Executive Protection

by Jennifer Morey

  The rear brake lights of the Lexus lit up. Darcy couldn’t slow enough before ramming into the back bumper. He swerved and once again nearly lost control, doing a swerve through the grassy side before rolling back onto the highway. A car whizzed past, so close he felt the air whoosh by as it passed.

  Too late, he saw the Lexus race at an angle across the highway and ram his rear right bumper. Darcy lost control then. His tires squealed as he fought to keep the vehicle straight. And then he ran into the concrete median. The car rolled three times. His driver door crushed inward, nearly pinning him.

  When his car went still, he sat upright looking at oncoming traffic. Luckily, he was part on and part off the highway, close to the median.

  Aware of car lights behind him, he couldn’t move yet. He was dizzy and disoriented, a surreal feeling. The next thing he knew, a man appeared at his door, reaching in and dragging him outside through the window.

  Dropping him on the ground, cold wind blowing, rain beginning to fall, Darcy looked up at a giant of a man wearing a hat but not concealing his face. Dead blue eyes looked down at him and a meaty hand held a pistol at his side.

  Avery’s beautiful face was all that came to him in that stark moment.

  “Who are you?” the big man asked.

  Darcy decided the best thing to do was answer all of his questions. “Detective Darcy Jenkins.”

  “Why were you following me?”

  “Why were you at Wade Thomas’s house?” He could not show fear to this man.

  Watching him ascertain that Darcy didn’t know why he’d gone to Wade’s house, Darcy sensed the danger wane. “If you and your friend don’t stop interfering, I’ll have a bullet for everyone both of you love.”

  “Not just Kate Winston?” he dared to throw at the man.

  The big man crouched, his pistol beside his leg and aimed for his kidney. “I’ve been real patient with you two so far. But my patience is wearing thin. Back off, or I’ll kill everyone you and your friend love. Do you understand?”

  Darcy understood this man was some kind of mercenary or gun for hire. “Yeah.” He nodded. “Got it. Everyone we love.” The man stood, smirking down at him. Cars flew by, a spray of rainwater developing. So much for Good Samaritans.

  Chapter 16

  The Jeep bounced and jerked through the deep, wet sand. Lucy kept looking over at Thad’s grim but focused profile. He had to fight his way at a snail’s pace. The windshield wipers were at top speed and water ran off them. Lucy gripped the door handle and checked on Sophie, who looked up every time the Jeep lifted her off the seat. Her dolls and a vivid imagination kept her oblivious to the severity of the storm.

  Ahead, a stream of water coursed across the road. Thad didn’t slow, he took it on without preamble. The Jeep sank into the depression and threw all of them up off their seats. Lucy came down hard on her butt. Water splashed high on every side of their car.

  Sophie started crying.

  The dolls she’d been holding had dropped to the floor, her mouth was an open frown and tears sprouted from her frightened eyes.

  “It’s all right, sweetie,” Lucy said. “The road is just a little wet from the rain.” Boy, was that an understatement.

  Straining to reach the nearest doll, Lucy handed it to the girl. “We’re almost home.”

  Quieting, Sophie took the doll and then bent forward to retrieve her other doll.

  Crisis averted, Lucy faced forward. The Jeep handled the conditions amazingly well. Dips and washed-out portions of road didn’t stop them.

  Finally, through torrents of rain, Lucy spotted the lights of the beach house.

  “We’re home, Sophie,” Lucy said with as much animation as she could muster.

  “Yay!” Sophie dropped her dolls and looked out the window, not possibly seeing much through the rain.

  Thad drove onto the long driveway, maneuvering two mini floods streaming across and bouncing them across washed-out holes.

  At last the Jeep came to a stop. They’d made it.

  Lucy helped Sophie with her tote and Thad waited for them to climb the stairs first. They all ran for the door. The rain was incessant. A bolt of lightning flashed at the same time an explosion of thunder boomed. Sophie started crying. Thad opened the door, and Lucy gently pushed Sophie inside.

  Dripping wet, Lucy unzipped Sophie’s jacket, trying not to laugh at her adorable, crying face. “You’re all right.”

  Her cries eased up, but she still wore a cute pout.

  Lucy took off her hat and ruffled her hair. “Shower time.”

  After Lucy sent Sophie to change into pajamas, she came back down to the second level. Thad stood by the back windows, the television tuned to a news channel. The storm was going to intensify tonight, turning to snow by morning.

  She went over to him, daring to slip her arm around him. He warmed her by putting his around her while they watched the rain in the lights over the pool. The ocean wasn’t visible through the darkness.

  “Darcy called,” he said. “We lost cell service but I called him from the landline.”

  Darcy was staying at Kate’s estate. Had something happened? She moved out from under his arm and faced him as he turned from the window. “Why?”

  “A man met Wade Thomas at his house and then followed him.” He explained what happened.

  Who would do that? Who would risk being caught? Someone who wasn’t afraid. That’s why Thad stood here staring out the window. He wanted to go back to the estate, and it looked like the weather would stop him.

  “What was his warning?” she asked.

  “You and your friend better stop interfering,” Thad summarized. “Darcy found out the chief is in trouble financially just like Layne and Jaden.” Thad shook his head incredulously with a long sigh.

  And then he’d gone to check out Wade. “How would the chief be involved?” Lucy asked.

  “I don’t know. None of this makes sense. I don’t think Cam is involved, but Jaden could have taken money from Cam and the person who contacted Layne. He’s vulnerable, and someone with the right resources would be able to find that out.” Cam had.

  So, Cam was just a coincidence? He hadn’t met her on purpose to try and get close to Kate? He didn’t strike her as the sniper type anyway. He was crazy enough to stalk women but not smart enough to use his sniper abilities to attempt to kill a presidential candidate. She had to agree with Thad. “Who was the man who attacked Darcy?” she asked.

  “Darcy is pretty sure his name is Andrew Lindeman. We think Wade hired him.”

  A gunman? Someone to do the serious threatening? “Could he be the shooter?”

  “I think he’s the one who paid Layne to kidnap Sophie and Jaden to allow the shooter access to the estate. I don’t think he’s the shooter.”

  “Why not?” Thad walked away from the window and stopped in front of the TV. “Whoever is behind this must be very rich and powerful,” he said. More powerful than Wade. “It’s more than a lone shooter.”

  “You mean like some sort of network?”

  He looked back at her. “Or organization, yes.”

  She could see how that was possible. It did seem that there were several involved. Jaden. The chief of police. And now this Andrew Lindeman character.

  “I need to get back to the estate.”

  Seeing Thad looking out the window again, she went to stand beside him. “You and Darcy have been friends a long time, haven’t you?”

  “Yes, since the academy.” He turned to her, curiosity over why she’d asked in his eyes.

  “Your mother is safe, Thad. You’re not the only one who can protect her.”

  He blinked, his tension easing. “Thanks for reminding me.”

  He did know Darcy was capable of protecting Kate. He had no reason to wo
rry other than not being in control himself. He needed to let go of some of that control.

  One of the security agents had told Lucy all about Darcy, his divorce and the way he’d rescued Avery. Thad hadn’t told her, and she now wondered if the reason why was because watching his best friend fall in love made him take a closer look at his own love life.

  “Kate said he met someone and that she’s staying at the estate with him,” she said.

  “Yes.” Again, he wore that curious look.

  “They’re really serious.” Handsome man meets beautiful damsel...sounded familiar.

  Thad didn’t respond. He must have contemplated whether the same could happen to him as had happened with Darcy. And it made him uncomfortable...because he did have feelings for Lucy.

  “I knew someone who fell in love like that,” she said.

  When Thad started to move away, she put her hand on his arm, stopping him. “She was in a bad car accident and had to go through extensive physical therapy.”

  Thad lifted his eyebrows, clearly expecting another one of her stories.

  “She had to work at walking again. Her legs were injured the most. It nearly crippled her. There was a man who’d gotten in a climbing accident. He was seeing the same physical therapist. Once their appointments were back-to-back. My friend was finishing up and he arrived early for his session. They met and it was instant love.”

  “You’re making this up.”

  She smiled, moving to stand in front of him and placing her hands on his chest. “She waited until he finished and they hobbled to a nearby café. They spent hours there just talking and then shared a cab when they left. She took him to her house and he ended up moving in a week later. They were married six months after that.”

  “That’s sweet,” he said.

  “It’s a true story.” She gave his chest a pat with one hand.

  His mouth and eyes changed into an affectionate but derisive frown. “Sure it is.”

  “It is.” This was one time she hadn’t made it up. “I embellished a little.”

  “Which parts? All of it?”

  “No, when I said they hobbled. I knew you didn’t believe me so I told the story the way I would tell any other that wasn’t true.”

  “Ah.” He nodded, charmed.

  “They both had a cane.”

  “A cane. Right.”

  “I went to college with the woman. Duke University. Her name is Annie Baker. His name is Max Timon. They live in Virginia. Look them up.”

  He just looked at her, sort of believing.

  “Your friend Darcy reminds me a lot of them.”

  “Darcy was just divorced. Was your friend divorced?”

  “No, but the man she’d been seeing broke up with her after the accident. The same happened with Max. His girlfriend left him. Some people find it that way.” Sometimes she wondered if she’d found it that way. If Thad were open to the possibility, she’d think she had.

  “Darcy isn’t in love. He thinks he is but he isn’t.”

  Lucy lowered her hands from him. “You’re too stubborn to believe it.”

  “I’m stubborn?”

  Did he think she was? “Yes. You refuse to take a chance on love. Even if you find it, you may pass it by because you’re too stubborn to change the way you think.” A little frustration came into her tone. This weekend was only missing that—Thad’s flexibility on love.

  “How do you know that?” he challenged.

  “I...” What could she say? That after last night she thought they had a real shot at forever? “I can tell. You and I...”

  When she didn’t finish, he went white. “You’re not implying...” He pointed to her and himself a few times. “You and I...”

  “Have fallen in love?” She shook her head. “No.”

  “What are you saying, then?”

  “You wouldn’t give it a chance even if we are starting to fall for each other.” There. She’d said it. “It isn’t casual enough for you.”

  He didn’t deny that, and being right about him stung.

  “Can you really say you don’t feel anything for me?” she asked.

  She watched him go rigid and wanted to take the question back. Amazing, the chameleon change in him. Most of the time he was Thad, the man who upheld the law, the man of stealth and intelligence. And then he was Thad, the man who shied away from love, the ideology of marriage. Commitment? No problem. Marriage? Another story. What he didn’t see was that commitment required love, too, and he was holding back too much to allow love to grow. He was doing that with her, right now. If he allowed what had begun between them to grow, he’d see that what Darcy had with Avery was possible for him, too.

  There was something else that threatened his ability to love. And her name was Sophie Cambridge. Sophie melted every barrier he’d erected to protect himself against anticipated failures. He based too much on the past and on what happened to other people, not himself. The temptation to break him of that tantalized Lucy. The cost to her heart was what stopped her. For now.

  * * *

  About two hours ago, Sophie came down in her pajamas and the birthday party had begun. Thad had brought down her presents, and she had just finished opening them. He and Lucy had picked up a few more before coming here. The living room was a mess, wrapping paper and boxes on the floor and cake plates on the ottoman. He forgot about why he shouldn’t enjoy this. He just would, and when the weekend was over, he’d deal with the fallout then, if there was any.

  The ugly thought came that there may not be any if Sophie was put into another foster home. If she stayed with Lucy, the entire situation changed, and he couldn’t go there.

  Sophie’s eyes drooped, but she doggedly persevered in her play. Lucy laughed softly at the sight, adoration at its purest.

  It was getting late. Thad went to the window to check the weather. The rain had turned to snow, slanting at an angle with the force of the wind. The beach house had been built solid, all out of stone and concrete. He could hear the wind every once in a while and that fact told him how powerful the storm was. No hurricane by any stretch, but enough to strand them here for a day or two.

  “It’s time for bed, Sophie,” Lucy said. “We’ll bring your presents up to your room.”

  Sophie didn’t protest. She was practically falling asleep sitting up. It was after ten and it had been a big day—she’d sleep a long time.

  “I’ll bring her presents up,” Thad said.

  Lucy looked at him. “You want to stay up with me?”

  Was she deliberately tempting him? “Yes.” He didn’t care about what would happen after they left Carova. He had a strong desire to spend time with Lucy alone. He wasn’t going to deny himself that.

  After bringing the presents up, paying special attention to the dollhouse and positioning it so that Sophie would see it if she woke, Thad went downstairs to get ready for Lucy.

  He turned off the television and turned on the stereo, finding an easy listening station, idly wondering if they’d lose electricity. He’d done a check of all the systems here, as his mother had strategically sent him to do. He knew her real agenda—for him and Lucy to end up together. She didn’t need him to come here and get the house ready. She could have sent servants to do that. Granted, a servant could be in disguise, but all of their servants had been employed by the Winston family for years. They had very low turnover because they were paid well and had benefits.

  Going into the kitchen, he took a bottle of sauvignon from the wine holder and began to uncork it. All the while, conflicting motives churned in him. Seduce Lucy. Block Lucy from his heart. Seduce Lucy. Block Lucy.

  He couldn’t delude himself. Lucy did attract him and he wanted to be involved with her. Would she be willing? When he’d met her, she had been actively seeking husband
and family. Would she forego that to be with him? At least put it off?

  She had Sophie now. That changed the game, for her and for him. Sophie challenged his conviction. He vowed never to bring children into a dysfunctional family. But how could he look at Sophie and still call it dysfunction? That unsettled him.

  He poured Lucy a glass of wine and then himself some eighteen-year-old Glenmorangie into a Scotch tumbler, followed by a splash of water. He rarely drank, but for some reason tonight felt like a celebration, and making it home through the storm had nothing to do with it. Lucy had everything to do with it. Last night. This morning. And, yes, even their conversation. Except, he couldn’t pinpoint why. How could her challenging his beliefs feel good? Maybe it was the love she spoke of. Maybe it was the fairy tale. Was he beginning to believe in the fairy tale? No. He refused to do that.

  He looked to his left when he heard Lucy come down the stairs. She appeared around the wall and his course was set. She wore jeans and a long-sleeved cream-colored knit shirt and socks. Not the nightgown that had captivated him before, but nothing could hide her beauty. Her dark hair fell over her shoulders and her trim hips swayed as she approached.

  Seduce Lucy.

  Passing the leather sectional, he met her in the open area between the entry and the great room. She took the glass of wine and looked down at his tumbler.

  “A manly drink, huh?”

  “One thing I got from my dad,” he said. One of few.

  Her light green eyes sparkled with appeal. “Did you get the art of seduction from him, too?”

  She couldn’t have asked a more digging question. How had she targeted him so accurately? His father had been a master with women. Did Lucy think he bore some similarities? He may not be unfaithful to the women he chose to develop relationships with, but he didn’t settle for just one. It put him in check.

  “I didn’t mean...” Lucy began to apologize for implying he treated women the same as his father had.

  “No.” He stopped her. “You’re right. We still haven’t finished our conversation from this morning.” He should never have considered continuing this with her without doing so.