Love's Protector: A Maverick's Shield Novel

by Charisma Chloe

  “Well you have to be a member to come inside, which obviously you’re not.”

  “I’m aware.” Amour said sarcastically.

  “I have a membership,” Jason said, taking over the conversation. “Can you make an exception for her this one time please? We just want to ask Angela a couple of questions, it won’t take that long.”

  The hostess cocked an arched eyebrow and smiled. “Well maybe just this one time for you sweetie. Come in and just show your ID to the guard and he’ll let you in. I’ll call for Angela to come down.”

  “Can you tell her that we’re here to talk to her about Carly Graciette?”

  “Sure.”

  “Thanks Cassidy!”

  “You’re very welcomed handsome.” She gave him a quick wink and then turned to pick up the phone.

  A guard had led them inside and directed them to have a seat in two of the various large brown leather club chairs in the lounge area. The place was just as Amour envisioned it to be, ultra plush with masculine décor. She could definitely tell a lot of money was put into this place and just as much, if not more money was spent here on a daily basis. The cigar smell was heavy, but it wasn’t like the smell of Daniel Riley’s house. The particular cigars smoked in this place smelled almost like an expensive cognac. Observing the area around her, she noticed the finely crafted dark wood furniture and earth toned paint on the walls. Tall buildings and palm trees were the view outside of the large picture glass windows that surrounded the circular room. To the left of her sat a small wood bar with five leather stools and a female bartender who looked like a red headed version of the hostess. The men here were very clean cut and dressed impeccably in expensive suits. She could definitely tell they were very powerful and very rich.

  A beautiful blonde cocktail server wearing a similar dress to the one her mother was wearing in the photo approached them. “Would you guys like a drink?”

  Before either of them could reply, a female voice spoke from behind them. “Give them anything they want, it’s on the house.” Moving to the front of them, the older brunette woman sat in one of the chairs in facing them and crossed her legs. “Please, order whatever you like. Sheila will take good care of you.”

  The server turned Jason and asked, “What would you like?”

  “Nothing for me.”

  She then turned to Amour. “And You?”

  “A glass of red wine please.” For whatever reason, she’d felt the need for a drink.

  “Is Cabernet Sauvignon good for you?”

  “That’s fine.”

  “Great!”

  When the server walked away, the woman turned to face them. “Hello, I’m Angela. I hear you’re interested in Carly?”

  Amour leaned forward. “I found a photo of the two of you in front of this place together. We were wondering if you could give us any information about her.”

  Angela had to be in her late forties to early fifties now. It was evident by the small wrinkles in the corners of her eyes, but compared to the old picture, she still looked pretty good. She clearly took good care of herself and didn’t in any way “let herself go” like the hostess accused her of doing.

  Jason handed Angela the photo and she studied it for a few seconds. “Wow! I haven’t seen this picture in years. Yes that’s definitely Carly. We were so young then.” She looked up at Amour. “You kind of look like her.”

  “So I’ve been told by many.” She smiled. “Is there anything you can tell us about her?”

  The server arrived with Amour’s wine and placed it on the small round table in front of them. When she walked away, Angela replied. “Well, I met her after she’d answered an ad for a roommate I had posted in the classifieds. She lived with me for a little while and I’d gotten her a job here working as a cocktail server. She was a very nice girl and great at her job. She was one of the best we had here.”

  Amour sipped her wine, and then sat it back down on the table. “How long did you guys live together?”

  “About a year, then she’d bought a house and moved out. Shortly after that, she’d quit her job here.”

  “Did you ever see here again after that?”

  “Yes, we still kept in touch; we were friends. We would hang out every now and then but that all changed once she met her boyfriend.”

  “Why is that?” Jason asked.

  “Because she was so hooked on him she barely did anything anymore.” She faced Amour. “Then she got pregnant and that was all she wrote.”

  “You knew him?” Amour asked.

  “Yes. I knew him before she did and was here the day she’d met him. He was the handy man here at the time. I tried to convince her to try and snag one of the millionaires here, but she insisted on going out with the help.”

  Amour was not happy about the snide remark she’d made about her father. Instead of responding to it, she sipped her wine and decided to let Jason handle the questioning. The way she was feeling right now, she knew she would say something she would regret and this whole trip would be a waste. She looked over at Jason and saw him studying her expression. She could tell that he knew exactly where her mind was.

  He turned to Angela. “You mean Ted Crawford?”

  “Yes, that was his name. Ted. He was so wrong for her.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because he changed her.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “When she got with him, she realized after a while he wasn’t good enough for her.”

  “Why do you say that?” Jason asked.

  “Because he didn’t have anything to offer a woman like her, she was way out of his league.”

  Amour felt the tension build up inside of her. Her lips thinned and her breathing became rapid. It was definitely time to wrap this up because she was about five minutes away from throwing her drink in this woman’s face. She looked back up at Jason and he gave her look telling her to keep her cool. She obliged and continued to sip her wine.

  He quickly turned back to Angela and said, “Maybe she loved him.”

  “Please.” She rolled her eyes. “That wasn’t love, she just felt sorry for him because he was such a loser.”

  “Why do you say he changed her?”

  “Because he had her thinking that it was okay to settle for someone like him and she started being all boring and letting herself go. But when the wealthy men here started to take interest in her, she quickly learned that being with one of them was a much better option. She just took it a little too far though.”

  “Took what too far?”

  “Her “options”. Once she’d gotten a taste of one, it was like a high for her. She’d started sleeping with every member here and turned into quite the little slut. I tried to tell her to slow down. When you work here, you only date one member you know, keep it classy. You’re supposed to leave the member hopping to the groupies that hang out here. If she had just listened to me in the first place and snagged one when she’d first gotten here, she would’ve been set for life and wouldn’t have had to jump from man to man because she would’ve already known what the good life was all about. She certainly would’ve had a father that could’ve provided substantially for her child.”

  “You really didn’t like Ted did you?”

  “Oh god no! Once she’d dumped him, he went crazy.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He started coming up here threatening her and the members here telling them to stay away from her. We had already fired him but he still kept showing up because of Carly. She was forced to quit also because of him. I didn’t see her much after she’d left, maybe a few times. Last thing I heard was that she’d gone back to Ted and died shortly after that of a heart attack.” She pursed her lips. “Please.”

  “You don’t believe that was the cause of her death?” he asked.

  “I know she had one, I just think he caused it.”

  Jason frowned. “Why? Wasn’t it something natural?”

  “That’s what I’d h
eard, but he didn’t let her go anywhere or do anything. He certainly stressed her out enough. She probably aged twenty years just by being with him. Trust me, he abused her mentally and physically enough to give her a heart attack. Hell, she probably figured out a way to give herself one so she could get out of that trap of a relationship with him.” She laughed softly.

  “That’s a pretty serious accusation.”

  “Well, when you work closely with someone for two years you tend to get to know them pretty well.”

  “I see. Were you a server too?” Jason asked.

  “No, I was a hostess. I couldn’t have all those men pawing all over me every day. Don’t get me wrong, most of them were total gentlemen but some of them were just animals. I stayed in the front, occasionally moonlighting as the owner’s assistant and worked my way up in the company. Now I’m co-owner. See what a little hard work and dedication can get you?”

  “Yeah, that’s very impressive.”

  Amour finished her wine and sat the glass on the table. “I need to go outside for a minute.” She rose from her chair. “It’s getting a little stuffy in here, I need some air.” She couldn’t take any more of this bitch.

  Jason looked up at her. “Okay, I’ll be out in a minute. Don’t go too far alright.”

  Amour had never been so pissed off in her entire life. Getting up and walking out was all she could do to keep from reaching across the table and punching the hell out of her. She’ll let Jason handle this; he was used to it. It was better this way. She was far too upset and buzzed off the glass of wine she drank to spend another minute listening to this bullshit. “I won’t. I’ll meet you outside.”

  CHAPTER 14

  Amour sat in the passenger side of the car just staring out of the window looking as if she wanted to punch a hole straight through it. Not that he blamed her one bit. Angela had said some pretty harsh things about her parents. He didn’t know them, but what he did know is if someone would’ve said those things about his mother, he would’ve been just as pissed if not more. “Are you alright?” he asked.

  “Not really,” she said softly.

  That’s what he’d assumed, but he didn’t know what to say to make her feel better. He wasn’t very good at providing comfort. “I’ll bet a million dollars that everything she said was a bunch of bullshit.”

  She looked up at him. “How do you know?”

  He didn’t know, he’d just hoped saying that would take away at least some of her anger. “I don’t know, just a hunch I guess.”

  “Those things she said about my father…that just doesn’t sound like him at all.”

  “Well, like you told me before, you know him better that anybody.”

  “Do you think she was lying about my mother also?”

  He saw that she was clenching her bracelet. He could also tell that what Angela said about Carly in particular is what hit her the hardest. Reaching across to take her hand into his, he said, “After everything that’s been going on up until this point, I question anything anybody tells me. You tend to learn pretty quickly in my line of work that everyone is not always what they seem to be and everything that comes out of their mouths is not always the truth.”

  “I guess you’re right.”

  Stopping at a red light, he looked into her eyes. He could see the pain, confusion and the fear in them. This was beginning to be a lot for her to bear. “I had planned on going back to the station to question Captain Westfield about lying to us, but if you’d rather go home I’ll understand.”

  “I’d rather go home now. I’m hungry and I have another headache.”

  “Do you want to stop somewhere to eat?”

  She rubbed her temples. “No, I’ll cook something. Let’s just stop at a grocery store. I just want to eat and relax. I can’t deal with anymore of this today.”

  “Okay. Not a problem.”

  The market was practically empty so they were in and out rather quickly. “I can cook the food if you want, that way you can rest until it’s done.” Jason said as they rode up the elevator of the hotel.

  “Actually that would be great because I still have a headache and that will give the aspirin time to work.”

  “Alright, just go to your room and lay down and I’ll let you know when dinner is ready.”

  Stepping out of the elevator into the dimly lit hallway, Jason suddenly felt an eerie feeling. He wasn’t sure where it had come from, it was just…there. He stepped in front of Amour signaling for her to stay behind him as they walked a few more paces.

  “What’s wrong Jason?” Amour asked quietly.

  He put his finger up to his lips. “Shhh…”

  As they approached the sharp corner of the hallway, there was the slightest hint of a noise…a whisper, barely audible, but definitely there. His experience as a bodyguard had made him extremely sensitive to his surroundings and also, extremely sensitive to danger. Keeping her behind him, he placed the grocery bags he was carrying on the floor and took a quick peek around the corner. Just as he’d suspected, someone was there standing outside the door of her suite next to the maid’s cart. He couldn’t tell who it was exactly, but the one thing was for sure, unless the maids in this hotel wore black ski masks, this person was not there to clean her room.

  “Jason,” she whispered from behind him. “What’s going…”

  He interrupted her by turning towards her and putting his finger to her lips. “There’s someone at your door. Stay here.”

  Removing the gun from his waistband, he slowly turned the corner of the hallway. Pointing it at the intruder, he made absolute sure he had a good shot of his head before he spoke just in case he need to fire if it came down to that. “Who the hell are you?” he shouted catching eye contact with the stranger, but he said nothing. “I said who…are…you? And what the hell are you doing here?”

  Jason’s eyes never left the assailant’s, and before he knew it, the maid’s cart came flying towards him, flipping over and its contents spilling onto the floor. A loud gunshot sounded in his ears followed by the sound of a bullet whizzing past his head and hitting the wall behind him as he ducked back around the corner. Gun still in hand, he quickly peeked back around the corner and fired one shot at the assailant as he ran the opposite way down the hall. When Jason started to chase him, the intruder turned around firing another shot causing him to duck around another sharp corner of the hall. Pointing his gun in from of him, he continued to run in the assailant’s direction but eventually lost him in the maze of the hotel hallway. “Shit!” Angry at himself for letting him get away, he banged his fist against the wall in disgust. Hurrying back to Amour, he found her curled up on the floor with her knees at her chest and her arms wrapped around them, trembling.

  “Amour?” he called out to her.

  “Jason!” She quickly rose to her feet and wrapped her arms around him. “Oh my god! Are you okay? I heard the gunshots when you were gone. I was so scared and I didn’t…”

  He held her close to him, feeling her heart pounding against his chest. “It’s alright, I’m fine. Are you okay?”

  “I am. Who was that? What did they want?”

  “I don’t know, but I intend to find out.”

  “That scared the shit out of me!”

  “I know, let’s go get your things, you’re not staying here anymore.”

  The two of them walked up to the door of Amour’s suite as the guests of the hotel cautiously started to come out of their rooms wondering what all the commotion was. As Jason stuck the key card in the lock and opened the door, he could hear the other guests asking various questions and he could also feel their eyes on him. Stepping inside the living area with his gun in hand, he paused for a moment again signaling Amour to wait behind him. He quickly turned to her and whispered, “I want to make sure it’s safe for you to come in. If it is, I want you to hurry and pack your things but we won’t be able to leave right away because of what just happened. I’m sure by now someone called the cops so we’re going to h
ave to talk to them.”

  “Okay. Can I come in with you? If that lunatic comes back, I don’t want to be standing out here.”

  “Wait until I check this area first.” After making sure the living area and kitchen were clear, he checked the small hallway, the guest bathroom and bedroom which were also clear. “You can come in now. It’s clear in this part of the suite, but stay close behind me okay.”

  “Alright.”

  Walking down the short hallway, he noticed that the door to Amour’s bedroom was cracked. He turned and whispered to her, “Did you leave the door open when you left?”

  “I don’t remember exactly, but I don’t think so.”

  “Wait here.”

  Approaching the door, he slowly opened it all the way giving himself a clear view of the television, the end of the bed, and the window straight across from him. Gripping the handle of his gun, he slowly stepped inside. Pausing in mid-stride, he stared ahead in slight disbelief of what he thought he was seeing out of his peripheral vision to the left of him. His suspicions were confirmed when he slowly turned in the direction of the blurry figure. What…the…fuck…

  CHAPTER 15

  The lifeless body of the hotel maid on the floor of Amour’s bedroom was not something he expected to see. She had been shot point blank in the forehead at close range from what he could tell. He’d seen the result of those killings more times than he cared to remember. He remained silent as his eyes locked on a large white envelope that rested on the maid’s chest. Walking over to the body, he picked up the envelope and quickly stuffed it in his pants covering it with his t-shirt. That was illegal, he knew that, but whatever was inside the envelope was obviously meant for them to find and could possibly help them. Jason wanted to leave no stone unturned. Trying his hardest not to alert Amour by reacting too suddenly to the body, he moved around as quickly and quietly as could, but she entered the room before he had a chance to stop her.

  “Jason, the police are…Oh my god!”

  He quickly scooped her in his arms burying her face in his chest so she wouldn’t see anymore of this. She was trembling and breathing rapidly. He had to get her out of there before she had a full on panic attack. Quickly rushing her out of the bedroom, they ran straight into three police officers as they entered the living area.