Defending the Duchess

by Rachelle Mccalla

  Julia smiled up at him, more than aware that she’d failed to page him the night she’d gone jogging. If she had, perhaps she wouldn’t have been attacked. But then whoever was after her would have had to find a different time to strike, possibly even when her sister or nephew were nearby. The thought made her shiver.

  “Are you going to be okay if I leave you now?” Linus had clearly noticed the tremble that ran through her. He lifted one hand toward her shoulder, then paused with his fingers outstretched just a few inches from her.

  She looked at his hand, then at his face.

  “I shouldn’t touch you,” he whispered.

  “Why not?” she whispered back. The door to the hallway was still open, though they stood to the side, out of range of the security camera that hung in plain sight in the hall.

  “It’s not my place. I’m your guard. I’ve already gotten closer to you than I should.”

  Julia felt her cheeks grow warm. She wanted to let him know how she felt, but she was terrified that he might not feel the same way. Still, he had to know how much he’d helped her over the past few days. “I appreciate that you’ve been there for me. I wouldn’t have made it otherwise.”

  He’d moved closer to her, almost against his own will. “In the future—” He began, but a sudden buzzing cut him off.

  “My phone.” Julia patted her purse, disoriented, regretting that their conversation had been interrupted. She fumbled through the bag, her fingers shaking slightly. “I wonder if it’s Joan getting back to me.”

  “I thought she was going to email Simon and Oliver, not call you.”

  “I thought so, too. Knowing Joan, she’s taken care of it already.” Julia pulled out the phone just as it stopped ringing. “Two missed calls. I must not have heard it ringing earlier.” Her voice caught as she read the number she’d entered into her phone the year before when it had been her job to help plan the company picnic along with a few of her fellow lawyers.

  “Linus.” She reached for his arm with trembling fingers as she held out the phone so he could see the name.

  Scott Gordon.

  She couldn’t speak, but fortunately, she didn’t have to. Linus took a step closer and slipped his arm around her waist. Whatever he’d said a moment before about not touching her, the incoming call had changed that. She sagged against him, comforted that he’d known she could use someone strong to lean on as she struggled to absorb this latest blow.

  “What,” she tried to speak, swallowed hard, and then attempted the question again. “What do you think he wants?”

  Linus met her eyes with steady understanding. Of course he couldn’t know any more than she did what Scott Gordon was after, but at least he understood the fear she felt. She could see it echoed in his eyes, along with the ready strength with which he’d met every challenge they’d encountered so far.

  “I don’t know.” His bass voice sounded dry. “But I think we should alert the other guards before you try to return this call.”

  To Julia’s relief, Linus didn’t budge from her side as he called his fellow guards and let them know about the calls from Scott. Sam, who was assigned to guard her next anyway, was at her door by the time she and Linus stepped through it. They headed for the royal guard headquarters. Julia felt a little unsteady on her feet and a little lightheaded after this latest surprise, but she didn’t want the other guards to see her leaning on Linus so she walked on her own a couple of feet away from him—close enough that he could still catch her if her injured leg gave her trouble, but far enough from him not to raise any eyebrows.

  Jason, the head of the royal guard, met them before they reached the doors of the royal guard headquarters. “I think you should take a look at this.”

  Julia’s mouth went dry at the foreboding tone of Jason’s words. What now?

  Jason led them into a small, well-lit room. Julia immediately recognized the papers spread out on the table, though the pages from her file were now dusted with a dark powder. Monitors above held fingerprint images.

  “Your secretary was very prompt about forwarding those prints. We’ve got a preliminary match,” Jason explained. “I wasn’t going to say anything until we confirmed it, but if this guy’s been trying to call you...” he said as he pointed to the distinct prints on the page.

  Julia looked up from the dusted prints to those on the screen, labeled Scott Gordon.

  “Scott made ten copies the weekend Julia’s office was broken into,” Linus recounted. “Then he replaced these pages in this file. But why?”

  Julia met his eyes. “The file—” she shook her head “—but the break-in was weeks ago. Why attack me on the beach—”

  “He must believe you still have copies of the original file.”

  “They were deleted from my email records.”

  Linus turned to Jason. “Did the guards secure Julia’s laptop?”

  “Yes. It’s in the next room.” Jason raised a hand to stop them as they moved toward the door. “You got a phone call from Scott—” he pointed at Julia “—where is he now?”

  “Where is Scott?” Julia’s voice faltered as she realized the importance of the head guard’s question. “I don’t know.”

  “We need to know.”

  Julia blew out a steadying breath and pulled out her phone, then hesitated. “Scott left a voice mail.”

  Jason and Linus exchanged looks.

  “Do you have a picture of him?” Linus asked. “We can have the border authorities be on the lookout for him.”

  “The company website has headshots of all the lawyers along with a bio.” Julia pulled a business card from her purse and pointed out the web address to Jason as she handed him the card.

  “We’ll get that image circulated.” Jason assured them as he stepped through the door, card in hand.

  Julia looked at the fingerprints once more before turning to meet Linus’s eyes. “What do you think? Should I wait for them to listen to the message from Scott?”

  “Can you save it after you listen to it?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then we can always listen to it with them again. Right now I think we need to know what he had to say.” Linus closed the door, closing out the noise from beyond. “Can you put it on speakerphone?”

  “Sure thing.” Julia pulled out her phone, but before she touched any buttons, it began to ring. She stared at the screen, waiting for the caller ID to identify the source.

  Scott Gordon.

  Julia whimpered.

  “Don’t answer it yet. We’ll wait for the rest of the guards.”

  “Okay.” Julia was more than happy for an excuse not to have any contact with the man who suddenly wanted so much to talk with her. She waited until the phone stopped ringing, then looked at Linus. “What do you think?”

  Linus shook his head slowly. “I don’t know. He’s my prime suspect right now.”

  “For the attack against me on the beach?”

  “And for everything.” Linus didn’t say Fletcher’s name out loud or mention the word murder. Instead he turned to face her, and his voice sounded tired, even tender. “My job is to keep you safe.”

  “To my understanding, you’re supposed to be off duty right now. Sam’s supposed to be guarding me.” Julia took a step closer to him, eager to know why he felt the need to stay at her side even though his shift was over. Did he feel the way she felt? With every new thing she learned about him, her feelings for him grew.

  His gaze lingered on her face for one emotion-filled moment. He spoke in a reluctant voice. “Then I suppose I should be going.” Yet he didn’t make a move toward the door.

  Julia summoned up her courage. “What if I don’t want you to go?”

  Linus moved closer to her, his gaze never leaving her face. “I need to. You’re the queen’s
sister. I’m just a guard.” In spite of his words, he leaned closer as he spoke.

  “You’re more than just a guard to me.” Julia intended her words to encourage Linus to say what he felt, but they also bordered on a declaration of her feelings.

  “Julia...” Linus reached toward her face, brushing her cheek with the whisper-soft touch of his fingertips. “I respect you.”

  “I respect you.” She felt a hopeful smile rise to her lips.

  “I can’t get involved with you. If I let anything happen between us, it would prompt an immediate review of my record.”

  Julia felt her heart plummet. “A review. Jason would share your juvenile record.”

  “I can’t ask him to withhold that information. If I’d have realized the old head of the guard hired me without knowing it, I’d have made it known long ago. But I didn’t know then, and now is the worst possible time for anyone to find out. In the wake of the attacks against the royal family, Jason has instituted strict standards for the guards. I believe in those standards. I can’t ask him to make an exception for me.”

  Julia regretted the fact, but she understood where Linus was coming from. “If he makes an exception for you, he’d set a precedent of making exceptions. And that could ultimately lead to a breach of security that would endanger my sister’s family.”

  “I’m glad you understand.” Linus still held his fingers alongside her face, and now cupped her cheek in his hand. “I care deeply about you. But I also care about the safety of your extended family.”

  Julia couldn’t repress a smirk. “That only makes me like you more.”

  Linus smirked back and leaned closer. “It’s a dangerous line of work.” He hovered for a moment mere inches from her lips.

  Much as she wanted to lean forward and kiss him, she understood why they couldn’t allow themselves that pleasure. Still, she could hardly pull away from him.

  “Jason wanted to listen to that—” Sam opened the door, then froze, looking at them.

  Linus pulled back.

  Julia looked shamefully toward her feet.

  “—phone message,” Sam ended, looking back and forth between the two of them. “Unless this isn’t a good time?”

  Linus clapped a hand on his fellow guard’s shoulder. “It’s a perfect time, thank you.”

  “And I’m supposed to relieve you,” Sam reminded Linus.

  “That’s fine—” Linus smiled agreeably “—but if you don’t mind, I’d like to stick around for now.”

  Sam hesitated and looked at Julia. “Miss Miller?”

  “I’m glad to have you.” Julia smiled at Linus, trying not to smirk. “Let’s see if we can learn something from those phone messages.”

  TEN

  They stepped into the hallway just as Jason came around the corner toward them. “I’ve contacted the cell phone tower authorities. They’re going to help us locate the caller. We’ll listen to the messages first. Then, if we determine it’s safe to do so, we’ll return Scott’s calls. The cell tower authorities should be able to narrow down his location using the strength of his connection to surrounding towers.”

  Julia had heard of cases that used the cell tower pinging method to substantiate a caller’s location. They were often able to pinpoint a location with total accuracy. And all she really wanted to know was whether Scott was in Seattle or Lydia.

  Jason led them to a large conference room with a long central table. Wheeled office chairs surrounded the table, and a pot of coffee was brewing at a small kitchenette station in one corner. “Can I get you anything?” Jason asked.

  “I’d take some of that coffee as soon as it’s done. Thanks.” She sat next to Linus and placed her phone on the table in front of her.

  A couple more guards entered behind them. One of them had a recording device, and the other fiddled with the settings on her phone.

  “I’ve got the volume all the way up,” he informed Jason. “We’re ready.”

  Jason brought her a steaming mug of coffee.

  Linus leaned closer and whispered. “There’s milk in the fridge.”

  It took Julia just a second to realize there was a small refrigerator under the counter, and to put together the fact that Linus had no doubt watched her pour milk into her coffee several times over the past few days. It was something she did without even thinking about it. But he’d thought about it.

  Touched by his gesture, all she could do was nod.

  Linus hopped up and brought her the milk, along with a mug of coffee for himself. By the time he’d replaced the carton back in the fridge, everyone was seated.

  “We’re ready,” the guard who’d fiddled with her phone explained. “It’s set to speakerphone so everyone can hear the messages.”

  “Okay.” Julia entered her password to retrieve the messages, and Scott’s voice filled the room.

  “Hey, Julia, it’s Scott. I wanted to ask you a couple questions. Can you call me back? Thanks.”

  Her fellow lawyer’s voice sounded casual—almost forcedly casual, but she was so nervous, she might have projected the forced part. She saved the message and proceeded to the next.

  “Julia. It’s Scott. Did you get my message? It’s actually kind of important that I talk to you, preferably soon. It’s, well, it’s complicated. Call me back as soon as you can, and I’ll explain. Thanks.”

  Julia saved the message and the phone proceeded to give the date and time of the message. She wished her phone had offered her a pause-and-absorb-what-you-just-heard option, but it had only offered her delete-and-move-on or save-and-move-on, and she wasn’t about to delete.

  They listened to the message Scott had left moments before, after Julia hadn’t answered her ringing phone. Scott’s voice had a higher pitch this time. He sounded nervous, almost jumpy.

  Almost like Fletcher Pendleton had the last couple of times he’d called her. It sent a foreboding ripple down her spine.

  “Julia, it’s Scott. I need to talk to you, preferably in person. It may be—” he paused, and she could almost hear his anxious swallow “—it may be a matter of life and death. Yours. Mine. I—I think I got in over my head. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. Please call me back as soon as you can. Bye.”

  Julia couldn’t look at the phone any longer. She gulped a little coffee to take the dry lump from her throat, then looked at Linus, hoping he’d know better than she did what to make of Scott’s message.

  Linus met her eyes, but said nothing, only pulled in a long breath.

  Jason leaned forward. “Let’s hear those again.”

  “Do we have to?” Julia realized the moment she spoke the words that they sounded like a plea from a small child, but she felt very small and overwhelmed by what she’d heard—especially the eerie similarity to Fletcher Pendleton’s voice, and Scott’s reference to life and death.

  Scott wanted to meet with her. Fletcher had wanted to meet with her. She’d refused him until it was too late, and now he was dead.

  She reached forward and hit the button to replay the message.

  Scott’s voice hadn’t lost its note of desperation.

  It may be a matter of life and death. Yours. Mine. I—I think I got in over my head. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. Please call me back as soon as you can. Bye.

  Julia pinched her eyes closed and wished the words weren’t real. She opened her eyes to see the guards nodding in agreement around the table.

  “What?” she asked, guessing at what the wordless signal meant and fearing she was right.

  She was.

  Linus confirmed it. “You need to call him back. The sooner you talk to him, the sooner we find out what’s been going on.”

  Julia nodded. Linus was right—she knew it deep in her heart. It would take them forever to sort out Scott’s motive on t
heir own. They’d already admitted to one another that they had very little idea what he was involved in. They might not like what Scott was going to tell them, but at least they’d finally know something.

  One of the guards plugged something into her phone. “This will record the entire conversation and transmit it so the rest of us can hear. We’ll put you in the next room so Scott doesn’t pick up our noises and become suspicious.”

  She followed the guard into the next room, wishing she had some excuse to keep Linus next to her. But no, he needed to be in the room where her conversation was being transmitted, so he could hear everything that was said.

  “There’s a window here.” The guard moved a panel to one side, revealing a clear piece of glass through which she could see the guards sitting at the table. “If you have a question, write on the glass.” He handed her a marker.

  “Okay.” She absorbed everything he’d said and gripped the marker in one hand, her phone in the other.

  “When you’re ready.” The guard nodded and closed the door behind him on the way out.

  Julia looked through the glass, which had a bit of an opaque tinge, so that she could see the guards clearly, and superimposed in front of them, she saw her own reflection.

  She looked frightened. She took a gulp and tried to give herself a reassuring smile.

  From beyond the glass, Linus met her eyes and smiled back.

  That simple gesture reminded her that she wasn’t alone—not really—even if he wasn’t in the same room with her. He was nearby and he would keep her safe. She closed her eyes and called to mind the words of the Psalm he’d recited. My God, I trust in you. Save me from my enemies.

  Julia opened her eyes and looked at Linus again. He had a reflective look on his face, and she was hit with the realization that he seemed to be praying—maybe even praying that very Psalm again for her. At the thought, the tension began to ease from her trembling hands. She could do this.

  She lifted her phone and dialed.