The older man held his hands out to his side as Kendra’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open.
Kendra stared at his weapon for several long seconds before she lifted her eyes to look at his face. Finally, she managed to ask, “What are you doing?”
Before Charlie could answer, the older man spoke. “If I show you my temple recommend, will you promise not to shoot me?”
“Who are you?” Charlie demanded, his eyes an icy blue as he kept his weapon trained on the new arrival.
“Put that gun away!” Kendra insisted. “This is my grandfather.”
Charlie’s posture relaxed slightly, and slowly, he lowered his weapon. “Your grandfather?”
“That’s right.” Kendra’s eyes were wide, her face pale. Then she shook her head in confusion. “Wait a minute. I thought you knew each other.”
“Not exactly,” Charlie started.
Her eyes narrowed, and she pointed at his weapon. “And what are you doing with that thing?”
Charlie glanced down at his gun briefly before he holstered it at the small of his back in a practiced move and tried to ignore the embarrassment that was quickly working its way to the surface. He didn’t answer Kendra, but instead addressed her grandfather. “Sorry. I saw you pull up, and I didn’t want to take any chances, not after everything that’s been going on with Kendra.”
“I can understand that.” He nodded and then extended his hand. “William Blake.”
“Charlie Whitmore.” Charlie shook the older man’s hand. Then he looked over at Kendra and saw that her mind was working through the fact that he and her grandfather clearly hadn’t ever met before. She’d lifted a hand to her heart as though trying to steady its rhythm, and Charlie wondered if her heart could possibly be racing as fast as his was.
Kendra clenched her teeth as though trying to settle her emotions. Then she looked at Charlie, her voice vibrating with fury when she asked, “Who are you?”
A sense of trepidation shot through him when he realized Kendra hadn’t completely understood what he’d tried to tell her a few minutes before. He sent Kendra an apologetic look, his eyes staying on hers as he said bluntly, “I’m FBI.”
“What?” Kendra’s mouth dropped open.
“That’s what I was trying to tell you—” Charlie began.
“You mean, all this time . . . I thought . . .” Kendra trailed off. She shook her head, and color rose to her cheeks. Her expression filled with righteous indignation when she finally managed to form a complete sentence. “You were here because someone paid you to watch over me?”
“It wasn’t like that,” Charlie said weakly, and he shook his head.
Her voice was both frigid and commanding as she held up a hand before he could continue. “Don’t.”
Charlie grasped for words, any words that might erase the look of betrayal on her face. “Kendra, I care about you. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“Ken.” William laid a hand on her arm. “It’s not Charlie’s fault. He was under orders not to tell you who he was.”
“Which makes you as bad as him.” Kendra sent her grandfather a withering stare before turning back to face Charlie. “So the only reason you came here was that I was your latest assignment. You must have thought I was an idiot to believe that it was just some great coincidence that we were here at the same time.”
“That’s not what I thought.” Charlie could almost see the barriers Kendra was putting up between them, and a skittering sense of panic shot through him. “I didn’t want you to think of me as a bodyguard.”
Anger vibrated through her voice. “But that’s what you were, weren’t you?”
“Not exactly.” He raked his fingers through his hair in an impatient gesture. “Let me explain.”
“I don’t need you to explain.” Kendra’s chin lifted, and her eyes cooled.
“Kendra—” Charlie started to apologize, but Kendra stepped back and shook her head before he could cross to her.
Before he could say anything further, another engine sounded outside.
“The road gets cleared, and now it’s like Grand Central Station,” Charlie muttered and moved to the window. He motioned to the man behind the wheel of a late-model SUV pulling up outside. “Do you know this guy?”
William walked to the window, pulled the curtain aside, and looked out. “He looks familiar. I think he’s one of Sterling’s bodyguards.”
“Bruce?” Kendra started to move forward.
“Don’t let him see you,” Charlie warned.
Kendra sent him a withering stare, but she followed his advice and moved to the edge of the window, where she could peek out without being seen. She glanced over at her grandfather and shook her head. “It’s Alan Parsons. My dad must have sent him. Perfect,” Kendra muttered and then turned to face Charlie. “First I find out the FBI’s been spying on me, and now this.”
“Look, you can be mad at me later,” Charlie said with an edge to his voice. “You said Alan was one of your bodyguards. Has he been here before?”
Her mind seemed to clear, and slowly, she shook her head.
William looked at Charlie skeptically. “How do you think he found her?”
“He followed you.”
“Why would he follow Grandpa up here?”
“Your father wants you back home.” William shook his head in disgust. “He’s the one who insisted I check in on you now that the police think the Malibu Stalker might be after you. He must have had this Alan guy follow me.”
“That doesn’t matter right now.” Charlie motioned to the door. “When he knocks, I want you to answer the door and pretend you haven’t seen Kendra. Tell him that she found out you’d assigned a bodyguard to her, and she took off.”
His eyebrows lifted. “You want me to lie?”
“Sir, I’m sorry, but that’s exactly what I want you to do. It’s in your granddaughter’s best interest.”
Charlie watched the older man consider his request. Relief pulsed through him when William turned to Kendra and said, “Kenny, you go back into one of the bedrooms. Let’s make this look believable.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Honey, I just want you to be safe,” her grandfather said softly. Then he jerked a thumb at Charlie. “And like it or not, I agree with Charlie. I certainly trust him a lot more than I do those boys your father keeps around him.”
Kendra let out a frustrated sigh. Then she turned on her heel and stormed into the bedroom. Charlie let out his own sigh of relief when she closed the door with a quiet click rather than slamming it the way he had expected her to. He turned toward the front door and prayed that once the current dilemma was resolved, Kendra would let him explain. He didn’t know what he would do if she refused to forgive him, if she shut him out of her life for good.
Chapter 22
Charlie tried to fight the sick feeling in his stomach as he watched Kendra climb into her grandfather’s truck and slam the door. Alan had left within minutes of his arrival. The moment he was out of sight, Kendra’s grandfather had started closing down the cabin, arranging for a plumber to come fix the broken pipe and packing his granddaughter’s things into his truck. Kendra had remained in her room despite Charlie’s efforts to talk to her through the closed door.
When she’d finally come out nearly an hour later, she’d effectively treated Charlie with icy silence. Now he could only watch as Kendra prepared to drive out of his life without any protection from the Malibu Stalker except the seventy-five-year-old man standing in front of him.
“Sir, I realize that you were FBI, but you’ve got to understand that she needs additional protection,” Charlie said as Kendra’s grandfather finished locking up the cabin.
“I do.” William nodded and then turned to face him. “I also know that we’re both in the doghouse with her right now.”
“You know her better than I do. How do we fix that?” Charlie asked. “Elias has probably told you that we’ve already identified three
suspects, one of whom we haven’t been able to locate. I’m worried.”
He nodded sympathetically. “I’ll keep her close, and I’ll see what I can do to make this right.”
“I appreciate that,” Charlie said. “I was planning on stopping by the store on my way out of town to see if Mrs. Burgess has heard from Jed, but I would like to follow you and make sure you get to Phoenix okay. Would you mind making a quick stop?”
“There’s no need. I already stopped and talked to Eleanor on my way up here. She still hasn’t heard from Jed.”
“Is there anything else I can do to help?”
“Call Elias, and tell him I want a car outside my house. That will have to do until I can convince Kendra to let the FBI give her some help,” William told him. “She may stay mad at me for a while, but I think my wife can talk some sense into her.”
Charlie let out the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “I hope so.” He dug his wallet out of his pocket and slid a business card free. “Here’s my number. Please call me if there’s anything else I can do.”
William nodded. Then he stuffed the card into his pocket, walked over to his truck, and climbed in. Seconds later, the engine roared to life, and all Charlie could do was follow and hope that eventually Kendra would forgive him.
* * *
Kendra peered out the window to see the black sedan parked across the street. “The car’s still there.” She shook her head and turned to face her grandmother. “I can’t believe Charlie and Grandpa did that to me.”
Hannah Blake looked up at Kendra, her fingers steadily manipulating yarn and knitting needles. Her serene face was still largely without wrinkles, and her green eyes were nearly the same shade as Kendra’s. “I’m sure they’re only thinking about your safety.”
“That’s all anybody ever thinks about.” Kendra huffed out a breath and dropped onto the couch beside her grandmother. “But nobody ever thinks about my life or the fact that no one ever lets me live it.”
“I know it’s hard, sweetie.” She patted Kendra’s knee and gave her an understanding look. “But from what your grandfather said, it seems they have reason to worry.”
“Just like Daddy always had a reason to worry.” Kendra rolled her eyes and settled back on the couch, letting her head drop back.
“But this is different,” Hannah said gently. “This time there could be a real threat.”
Kendra felt the fear curl in her stomach. “I keep hoping that Grandpa and Charlie are wrong.”
“You already know that they aren’t. I know that you don’t want to hear this, but you need to let Grandpa’s friends help you.” When Kendra didn’t respond, Hannah studied her intently. “What’s bothering you the most? That this boy lied to you or that you believed him?”
“I was with him for eight days straight, and not once did I suspect his reasons for being there. I didn’t just believe him,” she said, misery filling her voice. She turned to face her grandmother and felt the tears well up in her eyes. “I really liked him.”
“I see.” Hannah looked at her in that understanding way of hers. “Did he like you?”
“I thought he did.”
“But now you aren’t so sure.”
She shook her head. “Now I don’t know what to believe. For all I know, everything was just a big act on his part.”
“Seems to me that he was just trying to protect you.”
Kendra shifted and faced her grandmother more fully. “Are you defending him?”
“I’m not defending anyone.” She reached over and gave Kendra’s knee another comforting squeeze. “But I want you safe. If Charlie Whitmore can keep you that way, maybe you should put your personal feelings aside for now.”
“I don’t know if I can.”
* * *
Charlie read through the Zack Prescott interview and the background information that followed it. With several witnesses corroborating his whereabouts, the investigating officer believed that he could not have been responsible for setting the explosives at either Joslyn Korden’s photo shoot or Kendra’s concert unless he had somehow utilized a timing device. With the forensics reports still incomplete from the concert, LAPD had decided to err on the side of safety and had dispatched a surveillance detail to monitor Prescott’s movements until they could rule him out conclusively.
Jed Burgess still hadn’t been picked up, but Charlie was hoping that he would return home soon, now that the power was restored. Until then, Charlie hoped Kendra would tolerate the agent parked across the street from her grandparents’ house.
He hated how things had ended between them and that he had been unable to soften the truth when he’d admitted he was with the FBI. He thought of the look on her face when the truth had sunk in. Accusation. Betrayal. Hurt. All the emotions he had hoped to avoid but somehow had known were inevitable.
He’d tried to talk to her after he followed her from Pinewood to her grandparents’ house, but she’d disappeared inside the moment her grandfather had put his truck in park. Charlie had been left with no other option but to let one of his fellow agents take over protection duty.
For the past two days, it had taken every ounce of willpower he had to keep from driving past her grandparents’ house. He wasn’t sure he could hold out much longer.
“Charlie.” Elias stepped into his cubicle and waited for Charlie to look up before he continued. “Go home and pack. You’re going out on assignment.”
“What?” Charlie stared at him. “I thought you wanted me to get caught up on the Malibu Stalker case.”
“You can take all of that with you,” Elias told him. “As of now, you’re back on protection detail for Kendra Blake.”
“What?”
“I just got a call from her grandfather. Kendra has agreed to let us protect her.”
“Really?” Charlie asked.
“That’s right. I’ve got you set up in a safe house nearby,” Elias told him. “I have two agents taking her over there now.”
Charlie nodded, trying to ignore the anticipation dancing in his stomach. He wondered what had changed Kendra’s mind about accepting protection, and he had the distinct impression that her grandparents were largely responsible for her change of heart. He tried to push those thoughts aside and concentrate on the case. “Any news about Jed Burgess?”
“Nothing yet,” Elias said. “Don’t worry. We’ll keep you in the loop.”
“I’d appreciate it.” Charlie stood and began packing up the files on his desk. Then he glanced back up at Elias. “How long are you planning on keeping Kendra at the safe house?”
“She agreed to one month.”
“A month?” Charlie considered this, not sure what he had expected. Then reality hit full force. “Wait a minute. Are you expecting me to live there with her that whole time?”
“That’s exactly what I expect. It will be more secure if we don’t have a bunch of agents rotating through there. We’ll work this case the best we can for the month she gave us. If we haven’t caught the stalker before the month is up, all we can do is offer to help her however we can in setting up her own private security detail.”
“Who else is on the detail with me?”
“We’re stretched pretty thin right now, so it’s only going to be you in the house during the day,” he said. “Ray Underwood has volunteered to spend the nights over there with you, and he’ll be bringing in your supplies.”
“What about backup?”
“We’ve got it covered. The safe house is on a private road with only one way in, and there’s a police station near the entrance. Our tech guys have already tapped into their security cameras to monitor the traffic going into the neighborhood.”
“Is that really going to help? We aren’t even sure who we’re looking for.”
“There are only six houses on that street, and we’ve already got a pretty good handle on who goes in and out of there. I’ve also assigned Angie Boyter to canvas the area for the first few days just to be s
afe.”
“Thanks,” Charlie muttered. He shuffled the files into his briefcase and clicked it shut. “I guess I’ll see you later.”
Elias nodded. “We’ll get this guy, Charlie. It’s only a matter of time.”
Chapter 23
The feds thought they were closing in. They thought they could keep Kendra hidden from him. They were fools. Kendra would never stay secluded for long, even if she wanted to.
Already, his patience had paid off. He had been meticulous in his search for her, carefully taking the time to check out each of the locations she could have gone to stay out of the public eye, and now he knew exactly where she was. He knew if he waited long enough, he would get the chance to see her again.
Predictably, the fed parked down the street hadn’t moved for the past two days. The men sitting inside the car changed every few hours, but the car or one just like it remained in place. He wondered if the FBI agents inside understood how pathetically obvious their stakeout was.
He supposed he should take pity on them. He knew what they looked like, how they thought. They, however, didn’t have a clue what drove him. They couldn’t possibly know how clever he was, how determined. It was only a matter of time before the feds gave up this fruitless effort of waiting for him outside Kendra’s latest hiding place. If they didn’t, he would give them something else to worry about, some other substitute.
When a silver sedan approached, he glanced down at his watch. The replacement was two hours early. Curious, he shifted in his seat and adjusted the binoculars that allowed him to see his target from a safe distance. An unexpected wave of anxiety crested when the two agents got out of their respective cars and approached the house where Kendra was hiding. It couldn’t be . . .
His jaw clenched, and fury bubbled up inside him when Kendra walked out, flanked by the two men in dark suits. If they thought they could take her away from him, they were sadly mistaken.
He watched as Kendra got into the car and the two men loaded suitcases and Kendra’s guitar into the trunk. Then they got back into their identical cars, as though using a decoy was a clever enough ploy to confuse him. He memorized the license plate number of the car Kendra was in and then waited as both vehicles pulled away from the house.
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