Colorado Bodyguard

by Cindi Myers

  Lotte lifted her head and whined.

  “You’re right,” Sophie said. “It wouldn’t be fair. So I shouldn’t lead him on. I should just forget about him and go back to Madison when this is over and...” And what? Mope around with a broken heart? That sounded so melodramatic, but if leaving Rand behind didn’t break her heart, she knew she’d at least be badly bruised. And for what? Not because she was so devoted to Madison, Wisconsin, and her job there. But because she was a coward. Afraid of getting hurt. Not just physically injured by Rand’s dog, but emotionally wounded by his possible rejection. After all, she wasn’t like Lauren. She wasn’t beautiful and charming and she hadn’t been born knowing how to captivate a guy. Sophie was quiet and plain and ordinary. No match for an edgy guy like Rand, with his tattoos and muscles and dangerous job. They weren’t a bit alike and shouldn’t a couple be at least a little compatible if they were going to build a long-term relationship?

  “What do you think?” Sophie asked the dog. “Could Rand really love someone like me?”

  Lotte leaped to her feet, every hair on her back standing on end. A deep growl made Sophie feel cold clear through, and when Lotte barked, Sophie screamed and stood on the sofa, looking wildly around for some weapon with which to defend herself.

  Lotte rushed toward her, then past her. Weak-kneed and dry-mouthed, Sophie realized the dog was barking at the door. And not just barking, but jumping and pawing at the wood. Muffled voices sounded, their words indistinct.

  “Who is it?” Sophie called, still standing on the sofa. “Who’s out there?”

  The door burst open, slamming hard against the wall. Lotte’s barking grew more furious. Sophie was aware of two men rushing into the room. Then someone threw a blanket over her and wrapped strong arms around her. She struggled, kicking with her legs, her arms pinned. The dog’s barking almost drowned out the men’s shouting and her own muffled screams. A gunshot reverberated and then everything went black as she was dragged away.

  * * *

  MARCO REACHED LAUREN first and put a gloved hand over her mouth to stop her screaming. “It’s all right,” he said, his soft, deep voice soothing her. “We’re here to rescue you.”

  She nodded, blue eyes wide in her pale face. Marco removed his hand. “Thank God,” she said, her eyes wet with unshed tears. “I thought I’d never get out of here.”

  “You can tell us everything later,” Rand said. “We’ve got to go before someone realizes the guards aren’t reporting in.” If Marco was right, the first guard had already missed his check-in period. Reinforcements might be on their way already.

  Lauren climbed out of the bed and grabbed a robe—a long pink-and-gold brocade affair that looked like something out of a period movie. Something a queen or a movie star would wear. She shoved her feet into kitten-heeled slippers. Marco eyed them skeptically. “Don’t you have anything sturdier?”

  “Unfortunately, no. Richard won’t let me have anything else.”

  “So, is he your boyfriend or something?” Rand asked.

  Marco shot him a warning look and shook his head. But why not get the truth out in the open right away?

  “My boyfriend?” Lauren laughed, a sound like bells. “Please, no. Though if you ask him, he calls himself my fiancé. He’s convinced if he keeps me here long enough I’ll wear down and agree to marry him. He’s sick, that’s what he is.” She sashed the robe tighter and tucked her hand into the crook of Marco’s elbow. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “We’ll have to go back the way we came.” Marco pointed to the door. “How often do the guards change?”

  “They work six-hour shifts, I think,” she said. “This one just came on a couple of hours ago.” She gingerly stepped around the guard’s prone figure. “I hope you hit him hard,” she said to Marco, her tone conversational. “He was always trying to look down my gown and feel me up every chance he got.” She shuddered. “A really foul man. I mean, at least Richard is a gentleman, even if he is delusional.”

  “We should move him out of the way,” Rand said. “If someone comes along, maybe they’ll think he deserted his post.”

  Marco grunted in agreement and grabbed the guard’s ankles. Rand took his shoulders and they dragged him some distance to a side passage, the man glaring up at them malevolently the entire time. They left his weapons in a different side passage, then returned to Lauren, who waited at the entrance to her underground bedroom.

  Rand studied her closely. He thought he saw some resemblance to Sophie, in the sharpness of her chin and the shape of her nose. But in demeanor the two sisters were nothing alike—Sophie quiet and serious, Lauren sparkling and chatty.

  She must have felt his gaze on her. She looked over her shoulder at him and asked, “How did you find me? I was giving up hope.”

  “Your sister,” he said. “Sophie traveled here from Wisconsin and demanded we keep looking for you. She refused to give up.”

  Tears glistened in her eyes once more. “Sophie has never given up on me,” she said.

  “Are you doing okay?” Marco asked. “Do you need anything before we head out?”

  “I’m fine.” Her smile dazzled. Even Marco looked dazed by it. “Richard makes sure I have all my medications. He denies me nothing, except my freedom.”

  He nodded and took her arm. “Let’s go, then.”

  But just as they prepared to turn into the passage leading toward the exit, they heard someone coming. “That will be the guard coming to check on me,” Lauren whispered. “They do a bed check every hour. If I’m not there, they’ll raise the alarm.”

  Marco turned her around and they hurried back to the chamber. “Quick, back under the covers,” he said. “Let the guard see you’re okay. Then we’ll have an hour before the next check—provided they don’t discover the missing guard.”

  “Where will you be?” she asked, crawling into the bed and pulling up the covers.

  “Under the bed.” He slid under one side, and Rand rolled under the other.

  The guard shuffled into the room. “Good evening,” Lauren greeted him brightly.

  “You’re supposed to be asleep,” the guard said.

  “I’m having trouble sleeping. I sent the other guard to the house to get me my pills.”

  “He’s not supposed to leave you unguarded,” he said.

  “Oh, it’ll be all right. Who’s going to find me down here?”

  The guard grunted. “It’s just as well you’re awake. We brought you some company.”

  “Company?” Lauren sounded puzzled.

  “She says she’s your sister.” Rand, watching from beneath the bed, stared in horror as a second man entered the room, dragging a bound-and-gagged Sophie behind him.

  “You two can have a little reunion,” the first guard said, and pushed Sophie onto the bed beside Lauren. Then the men left.

  As soon as the guards were gone, Rand and Marco rolled from beneath the bed. Lauren was already kneeling beside her sister, struggling with her bonds.

  Rand stripped off the tape over Sophie’s mouth while Marco cut the ties on her wrists. “Lauren!” she cried, hugging her sister close.

  The two women cried and exclaimed, until Marco finally interrupted. “We have to get out of here,” he said.

  “Are you all right?” Rand put an arm around Sophie, feeling her tremble. “Did they hurt you?”

  She shook her head, but tears streamed down her cheeks. “But I’m afraid they shot Lotte. She did what you said she would do. She tried to protect me. But they had guns...”

  His chest constricted as he thought of the dog, but he shoved the emotions aside. He had to focus on the situation at hand, on Sophie and Lauren and helping them escape.

  They started back the way they had come, but skidded to a stop when they spotted not one, but two guards in the passage ahea
d. “Is there another way out?” Marco asked.

  “There’s the passage to the house,” Lauren said. “There’s no guard there, since the only place it goes is the house.”

  “Let’s go,” Rand said. “Once there, we can steal a vehicle and get away faster.”

  They rushed along the passage Lauren indicated, sacrificing stealth for speed. But one of the guards must have heard them and sounded the alarm. Marco grabbed Lauren’s hand and pulled her forward. “Faster!” he commanded.

  Sophie grasped Rand’s hand and they hurried to keep up, but Lauren and Marco were faster and the two couples soon became separated. “Which way did they go?” Sophie asked.

  Rand stopped and studied the dust at their feet. In the dark passageway it was impossible to make out distinct footprints. “Marco!” he shouted.

  But the only answer was a deafening explosion that knocked him off his feet, and a shower of boulders crashed down around them.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Sophie came to, aching and disoriented in the darkness, choking in the dust. She closed her eyes and rested her head against the stone floor, willing memory to return. Back at Rand’s duplex, after she’d been wrapped in the blanket, someone had stuffed her into the backseat of a vehicle while a second person bound her wrists and ankles. They’d driven for some time, then bumped down a rough road. Her captors cut the ties at her ankles so that she could walk, but gagged her and kept her wrapped in the blanket until she stood outside the passage that led to Sophie’s room.

  Tears streamed down her face as she remembered the shock and delight of seeing her sister at last, and Rand there with her.

  Rand! Where was he? She felt all around her in the darkness until she encountered cloth, hard muscle and bone beneath. “Rand!” She curled her fingers around whatever part of the body she held. “Rand, please tell me you’re all right.”

  “Sophie?” He tried to sit up, then fell back, moaning. She felt her way up his body to his head and caressed his face with her hands, then kissed his cheek. “Rand, wake up,” she pleaded.

  “I’m awake.” His voice sounded strained.

  “Are you all right?” she asked. “Are you hurt?”

  “I got a bump on the head, but I’m okay.” He levered himself up on his elbow. “I’m going to roll over. You reach into my pack and get a light so we can see our situation better.”

  “Okay.”

  He rolled onto his side and she sat up and felt in the outer pocket of his pack for the mini Maglite he told her she’d find there. When she switched it on she had to look away at first, it was so bright.

  She handed the light to Rand and he sat up and shone it around them. They were in one end of a chamber blasted from the rock, the entrance and the other end of the space filled with fallen rock. “What happened?” she asked.

  “Maybe the guards set off some kind of charge to collapse the tunnels.” He continued to shine the light on the tumble of rock. “Maybe that was the plan.”

  “You mean Prentice would rather kill Lauren than let her escape?” It sounded like something out of a horror movie or something.

  “If she’s dead, she can’t testify against him,” Rand said. “And if she’s buried in an old mine, the chances of us finding her are slim to none.”

  She choked back a sob. “Lauren can’t be dead,” she said. “Not when we’ve only just found her.”

  He gripped her arm. “Don’t give up hope yet,” he said. “We made it okay. And she’s with Marco. He’ll look after her.”

  She clutched his hand, trying to hang on to some of his calm, as well. “What do we do now?” she asked.

  He slipped off his pack and pulled his radio from the belt at his side. “It’s too far underground to transmit,” he said, “but maybe headquarters can get a ping. They’ll realize something has happened and come looking. Meanwhile, let’s see if we can find a way out of here.”

  Together, they moved to the rubble-filled end of the chamber. He used the light to inspect every crevice between the rocks, but none revealed open space beyond. Sophie clawed at the rocks, trying to dislodge them. Maybe they could dig their way out—

  Rand put a hand on her arm. “Stop. You’re going to hurt yourself.” He led her to the other side of the passage and spread his jacket for them to sit on. “The best thing to do is rest and wait.”

  “Wait for what?” she asked.

  “Rescue. Someone will come for us, I’m sure.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “You heard the captain. We’re all in this together. A team. You don’t leave a team member behind.”

  She wanted to believe him, but she had no experience with that kind of loyalty. For so much of her life she and Lauren had only had each other. And Sophie was the dependable one, the sister who almost always came to the rescue. Except that now she was helpless to rescue Lauren, or herself.

  “I can’t believe Prentice was keeping Lauren prisoner down here,” she said. “Why? It’s not as if he could expect a big ransom for her or anything.”

  “Apparently he believed he could make her marry him if he kept her long enough,” Rand said.

  “But that’s insane. And he looks so...so ordinary.”

  “I guess some sick minds can live under ordinary exteriors. But according to her he didn’t mistreat her—he just wouldn’t let her leave.”

  “She looked the same as always. Beautiful.”

  “I prefer the darker, quieter ones.” Rand took her hand and squeezed it.

  She smiled, even though he probably couldn’t see it in the dark. She knew she wasn’t beautiful like Lauren, but Rand made her feel beautiful. Special. She leaned against him, her hand wrapped in his. “If this had to happen, I’m glad I’m with you,” she said.

  “It’s kind of nice to have some time alone with you.” He smoothed his hand along her shoulder. “Not exactly the most romantic setting, though.”

  “I don’t know about that.” She snuggled closer. “It’s dark. And private.” He’d propped the flashlight against the rocks so that it cast an indirect golden glow, like a wall sconce, giving just enough light for her to make out his form, without a lot of details.

  He turned his face toward hers and she kissed him. What she’d meant as a brief buss transformed into a long, lingering caress—contact that said all the things she could find no words for.

  He cradled her face in both hands. “I’ve never met anyone like you,” he said.

  “You mean stubborn and afraid and crazy?” She tried to laugh, but the sound came out too shaky, revealing how important his answer was to her.

  “I mean determined and brave and loyal. Amazing.” He drew her to him in a deep, breath-stealing kiss, his hands sliding down her arms, then up her sides to cup her breasts, which felt swollen and heated at his touch.

  She opened her mouth in a gasp and he swallowed the sound, his tongue sweeping over her lips, teasing into her mouth, enticing and erotic. She arched to him, wanting to be closer. Wanting more.

  He slid his mouth from hers, and pressed his lips to her temple. “Maybe we should stop now,” he said, his voice ragged.

  Everything about this was wrong—the location, the timing, their clothes. Making love to Rand had felt inevitable for a while now, but she’d imagined candlelight and crisp sheets, soft music and silk, not rock walls and dirt floors, dusty jeans and dried blood. But being with him was the only good thing she had to hold on to now. Denying each other the one thing they wanted most seemed stupid. They might not have much time left; they might as well use that time for something good.

  She unbuttoned the top button of his uniform shirt, resisting the urge to tear it from him. “I want this,” she said. “More than I’ve ever wanted anything.”

  “I want it, too.” He caressed her shoulders. “But you d
eserve better than this.”

  “Shhh.” She pressed her lips to the triangle of exposed chest her unbuttoning had revealed. He tasted of sweat and dust. “This isn’t about what either of us deserves.”

  He pulled her tight against him and kissed her, a hard, bruising kiss full of longing and regret. She cradled his head in her hands and opened her mouth to him, tangling her tongue with his, letting her need for him fill her and drive out the fear.

  He slid both hands beneath her shirt, skimming along her ribs, then pushing her bra out of the way to cup her breasts, squeezing gently. The ridge of his erection pressed against her stomach; she could feel the heat even through the layers of cloth separating them. She reached down and rubbed her hand along the evidence of his desire, eliciting a groan of frustration from him.

  He grasped her arms and held them over her head, then tugged off her shirt and bra, leaving her naked from the waist up. Goose bumps formed along her flesh, and she automatically tried to cover herself, but he kept hold of her arms, pulling them away. “You are so beautiful,” he said, and bent to kiss the top of one breast, then the other.

  She gasped when he drew her nipple into his mouth, the suction pulling between her legs. “Rand,” she breathed, but he only suckled harder, leaving her light-headed and trembling.

  He lowered the zipper of her jeans and slid his hand in to cup her over her underwear. She fumbled the rest of his shirt buttons loose and pushed the fabric away from his chest, then stilled, staring at what the parted fabric revealed.