Tempted By The Bodyguard

“Leave her. And hurry. D’Angelis sang.”

Shelby’s head ached, her vision blurred, but she held on, trying to grasp what they were talking about.

“Torch the place,” said the man who’d given the order to leave.

Her heart pounded, sending blood rushing through her system, chasing back the fog. Shelby forced herself to lie still, pretending to be out cold.

“Good, the bitch deserves to die after what she did to me.”

“And me.” A hand grabbed the back of her hair, jerked her head back and slammed her forehead into the floor. “That’s for kicking me in the teeth.”

Pain knifed through her head, bringing with it a rush of darkness. As she fought to stay awake, her temples throbbing, she heard the man at the door say, “Come on, I hear sirens.”

The door opened, and a fresh draft of air washed over her.

The scent of gasoline filtered through the open door as the other two men exited. They closed the door. Seconds later, smoke sifted in through the cracks.

Shelby knew she had to get out before she was burned alive. She pushed to her hands and knees and crawled several steps before the pain drained her strength and she fell to the floor.

Lying against the cool hardwood flooring, she prayed death would come quickly. Smoke filled the room and burned her lungs. With her eyes closed tight, she accepted her fate and welcomed oblivion.

As she drifted in and out of consciousness, she felt a cool breeze stir across her, then strong arms curl around her, lifting her from the floor and floating her through the clouds to cool, clean night air.

Shelby’s eyes fluttered open and she stared up into the face of her guardian angel, a man with dark blond hair and green eyes. “Am I in heaven?” she whispered.

A deep chuckle rumbled against her side and a voice as smooth as melted chocolate filled her ears. “Not hardly. But at least you’re no longer in hell.”

Chapter 2

Daniel had taken the back of the building and Thad had gone through the front. The entire house had lit up like a bonfire, thanks to the gasoline used as an accelerant. Worried they wouldn’t find her in the burning structure in time to save her, Daniel had practically fallen over Shelby when he’d raced through the back door into what appeared to be a kitchen. She’d been out cold, lying facedown, smoke filling the room over her head.

Without stopping to think, he’d gathered her into his arms and run out of the inferno into the fresh air. The woman was light, petite and curvy.

Ambulances, police cars and fire trucks, all with their sirens wailing, converged at the location.

Not wanting to put her down on the damp grass, Daniel held her until a paramedic rolled a stretcher out of the back of the ambulance and urged him to lay her on the clean white sheet.

Only then did he let go. Despite her tangled and dirty hair, and a bruise the size of a goose egg rising on her forehead, her pale face was beautiful. Her dark brows arched delicately, and high cheekbones and soft, pink lips tugged at something in Daniel’s heart. Something he thought long suppressed in his determined march down his chosen career path.

“We’ll take care of her.” The medic stepped between him and the girl to position an oxygen mask over her face.

Daniel didn’t want to leave her side. “I’m staying with her.” Based on the photograph Patrick O’Hara had shown Kate, this was Shelby O’Hara, granddaughter to the former vice president of the United States. He turned to a cop and told him to let Thad know he’d found Shelby.

“Anyone else in the house?” the cop asked.

“I don’t know.”

Firemen went inside, checking the rooms one by one until they all came out, declaring the house was clear. Whoever had kidnapped Ms. O’Hara had gone, leaving her to burn to death.

Daniel’s hands clenched into fists. If this kidnapping and attempted murder were in any way related to Kate Winston, one attempt on Shelby might not be the last, given the rash of attempts over the past few months.

Thad joined him at the back of the ambulance as the paramedics loaded the stretcher with the pale woman strapped down. “She gonna be all right?”

The paramedic paused with his foot on the back step. “You a relative?”

Thad shoved a hand through his smoky hair, a half grin on his face. “I think I’m her uncle.”

The paramedic frowned. “You think, or you know?”

Thad stared down at the woman. “She has dark hair like our mother’s. Yeah, I’m an uncle.”

The paramedic rolled his eyes and gave him the news. “She has some nasty bumps on her head and possible concussion and smoke inhalation, but she should be fine.”

“Where are you taking her?” Thad asked.

“WakeMed. Now, if you’ll excuse us.” The paramedic climbed in and started to close the door behind him.

Daniel grabbed the door. “I’m going with you.”

“Are you a relative?”

“No. I’m Secret Service, responsible for the safety of this woman.” Daniel flashed his credentials.

“Guess you get a free ride to the hospital.” The paramedic jerked his head toward the front. “You can ride shotgun.” Then he closed the door and twisted the handle, locking it in place.

Daniel rounded to the front and climbed into the passenger seat.

“I’ll notify the family and meet you there.” Thad closed the door, shutting Daniel in the ambulance.

Daniel twisted in his seat, peering through the window into the back of the ambulance, watching every move made by the paramedics as they checked Shelby’s vital signs.

At the hospital, she was taken to radiology for X-rays of her head and lungs. By the time she was moved to a room on the third floor, the entire Winston family had arrived, along with Patrick O’Hara.

When Patrick spotted Daniel and Thad at the nurses’ station, he hurried forward. “Where is she?”

“They just moved her into a private room and are getting her settled,” Thad told him.

“I want to see her.” Patrick pushed past the two men.

Daniel hooked his arm. “The nurses are settling her in. They said they’d let us know when she’s ready for visitors.”

Patrick slumped. “Two weeks. She’s been missing for two weeks. What did those bastards do to her?”

A nurse emerged from a room down the hallway and strode toward the group of Winstons. “Who is Ms. O’Hara’s closest relative?”

Patrick and Kate both spoke at once. “I am.”

Patrick glared at Kate and stated, “I’m her grandfather.”

The nurse addressed him. “Ms. O’Hara is still unconscious, but the doctor administered a mild sedative and pain medication. He’ll be by to give you her diagnosis shortly.”

“Can I see her?” Patrick asked.

The nurse stared around at the others. “Just you, for now. The rest of you should stay in the waiting room and leave the hallway clear for the staff.”

The relief in the man’s face was palpable. The nurse led him into the room, the door closing behind them.

Daniel wanted to follow them, but remained back. Part of the job of a Secret Service agent was to maintain a low profile, only stepping forward to defend those he is assigned to protect. He moved with the rest of the group to the waiting room on the same floor.

Kate, Trey and Samuel circled Thad.

“Did you see her?” Kate asked.

Thad nodded. “I did.”

“What did she look like?”

Thad shrugged. “The paramedic had already slipped the oxygen mask over her face. I couldn’t tell what she looked like, but she has light brown hair.”

“She looked a lot like you, Mrs. Winston,” Daniel offered. “Light brown hair, slight build. When she opened her eyes briefly, I could tell they were blue.”

“So it could be true.” Kate stared at the door leading into the hallway. “My baby didn’t die like my mother told me.”

“Mom, what baby?” Trey held her hand. “Who is Patrick O’Hara? How do you know him?”

Kate’s gaze shifted to the window, looking out into the night. “We were teenagers when we met on the Outer Banks. I was vacationing at the family beach house. He was the bar owner’s son.” She smiled. “We spent the whole summer together. Young, in love and foolish.” Her smile faded. “When I returned home, I found out I was pregnant. My father was livid. He’d been grooming me to marry rich. I didn’t want to. I wanted Patrick.”

“What happened?” Trey asked.

“My father threatened to hit Patrick with charges of statutory rape if I didn’t go away to New Hampshire to live with my aunt until the baby was born.” Kate’s hands covered her belly as if she was seventeen and pregnant all over again. “I wanted to keep the baby. I was going to run away with it and find Patrick. He’d said he loved me. I was certain once he saw his baby, he’d want us to be together as a family.

“When my due date arrived, I was scared. My mother was there with me, but no one prepared me for what it would be like. The delivery was difficult because the baby was breech. The doctor gave me something to knock me out. When I came to the next day, my mother was crying. She told me the baby was dead.”

Daniel’s chest tightened at the anguish evident in Kate Winston’s face. It was a lot for a young girl to handle.

“My mother told me the baby was dead.” She pressed her fist to her mouth. “I was so sad, I wanted to die.”

Trey hugged his mother. “But you didn’t, and we’re glad you didn’t.” He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “We love you.”

Samuel and Thad gathered around their mother, hugging her.

Trey was the first to step back. “Actually, your story would explain some of Grandma Eunice’s dementia.”

“What do you mean?” Kate glanced at her oldest son.

“Last time I paid a visit in the nursing home, she was babbling on about a baby girl, and giving her to her father to care for. She was really upset. The staff nurse calmed her with a sedative. I didn’t think anything of it.” He looked at his mother’s face. “Until now. I bet it was deep-seated guilt gnawing at her.”

“Why would she do it?” Kate swayed, pressing her hand to her chest. “I had a daughter and I didn’t know it. All these years…”

Trey slipped an arm around his mother’s shoulders and drew her close.

“How could she?” Kate pressed her cheek into her son’s chest. “My mother loved me. Why would she give my baby away?”

“Could she have done it to protect you and the baby?” Thad asked. “Grandpa Adair was a mean old bastard.”

Daniel stood back, trying not to eavesdrop on the family’s business, but was nevertheless shocked at Kate’s story. Was this how the rich and famous lived? Stealing babies, threatening loved ones?

If it was, then he wanted nothing to do with it. He’d grown up in an average family where they had their arguments, but they loved each other. His father was as much a part of his life as his brothers. It sounded as though Kate’s childhood had been less beautiful than her family had let on to the public.

Daniel made a note to himself to call home the next quiet moment he had to himself.

“Where is she?” Jed Kincannon entered the waiting room. “Has she spoken yet?”

“She’s still unconscious.” Daniel pulled his boss aside and told him what he knew, which wasn’t much. “The kidnappers escaped and burned any evidence they might have left behind in the house.”

Jed let out a deep breath. “I want to be there when Ms. O’Hara wakes up. We need to know what she knows. The sooner she identifies her kidnappers, the better. I want them off the streets before they cause any more grief.”

“You and me both.”

Kate stepped up to Jed. “Do you think they’ll try to take her again?”

“They took her once,” he said.

“But they didn’t present a ransom note or any demands,” Samuel argued.

“Maybe they were waiting for proof of her lineage,” Thad said. “Now that we’re involved, it could mean even greater danger for her.”

“We can’t let anything happen to her or her father.” Kate faced him. “Daniel, I want you to provide Shelby’s security. I trust you the most of any agent.” She smiled, laying a hand on his arm. “I know you’ll do everything in your power to protect Shelby, even take a bullet for her.”

“I’d say he’s good for it,” Samuel nodded. “He took three for you.”

“Exactly.” Kate’s hand was warm on Daniel’s arm. “Take care of my granddaughter. I want the opportunity to get to know her.”

Patrick O’Hara stepped through the door, his face haggard. “They chased me out.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “She never woke up. The doctor said it’s to be expected with head trauma. They’re keeping an eye on her tonight, but expect she’ll wake up in the morning. The good news is that they didn’t detect any brain swelling or hemorrhaging.”

Lucy Sinclair, Thad’s fiancée, followed Patrick into the room, crossed to Thad and slipped an arm around his waist. “I got here as quickly as I could and checked in with the nurse in charge of the floor. It’s like Mr. O’Hara said, she’s sleeping. Other than being a little dehydrated, her vital signs are good. She should be up and talking by morning.”

Trey glanced down at his watch and across to his wife. Despite her attempt to look in control, Debra was sagging under the weight of the baby. “There’s no use all of us waiting for her to wake up. We should go home and get some rest. Tomorrow will be stressful in itself.”

“Trey, you need to get Debra home and off her feet.” Kate turned to Patrick. “You and Shelby will be staying at the Winston Estate.”

Patrick crossed his arms over his chest. “You can’t order me around like you do the rest of the world. I have a business to run on the Outer Banks.”

Kate nodded. “I know. But we almost lost Shelby tonight. If there’s any possibility her kidnappers will try to take her again, she needs protection. Can you provide that for her at your bar?”

Patrick’s lips pressed into a thin line. After a long pause, he answered, “No.”

“Then I implore you to bring Shelby to the Winston Estate where she can have 24/7 protection by the most trusted man the Secret Service has to offer.” She nodded toward Daniel. “I’ve just tasked Daniel Henderson with the duty of providing protection for Shelby.”

Daniel bit down hard on his lip to keep from reminding her that he hadn’t agreed to play babysitter to a twenty-three-year-old woman. He’d rather be out investigating this case, finding the men responsible for the attempts on Kate’s life and kidnapping her granddaughter. But discussing that in front of the rest of the family was not professional.

He’d wait and get her alone to discuss his duties in private.

For the time being, if the former vice president wanted him to provide security for her granddaughter, he’d protect her granddaughter.

“Okay,” Patrick said finally. “I’ll get my assistant manager to run the bar for the next few days. And I’m only doing this for Shelby. If I had any other choices, I wouldn’t have come to you.”

“Patrick.” Kate stared into his eyes. “I thought my baby was dead.”

“Her name was Carrie,” Patrick bit out. “She was beautiful, just like you.”

“Was?” Tears welled in Kate’s eyes.

“She died in an auto accident when she was only twenty-four. Shelby is all I have left and I’ll be damned if I lose her, too.” Patrick walked out of the room, leaving a stricken Kate in his wake.

Daniel turned away, unable to watch as tears slipped silently down Kate’s face.

“I never knew my own daughter.” Kate’s voice shook.

“We had a sister.” Samuel stared after Patrick’s retreating figure.

“And we’ll never know her.” Thad hugged Lucy close.

Daniel wanted to storm through the room and yell at all of them, “You have Shelby. Don’t screw it up with her.”

“Mother,” Trey said. “Go home. Get some sleep. I’ll stay.”

“No need,” Daniel said. “I’ll keep watch through the night. If she wakes, I’ll call.”

“She should be surrounded by familiar faces when she comes to,” Kate said.

Patrick stood at the doorway. “Which isn’t even one of you. I’m staying.”

“Fair enough.” Kate hooked Trey’s arm and leaned on him as they walked out of the waiting room. As she passed Daniel, she paused. “Keep her safe.”

Daniel nodded. “I will.”

Then the Winstons stepped into the elevator that whisked them to the ground floor. All the tension left the floor with them and Daniel let himself take a deep breath.

Patrick stood beside him, his gaze on the closed elevator doors. “She’s as beautiful today as she was when we first met. If not more so.”

Daniel didn’t comment. He saw a lot of Kate in her granddaughter’s features. If Shelby had half the gumption of her grandmother, she’d be a formidable foe and a dedicated friend.

“I’m going to sit with Shelby. There’s a chair in the room that reclines.” Patrick stuck out his hand. “I understand you were the one who pulled her from the burning home. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Daniel clasped the man’s hand and shook it. This was a man he could relate to. He had a firm handshake, the calloused hands of a working man and an open, friendly face. “I’ll stay outside her room and make sure no unauthorized personnel enter.”

“I owe you a debt I can never repay.”

“No payment necessary. It’s part of my job.”

Patrick returned to Shelby’s room, entering quietly, closing the door behind him.

Daniel’s leg ached, and he was tired but still wound up by the events of the evening. He found a chair and propped it against the wall beside Shelby’s room. Too preoccupied to sit, he paced, dreading the boredom of being a bodyguard at the same time as he embraced the job, knowing he was protecting a woman who’d done nothing to become a target other than being born into the wrong family.

After a while, Daniel sat to relieve the strain on his leg.

Several hours passed, the clock hands spinning around the dial to six in the morning. Patrick O’Hara emerged from Shelby’s room, eyes bloodshot, clothes wrinkled and chin stubbled with a day’s growth of beard. “I’m going to hit the hay and then find a cup of coffee and a meal if such exists at this hour. Can I get you anything?”

“No, thank you.” Daniel stood and stretched the kinks out of his sore muscles. “You might as well take your time. I’ll be here.”

Patrick left, shuffling down the long hallway to the elevator.

A nurse made her rounds, checking on the patients. When she came to Shelby’s door, Daniel entered behind her. She checked the position of the IV needle, the bag of fluid and the monitors and shone a light into Shelby’s eyes. When she finished, she left the room and Daniel stayed.

Someone had wiped the dirt and soot from Shelby’s face. Clean and free of makeup, she looked younger than her twenty-three years.

She stirred, her hand clenching and her lips twitching. Behind her eyelids, her eyes moved, but she didn’t open them. Daniel wondered what she was dreaming about.

She raised a hand to her chest and moaned, the sound so sad and mournful, Daniel couldn’t help himself. He lifted her hand and held it, hoping his touch would ease her nightmares and allow her to sleep.

She curled into him, tucking his hand beneath her cheek, and moaned again.

His chest tightened and he leaned over her, wrapping his arms around her, shielding her from the bad guys in her dreams.

Shelby walked to her car, carrying the satchel with all her notes, the copies of the pages she had yet to read and the half-eaten sandwich she’d set aside as she’d dug deeper into the shelves of case studies and books.

Time had slipped away before she realized she should have left the library an hour before. Now she hurried, knowing her grandfather would be checking on her to see that she got back to the house by midnight.

Her car was the only one left in the parking lot, parked near a large tree. When she’d arrived, the sun had been bright and hot, the tree providing blessed shade on an unusually sultry spring day. Now the tree loomed over her two-door economy car, casting darker shadows in the light from a million stars overhead.

A trickle of apprehension skittered across her skin, making her walk faster, keys in her hand, ready to pop the locks and jump inside. Not that there was anything to worry about. She’d left the library this late on many occasions and had no trouble.

She neared her vehicle and hit the lock button on her key fob; the locks clicked open. As she reached for the door handle, a shadow detached from the base of the tree and lunged forward.

Too shocked to scream, Shelby swung her satchel containing her notes, laptop and wallet, hitting her attacker in the temple.

He grunted and staggered to the side, bringing a hand to his head.

Before Shelby could run, a second attacker, also wearing dark clothes and a ski mask, shot out of the shadows, grabbed her and clamped a gloved hand over her mouth.

She fought, kicking and twisting, but the man was much stronger and bigger than her five feet two inches. He lifted her off her feet.

A van drove up, her captor leaped in, still carrying her, and the man she’d hit dived in beside them.

“No,” she moaned. This was not happening. She couldn’t let it happen. Wasn’t she smarter than this? Shelby struggled, but the arms holding her tightened, the hand over her mouth cutting off her air. The shadowed interior of the van faded. The next thing she was aware of was smoke. She lay on a floor, the smoke growing thicker around her, filling her lungs, blocking her view of the door, her only escape.

A figure materialized out of the drifting smoke, a tall, broad-shouldered man. He scooped her up into his arms and ran out of the house. She nestled against his chest, her fingers digging into the fabric of his shirt. She breathed in and out, the acrid smell of smoke still burning her nostrils. She was afraid to open her eyes, afraid that when she did she’d still be in that basement, locked in the dark. A captive.

Shelby moaned, her fingers curling around fabric. No.

“Hey, Shelby. You’re having a bad dream. Wake up.”

“No. I don’t want to go back in the dark.”

“It’s okay. You’re free.”

The soothing sound of a man’s voice lured her out of the basement and into the light. She opened her eyes and looked up at a long fluorescent light mounted on a white ceiling in a clean room.

“I’m not in the basement?”

The man chuckled. “No, you’re not.”

She glanced up into the green eyes of a stranger and jerked back, fighting to be free of his hold on her.

“It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m the Secret Service agent assigned to protect—”

She scrambled over the bed and would have fallen off if he hadn’t grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

Shelby winced. “Ouch.”

He frowned, glancing down at where his hand clasped her raw skin. “What the hell?”

“Let me go.”

“I will when you promise you won’t throw yourself off the bed.”

She stared at him, not sure if he was friend or foe and not willing to give up her freedom again so soon. “I promise,” she whispered, tensing, ready to move fast once he let go.

“I’m going to release you and step away from the bed. You don’t have to be afraid of me. I’m here to protect you, not harm you.”

“How do I know that? I don’t even know you.”

“I’m letting go to reach for my credentials.” He raised his free hand. “Honest.”

“Okay, let go, already.”

He did and she dropped to the ground on the opposite side of the bed, dragging the tubes in her arms with her. The heart monitor wires ripped loose and the machine set off an alarm. Her knees refused to hold her, shaking so badly they buckled, and she felt herself falling, her head swimming as she went down. The IV stand tilted and crashed to the floor.

The man flung himself across the bed and caught her beneath her arms before she hit the tile.

“You’ve suffered a head injury,” he said softly. “You really should take it easy for a couple days.”

“I’m fine.” She leaned into him despite her desire to be free of him. His muscles were solid beneath her fingertips and his breath warmed the side of her neck. “I can stand on my own.”

“Prove it.”

She fought the fog threatening to engulf her and willed her legs to straighten, all the while leaning into the man and his broad shoulders. “I’ve got it now.” Shelby planted both hands on the side of the bed, sagging against it. “I can stand on my own.”

“You’re a stubborn woman.”

“Stubborn is better than dead.”

Slowly, he released his hold and rolled off the bed, reaching for his wallet in his back pocket.

The door opened and a nurse rushed in. “What’s going on? Why is she out of bed?” She glared at the man and cast a worried look at Shelby. “Ms. O’Hara, you shouldn’t be up yet. Please, let me help you back into the bed.”

“I don’t want to go back to bed. And who is this man?”

“Why, he’s your bodyguard, Ms. O’Hara. Your grandmother left word that he was allowed to be in your room and we were to do whatever he said in order to protect you.” The nurse planted a hand on her hip and pointed to the bed. “Now, are you going to get back in the bed or will I have to call an orderly to help me put you there?”

“It’s not necessary to call an orderly.” Her stranger was there by her side, scooping her wobbly legs out from under her. Shelby squealed and wrapped her arms around his neck to keep from falling as he set her down on the mattress, the strength of his arms and the solid wall of his chest oddly reassuring and comforting.

“You really should stay in bed until they bring you something less revealing. You can see everything through the gap in the back of your gown.” He grinned and stepped away, missing the hand she swung at his face.

“You’re no gentleman.”

“Never said I was.”

“You never said what you were.”

The nurse tsked. “Please hold still, Ms. O’Hara, while I reconnect the IV and monitors.”

“I don’t want the IV. I’d rather have a steak or lobster.”

“There are no restrictions on your diet. Would you like me to call the kitchen and have them prepare a sandwich?”

“No! No sandwiches. No bologna!” Shelby clapped a hand over her lips. “I’m sorry.” Tears welled in her eyes, clouding her vision. “I don’t know what’s going on, where I am and who he is. And I don’t have a grandmother, just my grandfather. Could someone please tell me what the hell’s going on?”