Keeping Her Safe

by Sherry Lewis

  “Right.” Chuck shook his head and ground the ignition switch a little too far. “I thought you’d sworn off women for good.”

  “I have.”

  “Yeah. You barbecue on every assignment.”

  “You want to tell me a better way to hang around a family barbecue without looking conspicuous?”

  Chuck rolled his eyes and jerked his chin toward Adam’s door without offering any suggestions. “Get out of here and go back to work. You’re wearing me out.”

  Only too glad to comply, Adam shoved open the door and stood.

  Chuck leaned across the seat and stared up at him. “And watch yourself, my friend. I have a feeling you’re skating on very thin ice.”

  Adam didn’t even bother to dignify that with an answer. He slammed the door and stalked away from Chuck’s car, but he didn’t feel a whole lot better than he had when he’d arrived.

  What he’d said to Chuck about DJ should have been the truth, but he was more attracted to her than he cared to admit, and far more worried about her safety than he’d let on.

  KEEPING ONE EYE on DJ and Larry Galloway across the deck, Adam sprinkled lighter fluid over the charcoal, struck a match and tossed it into the grill. Flames leaped into the air, forcing him to step back quickly;

  He cursed under his breath and told himself to pay more attention to his immediate task. But he hated taking his eyes off Galloway for even a minute.

  DJ sat on a lawn chair facing Galloway. She wore a long denim jumper with a crisp white blouse and those god-awful army boots with thick white socks. She’d pulled her hair up with some sort of clip that let several wisps spill back to her shoulders. She looked young and beautiful and entirely too vulnerable to be at the mercy of scum like Galloway.

  Adam couldn’t see Galloway’s face or hear the conversation, but he tracked it by watching DJ’s responses. She darted glances over the deck’s rail at Marissa playing with Holly on the lawn, and she responded to Galloway’s comments with a tight smile, a tiny laugh or a worried frown.

  Adam willed the coals to catch quickly so he could rejoin her. He wanted to hear everything Galloway said. He needed names of current associates in case Galloway was spending time with known criminals. He needed to know if Galloway owned a weapon or planned something illegal. Anything could slip out in casual conversation.

  Sending Galloway back to prison wouldn’t spare DJ what she had to face while she adjusted to suddenly having a father she had never suspected existed, but it just might spare her from being hurt by Galloway’s future actions.

  Checking the coals again, Adam convinced himself they were burning well enough to be left alone and lowered the lid on the grill. He crossed the deck and dropped into a chair beside DJ’s. “We’ll be ready to cook in a minute. How do you like your burgers, Mr. Galloway?”

  “Rare. And you might as well call me Larry. You’re making me feel old.”

  DJ crossed her legs and managed to look graceful doing it, in spite of the boots. “If you’re taking orders, make mine medium and a little better done for Marissa.”

  “Got it.”

  “I was just starting to tell Devon about a vacation her mother and me took before she was born. Laura musta been a few years older than Marissa, there.” Galloway leaned back in his chair and smiled at some memory. “We drove down to Page, Arizona. Have you ever been there?”

  DJ shook her head, but Adam nodded and said, “Once.”

  Galloway gave a little laugh. “I had a job down there, so I let Chrissy and Laura come with me. We did that town up right, I can tell you. I took Chrissy out every night and bought Laura just about everything her heart desired. Your mother loved that trip, Devon. Absolutely loved it.”

  DJ smiled softly, but Adam knew she wanted answers to basic questions, not just pretty memories.

  “Did she ever tell you about the time we decided to go dog sleddin’?”

  “No,” DJ said.

  Adam forced himself not to speak, but surely the idiot remembered that Christina hadn’t told DJ anything. Not even that Galloway existed.

  Galloway laughed again and lifted one ankle across his knee. “Funniest story you’ll ever hear,” he said, and launched into a tale about a dog sled and a pack of malamute puppies.

  Adam watched DJ’s face. No one could miss the wistfulness there, the longing or the occasional flash of envy when Galloway talked about something she’d missed. No doubt about it, the man was winning her over.

  And why not? He was her father. No matter what choices he’d made during his lifetime, no matter how hard Christina Prescott tried to undo it, that fact would never change.

  “So there Laura was,” Galloway said, “running alongside of those pups and falling down all over herself—you know how damned clumsy she is—and those dogs just sat down in the snow and watched that poor girl run.” He laughed hard enough to bring tears to his eyes. “Your mother, though. She didn’t think it was nearly as funny as I did.”

  If Adam read DJ’s expression right, she didn’t think it was funny, either.

  Galloway took a moment to wipe his eyes and stop laughing, then turned his attention to Adam. “Do you know her? My ex?”

  “Slightly,” he lied.

  “She can fly off the handle quicker than any woman I ever knew before or since. You didn’t inherit her temper, did you, Devon?”

  “I don’t know,” she admitted. “Maybe. You’ve got to remember, Mom’s passionate. That’s why she’s so good at what she does.”

  Suddenly sober, Galloway nodded. “I know what she’s like. We were together awhile.”

  DJ leaned forward in her chair. “What happened?”

  Galloway looked confused. “When?”

  “Between you and Mom. What happened?”

  Shaking his head, Galloway pushed to his feet. “Usual stuff, I guess. She got tired of me.” He clapped Adam on the shoulder and headed toward the barbecue. “Them coals must be about ready. You want me to do the cooking?”

  “No, that’s okay. You stay and talk to DJ. I’m sure she has a million questions for you.”

  Galloway acted as if he hadn’t heard. “I’m quite a hand with a grill. I’ll fix you up the best burgers you’ve ever had. Guaranteed.”

  The man was obviously trying to change the subject to avoid discussing his marriage to Christina Prescott in any but the most general terms.

  DJ must have sensed his reluctance to talk about it. She forced a thin smile. “Go ahead. I need to check on Marissa, anyway.” Without waiting for a response, she walked to the edge of the deck. Marissa climbed up the rose terrace and ducked under the rail to join her.

  Acutely aware of DJ’s disappointment and more than a little annoyed with Galloway for causing it, Adam watched her for several seconds, then followed Galloway to the grill.

  Galloway grabbed a hot pad and nodded in the direction DJ had gone. “How long have you two been together?”

  Adam hesitated before answering. The idea of letting Galloway believe he and DJ were building a life together tempted him. Galloway might be less anxious to take advantage of DJ if he thought someone else had a stake in her future. But if he lied now, the story would probably come back to haunt him. “Actually, I’m just staying in the basement for a while.”

  Galloway’s brows shot up. “Then you’re not a couple?”

  “No. DJ’s mother arranged for me to stay here.” No lie there.

  Galloway squinted at him through a cloud of barbecue smoke. “What for?”

  “Research.”

  “What kind of research?”

  “I’m a writer.”

  Galloway pressed grease from a burger and watched the flame leap. “A writer,” he said at last, but his voice held a strong note of derision. “What do you write?”

  “Crime novels. Police procedurals.”

  Galloway’s expression tightened. “Really?”

  Adam nodded. “Yeah. I don’t suppose you know anything about that.”

  “Nope,”
Galloway said quickly. “Sorry.”

  “You don’t know anybody who’s ever been arrested, do you? I’m trying to find out about the incarceration process here in Utah from the prisoner’s viewpoint.”

  Something flickered in Galloway’s eyes, but it died out again. “Sorry.” He pressed grease from another burger and glanced toward DJ. “She turned out real nice, didn’t she?” He lowered the grill’s lid again and helped himself to a handful of vegetables from the relish tray. “Who’d ever have thought I’d have a kid who’d make good like this? Her own business. Her own house. I’m real proud of her.”

  “She’s something,” Adam agreed. And far more unique and wonderful than a man like Galloway could appreciate.

  Galloway popped a piece of cauliflower into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully for several seconds. “This is a dream come true, you know that? Thirty years I’ve waited for this. A chance to set things straight. A chance to find my daughter and make my family whole again.” He almost looked sincere. Almost.

  “What did happen to keep you apart?”

  A shadow flicked across Galloway’s face, but he met Adam’s gaze with clear, bright eyes. “Her mother’s a vengeful woman—don’t let anybody tell you different.”

  Adam moved in front of the grill and spread barbecue sauce on the burgers. “So, where have you been all these years? Why did it take you so long to track DJ down?” He met Galloway’s gaze innocently and waited, but he didn’t expect Galloway to answer. He’d dodge the question and run away—just as he always did.

  “Here and there. Doing a bit of this and that.” Just as Adam had expected, he turned away and started toward DJ.

  No doubt about it, Galloway didn’t intend to discuss his past. Not with DJ, and certainly not with him.

  Adam kept an eye on Galloway as he made his way across the deck, wrapped an arm around DJ’s shoulder and reached out to ruffle Marissa’s hair. But when Marissa pulled away from his touch and Galloway’s expression changed subtly, Adam couldn’t fight his growing uneasiness any longer. He didn’t trust Galloway. The man had some reason for being here, and he was working so hard to keep it hidden, Adam’s instincts told him it couldn’t be good.

  Whatever had brought Galloway here, Adam would find out eventually.

  No matter what Chuck ordered him to do from here on out, he wouldn’t leave DJ and Marissa alone. Christina Prescott might want to take her secret to the grave, but Adam had to learn Galloway’s story if he hoped to protect them. And he wouldn’t rest until Galloway was out of their lives.

  DJ RESTED HER ELBOWS on the picnic table and watched Larry take another hamburger from the serving tray. He seemed content, happy to be here and oblivious to the emotions clashing within her.

  Marissa had long ago abandoned the table for the lawn and a game of fetch with Holly. Adam worked on the other side of the deck, dousing coals and scraping the grill.

  Larry swiped at his mouth with a paper towel and smiled around his food. “This is mighty good.”

  Was it? DJ hadn’t been able to swallow a single bite, and her anxiety seemed to increase with each passing minute.

  She brushed her hair from her eyes and folded her hands on the table in front of her. She had a moment alone with her father; she couldn’t ask for a better opportunity to satisfy her curiosity. But how could she bring up the only subject she wanted to discuss when he seemed unwilling to talk about it?

  He stuffed another bite into his mouth and chewed happily until he realized she wanted something from him. Swallowing quickly, he met her gaze. “Is something wrong?”

  “We need to talk.”

  He looked baffled, but he put down his burger and nodded for her to go ahead. “Okay. Shoot.”

  “I know you don’t want to talk about the past, but I need to know what happened between you and Mom. Why did you leave?”

  Larry picked at a small pile of potato-chip crumbs on his plate—a nervous gesture that DJ didn’t miss. He tipped his head and shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess we weren’t meant for each other.”

  DJ waited for him to continue, but he picked up the burger and took another bite, as if he thought his answer would suffice.

  It didn’t even begin to answer all her questions. “But you—” She broke off and started again. “What about me? Why didn’t you come back?”

  “I didn’t know where you were.”

  “Did you look?”

  “Of course I did. All the time.” He reached for an olive from the vegetable tray and popped it into his mouth.

  She reminded herself that he didn’t understand how she felt. He hadn’t been presented with a daughter he’d never known about. Maybe she was expecting too much too soon. Maybe she should relax and get to know him slowly. But patience had never been one of her strong points. She needed answers.

  “I’m confused,” she told him. “I feel lost. I need to know about you and Mom. I need to know about me.”

  Larry pondered her words, then pushed his plate away. “All right. I’ll tell you what I can.”

  She closed her eyes in relief, then faced him again and asked, “Why did you leave?”

  He shrugged again. “Chrissy and I were different. She needed stability. She needed a house and a car. The same neighborhood, the same school for Laura. But I couldn’t stand living that way. I wanted to move around. To learn about new places and things.” His voice had risen steadily; now he dropped it and paused. “I guess the bottom line was, we couldn’t have what we wanted and stay together.”

  “So you left.”

  “I suppose you could say that.”

  Yes, DJ thought, she supposed she could. A twinge of bitterness zinged through her heart.

  Larry must have sensed it because he smiled softly. “I expected we’d stay friends.” He paused and allowed himself a wry grin. “Well, maybe not friends, but I thought we’d both have a say in raising you. I expected we’d put aside our differences and even do things together once in a while so you didn’t have to grow up thinking we hated each other.” He looked away and added, “That’s a horrible feeling—never seeing your parents in the same room. Hearing one say hateful things about the other. I didn’t want that for you. But the minute my back was turned, Chrissy ran. And she’s spent all this time hiding you from me.”

  DJ pondered that for a few seconds. The story sounded believable, but it didn’t match the few things her mother had said. “When I asked Mom about you the other night, she said she’d done everything to protect me.”

  Larry barked a laugh and amusement danced in his eyes. “Did she? From who? Me?”

  “I don’t know,” DJ hedged. “She wouldn’t give me details.”

  Larry touched her chin and smiled—a gesture she should have found comforting and familiar. But his touch was that of a stranger.

  She searched his face for something that would spark recognition. A feature they shared. An expression or a mannerism. But she found only her own curiosity, reflected in his eyes.

  He dropped his hand and glanced across the patio at Adam, still intent upon the grill. “Your mom’s a good woman in a lot of ways,” he said at last. “But she has a real big imagination, and she lets it run wild.”

  “Then you don’t know what she meant?”

  Larry laughed sadly. “No. But that isn’t unusual. Not between Chrissy and me. I never could make sense of her half the time.”

  “Did you love her?”

  He glanced at her unhappily. “Of course I did.”

  “Will you tell me about it?”

  His expression clouded. “What good will it do to dredge up the past? There was a lot of hurt involved, and it’s taken me years to put what your mother did behind me.”

  “What my mother did?” DJ pulled back a little and stared at him. She’d been under the impression that Larry was at the root of the problem. “What did she do?”

  “That’s not important anymore.”

  DJ’s temper flared. “Why won’t you tell me?”

>   “It might change the way you feel. Besides, it’s all in the past. Better forgotten.”

  “It’s my past, too,” she reminded him. “I can’t forget what I don’t know.”

  He shook his head, obviously intending to let the matter drop.

  “I don’t even know who you are. What you did. How you and Mom met. When did you get married? What happened the day I was born? And what have you been doing for the past thirty years?”

  A muscle in Larry’s jaw tightened, but he kept his expression soft. “I don’t want to hold on to the past. Raking everything up again won’t do any good for anyone. All that matters is that we’ve found each other, so let’s start over from here, okay? It’ll be better that way, take my word for it.” He chucked her under the chin again and winked. Without giving her a chance to respond, he pushed away from the table, ducked under the deck’s rail and made his way through the rose garden to the lawn below.

  DJ stared after him, too stunned to speak. She wanted to run after him and demand that he talk to her. She wanted to shout that it wasn’t okay to turn around and walk away or to leave her with all her questions unanswered. But she’d seen the determination in his eyes, and she knew she’d be fighting a losing battle.

  Marissa tossed her ball to Holly, but Larry stepped between them and caught the ball in the air. He held it out to Marissa, but she was still too shy with him. She backed away.

  If DJ had been a different type of woman, she might have been content to wait for Larry to tell her what she needed to know. But unresolved issues drove her crazy, and questions ate at her until she found the answers.

  Jeff had hated that about her. He’d expected her to relinquish control to him and to be content doing it. Take my word for it, he’d said more than once. Trust me.

  But DJ had never been able to do that. She still couldn’t. Not even for her father.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  ADAM WATCHED Galloway walk away from DJ and cursed under his breath at the expression on her face. Replacing the grill on the barbecue, he crossed the deck to her and tried to look casual and unconcerned. “Well? Did you find out what you wanted to know?” He straddled the bench and sat beside her.