“So can I get full access to your life, then?”
Nigel looked at Dallas. “Dallas, let me explain something to you about my life.”
Surprised, Dallas nodded.
“I am a gay man, and as such, I’ve had quite a few… shall we say, escapades…. that I don’t want people to know about. Not Olivia, not Abe, certainly not my mother.” He swallowed hard. “I’ve done some things that I’m not proud of. I want to help, and I will. But I need to know what will be done with anything you find out about me.”
Dallas’ voice was soft. “Let me explain something to you now, Nigel.”
“OK.”
“Nobody’s life would stand up to intensive scrutiny. Trust me on this, OK? Nobody’s. If a highly-trained team dug in to my life? They’d find some family secrets and boatloads of questionable redheads picked up at bars.”
Nigel laughed. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Dallas grinned back. “I’m the king of the one-night-stand, and for all I know, some of those women may have been married, even if I had no idea. They may have criminal connections, they may be heiresses and being with me may have been a serious security threat. You get me? Nobody’s past is lily-white, so yeah, we’re going to dig up some dirt on you. I get that. But here’s what happens: anything that is not relevant to this case is destroyed, or I can hand the originals over to you, and you can destroy them. Your choice.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’ll show you what we find – no judgment on my part, OK? – and if it’s irrelevant, it’s all yours.”
“You promise me?”
“One hundred percent.”
Nigel nodded. “OK. What do you need from me?”
Dallas handed him a piece of paper. “Everything there. Can I get it all by tomorrow morning?”
Nigel glanced down the list: it included full access to all his social media, his bank accounts, his phone records, his e-mails. They wanted to clone his cell phones; they wanted to come to his house and check for bugs; they wanted a full account of where he’d been for the past six months. He blinked.
“Nigel?”
Nigel looked up. “Yes. Tomorrow morning. No problem.”
**
After Nigel had left, Dallas got on the phone to Mark.
“Hayden.”
“How’s it going?”
“Good. We’re back at her place, and we’re settling her in a bit.”
“She’s OK?”
“Yeah, better now. She was a bit shaky at first.”
Dallas remembered her legs collapsing under her in the bedroom, her trembling body on his as she cried out her fear and shock. “Yeah, I’m not surprised.”
“She’s just making us all coffee, and Sully and I are going to explain to her how things need to work.”
“Good.”
“And the PA? How’d it go?”
“The man had nothing whatsoever to do with this. His body language and facial micro-expressions showed nothing but shock and worry. No way he could have faked that, not with the way I came at him. I was pretty sure Nigel wasn’t involved, but I needed to check.”
Mark sighed. “So we’re still empty-handed.”
“Well,” Dallas said slowly. “I don’t know about that. I think we need to do some more digging in to Abraham Castell.”
“Nigel’s boyfriend?”
“Yeah. They met around the time the stalking began, he’s a security guard, he cancelled plans with Nigel the night of the party. I’ll have Marnie find out where he was that night, see if he was at work.” He paused. “And before the party, he showed up at Olivia’s house with flowers for Emma, quite unexpectedly, and Nigel didn’t actually see him leave.”
Mark narrowed his eyes, picturing the entrance area of Liv’s house. “So he could easily have pretended to leave by opening and closing the door, but actually walked down the stairs in to the basement. Hidden out there until after the party, scared Liv, walked out the front door again while she was in the bathroom and before you arrived.”
“Exactly.”
“He’d have pretty easy access to Liv’s life, too,” Mark said. “Just pick up Nigel’s phone or laptop when he’s not around, maybe… they aren’t hard to get in to if you know what you’re doing, even if they're password-protected.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I know.”
“Did Blue Star do any investigation on this guy?”
“None.”
Mark sighed. “Yeah. Figures.”
“Anyway,” Dallas said. “It’s a lead.”
“And it’s more than we had an hour ago,” Mark said.
“Sure. But we’ve been on this job for less than one day, really. Gimme some time, man. You know I always get the bad guy.”
Mark grinned. “Yeah, you do. Dallas Foreman, the one-man police force.”
“Yeah, yeah. OK, I’ll be there around six o’clock tonight.”
“Sure thing, boss.”
**
Olivia set down the coffee in front of Sully, her hands still shaking a bit. It was so, so unnerving to realize that the man who’d sent her horrible, frightening texts had been standing literally three feet away from where she stood now. She felt sick at the thought, and fought to push it firmly out of her mind.
Liv sat down across from Sully now and he gazed at her. Beautiful woman, Olivia Jameson. He had seen her covers and photo shoots and makeup campaigns, of course. Liv on some beach somewhere, her glossy hair styled and blowing sexily in the wind, her perfect body in a tiny g-string bikini, the top barely covering her nipples. Olivia laid across a bed in a pair of minute panties, looking over her shoulder at the camera with a come-hither stare. Drop-dead fucking gorgeous, and hot. Sully had wanted to meet her a thousand times, and here he was, drinking coffee with her.
And the amazing thing was that the real woman was, in a way, even more breathtaking than the fantasy one. A natural beauty, and a smart, kind woman to boot. He’d braced himself for a screaming, spoiled model and had instead been met with a scared woman, but tough and strong. Scrappy, his Mom would have said, and his Dad would have liked her spirit and red hair. He’d have called Liv feisty.
He cleared his throat and she glanced up at him.
“So, Liv.” He smiled. “Let’s talk a bit about what we need from you, OK?”
She took a sip of coffee. “OK.”
Mark joined them now and he nodded at Sully.
“So,” Sully said. “The first rule is this: you do whatever we say. Even if it makes no sense, or you don’t understand why we’re telling you to do something, you do it. No questions asked. We’ll always explain later, but at the time? You just do what we tell you. Us, Dallas, Griff and Selena… anyone on your detail. OK?”
“OK.”
They both blinked at that. Most clients objected right off the bat, arguing that they needed information before agreeing to being bossed around, and describing scenarios where they wouldn’t be willing to blindly obey an order from an almost-stranger. But not Olivia, and they both warmed to her even more.
Sully continued. “When faced with a stressful and frightening situation, most people freeze up. I know on TV and movies, it shows people screaming for help and freaking out, but really? Most people just go totally silent and still, and they have no idea what to do. What we’ve been trained to do is to react in situations. We can think clearly, and stay in total control of our bodies. Our job, in the end, is to be there to make split-second decisions on your behalf and act if something happens to you, or if you’re threatened.”
She nodded again.
“That means that the second rule is that we don’t leave you alone, not ever. You can sleep alone in your room, but Dallas needs to be in the guest room next door. Selena and Griff have to be outside all night. During the day, we stand outside the bathroom door when you go to the bath
room in an office building. We accompany you to your photo shoots, fittings, meetings. Everything. I know it will be annoying and you’ll feel like you’re being babysat, but it’s non-negotiable. We have eyes on you at all times. Clear?”
“Yes.”
“Next up: your closest friends.”
Liv looked up sharply. “My friends?”
“Yes,” Mark told her. “We need to investigate all of them.”
“For what?” She looked shocked. “You can’t think that Emma or Kat or Jenny have anything at all to do with this.”
“No, we don’t think that,” Mark said. “Dallas doesn’t either. But like your PA, Nigel Ramirez, they have lots of access to you and information about you. Your stalker may well be working through one of them, without them knowing it.”
Liv sat quietly, wrestling with herself. “I – I can’t agree to that.”
The men sat back. “Why not?”
She shook her head. “I’m so sorry. I know you’re professionals and if Dallas trusts you, I do too. But this – this isn’t about me. I need to talk to Dallas about it.”
Sully and Mark glanced at each other. They knew that Liv was worried about them uncovering something in one of her friends’ lives. The question was, was this the something that had brought the danger and threat in to Liv’s own life?
“OK,” Mark said. “You talk to Dallas about it tonight. He’ll tell us whether or not to proceed, or if this is something that he’ll handle himself.” He took a folder out of his laptop bag. “Now let’s go over your work and social schedule for the next five days, OK?”
“Yes,” she said. “Let’s do that.”
**
Dallas stared down at the file in front of him, trying very hard to stay completely professional about its contents. He was having a hard time.
In his hands, he held Olivia’s whole damn life, from birth to about eight hours ago when he’d spoken to Mark and made a note of their conversation, both in hard copy and in the e-file. And now here he sat, preparing to go and sleep just one room over from the woman whose entire existence he’d spent the past three days going over, relentlessly, ruthlessly. Dallas was sure that he knew more about Olivia than just about anyone else in her life, and that wasn’t sitting well with him.
He didn’t like how he’d learned about her so fully. He wished that she’d told him these things herself… while lying in bed with him, her head on his chest, his hands in her hair. After making love.
Dallas sighed heavily, and reminded himself that Olivia Jameson was just another client now, and he had to treat her as such. Whatever history they had – those long nights spent talking in the hospital waiting rooms, the dinners at Jenny’s restaurant with her friends and the guys, the coffees and chats while planning how to organize Emma’s treatment pick-up and drop-off schedule that week – it all had to be set aside. Now she was a job. That’s it.
Yeah, right, man. Like you totally believe that. Jesus Christ. We need to find this guy fast – I’m not sure how many nights I can sleep over there before I officially and totally lose my mind.
He drove to Olivia’s house and saw that the night security team was already in position. He nodded at John Griffin – Griff to everyone – and Selena Perez. Both smart, tough, experienced bodyguards and former military. Griff had been a Seal and Selena had been on the front line in Iraq for two tours. They were both young and single and loved the night work, and Dallas had discovered that they were an amazing team.
He parked just in front of the door, then glanced up to see Sully standing there, his gun drawn and at waist-level.
“Hey, man,” Sully said and put his weapon away. “Good to see you.”
“Yeah, you too. How’s it going here?”
Sully shrugged. “Easy day today… she just stayed home, got some rest. We go back to full-swing tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I got the itinerary. Thanks.”
“OK, so,” Sully said. “Anything else before we go home?”
“Nope,” Dallas said. “You and Mark can head on out… I’ve got it from here.”
He walked around the outside of the entire house, checking that all the cameras were working again, taking in any small detail that may or may not be important. He looked through the fence to the woods next to her house. He didn’t like that they were so close and so thick, but he knew that Selena and Griff would be checking them often, and Dallas had installed an extra camera on one of the trees. He felt a bit better about the situation, but not terrific.
He went inside and said goodnight to Mark and Sully. Olivia was in the kitchen opening containers of something that smelled delicious. She turned and smiled at him.
“I didn’t feel like cooking, so I ordered in. You like Indian food?”
His stomach growled. She laughed.
“I’ll take that as a yes, then?”
“Oh, yeah,” Dallas said. “Big fan of Indian cuisine over here.”
“Good,” she said. “You want to get yourself settled in to your bedroom and get cleaned up a bit? I’ll set the table.”
“Olivia, you don’t have to entertain or feed me,” he said, remembering too late that this was a job and not a date. “I can just go to the guestroom and work.”
She looked at him. “You want to go work?”
He shuffled. “Well. No. I’d rather have the Indian food.”
“So, do that, Dallas.” Her eyes were warm. “I know that you’re working now. I do. I get that you’re on the clock and on alert… but you still need to eat. Right?”
“Yeah.”
“Just like I’ll feed Griff and Selena breakfast in the morning… at least fresh coffee if they won’t take anything else.” She shrugged. “It’s just courtesy, Dallas. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try to take care of all of you even just a little bit.”
He studied her, and knew that she was telling him the truth. She may be rich as hell now, but she hadn’t been raised that way. He knew that she was uncomfortable with having all of them in her space like this and no way she was going to ignore them, or treat them like they were ‘little people’ hired to do a job. She was thankful and appreciative of their help, and one way Olivia showed this was by feeding and watering people. He’d have to mention to the others that refusing what Olivia was offering would be hurtful to her: she genuinely liked giving things to others.
“OK, message received, loud and clear.” He picked up his bags again. “I’ll take this stuff to the room I’ll be staying in.”
“Everything’s ready,” she said. “I made the bed and put towels in the bathroom. Anything else you need, let me know.”
“Thanks. I’ll be back out in three minutes.”
Dallas went down the hallway to the bedrooms and flicked on the lights in the guestroom. He looked around, liking the space: it was warm and welcoming, and had nothing ‘guest’ about it. He’d be happy if this was his normal sleeping space.
He decided to unpack later, but he wanted to at least change out of his white dress shirt. He peeled it off and looked through his bag to find a t-shirt.
Olivia suddenly appeared in the doorway. “Dallas, I thought you might –” She stopped dead as he turned around and she took in his naked, tattooed chest. “Oh, God. I’m sorry.”
“It’s OK,” he said. “What is it?”
“I – I – uh. I wanted to ask if you’d like cardamom tea with your dinner.” She was trying to look anywhere but at his amazing body, and she felt her face flush. He was so fucking gorgeous, and he took her breath away. He was large and toned, his muscles bigger than she’d thought, his broad chest covered with dark hair. Yeah, Dallas looked good in tight t-shirts, but undressed, he was a whole different level of hot. She had the sudden and insane vision of herself kissing him, pressed up tight against that body and her knees went weak under her.
“Yeah, sure. Tha
t sounds great, actually. Thanks.”
Liv nodded and turned away from him. As she walked back to the kitchen, she bit her lip, trying to not imagine that body sleeping in the bed in the next room. Or standing naked in the guestroom shower, water running over those large, curved planes. God, even his stomach had been hard, pure muscle. She’d give anything to run her fingertips over him, just once.
Dallas got dressed again, splashed water on his face. He came out a few minutes later to find Olivia had started to dish out some of the food. She had regained command of herself now, and she was able to look calm. The fact that he was fully clothed again also helped.
They sat down and started to eat. He watched her for a few seconds, taking her in. She looked much better now, and he guessed that she was happy to be home, despite it all. He took a sip of tea.
“So, how are you doing, hon?” he asked.
She glanced up. “Better, I think. But I do have one thing I need to talk to you about.”
“OK. I’m listening.”
She took a gulp of wine. “It’s about you investigating my friends.”
Dallas leaned back. “Yeah, I know we need to talk about Jenny.”
Liv was so startled that she dropped her fork. It landed on her plate with a clang. She stared at him, absolutely astounded. “How did you know that I was worried about her specifically?”
He looked at her for a long moment. “We can talk openly, right? And if we do, nothing we say has to leave this room. Agreed?”
She nodded.
Dallas sighed. “It’s been pretty obvious from the first time we all met up in that hospital waiting room that Jenny was hurt badly in some way. By a man, clearly. We all know this.”
“You and the guys?”
“Yeah. We saw lots of assaulted women overseas, and we can recognize the signs pretty fucking fast. She seems best with Chris, so the rest of us have just kept our distance. We let Jenny set the boundaries, and we totally respect them.” He drank some more tea. “I don’t want to dig in to what happened to her, baby, but I do need to know a few things about her attack.”
“Why?”
Enemy Outside (Unseen Enemy Book 2) Page 6
