Dark Guardian

Surely someone like Jack Trayborne was well-known in the community his family established. She’d almost bet everyone in town knew who he was and where he lived.

“Excuse me.” She stopped an elderly woman with a shopping bag on her arm. “Can you tell me where I might find Jack Trayborne’s home?”

The woman shook her head and picked up her pace in an effort to get away.

His address wasn’t listed in the phone book; she’d already checked. Maybe she could find out where he lived through the hotel?

About to give up, she spotted a young woman pushing a stroller along the sidewalk. It was worth another try.

“Excuse me, miss.”

The woman stopped. “Yes?”

“I was wondering if you know who Jack Trayborne is?”

An instant smile spread on her lips. “Yes, I do. In fact, he’s my hero.”

Her confusion must have amplified on her face, because the young woman attempted to clarify.

“He saved Gracie’s life.”

“Gracie?”

“My baby girl.”

Olivia’s heart nearly pounded out of her chest. Staring down, she looked at the baby tucked into her stroller in a fluffy pink blanket. She had her mother’s pretty brown eyes.

“He saved your little girl? From what?”

“An out of control car. We were on the corner of Main and 11th. Grace was in her stroller. Virginia Radcliff accidently hit the gas pedal instead of her brake when the light turned red. She lost control of her car. It came through the intersection and jumped the curb. Jack Trayborne grabbed me and Gracie and pushed us out of the way. The car ended up right where we’d been waiting to cross. If it hadn’t been for him, we wouldn’t be here.” She looked down at her baby and the little girl smiled up at her mother.

Olivia could see how much she loved her child and a measure of respect for Jack Trayborne took shape in her brain.

“That’s a touching story, with a happy ending. I was wondering if you can tell me where he lives.”

“It’s easy to find. It’s just west of Black’s Cove Clinic.”

An ounce of dread leaked from her bones and splayed across her nerves. She’d made a silent vow to avoid that place like the plague.

Leaning over, she stared down at the adorable baby girl, pursed her lips, and made a clicking sound. Gracie responded, a toothless grin pulling up her mouth and bunching her baby cheeks. “Bye-bye, sweetie, glad you’re safe, and thank you…” She glanced at Gracie’s mom.

“Judy…Judy Bartholomew.”

“Judy. Maybe I’ll see you again.”

The young mother nodded and continued along the sidewalk.

Olivia pulled in a breath and headed for her hotel four blocks away. She planned to return to the library for a copy of the article she’d found on the Internet, but for now, she needed to write down everything she’d discovered about NPQ. And then there was Jack Trayborne. Hero, rescuer of women and infants. A Black’s Cove resident everyone had to know, but wouldn’t talk about or betray. Why?

Could she risk a face-to-face meeting with him before she’d uncovered enough ammunition to counter the verbal assault she was sure he’d launch against her and her exposé?

CAUTION WORKED its way through him as he stood in the deep shadows next to the street watching her speak briefly with Judy Bartholomew. Turning his head slightly, he searched for the sound of her voice among the street noise, picking out enough of the conversation to understand the trouble it invoked. After a couple of moments, she resumed her stroll along the sidewalk on the opposite side.

Olivia Morgan hadn’t left well enough alone, hadn’t taken the information from the clinic and come to a conclusion that would have made her leave town singing the praises of the facility’s attempts to help her brother. To give him a normal life.

Everything was in danger as long as she remained here. Her life, the lives of anyone who dared to help her along the way and his secret. Their secret.

Worry ground over his nerves and forced him into the sunlight. The air was charged; he could feel the surge of energy on his skin. He searched for a source, isolating it to within a block of where he stood. They were up to something.

Picking out Olivia’s movements, he reached out and put a field of protection around her.

The squeal of brakes behind him brought his head around.

An out-of-control sedan zoomed past, the driver waving his hands frantically.

Turning back around, he saw Olivia crossing the street one block ahead of him.

He broke into a run.

They planned to kill her, had from the moment she’d stepped foot in Black’s Cove. In that instant, he realized how determined they were to keep their secret. He wanted to keep it, too, but at the expense of another human being’s life?

He heard the impact, felt it jar his bones much like it jarred hers.

Bolting in between a couple of cars, he ground to a stop, assessing the situation unfolding at the intersection less than fifty feet away.

Heightening his senses, he listened for her heartbeat among the crowd gathering around the spot where Olivia Morgan lay in the street. There were too many of them to isolate her distinctive cardiac rhythm.

Concern pushed him forward. He mixed with the growing mass of interested folks who wanted to catch a glimpse of what had happened.

The hair at his nape bristled, warning him they were nearby, watching just like he was. Waiting, hoping, praying their brutal attempt to deal with Olivia Morgan had succeeded this time.

Chapter Four

Olivia faded in and out of consciousness, wondering where it hurt, if it hurt and what had just happened.

She opened her eyes, staring up at the crowd gathered around her. The asphalt under her was hard and cold. She’d been hit by a car? It was the only thing that made sense.

The sudden pressure of hands on her body sent a charge of electricity shooting through her along with disbelief as she tried to sit up, realizing there was no one next to her.

She closed her eyes again, trying to reason away what was happening. It was crazy. Maybe she was unconscious or imagining the feel of hands moving over her body, almost like an examination. As quickly as the odd sensation took her, it stopped.

Sucking in a breath, she sat up, focusing on the faces of the people crowding around her.

“Hurry! Someone call an ambulance. I think she’s hurt.” A man in his twenties knelt next to her and touched her arm. “Are you okay?” he asked in an excited voice.

She stared at him and nodded her head. “I think so.” Mentally she searched for any injuries, but short of feeling slightly dizzy and a bit out of sync, nothing else hurt.

“It knocked the wind out of me and I banged my head on the pavement.” Reaching up, she touched a tender spot on her left temple, and recoiled in pain.

The wail of sirens screamed in the distance, but she found her hearing focused on a voice in the throng of people.

“The Phantom protected her.” The whispered comment drew a string of agreement through the crowd.

The Phantom? Protection? The people in this town were certifiable, she decided. This was a simple case of car versus pedestrian, and the car hadn’t won. Just like the elderly couple had been lucky and escaped their accident.

Olivia attempted to stand up, but nausea pushed her back down. She fought off a rush of panic. She didn’t want to go to the hospital. She hated hospitals. But maybe she did need to be checked out.

The sirens grew louder and finally quit about the time the crowd parted and a couple of EMTs carrying equipment stepped through the crowd and knelt next to her.

“What happened?” the EMT asked, opening his jump kit.

Olivia focused on his name tag. Todd Nicholls. At least she was still cognitive.

“I’m fine. The car barely touched me. Nothing is broken.” She searched for the vehicle, her stare settling on the crushed bumper that hung at a cockeyed angle from the impact.

A measure of disbelief tingled in the back of her brain. She should be hurt. If the condition of the car was any indication, she should be broken, but she wasn’t.

“I don’t need to go to the hospital.” A wave of claustrophobia washed over her and she closed her eyes for a moment until it passed. When she opened them again, she was ready to stand up.

“You took a terrific hit, Miss. We’d feel better if you got checked over in the ER.”

A measure of reason silenced her protest and she nodded. “You’re right. I don’t feel so great. Better safe than sorry.”

One of the medics went to retrieve the gurney and she watched him maneuver it through the masses being slowly pushed back by a uniformed officer, as his partner questioned the driver.

“Nothing to see here, folks. Move along, let the medics work.”

Glancing up, her gaze locked on the only familiar face in the crowd. Jack Trayborne? She’d know his intense blue eyes anywhere, but before she could decipher the look of anger on his face, he stepped back into the throng.

An unexplained jolt of disappointment glanced off her brain. What had she hoped would happen? That he’d rush to her side and begin a conversation? Spill the clinic’s secrets in the middle of the street next to her?

A slingshot full of reality slammed into her brain, leaving her almost giddy in its simplicity.

She’d been digging down the wrong tunnel, mining the clinic’s secrets, when she needed to be uncovering his. He was Black’s Cove Clinic.

Olivia tried to relax as the EMTs wrapped her up like a mummy in a C-collar and strapped her to a backboard. It was all for the sake of her safety in the event she’d injured her spine in the accident, but that didn’t help her level of discomfort as they wheeled her into the ambulance and headed for the hospital.

RAGE CONSUMED HIM as he took the steps two at a time, his heart pounding out a war beat he was sure they’d heard long before he kicked open the door in the empty warehouse loft and stepped into the dark room.

Waves of energy rushed him, but he encircled himself in a wall of protection much like the one he’d used to save Olivia’s life in the street below.

Reaching into the darkness with his mind, he found them standing together in the corner. The mental contact solidified their involvement, as he pulled in their thoughts.

Fear, slow to take shape but palpable, emanated from one of them, but the other…

“I said I’d deal with her. She’s mine! Do you understand?”

“You’ve had enough time. We won’t stop until you get rid of her.”

Anger streamed through him like molten lava. It hit its flashpoint in a violent explosion he couldn’t immediately control.

“No!” He thrust out his hand in front of him, sending them into the wall. The interior of the warehouse reverberated with the impact and he watched them both hit the ground in a crumpled heap.

Pulling huge gulps of air into his lungs, his rage dissipated. He stepped toward them.

Going to his knees, he rolled them both over, satisfied when they stirred and sat up.

“If you touch her again, you won’t survive. Do I make myself clear?”

Begrudgingly, they both nodded, rubbing various parts of their bodies, still throbbing from the impact, but he had to be sure. Reaching into their minds, he listened to their stream of thought, satisfied that Olivia Morgan was safe for the time being.

He came to his feet, feeling drained, and left the loft. He had to protect her. Perhaps the time had come to force her into his arms, but from what he knew about her, she wasn’t going to come quietly.

OLIVIA STARED straight ahead, while the ER doctor shone a light in her eyes, first one, then the other.

He stepped back and shoved his hands in the pockets of his lab coat. “You’ve got a mild concussion. No broken bones. I’d say you’re a lucky lady.”

“Thanks. Now, when can I get out of here?”

“I’ll sign off on the discharge papers, but you need to follow this tip sheet on head injuries. If you experience any of the symptoms, you need to return to the hospital immediately.”

“Okay.” Olivia reached out and took the diagnostic paper from the doctor. “If I have any trouble, I promise I’ll come back.”

He left through the curtain surrounding the cubical, and she slowly got dressed. She did feel like she’d gone a couple of rounds with a prize fighter. Tomorrow morning was going to be a bear. That’s when the bruises would show up in an ugly shade of purple. She could already feel the asphalt burns on her cheek, forearm and elbow.

But what the hell had really happened in the middle of the street? The truth was, she should be in the ICU, but she wasn’t.

She swallowed hard, trying to figure it out as she pulled on her blouse. It was almost as if some unseen force was standing between her and the speeding car. A wall, a barrier of some sort. A chill wiggled through her and she couldn’t deny its source. Fear. She’d only been in Black’s Cove for a solid week and she’d almost been killed twice. Most sane individuals would run screaming from this strange town.

She was screaming, but she didn’t plan to run.

Olivia pulled on her shoes and tied them. Folding the paperwork, she shoved it into the back pocket of her jeans and pushed back the privacy curtain.

The ER hummed with activity. Nurses scampered around, medical equipment in hand. It was hard not to feel the rising level of tension in the air.

Focusing on the set of double doors at the end of the corridor, she headed for the exit, but the sound of emergency tones caught her attention. She slowed her pace. “BC ER, unit three. We’re en route with an unresponsive female patient. Name Judy Bartholomew, age twenty-four, possible suicide attempt by ingestion. We’re ten minutes out if we beat the AOT 11:55 freight into town.”

A train whistle, distinct and unmistakable came in over the emergency vehicles’s radio frequency and Olivia deciphered the acronym AOT, always on time.

The nurse pressed the button on the microphone. “Copy unit three, we’ll be waiting. Any information on the drug she took?”

“Negative. We found a couple of pills next to her on the bed, but no bottle. We’re bringing them in for analysis. Unit three clear.”

“BC hospital, clear.” The nurse turned and headed for one of the trauma bays at the rear of the ER, shouting the information. “Female patient, age twenty-four…”

Olivia wanted to cup her hands over her ears to shut it out. She’d spoken to Judy Bartholomew just over an hour ago about where Jack Trayborne lived. She’d been the only one willing to give her any information. The image of Gracie staring up at her mother flashed in her mind, followed by a wave of disbelief that threatened to overwhelm her. She reached out and sagged against the wall.

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