Secret Bodyguard

by Lori Crawford

  “But you came to me. Why, when there’re all those other options?”

  “Just remember,” she said, naming the song for which she’d prepared the routine. At last, she was back to her cover. “It’s amazing. And I can add a new dimension to it.”

  “That’s the first song I ever wrote.”

  Erica looked at him over her shoulder, surprised. “But it’s just now coming out.”

  “The timing was just never right. And of course, I’ve matured quite a bit since I was twelve. That helped, too.”

  “You wrote it when you were twelve? Wow.”

  “No different than your swimming. How old were you when you started?”

  Erica smiled at the memory. “Four. Point taken. Still, it’s a very grown up song. Very poignant, with an edge of danger.”

  “I reworked the lyrics last year. But the melody is still the same.” He hummed a few bars. “My dad had this old tractor. That’s the sound it made whenever it was about to throw a belt. One day, Adam was riding along with Dad and they lost the belt. Dad held onto Adam and they jumped off just before the tractor toppled into a creek.”

  “Hence the danger.”

  “Hence the danger.” Trevor shifted around then relaxed again.

  “What were the original lyrics?”

  Trevor laughed and shook his head. “Oh no. It’s not appropriate for mixed company.”

  “You can’t just leave a girl hanging like that.”

  “Oh yes. I can.” Trevor tapped her headpiece. “What about you? Did you ever dream of swimming in the Olympics?”

  All the playfulness drained from Erica. She knew Trevor felt her tense because he had to shift, too. She’d had no plans to talk about her botched Olympic career.

  “What girl didn’t?”

  Trevor would have to be an oblivious boob to not hear sadness echoing in her voice. He wondered if she’d even realized it was there. She’d infused her tone with flippancy, but it was obvious that something had cut her deep. He should be polite and not push, but he found he really wanted to know. He wanted to understand what made her tick. His instincts told him that this was a big part of what made her into the woman she was today.

  “Did you try out for the team?”

  “Yep.”

  “So you didn’t make it? I’m sure lots of people didn’t make it.” Trevor tried to be helpful and understanding.

  She barked a humorless laugh. “You’re right. Two hundred and thirty six didn’t make it that year.”

  “There’s no shame in that.”

  “I was one of the sixteen who did.”

  Trevor’s eyebrows almost disappeared under his hairline when surprise coursed through him. He had an Olympic swimmer in his arms. Go figure. His brows made the return journey when he frowned. She didn’t sound very happy about her accomplishment. He remembered the cramp.

  “Did you get hurt?”

  Erica heard the concern in his voice and rushed to reassure him. “Nothing like that.” Staring into the flickering fire with his arms tightly around her, Erica found that thinking about her brief Olympic bout wasn’t so bad. Maybe she could talk about it. She’d have to leave out necessary details to keep her cover, but she found she wanted to give it a try. Maybe that would be the key to letting it go.

  “I was unavoidably detained and missed an event. Needless to say, I’m not very well liked in the synchro community.”

  “This was what? Two, three years ago? I’m sure they’ll get over it.”

  Erica laughed and shook her head. She’d stayed behind to take a separate flight home. When she’d gone by to apologize to her duet partner two weeks later, she’d thrown a tantrum and slapped her. Stunned, Erica had just stood there dumbfounded long after the woman had slammed the door in her face. The next day, she’d gotten her invitation for the team party. It included a warning for her not to come. That had been from their coach. It had been hard to go from darling to pariah overnight.

  For her, none of the options she’d mentioned to Trevor were available. So when Trecam began to woo her into working for them, she’d gone with no hesitation. The assignments she’d had turned out to be a pretty good substitute for the swimming high she missed. Although, they were a little too infrequent. Still, they sufficed. As an added bonus, it was nice to be liked again.

  Remembering Trevor’s question, Erica confirmed, “Ten, actually.”

  “And they’re not over it, yet? I say good riddance.”

  Erica shrugged. A whole lot easier said than done. Especially when you had to say good-bye to everyone you’d ever known in your life. She couldn’t say she blamed them. They might have forgiven her if she’d been able to explain that she’d stumbled upon a bomb and had to remain immobile to keep from detonating it in the stadium. She remembered how surreal everything was while four Interpol agents had squirreled her away from the populated area and diffused the bomb.

  During those four long hours, she’d made friends with the bomb techs. Not to mention gotten her first taste of the adrenaline high produced by danger. Unofficially, they’d let her help track down the culprit. Her role became more official when the evidence led back to the synchro world.

  “Yes. Good riddance.”

  Trevor could still hear the deep sadness in her voice. Hating that he’d been the one to bring up such unpleasant memories for her, he did what he did best. He sang the original lyrics of Just Remember for her.

  “Is that …?” she asked then settled in to listen.

  He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been nervous singing for someone. But all of a sudden, he was. When she giggled at his naughty twelve year old boy logic, Trevor was glad he’d shared this with her. For the next few hours, they shared so many stories and laughs that by the time they both dropped off to sleep in the wee morning hours they were good friends.

  Chapter Six

  Trevor woke with a start. The first thing he noticed was that he was alone. The second was that his entire body was aching like he’d gone at least four rounds with the heavyweight champion of the world. He decided to ignore the aches and stood with care. Each joint creaked with every one of his thirty years, but he ignored that, too. Carrying her coat that was still draped around him, he stepped past the burnt out fire and outside the cave entrance to look for Erica.

  The gusty wind chilled him to the bone in moments. He could just imagine how cold Erica must be since she’d been wearing a whole lot less than his own polo shirt and khakis. He ventured a few feet to one side of the cave. He hoped he wouldn’t be interrupting any private moment she’d been trying to have. In fact, he needed one himself.

  After handling his business he continued his search. He didn’t want to get too far from the cave because he wasn’t sure he could find his way back. He wanted to be there when she returned. That was the logical side of his brain. The worried side had his feet venturing to the other side to see if she were there. She wasn’t.

  Trying to shut the worry down, Trevor ran the conversation they’d had the night before back through his mind. He couldn’t remember ever having talked to a woman for so long and enjoying it. In fact, he never talked to people that way outside of his family and Cam. Go figure. But what amazed him was his gentlemanly behavior. If his muscles were less achy, he’d have reached around and patted himself on the back for his willpower. He’d held her all night and not made a move. Not that he hadn’t wanted to. He’d lost count of the times he’d woken up ready for her until pure exhaustion had settled in. She’d seemed to sleep through his restlessness. Good thing, too. If she’d moved even the slightest bit, he knew his restraint would’ve flown right out the window.

  Speaking of restraint, he was having a hard time keeping his worry in check. He wasn’t sure how long she’d been gone, but he was starting to imagine all sorts of horrible things happening to her. He looked down the rock beach he figured they’d crossed the night before and saw nothing. He looked down the rest of the beach, but it was empty. He was just about to yell
her name when he heard a scrabbling from overhead.

  He looked up in time to see Erica easing her way down a steep vegetation-grown hill. He’d admired the view of long shapely legs exposed from mid-calf to hip until he saw a long scratch on one. It looked too fresh for her to have gotten last night. He admitted to himself that since she’d known him, she’d taken a pretty good battering.

  “Where on earth have you been?” She dropped to the ground beside him, and he noticed that some of the leaves he’d guessed she was climbing through were attached to her. He fingered one and cocked an eyebrow. “Nice fashion statement.”

  She shrugged his amusement off. “They protect the suit. I hope.” She spared a glance for the front of her costume then held up leafy bundle and grinned. “Breakfast.”

  He took the leaves from her and opened them. To his surprise, four six inch fish were nestled inside. He looked back at her, but she was already hurrying back inside the cave. Trevor followed.

  “Where’d you get these?”

  Erica knelt by the makeshift fire pit and worked to get it going again. “There weren’t any offshore so I went inland and found a stream.” She grinned up at him once an ember caught. “I don’t even like fish, but I’m gonna enjoy those babies.”

  Trevor set the fish down next to her and touched the scratch on the back of her thigh. “Where’d this come from?”

  Erica looked at her leg in surprise. “Hmmm,” was all she said and continued to stoke the fire.

  “That’s all you have to say. Hmmm?” Trevor sprung up and hit his head on the cave ceiling. He crouched back down. Erica went to his side to check the injury.

  “You okay?”

  Trevor smacked her hands away. “Stop changing the subject. Anything could’ve happened to you out there.” He gestured to her leg. “That could get infected, and you could die. We don’t know how long we’re going to be here.”

  Erica sat back and contemplated Trevor. How cute! He was mad at her because she’d worried him. She figured now would be a good time to tell him. Wanting to test out her memory, she’d gone exploring at first light. Good thing, because as it turned out, her memory had been fuzzy and it had taken her a while to find the road that led to a ranger’s post. She marked the trail back so she’d be able to follow it with ease once she had Trevor in tow. It was on the way back that she’d discovered the stream and fish. Figuring the trek would be easier with something in their stomachs, she’d caught a few. “We’ll be home, today.”

  Trevor stopped rubbing his head and stared at her surprised. “Today?”

  “I found a road when I was fishing.” He didn’t need all the details. “Where there’s a road, there has to be civilization.” She looked at the fish. Handed them to Trevor. “You know how to clean these?”

  He looked at the fish then at her like she’d just asked the stupidest question on the planet. “I grew up on a ranch. Of course I know how to clean them. But why? We should head for the road instead of wasting time with this.”

  Erica shook her head. “We don’t know how long it’ll take us to find somebody. We may need the energy.”

  “But it could be right over a hill or something.”

  She wasn’t wasting time arguing over this. Erica shrugged and took the fish outside herself. Still rubbing his head, Trevor followed.

  “What are you doing?”

  “If you won’t clean them, I will.” She pulled out her switchblade and knelt by the surf. Trevor was startled by the knife’s appearance for a small moment. What irked him more was her ‘I’m in charge attitude. He’d all but shaken the idea that she was his bodyguard and this wasn’t helping her case. He didn’t care how cute she was, he was never good at taking orders.

  He squared his shoulders when he looked down at her. “That’s not how you do it,” was his haughty announcement. He took the fish and the knife and cleaned it with very little effort.

  Erica kissed his cheek and headed back inside the cave. He watched her go and wished she’d come back. No. Trevor was glad she was gone. Because he was blushing to the roots of his hair. She didn’t need to see the evidence of what she’d done to him.

  Six hours later and running on empty, Erica and Trevor trudged along the road. She looked in dismay at the setting sun and prayed that they’d gone the right way. Her memory was shaky, but she’d believed the shortest route was to head north. Except, it was possible that the road was leading them on a winding route around the island and they were wasting time and energy traveling out of their way.

  “How ya doin’?” She looked over at Trevor. He did look the worse for wear. Still, he hadn’t complained once and continued to put one foot in front of the other. Nor had he questioned her. For that, she was very grateful, because she had no answers to give him.

  “I wouldn’t mind another couple of fish. Even ones you cooked.”

  “Smarty.” Erica made a face at him, glad their camaraderie not only lasted into the day, but that it seemed to have strengthened. Though truth be told, she wouldn’t mind some of her cooking either. When she’d managed to almost decimate the first two instead of cooking them, Trevor took over the task. His cooked to perfection. Still, he’d eaten the other one too. She’d followed his lead.

  Now, after trekking across the island, they were both famished and exhausted. Trevor’s steps slowed to a halt. Erica stopped beside him. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was happy for the reprieve.

  “I don’t think I can go much further.” Trevor bent over, hands on his knees and sucked in air. “How many miles have we gone?”

  Erica looked back down the road. Down being the operative word. They’d been traveling uphill since they’d started out. Gravity was wearing on them both. “About nine.” She rubbed his back. “We should get as far as we can before we lose the daylight. We should find someone soon.”

  “You said that at least three hours ago.”

  “Well then, we’re three hours closer.”

  Trevor shot her an irritated look, but stood and they started off again. “There’s a word for people like you.”

  “’Optimist?’” Erica summoned up the energy to give him a smile.

  “No. ‘Lunatic.’” Trevor softened his comment with a playful nudge to her arm. Erica stopped dead in her tracks. Trevor halted beside her. A full smile bloomed on her face, and she pointed.

  “How about ‘right?’”

  Trevor followed her finger with his eyes. His body sagged with relief when he saw the roof of a structure ahead. With a joyful shout, he picked Erica up and swung her around in celebration. With renewed energy they hurried toward the building.

  That last mile was the quickest of the entire trek. Before they knew it, they were entering a tiny parking lot adjacent to the small ranger station. Erica was a little worried that there were no vehicles in the lot, but lights were on inside, so someone had to be around. If not, they’d at least be able to call somebody. Worst case scenario, they’d have a roof over their heads for the night.

  Her idle speculation came to an abrupt end when the door was yanked open and a young ranger came barreling out, gun in hand.

  “It’s you!” he said running up on them.

  Not stopping to think twice, Erica had him disarmed and on the ground before the poor guy knew what was what. She handed the gun to Trevor who took it without a word; the betrayal in his eyes spoke volumes. So much for convincing him that she wasn’t his bodyguard.

  “Hey! Lemme up! You can’t do this. I’m an officer of the federal government!” The guy squirmed under Erica’s weight.

  “Last I checked “federal officers” didn’t go about brandishing weapons in civilians’ faces.”

  “Brandish … I was cleaning my gun. I saw you and Mr. Cole … We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

  “That’s enough, Erica.” Trevor’s stern command had her looking up at him in surprise. After another moment, she helped the hapless ranger up. When she saw his face, she was startled to note that he was ju
st a kid. Just out of his teens, she’d wager.

  Trevor moved to hand the weapon back to him, but Erica intercepted it. Trevor glared at her. She didn’t back down from his silent challenge. Stared him down as she asked, “Who are you?”

  “Ranger Watson. Jonny Watson at your service, ma’am.”

  The “ma’am” had her refocusing on the kid. She didn’t have one foot in the grave. At her look, he backed a step away from her.

  “Don’t they teach you in Ranger School not to run at people with a gun unless you’re planning to use it?”

  “No … I mean … I was just excited. All the guys are out looking for Mr. Cole’s body. I wanted to go, too, ‘cause I’m a huge fan, but George said no. But I get the last laugh. Not only are you not dead, but you came to me. Let’s see them not respect me now!”

  Figuring the kid was more danger to himself than them, Erica handed the gun back. Still, she checked the chamber first. She figured the cat was pretty well out of the bag so she didn’t bother to hide her expertise from Trevor. Jonny pulled a stained cloth from his pocket and nervously began to polish the gun. He stared at Trevor the whole time, stupid grin on his face.

  “Ranger Watson. Might we go inside? It’s been a long day,” Trevor suggested. His calm tone did nothing to disguise his anger that she’d lied to him. If she needed her suspicions to be confirmed, they were when he followed Jonny inside the building without so much as a backward glance, never mind the usual chivalry that had accompanied them thus far. Erica searched her mind for a way to salvage this. She knew it could be done. She just wasn’t sure how.

  After Jonny called the team to report their appearance, he kept up a steady stream of chatter with Trevor sparing Erica from having to answer his immediate questions. Erica could tell the younger man figured himself to now be a close personal friend of Trevor Cole. All the while, Trevor would nod and give polite smiles except when he took time out to glare at her behind Jonny’s back.