His Soldier Under Siege

by Regan Black

  Hazel had left her job at an upscale restaurant several months ago to go off on her own as a personal chef. She preferred the independence and not having to work under someone else’s thumb. Plus, she could always be with Evie, which was her most favorite thing in the world.

  Reaching the SUV, Hazel unlocked it and had her hand on the back seat door handle when Evie said, “Mommy, what is that man doing?”

  Hazel looked in the direction Evie pointed and saw a man in a blue sedan, wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap.

  “Why did he hit that man over the head with a rock and put him in the car?”

  Hazel turned sharply to Evie. “What?” She looked around and didn’t see anything.

  Evie pointed. “That man put another man in the trunk, Mommy.”

  Hazel felt a wave of apprehension sweep through her as she stared at the sedan. If the driver had struck a man unconscious and put him into the trunk, he could not have any good intentions. He started pulling out into the street way too quickly for Hazel’s comfort.

  Hazel memorized the license plate as the man began driving along the street, right toward them.

  Reaching for Evie’s hand, she went to pull her daughter onto the sidewalk. Evie dropped her Cookie Monster and bent to pick it up. Horror flared up in Hazel. She glanced up and saw the car was almost on them! They’d be run over!

  “Evie—” Just then someone swooped Evie up and grabbed Hazel’s hand, yanking her backward.

  The stranger in the sedan continued to race for them. Hazel screamed, as did Evie, as a man hauled them behind her Mercedes and up onto the sidewalk. The other car whizzed past, taking out her Mercedes’ driver-side mirror.

  “Are you all right?”

  Hazel pulled her hand from the man’s, heart flying and struggling to catch her breath. A car had just tried to mow them down! The sound of the Mercedes mirror being torn off kept echoing in her mind.

  She reached for a crying Evie. The heroic man handed her daughter over and Hazel held her tightly. “It’s okay, baby. We’re all right.” She looked at the man as she answered his question.

  Hazel checked up the street and saw no sign of the driver. Then she turned back to her hero. “Thank you.”

  He took out his phone and called 911.

  Her adrenaline began to abate as Evie’s crying softened. Smoothing the few tendrils of brunette hair that had fallen free from the two ponytails sticking out from the sides of Evie’s head, she wiped her daughter’s cheeks.

  Looking over the child’s shoulder, she saw the man as more than her rescuer. His reddish-blond hair was slightly wavy and he had strong facial features. He wore dark slacks with black leather loafers that had thick soles, and between the lapels of his black jacket she could see he had on a white shirt with the first two buttons undone. He finished telling the operator where they were and disconnected. Towering above her, he was probably six-three and had an athletic build.

  “I’m Callum Colton,” the handsome man said.

  “Hazel Hart, and this is Evie, short for Evelyn.”

  Evie turned her head, still pouting, and looked at Callum.

  “Hi, Evie. Are you okay?” Callum asked.

  Evie nodded.

  “That’s an awfully cute stuffed monster you have there,” he said.

  “Her name is Cookie,” Evie said, brightening.

  He chuckled and glanced at Hazel, who became transfixed by his smile. “That’s appropriate.”

  Well, whether he was a kid person or not, his tactics worked. Ever since Ed ran out on her after hearing she was pregnant, Hazel always wondered whether or not a man who caught her eyes liked children.

  “I think Evie saw something,” Hazel said. “She said a man hit another one over the head with a rock and put him into the trunk.”

  The faint sound of sirens joined the gentle hum of distant town movements. Hazel put Evie down and held her hand, needing to have contact with her. Having nearly been run down by a car had rattled them both. To think Evie could have been hurt, or worse...

  “Did you see him, too?” Callum asked.

  She shook her head. “He was in the car already when I saw him. I didn’t get a good look at him. I did get the plate number, though.”

  “That’s great.” Then he asked Evie, “Can you describe the man?”

  The little girl nodded. “Mm-hmm. He looked really mad.”

  “Mad?” Hazel asked, prompting her to elaborate.

  Evie crowded her tiny eyebrows over eyes that were greener than her mother’s. “Yeah.” Evie nodded. “He looked like the man at the mall, Mommy.”

  Hazel met her daughter’s round, innocent eyes, heart melting as usual at Evie’s adorableness and also searching for the memory. Then she recalled a homeless man they had encountered at the edge of the parking lot. He had been dressed in heavy clothing and had a beard, a dark beard.

  “Was the man you saw as hairy as the man in the parking lot earlier?” Hazel asked.

  “No, he was not skinny. And no hair on his face.”

  The homeless man had been slim and had a beard. “The man she saw was average in height and weight,” Hazel said.

  The sirens were now a blaring howl and seconds later, fire trucks, police cars and ambulances converged upon them.

  “I hope this doesn’t take long.” Hazel had to prepare meals for tomorrow’s deliveries.

  “You witnessed a crime,” Callum said. “The man got away. What if he comes after you again? We need to catch this guy.”

  Hazel hadn’t considered that. Police approached and, filled with intensifying apprehension, she had to turn away from Callum’s unmistakable concern. Her meals could wait. She could get up early tomorrow and prepare them.

  A woman in a tan blazer approached, her strides graceful, auburn hair flowing.

  “Kerry,” Callum greeted her. “Good to see you again.”

  “Callum, what are you doing here?” Kerry’s blue eyes were direct and exuded confidence.

  “My office is across the street. I saw a man in a car and thought it was suspicious.”

  He had? Hazel looked across the street at the one-story strip mall. One of the spaces must be where Callum worked.

  “This is Hazel and Evie Hart,” Callum said. “This is Detective Kerry Wilder. She’s also my brother Rafe’s fiancée.”

  Hazel shook the pretty woman’s hand.

  “Evie here saw the man when he got out of the car,” Callum said.

  “You did?” Kerry asked in a lighthearted tone, crouching before the girl. “What did you see?”

  Evie huddled closer to Hazel’s leg, bringing Cookie up to her face. She got bashful sometimes.

  “She saw the driver of the car hit another man on the head and put him in the trunk,” Hazel answered for her daughter.

  Kerry straightened and began writing on a small notepad.

  The detective with Kerry went to take photos of Hazel’s broken mirror while Hazel described the man who had almost run them down. Then she gave the detective his plate number.

  “All right. We’re going to talk to neighbors and tenants of the commercial building to see if there are any other witnesses,” Kerry said. “Why don’t you stop by the station later so we can have a sketch artist draw the man you saw?”

  Hazel nodded.

  “Callum, you should come, too. You can probably help with the description.”

  Callum nodded once.

  Detective Wilder put away her notepad. “Meanwhile, we’ll have officers on the lookout for this car.”

  And whatever he had done with the man in his trunk. Hazel warded off a shiver. If he could hurt someone like that, what would he do to Evie?

  “You should be careful until we locate him. Are you or your husband armed?”

  “I’m not married,” Hazel said, then saw Callum
glance at her at that revelation.

  “Maybe you should stay somewhere else,” Kerry said. Then to Callum, “I don’t think they should be alone tonight.”

  Callum looked a little startled by the suggestion, or that Kerry had directed the declaration at him, as though he should be the one to take care of them for the night.

  “Do you have any family you can stay with?” Kerry asked Hazel.

  They were all far away except her brother, but he was a two hour drive from here. She shook her head.

  “Friends?”

  All out of state. She didn’t know anyone well enough here to impose on them like that. Again, she shook her head. “All my close friends are in Colorado and I haven’t had time to make any here.” She looked down at Evie, who consumed every spare moment she wasn’t working.

  “That man could have gotten your plate number the same as you got his. He might have a way to find out where you live,” the detective said. “Maybe I’m being overly paranoid, but I’d rather you be safe.”

  That certainly unsettled her.

  Detective Wilder smiled. “I’ll let you be on your way. Think about staying somewhere other than your house tonight after we finish up with the sketch, okay? Maybe get a room at the Dales Inn.”

  “Okay.”

  “What about letting Evie go to the station with Kerry for her safety? In the meantime, I’ll take you home to pack bags for both of you,” Callum said.

  Oh. Hazel hated being separated from Evie under such dire circumstances, but her daughter seemed entranced by Kerry’s shiny badge and getting her own detective shield sticker.

  Hazel hesitated. “Detective Wilder is the one with the gun...”

  Kerry chimed in, “Maybe Callum can help out. He’s an ex-Navy SEAL turned professional bodyguard.”

  Evie looked at Callum. “Are you going to catch the bad man?”

  Callum didn’t respond, just stared at Evie as though flustered. What about her question had caused such a reaction? He seemed to be frozen.

  “What if he comes after us, like you said?” Evie asked.

  “I shouldn’t have said that in front of you,” Callum said.

  “Honey, Callum isn’t a policeman. He is a bodyguard,” Hazel said.

  “What’s a bodyguard?” Evie asked.

  “Someone who protects people from bad men,” Callum said.

  Evie smiled big and again Hazel noticed a change in Callum, the way his body stiffened. “Then you can protect me and my mommy.”

  He smiled down at her. “I’ll try.”

  Evie glanced down at her toy. “It’s okay, Cookie,” she said. “You’re all right now. Just remember, it’s wrong to hit and push. You should always be nice to other people.”

  Hazel reached over and put her hand on Evie’s. “Now you’re going to the station and I will go home and pack clothing for us.”

  “Okay, Mommy.”

  It was getting late, past six in the evening. “All right,” Hazel said. “Let’s go.”

  Detective Wilder joined her partner and Evie as they walked up the street.

  “Let’s go to your place,” Callum suggested.

  The abruptness stopped Hazel short. This man was a complete stranger.

  “I’d like to talk a little more,” he said. “And Kerry has a point. I’m worried that man will come after you. You got his plate number. He probably got yours. He could find you.”

  Why was he so concerned about her? He didn’t even know her. “I’m a newbie with all this. What kinds of people do you usually work with?”

  “My next client is Blake Reynolds.”

  “The country singer? Really? You must be some bodyguard. Are all your clients celebrities?”

  “Oh, all right. Let’s go.”

  The police were still working the neighborhood but the emergency vehicles had left a while ago. Callum drove Hazel in silence to her apartment, located above a bakery. Callum had arranged for someone to take her car in for repairs. She had left a key under the mat. She might drive a Mercedes but it was the lower end model and she had saved for a long time for a decent down payment. The money she made was just enough for her and Evie to get by. So far, being a personal chef didn’t earn her huge income. Her business showed signs of picking up but she wasn’t quite there yet.

  When they arrived at her apartment, Callum passed the front and turned to go around to the back.

  The first floor of the older building was a charming little bakery with a neon Open/Closed sign on the door, four old-fashioned, small round tables in the dining area and two booths against the window. The main feature was the display case...and, of course, the kitchen. The owner of Jasmine’s Bakery let her cook her biggest batches there for a modest fee.

  After Callum parked, Hazel walked from the rear parking space up the iron stairs. Unlocking her apartment door, she flipped on a light and entered, Callum behind her. “It isn’t much. Just two bedrooms and not very big.” She didn’t know why she felt the need to explain that.

  Callum didn’t say anything as he stepped inside, looking around.

  “When my ex, Ed, walked, I started saving for a house, but I also want money tucked away for Evie’s college education.”

  Hazel found herself looking at him, his rugged, stubbly jaw, his thick, reddish-blond hair. Her gaze moved to his bright blue eyes...and stayed. He had been watching her study his face and now his eyes flared with something more than friendliness. A spark of heat flashed inside her.

  How could just a look do that to her? Did he feel it too? Granted, he was hot, but she had seen other attractive men, and none of them had caused this reaction.

  “So, you’re an ex-Navy SEAL and now you’re a bodyguard,” Hazel said by way of breaking the awkward moment. “If you’re going to protect me and my daughter, I should know more than that about you.”

  “I’m surprised that’s all you know about me,” he said. “I am, after all, a Colton.”

  The name did sound familiar but not familiar enough. “I may have heard the name before. I haven’t lived here my whole life.”

  “Given the news lately, you probably have. Payne Colton is my father.”

  Hazel searched her memory but still nothing stuck. “I’m sorry. I don’t watch the news. I try to keep it away from Evie. I don’t think it’s healthy for a five-year-old to hear about murders and lying politicians. And besides that, I have a very busy schedule. We do watch a lot of family movies and listen to country, though.” She smiled. “You might have to introduce us to Blake Reynolds.”

  He chuckled. “I can’t believe it.”

  What couldn’t he believe? That she didn’t watch the news or that she didn’t know him by name? She couldn’t detect conceit. He wasn’t bragging about being a Colton, just surprised she hadn’t heard of them.

  “My father is chairman of the board of Colton Oil and owns Rattlesnake Ridge Ranch just outside of town. But we do all work hard for our money,” he said.

  Then it dawned on her. She had heard of a man who had been shot and was now in a coma, a prominent local rancher and businessman gunned down for no apparent reason. She hadn’t paid any further attention to the story. Until now.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry,” she finally said. Callum came from lots of money, then. Hazel felt herself stiffen and erect a barrier. She was from a very humble background and her last encounter with a rich guy hadn’t turned out so great.

  “Don’t be.”

  “I grew up in a small Colorado mountain town where everyone knew everyone and there were no conveniences, no big-box stores, no chain restaurants or movie theaters. We lived outside of town on several acres in a small colonial. I spent my childhood reading or watching satellite television and going to community events with my older brother and our parents.”

  “Sounds charming.”

  His handsome grin
disarmed her a moment. She should go pack but she didn’t feel she knew enough about him to stay with him yet. And if her daughter was going to be near him for the unforeseeable future...

  “In some ways. But growing up that way made me a little naive. I met Evie’s father, Ed, when I went to college and moved to Arizona with him. When I got pregnant, he left.”

  “How does that make you naive?”

  Edgar Lovett had lied to her about almost everything about himself. The only thing he hadn’t lied about was his college degree. “I should have known he wasn’t reliable. I had never met anyone so experienced at duping people. He wasn’t at all what he pretended to be. He told me he came from an average family and that his parents were dead.”

  He also told her that he had never been married before. “I didn’t find out until after he left that he was the son of a wealthy Arizona senator and his parents were very much alive. He also was married before we met in college. He divorced his secret wife before I met him and we moved to Arizona.”

  Hazel didn’t know why he had lied. She could only guess he had done so because he was afraid she was using him for his money. The last she had heard, he was living in Florida off his trust fund. Hazel had tried to get child support but he always evaded the attempts. Eventually she gave up and chalked him up as a deadbeat dad, albeit a wealthy one. She didn’t have to be told he had abandoned her and Evie because he was incapable of accepting any real responsibility. She wanted to thank him for leaving instead of putting her through a life of struggle with a man like him. She also held a lot of animosity toward him, a man who could have easily afforded to help her out but had not. What kind of person did that? And how had she never seen that about him?