Special Agent Charli

by Mimi Barbour

  Blake laughed and brought his coffee to the island where she now perched on a stool. Aware of her fragility, not wanting to push her buttons anymore tonight, he took a stool across the counter so he could see her eyes. Sitting there, he wasn’t crowding her.

  “Thanks for letting Gramps stay in that room. I respected that you’d left it locked. Kayla and I hadn’t bothered with it because we had no need for the extra space.”

  “Yeah, well, the only reason I’d locked it was because with it being my office, and the cleaning lady not allowed in there, it became pretty messy – as you no doubt noticed. Once we’d decided this house would be the perfect safe-place for you and Kayla, I didn’t have the time to tidy it, or remove my target gun cabinet, and so I thought it best to just lock the door. Now that I’m here, and your gramps needs a place to sleep, I have no problem opening it up.”

  “Are there a lot of guns?” A worried look had appeared as she zeroed in on the question of safety.

  “Not now. I took most of them out to put in my trunk. I left two smaller handguns in the bottom drawer. The safety code is 1147 in case you need to get in there. While I was storing them, I got the latest report from Bill Newton, my lieutenant.”

  “I’ll remember that because we used to have a post office box numbered 1147. By the way, Newton knows about our witness protection, doesn’t he?”

  “Yes. Besides me, he’s the only one. But how did you figure that out?”

  “He knew enough to bring Gramps here. A man off the street saying he witnessed a murder would get their attention, but no way would they have brought just anyone here to you. I figured his surname might have rung a bell.”

  “You’re right. Good thing Bill was the first person our sergeant called in the department to approach John, and not Dudley.”

  “Dudley, the cop Gramps was so disparaging about. I’m sorry about him being so frank. He can be brutally honest in his opinions sometimes, and he took a disliking to your detective.”

  “Hell, he’s not the only one. But, the man stays just inside the boundaries of my patience, and as long as I don’t back up too often and bump into his lips, I’ll leave things as they were before I took on the role of Major.”

  Laughing, Charli finally decided she couldn’t stall any longer. “What else did he say?”

  “We finally got the report that they found Mark Crawly. It took them a while. I guess the girls who usually check on your grandfather at bedtime saw the lights were out and a man sitting in his chair, covered and sleeping. It wasn’t until later the next morning that they came to offer him a breakfast tray because he’d missed the meal when they realized what had happened.”

  “That it was Mark, not Gramps.”

  “Yeah. John must have covered him with a blanket and everything looked fine until they shook the body to wake him up. That’s when they called the police.”

  “Poor old folks must have been shocked when they saw officers streaming into the place.”

  “I have no doubt.” He thought about the uproar a murder would have caused at a senior’s home like the lodge … their worst nightmare. “The authorities assumed he’d been assassinated by Silverado even before the crime scene investigation. Same silver bullet, same forehead shot.”

  “Was this before or after he’d ransacked my place?”

  “What makes you think he was at your place?”

  “Stands to reason… he found out about the lodge, didn’t he?”

  Blake didn’t want to answer her. He knew what would happen. If he tried protecting her, she’d be pissed, the same as any other law professional. He had no choice. “It was after.”

  “Shit!” Suddenly pale, she bit her lip. “I thought I’d cleaned out everything at home that could possibly lead him to the lodge. I’d passed on my boxes to Mark, who’d promised to get me a storage unit until this nightmare ended.” Charli turned away but not before he saw her eyes fill with self-loathing.

  He couldn’t stand her beating up on herself. “Honey, they had guards posted to make sure he didn’t get inside your apartment, but they screwed up. Supposedly, they were called away on a bogus break-in complaint, someone with a broken window mysteriously having been opened. That’s when they missed him. Otherwise, they’d have stopped him from getting anywhere near your stuff.” First, he hesitated and then decided to get it over with so they could move on.

  “According to Deputy Chief Prowler, you had a photograph on the wall in the entrance hallway where the frame had been smashed and the picture stolen.”

  Charli’s hands fisted, and she shook her head. “Dammit, dammit… Goddammit! How could I have been so sloppy – so stupid? Of course, he’d see that. It was last year’s Christmas masquerade party. Gramps went as Santa Claus.”

  When his eyebrow lifted, she added, “I went as an FBI agent. They had the lodge’s banner above where we’d posed. And… they had our names listed.”

  “That explains why he didn’t realize he had the wrong man when he saw Mark.”

  Her head dropped to the table. He couldn’t help himself. Seeing her suffering, her pain, and sensing she’d hate his arms or lips; he just let his hand gently ruffle the curls on top of her head. “Please, Charli. Don’t be sad. Mark Crawly was a good cop. He would have protected your grandfather in any situation, you know that.”

  “I do. That’s what makes it so bad. Don’t you see that?” Her eyes were teary and pools of sadness lurked under the anger. “I screwed up.”

  “Hold it. You’d just come off a brutal assignment, stressed out to the max and got thrown into a murder case. No time to even breathe. You’re not a super hero, just a woman doing the best you can. And in my opinion, and that’s a professional one if it matters, you’ve done an amazing job. So, quit disparaging the woman I happen to ad… mire.” He stopped the word adore from breaking loose, but just. That term was on the tip of his tongue because it boomeranged in his head, flooded his heart and wouldn’t be shut off. He absolutely, forever and ever, adored her.

  “All I know is this. Crawly wouldn’t have talked. So, Dylan Ross, the murdering bastard, had to have found out about my trip to Fort Lauderdale from seeing the material Gramps had scattered all over the living room. The old dear had been so excited about our vacation, that he’d gotten all kinds of printouts of the rental house and Fort Lauderdale tourist photos for bragging material to show off to his friends.”

  Charli lay with her head sideways on her arms, her voice rough as if she had trouble breathing. “There’s one thing I don’t get.”

  “What’s that?”

  “How did he know for sure that Alicia Shoal, the witness, would be with me? How did he know that she’d been taken into witness protection?”

  “See, I knew you’d eventually get to this question. And that was the other piece of news Bill shared. Seems like your supervisor, Deputy Assistant Jake Crompton, was found tortured and killed in his home also – before the break-in to your place. And this time, we believe the murdering bastard threatened Crompton’s family.”

  “Oh, sweet Jesus. Jake’s little girl, is she okay?”

  “Yes. Her nanny had taken her to a friend’s birthday party but they were due home about the time he took the bullet. Jake must have been frantic that she’d be Dylan’s next victim. He put up a fight, but in the end, he talked. Thank goodness he didn’t know where you were going.”

  “He knew we were together.”

  Blake nodded; glad she didn’t insist he share everything. The horrific details, he kept to himself. “Right. He did.”

  “And he told Dylan.”

  “That’s what they’ve determined.”

  Charli’s direct stare gave him no leeway for making up a story. “So far, the lunatic’s killed three people to find us. He’s coming for me and Kayla.”

  “Oh, yeah. But he only knows you’re in the city. He has no idea where.”

  Charli’s stare caught him and drilled through the bullshit. “He’s a genius for finding these things o
ut though, isn’t he, Major Sebastian? It didn’t take him long to find Agent Dale, did it?”

  Blake’s nerves tightened from the sarcastic conviction in her voice. How could he argue the truth? He finally reached across and slid his hand over hers. “We’re making arrangements to move you all as soon as possible. But in the meantime, if that prick finds this place, we’ll be waiting for him.”

  ***

  Blake hadn’t taken it personally when Charli flicked his hand off hers and left him at the island. She’d said goodnight first, checked each of the four security monitors on the one big screen, and disappeared down the hall.

  Seeing the early beginnings of the sunrise through the patio window, he kicked off his shoes and laid down on the sofa, his pillow bunched up under his head.

  Life had become insane ever since he met Charli. At first, she’d intrigued him, which seemed like such a watered-down, completely frivolous version of his attraction to her at the moment.

  He remembered how it had been between them earlier, the explosive combustion as soon as their lips had touched… Good God! His true feelings now were like a pure gold bar compared to a tiny speck of sand.

  He flipped over and put the pillow over his head, foolishly trying to block out images that were floating around inside and couldn’t be extinguished.

  Rankled, disturbed, he swore he heard a noise and yet no one could have entered the house. Rising to his feet, he took the flashlight he kept in the coffee table drawer in case of a blackout and slowly tiptoed up the hallway.

  He glanced in the girls’ bedroom and saw them tangled in their individual blankets, together on the same bed with only their hands touching, linked.

  Then he went to his office, intending to check on John Madison, a man who he needed to talk with, to pry secrets from… to understand why Charli behaved like a man-hater.

  The door slid soundlessly and the sight he saw broke that last piece of resistance he had to loving a woman more than himself.

  Charli was huddled in the uncomfortable office chair, slumped over, asleep beside the sofa bed where her grandpa lay snoring. He had no doubt she guarded the one precious person who she loved more than herself.

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Blake started breakfast for everyone the next morning, showing off his cooking skills. Pleased but not surprised, his helper, Charli’s grandpa, knew more about cooking than he’d ever learned from the culinary shows on TV he sometimes watched.

  The two worked together, he cooked the bacon and eggs, while John whipped up some of the best blueberry waffles he’d ever tasted.

  The five of them sat around the breakfast table, pretending a nonchalance that soon became real. Poppa John, as Charli called him, told stories about the old folks at the lodge that had them all laughing, and the relaxing atmosphere did more for their morale than anything else could have.

  Soon, after tidying their places, the girls decided they needed to catch up on some homework since Charli refused to let them go to school. And Charli retreated to the gym off the master bedroom, declaring she needed to work off the two waffles she’d devoured.

  Left alone with the person he most wanted to question, Blake opened the conversation. “John, I hope you’re willing to help me understand Charli better. She’s beautiful, great with the girls, and a cop I’d be proud to have on my team, but there’s a definite hand’s off signal that blares whenever I try to get close to her.”

  John chuckled. His good brown eye held a conviction that threw Blake for a loop. “Hell, son, she can recognize a hound dog when she sees one.”

  Taken aback, not sure if he should be offended, Blake questioned, “What do you mean, hound dog?”

  “You know blasted well what I mean. A playboy, woman’s man, operator, call it what you will. You’re a high flyer, boy; you’ve got your ATP pilot’s license, no doubt about it.”

  If John didn’t have a big grin on his face, Blake would have been insulted. He sensed the man teased, but with a serious streak of intention, letting him know he was no man’s fool.

  “Charli’s got baggage like most women today. But her baggage is hers, not mine to share. I sense it matters a great deal to you so I’ll not tease anymore. Just know this; my girl can smell a fake from a mile away. The fact that she’s let you get close goes in your favor.” John narrowed his eyes and his tone hardened. “If you’re her match, then you better treat her right. Man to man, you mess with her and I’ll shoot you where you dangle, see if I don’t. Now tell me how you’re going to keep those girls safe from that scumbag who wants them dead.”

  Before Blake formed a comeback, his cell rang, and it was the ring tone for a call he had to take. “Thanks, John, for being honest. I’m not playing around with Charli, so you can put your gun away. I’m in so deep; no other woman will ever satisfy me now.”

  “I know. That’s why I never punched you in the nose when I first entered the house. I may be blind in one eye, son, but I see real good out the other.”

  Chapter Thirty-eight

  Kayla waited until John was alone to approach. “Mr. Madison, can we speak with you for a few minutes?” She gestured to the bedroom where Angie waited at the door, grinning a welcome.

  “Not if you call me Mister again. You girls either call me Poppa John or Gramps, like Charli, that’s if you want me to be your pal.” He put out his hand for Kayla to take, waited until she slipped hers into his and walked her to the room.

  Angie closed them inside, and then pulled the lime green chair over to the bed for him while the two girls sat cross-legged on top of the white cover.

  “Charli told me a little more about your predicament last night. How she’s looking after you both. She takes her responsibilities seriously so you can rest easy. Now, what can I help you ladies with?” Kayla watched John’s arms rest on the chair, and his hands grip each other loosely.

  The man’s face had more natural color than most of the elderly she’d seen, which gave him an appearance of a healthy person. His white hair shaved close to his head and his bushy eyebrows, tamed by a barber’s trimming, made him kinda adorably cute.

  His confidential demeanor and his cheeky grin, as if they were sharing secrets, delighted her. She couldn’t stop the swell of affection that consumed her, and looking at Angie, she saw the other girl’s eyes shine with liking, something that didn’t happen often. Normally, they were freaky empty.

  “You know why Charli and I are together, don’t you?” Before he could argue, Kayla admitted, “We listened at the door last night.”

  “Oh, I know you did.”

  Kayla, stunned at first, had to laugh. “You’re scary for being a blind man.”

  “There’s an old saying – there’s none so blind as those who won’t open their eyes and pay attention. I might be blind in my pretty blue eye but that old brown one sees a lot more than most people are comfortable with.” He turned to Angie and spoke very gently, “For instance, I know you’ve survived hell and are terrified to go back there.”

  Tears appeared before Angie could recover from his words. “I ahh, I… ahh, yeah. It fu… freakin’ sucked.”

  “I bet. But from this day on, kiddo, everything will be okay. Know that inside your heart, in your belly and everywhere else you need it to lodge. You belong to me and Charli now. And you, Kayla – you too. From this point on, we’re family. So, I’m your grandpa, and I’ll do whatever I can to help you. As long as we stay…” He held up both hands and wiggled them… “as close inside the law as possible.”

  Kayla hugged him, she couldn’t help herself. Charli had shown her just how sweet that kind of connection could be, and she needed to pass on that sweetness to the old guy.

  Angie sniffed, and her words came out loud, cruder than intended. “We need money to buy a gun.”

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  The day passed slowly for Charli, catching up on her paperwork and exercising, running away from her demons and finding them beside her on the treadmill.

 
She had to stay away from Blake. Her defenses were screwed; he’d gotten through once. And after her earlier discussion with Poppa John, she feared he’d break through again.

  ***

  That morning, when Gramps woke to see her in the chair next to his bed, he’d sat up and made room for her to snuggle against the wall next to him.

  “You shouldn’t have stayed with me, kiddo. I’m fine. You must have been uncomfortable, sleeping in that dumb ol’ chair.”

  “I wanted to be close by. You had some pretty nerve-wracking experiences. I was scared you might react.”

  “Or maybe you were hiding from Blake.”

  “Excuse me?” Stunned, she glared at him.

  “Sweetheart, don’t give me the evil-eye, and stop fighting it. Blake’s a good man. He can make you happy. Give him a chance.”

  “You don’t know that, Popsicle. You only met him yesterday.”

  “In person, yes. But, that’s the first time I’ve ever seen you look like a woman who’d just felt joy in a man’s arms. Don’t give me that glare. I can tell when two people have just been together.”

  “We weren’t.”

  “Tell that to someone without a brain and one good eye. Besides, I listened to his partner brag about the guy all the way over here. And, I saw the infatuation plastered all over his face the minute I stepped through the door. He’s smitten.”

  “What you didn’t pick up on was that he’s a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy. I’ve already been warned by one of the women he’s left.”

  “At least he’s honest and doesn’t purposely break their hearts.” When she gave him the how-the-hell-do-you-know kind of look, he admitted, “His partner might have also mentioned that the women in town flock to him like bees to a honeypot. Besides, isn’t that kind of your scenario? How many men have you dated over the years with no intentions of letting them get close?”

  “That’s different. I needed to focus on my career.”