her breath came in choking gasps, convulsing her body. She wasn’t seriously injured. A few of the cuts on her legs were bleeding through her panty hose, but she hardly felt them. Her pain came from realizing how utterly defenseless she was. He could break her.
“Oh, God, what am I going to do?”
Always, Tasha had believed that she could face any challenge. She could dig deep inside and find the courage. If she worked hard and didn’t give up, she could succeed at almost anything.
This time, her confidence wavered like an ephemeral mirage. She wasn’t safe. There were enemies all around her, closing in for the kill.
“Oh, David…” His name slipped through her lips.