Yuletide Protector (Love Inspired Suspense)

by Lisa Mondello

  His incredulous laugh came out in a short burst. “I can’t believe this. You’re actually considering staying here? I have no idea how long you’ll need protection. And hiring a bodyguard that really has the ability to protect you would cost far more than just leaving.”

  Kevin looked at her as if she had five heads. She sounded insane. Of course she did. But how could he know what this house meant to her? What it represented?

  “Well,” she said, “I’m staying. You see, I just bought this house a few months ago. I know it doesn’t look like much now, but I’m going to be spending the next week stripping layers and layers of cruddy wallpaper in my bathroom so I can see just how awful the walls are in there and decide whether or not I have enough money to retile or just spackle, paint and stencil. And if I have enough money, I want to buy a big Christmas tree for my front window. I don’t care that I don’t have a lot of ornaments to put on it. I want to be in my own home for Christmas. My home. Not some hotel somewhere or someone else’s house. The only relocating I want to be doing is moving junk from this house. And I’m not included in that.”

  Kevin pulled himself to his feet, towering over her. He had to be well over six feet tall, dwarfing her average height.

  He poked his finger on the table. “You don’t understand how serious this threat is.”

  She charged back. “Oh, yes, I do. But you’re telling me I have to just up and leave my house, the home I’ve spent the last six months pulling apart to make livable again. Do you have any idea what this house looked like when I moved in?”

  He started to speak, but she halted him by raising both hands in the air.

  “It was awful. Truly hideous. I had a small fridge and microwave in my bedroom up until a month ago. I had to be careful where I stepped for fear the stairs would break, and there are still places I have to watch out for when I’m upstairs. I had to buy a membership to the gym just so I could shower there until I’d saved enough money to pay for new plumbing, which, let me tell you, costs a pretty penny in an old place like this.”

  She stalked to the back door and swung it open, letting in a rush of cold air that blew her hair into her eyes. She swiped the errant strands away with a quick brush of her hand.

  “Do you see that tree out there?”

  Kevin leaned forward to peer out in the direction she was pointing.

  “The little one that looks like a twig being held up by a stake?”

  She huffed. “It’s a hummingbird vine. I planted one of these with my mother when I was ten years old when we lived in Georgia. We’d only stayed there for about five months. I remember I was so excited about watching something that I had planted grow and bloom. Why? Because I never have. I never stay in any place long enough to see it.”

  She also recalled her mother’s comforting pat on the back when Daria asked if they’d be there in the spring to see it bloom and the disappointment she’d felt when her mother said no, that they were planting the tree for someone else to enjoy. That was the story of her life. Digging roots for someone else.

  Daria took a deep breath, afraid her voice would crack if she spoke too soon. “I know you don’t get it. But I’ve never seen the same bush shed its leaves and then bloom the next summer. I’ve never lived anywhere long enough to see more than two or three seasons change.”

  She swung the door shut and stared at Kevin.

  “I planted over three hundred dollars’ worth of bulbs this past fall. Even when the rest of the house was still too decrepit to live in, when I couldn’t stand to nail one more board inside, I still came out into the yard and dug in the dirt because I couldn’t wait to see what my garden would look like next spring. I knew without a doubt that this time I’d be around to see it bloom.”

  Kevin interrupted before she could continue. “You’re clearly upset. But you can’t compare a garden to your safety.”

  “I’ve spent my entire life living out of boxes, never unpacking because there wasn’t any point unpacking. We never stayed anyplace long enough for it to matter. This is it. This house. The end of the line for me.”

  She felt the tears spring to life in her eyes. No one else could understand what this house meant to her.

  “I’m not going anywhere. Not George, my parents or even the Providence Police Department is going to make me leave the only home I’ve ever had in my life. This is the place where I plan to spend the rest of my life until the day I die.”

  Kevin stared at her hard, her shoulders sagging under silent resignation. “If you stay here, it may be sooner than you think.”

  Kevin paused for a moment before saying more. He should have insisted Daria come to the station. Maybe there he could get her to see sense. He wasn’t getting through to her here. He knew she’d be upset. How could she not be? And he took responsibility for that. If he’d done his job properly, she wouldn’t be in danger.

  He should never have taken the earpiece out. If he hadn’t, he’d have known the wire was somehow compromised. He would have played out last night differently. He could have let George walk away. It would have killed him to let the man go after what he’d heard him say about Daria, but he wouldn’t have blown his cover. George wouldn’t know the police were aware of his intentions to hire someone to kill his ex-wife.

  What he should have done was play along and wait until money had changed hands. Then he could have arrested him. Nothing George Carlisle did after that would keep him a free man.

  But high on the rooftop, Ski hadn’t been aware nothing was being recorded, either. He’d moved in too quickly. And the entire sting had been compromised.

  All night, he’d replayed everything he’d done wrong. And now Kevin was faced with a woman who would risk her life just to stay in a house! It reminded him of those people who waited too late to leave the area around a volcanic mountain even when they knew it was about to explode.

  He had to make her understand that leaving was the only way to keep her safe from her ex-husband.

  “You can’t compare your life to a few flowers in the garden. You can always get another house somewhere else.”

  “That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one being asked to give up everything.”

  He scrubbed both hands over his face, the long night and his own emotions dragging him down. “Your ex is not going to stop.”

  “He knows the police are onto him now. Are you going to keep watching him?”

  “As much as we can. But he’ll just be more careful who he associates with.”

  She stared out into her backyard through the kitchen window, the sunlight highlighting her strawberry-blond hair and wide blue eyes. Her tense, drawn expression was quite a contrast to the bright smile he’d seen when he’d spoken to her at the market.

  He’d noticed her smile first, and immediately recalled her ex-husband’s words and the twisted look on his face. And he’d been thinking how insane it was for anyone to want this beautiful woman with such a sunshine smile dead.

  “Don’t be naive. It’s only a matter of time before George contacts someone else, offers big money to do the job.”

  “How much did he offer you?”

  “Fifty thousand,” he said as delicately as possible.

  She started laughing and covered her face with both hands. “Now I know he must have been joking. A sick joke, but still a joke.”

  He felt the crease between his brows. “Why?”

  “George doesn’t have that kind of money. I can’t even figure out how he could pay a ‘high-priced’ lawyer.”

  Kevin blew out a breath of frustration. “Daria, do you know what kind of dealings your ex-husband has?”

  She gave him a slightly frosty glance. “Of course I do. His dealings are what eventually led to our divorce.”

  “Then you’re aware that in the past he has taken out very high-interest loans with some disreputable people?”

  “George likes to spend money. He never has any, but he likes to spend it. And yes, I’m aware he did business w
ith loan sharks in the past. He has a habit of living beyond his means.”

  “Other than the loan sharks, where did he get the extra money?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Her voice had a tinge of bitterness to it. He glanced around her home and realized the divorce had done more than change her address. If she had been used to living in high style, she’d changed fast.

  “But you knew of his dealings?”

  “Not completely.” She tapped a finger on the table and just stared out at nothing. “We were married while I was still in college. After I graduated and got a good job, we decided to save for a house. Or rather, I saved. He spent. His work as a broker makes good money. I didn’t think it would take us long to save enough for a down payment. Unfortunately, no matter how much money George made, he never got quite enough money to satisfy himself. There were times I wondered where his extra money was coming from, but he’d tell me it was a bonus or something at work.”

  “And you believed him?”

  Daria walked to the sink, grabbed a sponge and ran it under water, squeezing it before wiping the spilled coffee on the counter. With every stroke she wondered how she could have ever been so wrong about a person.

  “I was young. I didn’t know what to believe. I never saw his paycheck—I just knew he seemed to always be buying things or spending. But he came home one night, his face as white as a sheet, and told me he needed a lot of money. He said if he didn’t pay it back fast he’d end up crushed like a tin can.”

  “So you gave him the money you had saved for your house.”

  She laughed sarcastically. “What else was I supposed to do? He said he’d made a mistake and convinced me he’d never do it again. I loved him…or at least I loved the person I thought he was. Sometimes you make foolish choices when you’re young. Apparently, I was more foolish than I thought.” She frowned, seeming lost in thought for a moment, then returned her attention to Kevin.

  “Look, I really do appreciate you coming by here this morning and…filling me in on what’s been going on. I’ll be sure to be more careful to watch for anyone following me. Maybe this time I’ll even spot you.”

  Her attempt at a joke fell flat.

  “If you’re not leaving, you leave me no choice but to continue watching you.”

  “I’m not leaving. Besides, I know George. You probably shook him up good. I’m not letting anyone drive me from my home.”

  Daria had spent her whole life trying to please her parents, trying to please her husband. She’d promised herself this time that she’d stand firm and not let anyone get in the way of her pleasing herself.

  It had been a huge step for her to buy this house on Hitchcock Street. She’d wanted a real home for as long as she could remember. She could barely afford it and she was always strapped for cash to do repairs, but it was hers. It was home. And it was all she had. She couldn’t leave even if she wanted to. Everything she had was wrapped up in this house.

  Folding her arms across her chest, she said, “I think I need a little time alone.” She had to do some thinking. Make her own decision about what to do next without any outside interference.

  “There’s no way I can change your mind?”

  “Right now, no,” she said resolutely, squaring her shoulders.

  Kevin sighed, his shoulders sagging. “Then you leave me no choice. If you don’t leave, then neither can I.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m your new bodyguard.”

  THREE

  “You’re still here?”

  Kevin had parked his SUV against the curb right at the bottom of her driveway. His car was running and the frost that had formed overnight was now melted off.

  He’d been sitting in front of her house all night. Daria knew this because she’d spent the better part of the night alternating between questioning her decision to stay in her house, running financial numbers on her calculator and peeking out the window to see if Kevin’s SUV was still there. It was.

  “Don’t you have a job to go to?” she asked.

  “I will, as soon as I know you’re in your office building.”

  Daria glanced behind her toward the sound of the barking dog. Her next-door neighbor’s Labrador, Spot, was at it again. No doubt garbage would be all over the sidewalk by the time she got home and Mrs. Hildebrand would have a few choice words to say in blaming her for the mess.

  Turning to Kevin, she said, “My neighbors are going to think it’s you that’s stalking me. Not my ex-husband.”

  “No, they won’t. I’ve met them already. I didn’t want them to be frightened when they sawmy car sitting out at the curb all night, so I went over and introduced myself.”

  Daria’s mouth dropped open. “You did?”

  He pointed to the houses across the street. “Mrs. Parsons is thrilled to have an officer in the neighborhood. She said there’ve been a lot of hoodlums vandalizing their property for the last couple of years. Her fence has been knocked down twice in the last three months.”

  “Mrs. Parsons?”

  Kevin threw her a suspicious look. “Don’t you know your neighbors?”

  “I just moved in.”

  “You said you moved in six months ago. What have you been waiting for?”

  A fingernail of irritation crawled up her spine. “I’ve been a little busy trying to fix this house up so I can move my microwave out of my bedroom. I didn’t have time to go door to door. You know, my neighbors haven’t exactly sent out a welcome committee, either.”

  Daria glanced back again toward the sound of the dog. “Have you met Hilda yet?”

  Kevin glanced at the house directly next to hers. “You mean Mrs. Hildebrand?”

  Daria nodded.

  “Hers was the first door I knocked on. Said your house used to be quite the party hangout for the local kids when it was empty. Hence the graffiti on your siding. She’s a real nice lady. She grew up in that house, you know. She inherited it when her parents died. She baked me peanut-butter cookies, too. Want one?” he said with a lift of his eyebrows.

  Daria peered into the truck at the half-full plate of cookies. “No.”

  “Suit yourself. They’re really good.”

  Peanut-butter cookies? Daria couldn’t believe it. “You mean she was actually nice to you? You had a real conversation?”

  “Yeah, she’s a sweetheart.”

  Daria’s mouth dropped open. “She yells at me every single morning for putting my trash can too close to the property line and then blames me when the trash somehow ends up on her property. She’ll never admit it’s her own dog making the mess. Not that she’s ever seen it. She’s as blind as a bat.”

  “That much I figured out when she answered the door and thought I was her brother Edgar. She told me all about the vandalism here. It’s only been in the past few years. Probably some street kids with nothing better to do. Despite the problems here, you picked a good neighborhood to buy in.”

  “Then you can understand why it would be hard to leave.”

  Kevin hesitated. “I can understand someone like Mrs. Hildebrand wanting to stay. She doesn’t know anything else. But you just got here. You don’t have any ties to this neighborhood like Mrs. Hildebrand, or Mrs. Parsons, who’s been here for fifteen years.”

  “You got awfully chatty with my neighbors.”

  “I’m a police officer. People skills are important. So what’s your reason for wanting to stay so badly that you’d risk your life? I know it’s not bulbs in the backyard or nice crown molding in the living room. You can get that anywhere.”

  “You wouldn’t understand.”

  He opened his SUV door and climbed out, leaning his full weight against the side of his truck. “Try me.”

  Daria stared into Kevin’s face as he waited, with interest in his eyes. He had beautiful eyes, she had to admit.

  “My parents moved around when I was growing up. A lot. My last count was that I’ve lived in over thirty-five different places. I stop
ped counting when I got married. Although the moving didn’t end there. George always wanted a bigger place. Something more luxurious.”

  “Were your parents in the military?”

  Folding her arms across her chest, she said, “No, my dad is an artist.” She shrugged with a smile and glanced down the narrow city street as a car pulled out of the driveway. Someone else on their way to work. “They were typical children of the sixties who never quite moved beyond that era. Of course, you’d never know it to look at them now. But they still go on their occasional marches and still believe their one voice will save the world and make it a better place.”

  And unlike Daria, they believed that staying in one place too long would steal her father’s creativity and make him stagnant. Daria believed it would keep her grounded. She was just beginning to feel that way here until Kevin had dropped his bomb about George.

  “You see, when I bought this house I promised myself it would be the end of the line for me. I figured the only way I’d be leaving here is in a body bag.”

  Bad joke. She knew it the moment she’d uttered the words. The dark cloud that shadowed Kevin’s face just proved it.

  “That’s precisely what I’m trying to avoid,” he said in a voice that was much too deep and ominous to keep her from shuddering.

  She cleared her throat. “Look. I know you don’t understand. Unless you’ve lived the way I have, you never will. You won’t see why this house is so important to me. Or why I can’t leave.”

  “It’s just a house, Daria.” His words sounded so cold, although she was sure he hadn’t meant to be harsh.

  Tears stung her eyes. She knew it was impossible for him to comprehend how she felt. He’d probably lived in the same house his whole life just like Mrs. Hildebrand.

  Daria pushed up the sleeve of her winter coat and glanced at her watch. She had to get to work. “Are you going to follow me all the way to the office?”

  “That’s the plan. As soon as I know for sure you’ve made it into your building I’ll head out.”