by Kayla Myles
She opened her mouth wide and bit Alfonso’s arm hard, making him wail in pain and taking his hands off of her. I fired my gun but missed, and Alfonso started to walk backwards toward the ledge.
“Watch out!” I screamed, but it was too late. He fell off of, but not before gripping Beth’s ankle and then pulling her with him as he started to slide down the outer part of the ledge. I dove for the kid and miraculously caught her hand, keeping her from falling, but I started to slide off the ledge myself. I saw Alfonso lose his grip on Beth’s foot and the outer ledge, and he yelled as he slid down the rest of the ledge and fell to the ground with a resounding crack.
“Hang on, kid! I’ve got you!” I said, trying to reassure the little girl as she held on as tightly as she could. I gritted my teeth and forced my eyes to concentrate on Beth’s face instead of the hundred foot drop down below. The sight of it wasn’t going to help me keep this child from going splat.
“Becca, I’m scared,” she cried, pools of unshed tears forming in her eyes, her lower lip trembling violently. I shook my head, trying to reassure her and hoping the panic beatings of my heart weren’t as loud as I thought.
“Everything is going to be okay, kiddo,” I assured her. I tried to smile but my pathetic attempt just resulted in a slight grimace. “Everything is gonna--,”
My words turned into a cry of surprise as I felt the metal platform’s hinges snapped off the wall, shaking off slightly and making Beth scream with fright. The movement caused me to slide down a little bit, and I held my other hand out for some purchase.
Miraculously enough, the puffy skirt of the gown I was wearing snagged onto the base of a pointy metal beam, and stopped me from sliding to my death. I grabbed onto the metal bar to steady myself.
Beth was holding my hand with all the strength a six year old kid could summon, her eyes screwed shut as she whimpered in fright. I didn’t need her to see what I looked like after that, because I was sure I was white as a sheet.
“It’s going to be okay,” I reassured her again, the words starting to taste like a lie. How was I going to guarantee her safety when I didn’t know how we were going to get out of here? It was too unstable to pull her up, but we were too high up, and there was nothing down there but stupid spectators and concrete pavements.
And my strength was also starting to fail me, as my arm was nearly reaching its limit. I could not hold her for very long.
THINK, DAMN IT! THINK!
I could feel my gown ripping to its last stitches, and I was starting to lose hope, half dangling on the precipice when something down below caught my eye. I blinked once, twice, making sure I wasn’t merely hallucinating.
Yes. I thought, my confidence rebuilding. This could work.
I looked at Beth again, the little girl taking note of the determined look on my face. I steeled my voice and asked her a question.
“Do you trust me?” I asked.
Beth nodded immediately and without hesitation.
“I trust you,” she voiced out.
I smiled at her and took one more glance at the ground below. I looked back at her again, the smile still on my face.
And then…I let her go.
I almost felt my heart stop as the time slowed around me, my eyes refusing to blink as I watched the little girl I risked my life to protect, the kid I’ve grown to love these past few months, fall until she was only a few feet away from the ground. The lump stuck in my throat disappeared as Michael dashed towards Beth, his arms extended as he caught her just in the nick of time.
My relief was short lived as I finally felt my skirt tear completely, and I closed my eyes, the gravity pulling me down…
Something grabbed me around my waist and yanked me back up, flipping me 180 degrees until my back hit something that groaned. I quickly got up on my knees and turned to look at my savior, who was wincing and clutching his ribs in pain… it was Tanner!
He coughed and tried to give me a big smile, but instead it looked more like a grimace. He crawled over to the ledge and looked down where Michael and Beth were staring up at us.
“Did you catch my daughter?” Tanner yelled.
Michael raised thumbs up in reply, Beth waving her hand wildly at her father.
“Great!” Tanner yelled. He leaned back on his heels and looked at me again. “I’ve got my future wife,” he said softly.
I couldn’t help myself and threw my arms around him, squeezing him tightly and promising myself I would never let this man go.
***
The police had sealed off Arc Light Theater with yellow tape as they proceeded with their investigation, Tanner’s and Veronica’s PR team helping the cops control the crowd and paparazzi from taking any more photos of the crime scene. I shuddered as the paramedics placed Alfonso in a body bag and hefted him into the van going to the morgue.
I wrapped the orange trauma blanket tighter around myself, blocking the winter chill from my back and shoulders exposed due to my gown.
“I still can’t believe everything went full circle,” Chase marveled as he stopped right next to me and watched everything happen around us. “It feels sort of fitting that we closed the case here.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, not following.
“Well, to be honest, this is where our security firm really took off,” Chase admitted. “The first time I was here in Arc Light, I was new to the security business, and Veronica almost got kidnapped. It’s basically the reason we all got to meet.”
“Is that why Jason suggested this place to set the trap?” I asked. “Because you already had a layout?”
“Kind of. We didn’t expect the bastard to plant a surprise of his own, though,” he answered. “If it weren’t for Daniel’s lead, we wouldn’t have been able to find and disable the explosive they had set up to trap us all in there.”
“Hey, you’re breathing, and the kid’s fine, so I say it was a job well done,” he countered. I rolled my eyes and grinned, shaking my head. I was never going to understand the positivity of this man.
“By the way, if you’re done looking like an orange, there’s a little girl inside the car that’s been asking you,” he said, pointing towards his Toyota, where Beth was sitting at the edge of the passenger seat with her feet dangling outside, her chubby little hands holding an ice cream cone as she looked up and talked to Tanner, who had his arm propped up on the open door.
I got off the stretcher and folded the blanket over it before walking over to them, the father and daughter smiling at me as they waited for me to approach.
“Are you okay Becca?” Beth asked, her innocent wide eyes looking up at me.
“I should be the one asking you that,” I said. “I’m sorry I let you fall.”
She shook her head vigorously, her ringlet curls swaying from side to side as she did so.
“I’m okay! You saved me!” she replied and then sticking her pink tongue to lick at her ice cream. I’m actually amazed she could tolerate eating ice cream when it was so cold right here, and Tanner seemed to be thinking the same because he flicked his daughter’s shoulder.
“And who told you to eat that, little lady? It’s freaking freezing out here,” Tanner nagged.
“Michael gave it to me.,” Beth answered, shrugging. “And you said a bad word,” she mumbled accusingly.
Tanner stuck his tongue out at her before shaking his head.
“If you get sick, don’t come crying to me,” Tanner said, and I giggled as they continued to bicker more like siblings. “And you,” he said all of a sudden, pointing at me with his index finger. “You’re not much better, either.”
I was about to ask him what he meant when he took off his suit jacket and draped it around my shoulders.
“You’re not allowed to get a cold,” he muttered, fixing the jacket on me. “How are you supposed to protect my daughter if you’re sick?” I scrunched my eyebrows at him.
“Don’t you mean ‘protect me and my daughter’?” I corrected, but he shook his h
ead.
“No way. I’m releasing you from your services regarding my protection,” he replied. I opened my mouth to protest, but he placed a finger on top of my lips, preventing me from speaking. “From now on, I’ll be the one protecting you.”
I raised my eyebrow at him and crossed my arms, challenging him.
“Oh, really? Are you sure you can handle that?” I asked, and he smirked confidently.
“Baby, I can handle anything...” he whispered, leaning his head towards me, his lips inching closer and closer to mine until I closed my eyes from the feeling of his breath brushing across my face.
“Ahem.”
We sprang apart from each other at the sound of someone clearing their throat, and Tanner glared at Michael, who was standing there looking at the both of us with an unfathomable expression.
“First, not in front of the kid,” he admonished, Beth giggling beside him. “Second, Rebecca, can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked, and I nodded, following after him.
He led me next to a police patrol car parked a few meters away and well without Tanner’s earshot. He stopped and just stood there for a while, his hands on his hips, and occasionally looking down on the ground or tilting his head up towards the sky, silently contemplating his words. I waited patiently for him to start, already having an inkling about what he wanted to talk about, though nowhere near ready to discuss it.
He finally looked up at me and spoke.
“You’ve made up your mind?” he asked, though his tone sounded more like he was stating it for a fact rather than a question. I nodded, regardless.
“Yes,” I said my voice barely louder than a whisper.
He nodded, looking away once more.
“I guess I really was too late,” he mumbled.
“I’m sorry, Michael.”
“No, I’m sorry,” he said, shaking his head and his eyes drowning in regret. “I shouldn’t have left you all alone back then. If I didn’t, we would be together, and everything would have ended up being completely different.”
“Probably,” I said, shrugging a little. “But I’m happy where I am now.”
He screwed his eyes shut, and I knew I had wounded him, not intentionally, but he deserved the truth.
I’ve moved on, and so should he.
I gave him one last smile before walking back to my new family.
Epilogue
Rebecca
I watched as Michael loaded the last of his luggage into the trunk of Jason’s Jeep, evening out the weight before closing the trunk and giving me a slightly bittersweet smile.
“I’ve been thinking about traveling across the world for a while now,” Michael said. “I was never the type to stick to one place for so long, you know that.” He reminded me.
“I know, but…,” I trailed off, not knowing what to say. Actually, I did know what to say in order to change his mind, to convince him to unpack his stuff and stay here, but making him stay when I had very clearly made a choice was too unfair to him. It was unfair for both Michael and Tanner.
“I can’t,” Michael said softly, looking away from me. “I have to do this, Rebecca. I have to get away so that I can get over you.”
Ultimately, I knew the end result of choosing one over the other meant one would have to leave, and choosing neither was not an option. It would have killed all three of us, and in the end, no one would probably stay.
So my heart made a choice, and now the one I didn’t pick had to move on.
“Take care of yourself, okay?” I said. I wrapped my arms around him and hugging him tightly before I could change my mind. It was awkward at first, and then it became more affectionate. After a few seconds, we let go of each other and smiled.
“Okay. You watch out for yourself, too.”
He turned around and went inside the Jeep, putting his hands out the window, and waved as they drove off. I watched it leave until they were nothing more than a speck on the road before walking back to Tanner and Beth, who were watching us from the entrance.
“You know, Miss Hayes, that hug was a little too long for my liking,” Tanner joked, raising one eyebrow at me and making Beth giggle. “It made me a little jealous.”
“Oh, really?” I crooned, placing my hands around his neck.
“Yes, really,” he replied.
“Don’t get jealous, baby,” I said before kissing the corner of his mouth. “You’re all the man I could ever need.”
“No take-backs?” he asked, and I shook my head with a smile.
“Nope. You’re stuck with me,” I replied confidently.
“Always.”
“Forever.”
“Daddy, Becca, let’s go! We’re going to be late to see the baby!” Beth cried, her cute lips forming into a pout.
“Don’t be so impatient, Pumpkin. I’m sure your aunt George is still trying to push that watermelon out of her system,” Tanner said lightly. I slapped his arm at his crassness. Beth looked at him, bemused.
“Why is she pushing a watermelon?” she asked, and I patted her head.
“It’s just one of your father’s stupid expressions, sweetie. Let’s go,” I said.
I took one last look at the direction my past was headed before turning back around and taking the next step towards the hospital with my two presents.
And hopefully, just hopefully, I’d still have them with me in my future.
The End
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Description
Veronica Langley’s life has been coming up roses. She’s well on her way to becoming a world-renowned actress and her latest movie will surely be a big hit at the box office. She’s basically winning at life…
Until now.
The emergence of a mysterious stalker, hell-bent on taking her no matter what, has put a wrench into Veronica’s perfect life. After a foiled kidnapping attempt at her latest project, her agents are left with no choice but to hire a Delta Protector.
Jason Keyes had been content serving as part of the Delta Force until a mission goes awry and the blood of his beloved comrade stained his hands. Desperate for escape, he leaves the military and goes back home, only for his old friend Chase to offer him a job he can’t refuse: to protect Veronica Langley.
As their differences collide and each of them battle to get their way, will their passionate arguments lead to something more? Or will their bullheaded personalities clash and spell death for the both of them?
Prologue
I gritted my teeth as I swerved my car to the right, narrowly avoiding the car in front of me. I switched to a clear lane and stepped on the gas, hard. I looked at the digital clock on the dashboard and clenched my teeth.
It was a race against the clock, and time was running out.
I switch to another lane and then another, swerving left and right just to get past the traffic, but a little part in my brain kept whispering I wasn’t going to make it.
I shook my head adamantly. No! I had to make it! I had to!
She needs me!
I wasn’t doing this because I was hired by her manager.
I wasn’t even doing this as a sense of responsibility as her bodyguard.
I was doing this because despite the short time we spent together, I had gotten to know the real person behind the façade she wore for the millions of people watching her. She wasn’t just another big shot actress I thought her to be.
She was so much more. And right now, she needed me more than ever.
“I’m coming, baby,” I said, tightening my hold on the steering wheel and focusing on the road. “I’ll be there soon.”
***
I looked positively radiant.
I was wearing a beautiful wedding dress, my makeup was spot on, and this church was one of the biggest yet truly exquisite edifices in history. Everything was perfect, except for one thing:
I didn’t want this.
Don’t get me wrong, of course I have
dreamt of this moment ever since I was a little girl. I used to play dress up and marry my big stuff toys and pretend we were going to have a big family and all that jazz. But in all those dreams, one thing was a constant: I was marrying the person I loved.
This man I was going to meet at the altar? He was so far from that constant variable in my dreams.
I took a deep breath, placing a hand on my chest as I tried to calm the rapid beatings of my heart. The little hairs on my arms rising through the sleeves of my wedding gown, but I tried to talk my mind out from my nerves.
I’m a performer. I shrug off my nerves every single time I act in front of a camera. This was just another one of those things. I was about to play the leading role, except unlike all the others I’ve played before, this role could be the end of me, a matter of life and death.
I needed to be strong, at least enough to buy me some time.
The damsel in distress always got rescued in the end, but for my white knight to come to my aid, I had to try and look for a way to rescue myself.