The Baker's Bodyguard

by Lori Ryan

  The Baker’s Bodyguard

  A Sutton Capital Series Novella

  Although this novella can be read as a standalone book, if you plan to read books one and two of the Sutton Capital Series, there will be some spoilers in here so you may want to read them first. They can be purchased at http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00CFUKD1E.

  Copyright 2013, Cara Shannon published at Smashwords. All rights reserved.

  This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter One

  Jessica Bradley stared at herself in the mirror, hating what she saw looking back at her. In the past nine months since her sister, Kelly, had been kidnapped, Jesse had become a frightened, anxiety-ridden mess. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t been the one to be kidnapped. It didn’t matter that Kelly had been rescued and was now safe. It didn’t matter that Jesse had played a role in bringing Kelly home.

  So slowly she’d scarcely noticed it, Jesse had stopped leaving the house unless she was with someone else. She wasn’t agoraphobic. She left the house – just not alone. At first, she hadn’t realized she was acting differently. She had nightmares, reliving the terrifying day when they knew Kelly had been taken but didn’t know why; reliving the agonizing moment when they realized Kelly had been taken by people who intended to sell her in a human trafficking ring. That there would be no ransom.

  Then Jesse began to have flashes of anxiety when a stranger approached to ask her the time, or someone bumped into her in the line at the coffee store. She gradually began to commute to work with her dad, citing savings in gas and convincing him to drive five minutes past his office to drop her off at the bakery where she worked. She only went out with friends if they could pick her up and take her home afterward, so she wouldn’t have to be alone at any time.

  And tonight, when she’d momentarily lost her friends in a large dance club, she’d had such a panic attack she thought she was going to crawl under the table and hide. If her friend, Sarah, hadn’t come back when she did, Jesse is fairly sure she would have either thrown up or begun to cry.

  The whole thing made Jesse feel so...so...just, stupid, really. And humiliated. How could she tell anyone what was going on without people thinking she was a first-class idiot?

  It wasn’t you they took!

  Jesse wanted to scream at herself. I have no right to be so scared, so affected by this, she thought as she looked in the mirror.

  This cowardly, quiet person wasn’t her at all. Jesse had always been friendly and outgoing. She’d invariably been the kind of person you could count on when you needed help with something. When a friend was going through a hard time, she’d be the one holding their hand, cheering them on. She was bubbly and fun, and she’d finally had a direction in her life. She was active and friendly and went after what she wanted in life. Until now.

  Jesse had gotten her undergrad degree in business administration from the University of Connecticut, but then hadn’t really been happy with the work she was doing after graduation. She didn’t do well stuck in an office day after day. A year before Kelly’s kidnapping, she’d gone home to live with her parents so she could follow her passion. She wanted to bake. Not just bake – she wanted to create. To make people swoon when they took a bite of one of her desserts.

  She’d gotten an entry-level job in a bakery, helping in the mornings with the baking and then working the counter in the afternoon. She’d applied to a pastry chef program in New York City, and had been all set to start before the kidnapping. The combination of that program with her undergrad meant she could start her own bakery.

  But then Kelly was taken, and Jesse deferred her acceptance – twice.

  Jesse heard a light tapping on the door and her mother’s voice.

  “Are you still up, honey?” her mother asked through the door.

  Jesse wanted to remain silent and pretend to be asleep, but the light was on.

  “Yeah, Mom. I’m up,” she said as she opened the door.

  Her mother looked at her with those eyes that saw too much, knew too much. “Are you all right, Jess? You seemed upset when you came in tonight.”

  “I’m fine, Mom.” Jesse pasted a smile on her face, but even she knew it was a weak one. “I’m just tired. I probably shouldn’t have gone out tonight at all.”

  Her mother looked at her a beat too long before saying goodnight. Jesse knew her mother had begun to notice the patterns. The way Jesse made an excuse to stay home if she weren’t able to drive with someone. The way she never took the bus anywhere anymore or went out for runs like she used to. The only problem was, Jesse didn’t know what to do to fix the problem, and she didn’t know how to tell her mom and dad what was going on.

  Jesse closed the door and pulled back the covers on her bed. She opened her closet door and looked to be sure no one was inside. Tears began to stream down her face as she went through the ritual that let her sleep at night. She opened the bathroom door and pulled the shower curtain aside. Empty.

  Jesse left the bathroom light on and the door ajar. She pulled the bed skirt up from the floor and bent to look under the bed. Nothing there. She curled up in bed and shut off the lamp. And she cried.

  Chapter Two

  Jack Sutton sat at his desk looking over reports from one of the fledgling businesses his company had funded. They were on track and meeting expectations so far, but Jack would keep a close eye on things to be sure everything stayed that way. Investing in new enterprises – as opposed to providing money for growth or expansion – was always risky. New businesses had a high rate of failure, and if the business failed, so did Jack and the investors who counted on him.

  The intercom on Jack’s desk buzzed, and his receptionist’s voice came through the line.

  “Jack, your mother-in-law is here to see you. Can I send her in?”

  Jack frowned. Betty never visited him at the office.

  “Yes. Is she all right? Is something wrong?”

  “She says she’s fine. She just needs a minute.”

  Jack didn’t answer. He was already at the door to his office, pulling it open to get to Betty Bradley, his wife’s mother and a woman he’d grown incredibly close to in the past year.

  “Mom, is everything okay?” Jack asked as he crossed the lobby to meet Betty halfway.

  “It’s fine, Jack. I’m sorry to drop in unannounced like this and worry you. I just wanted to talk to you without bothering Kelly. Do you have a minute?”

  Jack smiled as he led Betty into his office. “Always, Mom, you know that.”

  Jack had lost his own mom before Kelly and he met, and Kelly’s mom had become as much a mother to him as his own had been. He’d been amazed at how readily she’d taken him in as one of her own, and how easily he’d felt a part of Kelly’s family.

  They sat on the couch along one wall of Jack’s office.

  “Can I get you anything? Do you want some coffee or water?” />
  Kelly’s mom shook her head, and Jack could see there was more to this visit than she was letting on. She was worried about something.

  “What is it, Mom? What’s wrong?” Jack asked gently.

  “It’s Jesse. I don’t want Kelly to worry, but I don’t know what to do, Jack. I don’t know how to help her.”

  Jack leaned toward Betty, his arms resting on his knees as he listened.

  “What’s happening with Jesse? We just saw her the other day, and she seemed fine.”

  “That’s just it. She’s okay when she’s with one of us or when she’s at home. The changes are so subtle it took me a long time to notice it. Too long. I should have seen what was happening right after Kelly was taken, but the truth is, I was so caught up in making sure Kelly was okay, I think Jesse slipped through the cracks,” Betty said, her face a mask of guilt.

  “Tell me what changes you mean.” Jack was confused. He’d seen Jesse almost weekly now that Kelly was pregnant. She might be a bit more subdued at times than she was when he’d first met her—

  No, wait. Now that he thought about it, she was a lot more subdued than she normally was. Jack frowned. How had he missed that?

  “I think she was more affected by Kelly’s...by the incident than we realized.” Jack knew Kelly’s mom didn’t like to talk about the kidnapping. She often just called it “that time” or “the incident” rather than saying the ‘k’ word. Jack could understand. It was hard for all of them to deal with the fear they felt that day. Jack just wasn’t a person to hide from things, so he called it what it was and didn’t pussyfoot around it.

  “I think we all were. I mean, hell, I didn’t sleep the same for a long time after we got her back. I’d imagine Jesse had a hard time, too, but I guess I never thought to ask her. You think she’s still struggling with it?” Jack asked.

  “Jack, I don’t think she’s dealt with it at all. It took me a while to figure out what was going on. Jesse doesn’t leave the house without one of us or a friend with her. Last week, one of her friends was supposed to pick her up for a lunch date with a group she hadn’t seen in a long time. I know she was looking forward to seeing the girls. They were people she went to school with. Her friend called at the last minute and said she couldn’t get her and asked if she could drive over herself. Jesse backed out. She said she decided she was too tired from work the day before, but that’s not true, Jack. I saw the panic. She didn’t want to go by herself.

  She came home from a club with some friends the other night, and I could tell she was upset. She told me she was just tired. I called her friend the next day and asked if something had happened. She told me she came back to their table to find Jesse alone and in a complete panic. She said Jesse looked terrified. But, Jesse told her she wasn’t feeling well, and her friend brought her home early. She’s trying to hide it, but I think something’s wrong, Jack.”

  Jack felt horrible. “I never even thought to make sure Jesse was okay. Kelly saw a counselor, and she’s in a support group. She had a bodyguard with her for a long time until she felt safe going out alone. Honestly, I still have someone tail her from a distance, but that’s for my sake, not hers. I was a wreck every time she left the house alone after Zach stopped going with her. Looking back, it makes sense that Jesse would have had trouble dealing with it. I’m so sorry we didn’t think about that, Betty.”

  Jack was a man to jump in and fix things. He believed there was always a solution, and he didn’t sit back to wait for someone else to solve problems.

  “Is Jesse still working at the bakery?” Jack asked.

  “Yes. In fact, that’s another thing. That job was supposed to be temporary. She wanted to get some experience before she went to pastry school, but she seems to have abandoned that dream. She seems content now to follow someone else’s recipes in someone else’s bakery. That’s not Jesse at all. She was meant to be making her own recipes, finding her own way, not following someone else. She hasn’t talked about pastry school in ages.”

  “What school was she supposed to go to?” The beginnings of an idea were starting to come together in Jack’s head. He just needed to figure out all the pieces.

  “The International Culinary Academy in New York. She’s deferred twice. She should be starting in two weeks but she never confirmed her registration, and I think her acceptance has probably lapsed now.”

  Jack kissed Betty on the cheek. “Don’t worry. I’ve got a plan. I’ll talk to Jesse when we come to dinner Sunday. The bodyguard we used for Kelly, Zach Harris, also focuses on recovery by working with crisis counselors and teaching self-defense. Then he gradually eases people back into their day-to-day lives. I’ll call him and get his help on this. I’ll see you guys Sunday, okay?”

  Betty smiled at Jack and hugged him. “My Kelly got so lucky the day she met you, Jack.”

  Jack just laughed. He knew he was the lucky one.

  Chapter Three

  Jesse loved Sunday dinners at her parents’ house. Her brothers, Liam and David, came over whenever they weren’t traveling for work. It was always funny to see her mom grill them about whom they were dating and when they’d settle down.

  Jack and Kelly came almost every week now, too. Jesse loved seeing them and couldn’t wait for their baby to be born. Sundays were the time she felt the safest now. Surrounded by her family in her parents’ home. On Sundays, she felt as if she could breathe again.

  Jesse was rolling up the last of her knotted garlic rolls for dinner when she heard the front door open and her mother’s voice mingling with those of Kelly and Jack. Minutes later, the kitchen was full as the family gathered. Jesse popped the sheet of rolls in the oven as she let the chatter and laughter surround her like a comfy blanket.

  She was surprised when her brother-in-law suddenly singled her out.

  “Hey, Jess. You got a minute? I have an idea I want to talk to you about,” Jack said, drawing looks from everyone around him. Except her mother, Jesse noticed. Her mother was carefully looking anywhere in the room other than at Jack and Jesse.

  Jesse swallowed her annoyance with her mother and followed Jack out to the back porch.

  “What’s up?” Jesse sat on one gliding rocker while Jack took the other.

  “I have a proposition for you, Jess. There’s a little convenience store in the bottom of the Sutton Capital office building. They sell papers, coffee, bagels, things like that. The same guy has been running it for years, but he and his wife are ready to retire. I need to find someone new to run it, but I have a better idea if you’ll help me.”

  Jesse narrowed her eyes at Jack. “Why do you need to find someone?”

  “I own the building,” Jack said so simply he made Jesse laugh.

  “Of course you do. I forgot who I was dealing with.”

  Jack smiled. “It was a good investment. Sutton uses the top three floors, and we lease out the rest of the space to other companies.”

  “Okay,” Jess smiled at her brother-in-law. “But what does that have to do with me?”

  “I want to turn the convenience store into a bakery. There’s a little room to expand it, and we can knock out the outer wall that faces the street and put in a glass front and door to open it up to street traffic as well. I was thinking baked goods and coffee in the morning—”

  Before he could finish, Jesse took over. “Paninis and sandwiches for lunch.”

  “Exactly,” said Jack with a smile.

  “Oh. Okay. Well, I can help you find someone, I guess. I’ll see if my boss knows any pastry chefs in the area looking for work,” Jesse said.

  She would kill for the job herself, but she still hadn’t gone to school to cap off the experience she’d gotten at her job at the bakery. Not to mention, taking this on would mean driving herself there alone every day, and working alone while she got the bakery set up and running. Even after it got to the point of needing employees, it would likely mean several hours a day when she was there without anyone else. She’d have to work before and
after hours getting the pastries and breads baked, decorating cakes and cookies, running the books.

  Jesse blinked back tears as she tried to swallow the pain. Why couldn’t she just get over this damn fear and get back out in the world? If she could only get past her anxiety, she would have been able to ask Jack to at least let her work there as an assistant baker and help get things started. If it weren’t for this fear, she would have finished her training at the Culinary Academy several months ago. She could have run the whole project for Jack.

  Jack pulled Jesse from her thoughts. “No, Jess,” Jack laughed. “I want you to run it. I’ll put up the money for the renovations and get things ready for you while you’re in New York at the Academy. I checked with them, and they still have space for you to start in two weeks. The build-out will take a while so it won’t be a problem to wait for you to get back.”

  Oh no. How do I tell Jack I’m too afraid to go to school or live alone, much less go to New York?

  Before Jesse could figure out how to say no without telling Jack the humiliating truth, Jack reached over and took her hand and squeezed.

  “I won’t send you alone, Jess. Remember Zach? Kelly’s bodyguard after the kidnapping? I spoke with him, and he’s all set to go with you. You’ll have a suite of rooms at one of Gabe Sawyer’s hotels so Zach can stay with you, but you’ll still have privacy.” Jack’s friend Gabe Sawyer owned a string of hotels across the country.

  Jesse swallowed. Jack was speaking so gently – he had to know.

  “Jess, it’s okay. The kidnapping was hard on all of us. We should have seen that something wasn’t right a lot sooner than this. I’m so sorry we didn’t help you earlier.”

  Jesse felt tears start to stream down her cheeks. She couldn’t speak past the lump in her throat, but she didn’t need to. Jack kept speaking quietly.