Open Your Heart

by Cheris Hodges

  Yolanda thanked him for the heads-up and told him good night. A few moments after the officer left, Yolanda decided to pack up and head to Nina’s place. She’d been staying there since she left Richmond, and so far, she’d been able to keep the details about her sudden move to North Carolina a secret for now, but how much longer would she have to live in fear? Yolanda hated to admit how much she missed Richmond. She had a good thing with her shop in that city. But there were just too many bad memories there and she didn’t want those killers coming back hoping to find her.

  She just hated putting Kelly out of work. But the Richmond native had already said she had no desire to move to Charlotte. What other choice did she have?

  You could go to the police and end this drama, her voice of reason whispered. Yolanda sighed and wished she had the courage to do that. But every time she thought about going to the police, she saw that man’s face as he pulled the trigger. In her nightmares, she was the one dead in the parking lot, not Bobby G.

  Yolanda had hoped the move to Charlotte would’ve stopped the nightmares. She’d put distance between her and the killers. And most importantly, she’d kept her mouth shut. That should’ve been enough for them to leave her alone, right?

  Shaking her head, Yolanda decided to focus on her future and try not to be afraid of her past.

  Since her inventory wouldn’t be in until the beginning of the week, Yolanda decided that she was going to head to Charleston and check on her sister, after she went home and packed a bag and took a shower. Yolanda didn’t want to be alone tonight and she still had a nagging feeling that Nina’s accident had been her fault. The thought of putting her family in danger was almost too much to bear.

  That had been one of the main reasons why she’d been spending so much time with Nina and Clinton. Yolanda tried to clear her mind of the carnage she’d seen in the alley. Then she’d be hit with guilt of not reporting the crime. There was a family missing their son, brother, and loved one. A community mourned for him and his killer was running free and terrorizing her. She couldn’t bring herself to do the right thing and risk putting her family in danger.

  Out of curiosity, Yolanda pulled out her smartphone and entered Bobby G.’s name in the search bar. Link after link about the dead-end investigation populated on her phone. Could she breathe now?

  Would the guilt ever go away? Daddy would be so ashamed of you. Yolanda paced back and forth, then tucked her phone in her pocket. She was going to Charleston and try to ignore the dull throbbing in her chest.

  * * *

  Charles had been in the gym for two hours. It wasn’t because he was that much of a workout junkie; he was on a case. The owner of Bright Fitness was sure that someone was selling steroids out of her workout center.

  Charles had spotted the suspect as he worked his deltoids. After setting the weights at his feet, he grabbed his phone and called his guy outside.

  “Chuck. What’s up?”

  “Left exit. Neon shorts and a tall blond guy. Get the pictures and leave.”

  “Got it, boss.”

  Charles ended the call then headed for his car. He spotted Nate in the parking lot looking like a tourist soaking in the Charleston skyline. Charles unlocked his car and sat behind the wheel. The man who was selling the drugs looked familiar to him. Then it clicked like a lock: that was Brandon Ellis, the mayor’s son. Brandon stayed in the media for all of the wrong reasons. Charles liked the mayor, but he wasn’t going to ignore this or let his client down. Bright Fitness was a new facility and Shelby Miller deserved to run his place without the reputation of a ’roid shop. Besides, Pilar Bright, the owner of the gym, wanted to take the chain national and this would ruin her chances if news of drug sales got out to investors.

  Once Nate put his camera away and got into his car to leave, Charles called 911. It was a good thing that Brandon was a talker and arrogant enough to carry his drugs in the trunk of his car as if it were a showroom.

  Charles called his client and reported what he had discovered and that the police were on the way.

  “Chuck,” Pilar Bright said with a relieved sigh. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”

  “The last thing you want is for the wrong element to ruin your business before it even gets off the ground.”

  “Right. Do you still provide security for businesses?”

  “Nah. But I have some recommendations I can send you with my invoice.”

  “Oh, yes. I appreciate that. If they have your seal of approval, I know they must be awesome.”

  “I’d like to think so. I have another call coming in, we’ll talk soon.”

  “I certainly hope so,” she said, her voice taking a seductive lilt.

  Charles ended the call without a response or taking another call. Pilar had been making overtures at him since he’d taken her case. It started with their first meeting, where she was wearing a sports bra and a pair of barely there shorts. Then there were her double entendres every time they spoke. But Charles had learned his lesson; he’d never get involved with another client—even if she was a former MMA fighter.

  Heading back to his office, Charles decided that he needed a vacation—away from the beach. That was the only thing about living in Charleston: The beach got old quick. A nice mountain getaway would give him some solitude and let him relax.

  Then he could refocus what he wanted his security company to be now. Did he still want to work in personal security or run more undercover stings like the one he’d just wrapped up? Could he trust himself to never make the mistake he made with Hillary again?

  Shaking his head, Charles turned his attention to his ringing phone. He recognized the number as the Richardson Bed and Breakfast’s. Charles had done security with the historic bed-and-breakfast in the past. Like most people in Charleston, he had a deep admiration for Sheldon Richardson, the owner of the picturesque bed-and-breakfast.

  “This is Charles,” he said.

  “Chuck,” Sheldon said. “I need to talk to you about a security assignment.”

  “Is there a problem at your B&B?”

  “No, there’s a more personal problem I need your assistance with. Can we meet later today?”

  Charles looked down at the calendar on his Apple watch. “Yes, my calendar is clear.”

  “I don’t mean to rush you, but do you think you can be here in an hour?” Sheldon asked.

  “Yes, sir.” Charles was about twenty minutes from the bed-and-breakfast. “It may be sooner than that. I’m not too far away.”

  “Thanks, Chuck. This is really important. My daughter is in trouble.”

  After hanging up the phone, Charles started toward the bed-and-breakfast. His mind raced with questions. Which one of his daughters was having issues? Was it the sportswriter? What about the executive at Sheldon’s company? Then there were the other daughters whom Sheldon said lived in Virginia. He’d just save the questions for when the two men would meet. Traffic was light and he made it to the bed-and-breakfast without any delays.

  Charles walked in and looked around the charming lobby. He’d always thought this place felt like a set from one of those cheesy Christmas movies that he’d done security on the set of years ago. The muted gold and yellow colors whispered that Thanksgiving was coming. Charles loved the cornucopia on the front desk with apples and small pumpkins surrounding it.

  There was a soul to this place that made the Richardson Bed and Breakfast one of the most visited places in Charleston. Crossing over to the front desk, he smiled at the clerk before telling her that he was there to see Sheldon.

  “And here I thought you were here to sweep me off my feet,” she said with a throaty laugh as she picked up the phone. “What’s your name, handsome?”

  “Charles Morris.”

  She nodded, then said his name into the phone. “I’ll send him right up.” She turned toward the elevators. “He’s waiting for you.”

  Charles strode to the elevators, ignoring the lustful looks of some of the wom
en in the lobby. He was used to it. He’d been told that he was a cool drink of water, the kind of man women went crazy for. He thought he was average, but standing at six three and muscular because of his years in service and five a.m. workouts, he had a solid frame that some people said made him look like he should be in a superhero movie.

  Charles wasn’t a conceited man, so he always took the compliments with a silent smile.

  After all, she’d said the same things to him and it didn’t have the same energy coming from someone else. Part of him wondered if he’d ever get over Hillary and let another woman get close to him again.

  As he rode the elevator to Sheldon’s office, Charles put on his game face. He was ready to find out how he could help this legend.

  * * *

  Yolanda glared at her little sister and promised herself that she wouldn’t tell Nina anything ever again. But when she’d gotten a phone call from a robotic-sounding voice that had said she was a walking dead woman and Nina had been in the room, she had no choice but to tell her what had been going on in Richmond.

  Now they were standing in Sheldon’s office and Yolanda felt as if she was about to get a spanking like the time when she’d broken a five hundred–dollar crystal vase and tried to lie about it.

  Sheldon Richardson sat behind his desk and shook his head. “Why did you think you could keep this from me after everything we’ve been through?”

  “It’s not that big of a deal,” Yolanda exclaimed. “I’m not even in . . .”

  Sheldon held up his massive hand. “Someone wants you dead. It is a big deal and I can’t believe you tried to keep this from me.”

  “That’s why I didn’t want to say anything. We have enough drama going on right now.”

  Nina rolled her eyes. “Maybe you will take this seriously now. I’m going to find Clinton,” she snapped as she rose to her feet. As Nina stormed out of the office, a man walked in. Yolanda’s breath caught in her chest. Who was this Adonis with green eyes?

  “Chuck,” Sheldon said as he crossed over to the man Yolanda couldn’t tear her eyes from.

  She looked at him as he shook hands with her father. This man was fine. He had a quiet quality that made her wonder what he was hiding. He looked like the kind of man who would make you scream in pleasure and pain. But why was he in this office? Clearly he wasn’t . . .

  “Thank you for coming so quickly,” Sheldon said.

  “No problem. I want to see what I can do to help.”

  Sheldon turned to Yolanda, who quickly averted her eyes from Chuck. “This is my daughter Yolanda. She’s been getting death threats.”

  Chuck gave her a slow look that should’ve made her blush. Instead, Yolanda flashed a flirty smile.

  “My father is overreacting,” she said.

  “If you’re getting death threats, there’s no such thing as an overreaction.” His voice was filled with the bass of a quiet storm DJ and the concern of a knight in shining armor. Yolanda wanted to say something, but his eyes were hypnotizing and she found herself lost in his spell.

  “Chuck, I know this is asking a lot, but I want you to protect her, maybe even help her report what she knows so the people trying to kill her will stop this madness.”

  “Wait,” Yolanda said, rising to her feet. If she thought Chuck towered over her while she was seated, standing up, she realized what it felt like to be in a redwood forest. And those arms on that man looked like the strongest branches of those historic trees. Or maybe he was mythical, an Egyptian god come to life.

  No matter what he was, she didn’t need his protection. She’d just keep a low profile, get away from her family, and never return to Richmond again. If she pretended that she didn’t see or hear anything, maybe Danny and his killers would leave her alone. She wasn’t going to testify or even talk to a Richmond police officer. As far as she was concerned, she knew nothing.

  “I don’t want anything to do with this case, and I’m sure whoever is sending these little love notes will stop once they see I’m not a threat and I have no plans to go to the police.”

  Chuck and Sheldon shot her a cold look. “Do you think this is some sort of joke?” Sheldon boomed.

  Yolanda took a step back. This was why she didn’t want Nina to say a word to their father about the threats or what she saw. Sheldon was overprotective and he worried about his daughters too much, in Yolanda’s mind. She didn’t want to give him another reason to worry or be on the other end of his uber concern. When Sheldon saw a problem for one of his daughters, he would stop at nothing to fix it.

  Since Nina made things sound so dire, which they were, Sheldon had gone overboard with this bodyguard, Yolanda decided. Her plan was to get away from her family. That way the bed-and-breakfast wouldn’t be in the line of fire. Since she’d closed her shop in Richmond, Yolanda had no intentions of going back there. How long was it going to take for Danny to lose interest in her once he saw that she wasn’t a threat?

  Although she tried to act tough, Yolanda felt guilty that she wasn’t helping another family get justice for their dead loved one. She knew that if it had been one of her sisters or her father she’d hope the community would rally together and find the killer. She’d be the first one to go on the news and beg for help.

  Was someone from Bobby G.’s family making those same pleas? Yolanda had been ignoring the news of what was going on with the case because she didn’t want to get involved. Knowing that people were hurting, she’d do the right thing. But how much would she have to risk to do that?

  And how did a bodyguard even figure into her life? She looked up at Chuck. “You do know that I’m not based out of Charleston, right?”

  “I was planning to get all the details from you, Ms. Richardson. Your father is concerned about your safety and my job is to keep you safe—it doesn’t matter if it’s in Charleston or New Zealand.”

  Sheldon gave him a nod of approval, and Yolanda wondered what kind of relationship he had with this man. She’d never seen Chuck before and she would’ve remembered a man who looked like that. What had Chuck done to earn her father’s trust like this?

  “Ms. Richardson, do you think we can talk outside?” Chuck asked. His voice was as seductive as a chart-topping R&B singer and she would’ve said yes to anything he asked her. But she needed to get him to understand that she didn’t need his help.

  Chapter 6

  Charles watched Yolanda as she walked toward the elevator. She was the definition of a firecracker. A fine one, but she was dangerous. The kind of woman who would be a distraction, but he’d already made a promise to Sheldon.

  He should’ve asked a few more questions because this was the kind of case that he’d promised himself he wouldn’t take again. It seemed as if she didn’t want help, despite how much her father wanted to protect her.

  Charles knew he wasn’t going to be able to make her understand how important it was to protect herself from the killers if she didn’t put something on the line, like reporting what she’d seen to the police. Had she done that and was this why she’d been getting the death threats?

  “Chuck, right?” she said as the doors to the elevator opened and they stepped on.

  “Charles, actually, but most people call me Chuck.”

  “Mind if I ask why?”

  He chuckled as he locked eyes with Yolanda. She had beautiful eyes. Expressive and intense. The gold specks in her brown eyes sparkled as she spoke and made her face glow like the sun. Was it possible for a woman in a package that small to be a goddess? Calm down, he thought. This is not why you’re here.

  “My last name is Morris.”

  She brought her hand to her mouth, covering those full lips that he’d been trying to ignore. “Chuck Morris,” Yolanda said after she stopped laughing.

  “Heard it all before,” he said. “But Chuck Norris and I have one thing in common: We both kick ass.”

  “It’s a good thing that I don’t need you to do that for me,” she said.

  “Do you think
that death threats end because you ignore them?” Chuck rocked back on his heels and folded his arms across his chest.

  “Why wouldn’t they?”

  “Tell me what’s going on, the truth that you probably didn’t tell your father.”

  Yolanda sucked her teeth. “Listen,” she began. “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But I never told anyone, meaning the police, what I saw.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Yolanda, I’ve seen people killed for less. Do you want to live?”

  “What kind of question is that? Who wants to die?” She pursed her lips.

  “Clearly you do, since you don’t want to hear what I have to say.”

  “Chuck, I just want to keep my family safe and the only thing I need to do is keep everything separate from the family.”

  He sucked his teeth and shook his head. “That’s not enough.”

  “Then what do I need to do?” she asked.

  Chuck looked at her and shook his head again. This woman was low-key frustrating. “The question is, are you going to do it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that my job is to keep you alive. But I can’t do it if you aren’t going to listen to what I have to say.”

  She furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head to the side. “What do you want from me?”

  “I want to help you.”

  Yolanda took a deep breath as the elevator came to a stop. “But I don’t need your help.”

  “Do you want to live?”

  “Is it really that serious?” Her voice was flippant and Charles wanted to shake her until she understood how much danger she was in.

  “Yes, it is. Yolanda, do you think this guy is going to believe you’re not a threat because you disappeared?”

  “Why wouldn’t he?” She shrugged her shoulders and Charles tried not to focus on the naked flesh that flashed before him. Keeping her alive was all that mattered. But how much did it matter to her?

  “Yolanda, how much have you told your family?”