Colton Family Bodyguard, page 18
“Why did you do it?”
“I needed money. The agency doesn’t pay me very much. They could afford to pay me more but they don’t. I’m behind on my bills.”
“I can’t believe that,” Callum said. “We pay all our employees top wages. What did you expect? Personal assistants don’t make what executive bodyguards do.”
“Desperate people do desperate things.” Hazel was still reeling over her ex-boss trying to kill her clients. She must have intended for her to be accused of the murders. Revenge for causing her restaurant to fail? Since Carolyn had failed, Hazel should fail and her clients die?
“Is Kerry going to arrest Carolyn?” Hazel asked.
“If she can find her, I’m sure she will.”
* * *
“You okay?” Callum held the station door for her as they walked to the rental.
She nodded. “Just shocked and disappointed.”
She did seem pretty upset. Someone she had respected and might have even considered a friend or mentor had betrayed her in the worst possible way.
Today, they weren’t in disguise, so extra precautions were in order. The emergency had prevented them from taking those precautions. He took care in looking around for potential threats.
No parked vehicles with anyone sitting inside.
No strangers walking dogs or sitting on benches—there were no benches.
Walkers didn’t look their way. Drivers didn’t either.
He escorted Hazel to the passenger side and then stepped up behind the wheel. He drove back toward the Dales Inn and thought again—as he had often since they talked—about whether or not he was ready for a serious relationship and even a family. With Hazel he would have one ready-made.
The more he considered that, the more the idea appealed to him, but he could not get past the fear of losing them in some horrible way. If he steered clear of ever having a family outside the one he already belonged to, he would spare himself nearly insurmountable anguish.
Just before they reached the inn, Callum saw a black SUV parked on a side road. The driver was bigger than the person in the gray SUV had been. This was not Carolyn. This was Nate’s killer. He had waited there for them, most likely having seen them leave the inn and wisely not followed them as he had before.
Callum sped up, but the killer shot out one of Callum’s tires. As he lost control of his vehicle, the right front tire caught on a pothole in the road. Callum could not correct the truck’s path and they careened head-on into a tree. Momentarily dazed from the force of the airbag, he shoved the now deflating bag out of the way and saw Hazel doing the same.
“Are you all right?” He searched around for the killer and found him aiming a gun at him through the driver’s side window.
He made a roll-the-window-down gesture.
Callum obliged.
“Where is the kid?” the man asked. He wore sunglasses and a beanie hat over longish brown hair. Around six feet tall and of average build, he had the appearance of a regular guy. No tattoos that Callum could see. Clean-shaven. Just as Evie had described to the sketch artist.
“I won’t ask you again,” the killer said. “Where is the kid?”
Callum had his hand on the door handle. He lifted his other, palm facing the man, more to distract him. “Just calm down.”
At the same time that he opened the car door as fast and hard as he could, he karate chopped the man’s wrist, knocking his aim off.
The gun fired into the air as the man fell backward.
Callum propelled himself out of the car as the other man rose to his feet. Swinging his foot, Callum kicked the gun from the man’s grip, sending it flying into the road. He began to draw his pistol but the other man produced a second gun he had tucked into his boot. Callum ducked behind the open car door in time before bullets struck the side.
Callum fired back when he could, seeing the killer limping from the wound Kerry had inflicted toward the SUV. He shot and missed.
The killer raced off in his SUV, another failed attempt to shoot them.
Looking into the truck, he saw Hazel crouched low, eyes big and dark and round with fear.
“He asked where Evie was,” she said.
Neither of them had to ask why. The killer wanted both Hazel and Evie dead. The little girl would be a witness to testify in a trial, if it ever came to that. A familiar wave of dread washed through him. What would become of Hazel and Evie?
Chapter 13
A few days later, Callum thought that Nancy Hersh should be back from her trip to Europe with her husband by now. Callum had told Hazel it would be good for them to be out of Mustang Valley. He was anxious to work more on finding out who shot his father and hopefully proving Ace didn’t.
Once again, they stood at Nan’s front door and this time she answered. Round faced with short hair dyed blond, she wore visible hearing aids.
“Nancy Hersh?” he asked.
“Yes?” She looked from him to Hazel and back to him. Then she snapped, “I have a No Soliciting sign on my door.”
“We’re not selling anything. We’re trying to track down someone whose last known whereabouts was at Mustang Valley General Hospital forty years ago.”
“My gosh, that’s a long time ago.”
“Did you go by the name Nan Gelman back then?”
He must want to be sure she was the maternity nurse who worked at the hospital the day of Ace’s birth.
“Yes. Nan was a stupid nickname. I don’t go by that anymore. People call me by my given name, Nancy. I haven’t been Gelman in a very long time. Divorced twice before I met my now-husband.”
“So you did work at the hospital?” Hazel asked.
“Yes. I did. I worked on the maternity ward.”
“Did you work Christmas Day forty years ago?”
Nancy rolled her eyes irritably. “Yes. In fact, that day forty years ago sticks out like a sore thumb.” She told them the year. “For one, a fire broke out that morning and destroyed the nursery records and nurses’ station. Also, my rotten supervisor wouldn’t give me the day off. I had to work Christmas Eve night and Christmas Day morning. I couldn’t stand working for her. She had all the holidays off. Talk about narcissistic. I wanted to give her an award for loving herself more than anyone else I’ve ever known. She’s the reason I left.”
Her life had gotten better, at least financially, if she’d just gone on a long European vacation. Hazel wouldn’t judge, but many people she had come into contact with who had gotten divorced more than one time had personal issues. She was no expert, though. She only had her few and far between observations.
“Do you remember the babies who were born on Christmas morning?” Callum asked.
“Everybody remembers the babies who are born each Christmas. I remember the ones who were born on New Year’s Eve, too.” She seemed exceedingly proud of her memory reserves.
“Do you remember a sick baby that day?” Callum asked.
Hazel heard the careful anticipation in his tone. He had high hopes this woman would have something for him.
Her eyebrows lifted. “Oh, yes. I haven’t thought of that in such a long time, but the Colton baby boy needed special care. It was quite a memorable time. One of the nurses who worked there gave birth to a healthy baby that same day. Her name was...” The nurse stopped as she searched for a name.
Hazel saw Callum stiffen as though this was a huge piece of information.
“Luella something. I can’t remember her last name. But I do remember she left the hospital later that day, the same day she gave birth. I thought that was odd. And the other reason that morning stands out is there was the fire. I’m sure you can imagine the chaos.”
“I can,” Hazel said. No wonder she remembered that day so vividly after forty years.
“All of the maternity records were destroyed. They were kept in those paper boxes back then.” Nancy shook her head and made a humph sound.
“I can see why you remember that day so well,” Callum said. “Are you sure you can’t recall Luella’s last name?”
Nancy thought for several seconds. “No, I’m sorry, I can’t.” Then she asked, “Who did you say you were?”
“Callum Colton and Hazel Hart,” Callum said.
“Colton. That was one of the babies born that night.” She at first seemed thrilled and then not so much. “Why are you asking about that night?”
“We really appreciate all of your help, Nancy.” Callum took Hazel’s hand and started to turn them away. “Have a good night.”
In the rental, Callum seemed edgy and tense. Hazel waited a few seconds.
“What does all that mean?” she asked.
“We have a name,” he said. “A first name, but it’s more than my family has gotten on Ace’s being switched at birth.” He turned his head and twisted in the driver’s seat as though looking for anything unusual. “We have to be very careful now. If whoever shot my dad knows we came here, we are a target of another killer. I have to get you somewhere safe and work with the police...or not.”
As a SEAL? A human weapon? Hazel thought he was taking this to the extreme and she knew why.
“Callum, you don’t have to hold yourself responsible for my safety. If the person who shot your father finds out what we learned today, then we are in this together. The same is true for the killer Evie saw. I’m glad you’re our bodyguard but if the killer succeeds and Evie and I die, it won’t be your fault. It will be the killer’s.”
He glanced at her sharply, as though he hadn’t even realized where his reaction had come from—his penchant to bear all the weight of her well-being.
“I wouldn’t want you to feel guilty if anything happens to me, and I’m pretty sure Annabel would have told you the same thing.”
His cell phone rang, interrupting what Hazel had hoped would turn into a meaningful conversation.
“Hi, Marlowe,” he said.
Hazel waited while he listened.
“All right. We’ll stop by now.” Then he said to her, “Marlowe asked if I’d stop by the office so she can talk to me.”
“About what?”
“She said Payne’s assistant found something that might be another clue.” He called Kerry next, asking her to meet them at Colton Oil. Then he called Rafe and asked him to gather up everyone in the family and meet them in Marlowe’s office.
He was quiet the rest of the way and Hazel wondered if what she had said occupied his mind.
* * *
Callum could think of nothing other than what Hazel had said just before Marlowe called. He hadn’t even realized his fear was so great that he might not be able to keep Hazel safe. That meant he already felt at least as much for her as he had for Annabel. Even as that thought came, he had a terrible feeling that what he had with Hazel went far deeper. That only terrified him more.
Hazel was right. He couldn’t blame himself if someone else killed her. But he could blame himself if he didn’t do his job and protect both her and Evie.
Arriving at Colton Oil, he was happy to have other things to keep him focused. They headed right for Marlowe’s office.
“That didn’t take you long,” Marlowe said, standing.
“We weren’t far.” Callum pulled out one of the desk chairs for Hazel.
She took it and he sat beside her in the other one, facing Marlowe, who dressed like the CEO she was in a black fitted blazer and skirt outfit.
“Dee Walton rushed into my office about an hour ago,” Marlowe said.
Dee was his father’s assistant. She’d worked part-time since he had gone into the coma, helping Marlowe whenever needed.
“She was in Dad’s office getting some files for me. When she dropped them and went to pick them up, she found a pin underneath the air conditioning unit. It’s an Arizona State Sun Devils pin, the kind you can get at the university games.”
That seemed odd. “Dad isn’t an Arizona State Sun Devils fan.”
“He does watch football,” Marlowe said. “But he has no affiliation with that university.”
“Do you think the person who shot him lost it there?” Callum asked.
“Dee thinks that’s what happened.”
Callum had to agree there was a strong possibility. But how would they ever know?
“This could be the first good clue other than the unhelpful camera footage,” Callum said. “Do you agree with Dee?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t decided. She’s been getting into a self-help organization called Affirmation Alliance Group. She can’t praise the founder enough. Apparently, Micheline Anderson is gifted at boosting morale and giving healing talks to corporations and individuals. A while back, she asked if we could use them here at Colton Oil, to help people deal with what happened to Dad. She claims they helped her when her husband died last year. I don’t know what that group is doing to her state of mind. I hope they’re helping her but she may be distracted.”
“Do you think they’re legit?” Callum asked.
“I’m leery of anything with the word group in it. Makes it seem like a cult.”
Callum smiled. “Some people go for that sort of thing. The self-help organizations.”
Rafe stepped into the office with Ainsley. They both worked at the company, Rafe as CFO and Ainsley as a corporate attorney. Rafe had on an impeccable suit, Ainsley a flowing pantsuit.
“Grayson said he wasn’t going to make it,” Rafe said. “He also said Asher wouldn’t either.”
Owner of a first responder agency, Grayson didn’t involve himself in Colton Oil matters. Neither did Asher, who was foreman at Rattlesnake Ridge Ranch.
“I’ll make sure they know what we discussed today,” Marlowe said. “Let’s sit over here.” She stood and moved everyone to the two sofas that faced each other across a long coffee table.
“Why did you want us all here, Callum?” Rafe asked.
Callum looked behind him and, through the window beside the office door, saw Kerry approaching.
“Ah. Just in time.”
Marlowe’s assistant, Karen, let the detective in. Her long auburn hair was up in a clip today and her blue eyes found Callum.
“What have you got? Something hot?” she asked, sitting beside him.
Yes, Hazel. Of course, he kept that unbidden thought in his head.
“I found the Mustang Valley General nurse who also gave birth at the hospital the same day as Ace was born,” he said. “She quit the same day.”
“What? That’s huge, Callum,” Marlowe said.
“Tell me you have more.”
He told her about the nurse who had given birth that Christmas morning and who had left the hospital with the sickly Colton baby rather than her own.
“Her name is Luella,” Callum said. “Nancy couldn’t recall her last name.”
Kerry finished writing on her notepad. “That makes it more difficult.”
“But it’s a name.”
“More than we have so far,” Marlowe said.
“Marlowe has some news, as well,” Hazel said, joining in the conversation.
Marlowe explained about the pin. Rafe and Ainsley agreed there was a good chance it might have been accidentally left by their father’s would-be killer.
“But aren’t there Arizona State Sun Devils fans who work here?” Kerry asked, adding her detective insight.
“Yes,” Marlowe said. “There are.”
“Any one of them could have gone into Payne’s office and lost their pin. We will run prints,” Kerry said.
“True, but not very many workers other than janitors would have a reason to go in there,” Marlowe said.
Not very good janitors, if they’d missed the pin.
“I agree. Finding a connection between the pin and the shooter isn’t going to be easy,” Callum said. “But it’s something to go on.”
“Definitely something that needs to be checked out,” Kerry said. “Well, thank you for your help, Callum.” Kerry nodded to Marlowe. In times like this, Callum was glad to have his family around him.
* * *
Back at the inn, Hazel noticed Callum was in a better mood after that meeting. Progress had been made on his father’s case but they were still no closer to capturing the killer that Evie had witnessed bashing Nate Blurge over the head. She sensed Callum would be eager to work finding the threat to her and Evie, especially after she’d forced him to face his fear of loving another woman—especially one with a child.
Right now, she just wanted to enjoy a peaceful evening. She missed her daughter terribly. She had already prepared a delicious dinner. Cooking always relaxed her.
She found an action movie that was funny and not too violent and Callum sat beside her. Their talk over dinner had been about what he and his sister had uncovered about their father’s shooting. He had also called the hospital to check on Payne. Still no change. Hazel had deliberately avoided any talk about his fears.
Toward the end of the movie, when the hero and heroine acknowledged their mutual attraction, Callum put his arm up and around her.
“Come here,” he said.
Warmed that he must be enjoying this quiet evening with just the two of them, she moved closer and rested her head on his muscular chest, in the crook of his arm.
Because she was in her nightgown, only a soft, thin layer separated her bare breasts from his torso. Long, sleeveless and dark green, it covered her well enough and wasn’t sexy by any stretch, but she still felt intimate this close to Callum.
Her phone rang. She had been waiting for Evie to call. Her brother had said they had plans to go to an amusement park for kids.
She sat forward and picked up her phone from the coffee table. “Hi, honey, how was your day?”
“Hi, Mommy,” Evie said in a loud, excited voice. “I’m having a blast here. I like Uncle Owen and Aunt Jessica.”
