Bodyguard Under Fire

At the top of the staircase leading to the pair of apartments he and PJ occupied, Chuck paused and surveyed the hallway. The light overhead gave a dingy glow. He’d clean the globe and change the bulbs.

He paused with his fist hovering over PJ’s door and got a good whiff of his own stench. After mucking horse manure for part of the day, he probably smelled like the stuff.

Chuck turned back toward his apartment when PJ’s door jerked open.

“I knew it.”

Chuck spun to face her.

She had Charlie in her arms and a scowl on her face. “You were following me, weren’t you?”

Chuck couldn’t lie to her. “Yes.”

“I don’t need a keeper, so back off.”

“Are you mad because I followed you or because I saw that you stopped at an attorney’s office?” he threw back at her.

Charlie batted at her mother’s face, blowing bubbles with her spit.

Chuck had a hard time staying mad when the baby drew his attention out of the fight.

“I only made an appointment. I figured we’d have to have some kind of agreement written up over visitation with Charlie.”

“We still need to have that talk.”

PJ sighed. “I know.”

“But let me get a shower first. I smell like hell.”

PJ’s nose twitched, the hint of a smile tugging at her lips. “You really do.”

Chuck’s heart flipped. He’d missed her smile. “Five minutes.”

“Just knock.”

Chuck hurriedly collected his toiletries and ducked beneath the hot spray, scrubbing away a day of hard work. It had been a long time since he’d worked with horses and barnyards. His muscles were stiff from shoveling. Other than digging foxholes, he hadn’t had to shovel much in the army, and he could tell the muscles had been neglected. And his bum leg ached like hell.

He let the warm water pepper his muscles as he collected his thoughts for the coming confrontation with PJ.

Showered and dressed in clean clothes, he knocked on PJ’s door.

“Just a minute,” she called out.

A moment later, she opened the door, again holding Charlie. “Sorry. We were in the middle of Charlie’s supper.” PJ tugged her T-shirt down over her hip.

It took a moment for Chuck to digest her meaning. When it hit him that she had been breastfeeding Charlie, his face heated.

PJ folded a cloth over his shoulder and held Charlie out. “Here, you can burp her while I fix something to eat.” Once he’d taken the baby, she performed an about-face and hurried toward the kitchenette in the corner. “I hope you like spaghetti. It’s cheap and easy to fix.”

“I didn’t expect you to cook for me.”

She shrugged. “It’s just as easy to cook spaghetti for two as for one person.”

Chuck still held Charlie out at arm’s length. “How do I burp her?”

PJ chuckled. “Lay her over your shoulder and pat her back. She’ll do the rest.”

No sooner had Chuck laid her over his shoulder than Charlie burped.

“See?” PJ turned with a wooden spoon in her hand. “Easy.”

“All I did was put her on my shoulder.”

“Sometimes that’s all it takes.” She waved the spoon. “Pat her back anyway. She probably has another one in there.”

In awe and a little afraid of the tiny bundle of baby, Chuck patted her back gently, afraid he’d break her little body with his big hand.

“Oh, come on, she won’t break. Give her a firm pat.”

Chuck patted her back again, this time a little harder. Nothing happened.

“Don’t stop. She likes it.”

As he patted her back, Chuck paced across the small room and back, sure he was doing it wrong. Finally Charlie burped again and cooed.

The sound made Chuck’s heart skip several beats. “Is that normal?”

“That’s her way of saying thank you. I told you, she likes it.”

Chuck glanced at PJ standing with her back to him. She seemed to be thinner than he remembered. “How was it?”

“What?”

“Your pregnancy, the delivery? I want to know.”

“I did fine. I guess my body is built for bearing children. No health issues and a natural delivery.”

He wanted to know more, but he clamped down on his tongue to keep from asking too many personal questions. “I would have been there...”

“I know you would have. If you could have.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He tipped Charlie into the crook of his arm and stared down into her little face.

“You weren’t here. You wouldn’t have been here even had you known.” Her hand stopped stirring the sauce, and she stood for a long moment, unmoving. “Your focus needed to be on staying alive. What was the point in telling you?”

His anger stirred again. “The point is, I’m Charlie’s father.”

“And if there had been complications, what could you have done from Afghanistan?”

Chuck sighed. “Nothing.”

A long silence stretched between them.

“I won’t try to keep you from seeing Charlie,” PJ said.

Chuck stared up at PJ. She’d lied by omission about Charlie. Would she lie about trying to keep him from seeing his daughter? What about the visit to the attorney? Was she only trying to set an agreement in place, or was she preparing to cut him out of Charlie’s life?

At this point, Hank didn’t want her to know Chuck had been hired as her bodyguard, not as a handyman as he’d told PJ.

PJ glanced at him and sighed. Then she held her hand up, spoon and all. “I swear on my mothers’ graves I won’t keep you from Charlie. There. Are you satisfied?”

Chuck nodded. He liked the strong, determined woman she’d grown into in the year he’d been away, and found himself even more attracted to her than before. “Okay. I trust you.” He might trust her about visitation with Charlie, but he wasn’t as sure about where they stood, or if he trusted her with his heart. Was attraction enough?

“Trust or not, it’s the truth.” She turned back to the stove. “You about ready for dinner?”

Chuck gazed down at the baby sleeping in his arms. He didn’t want to let go of her even to eat supper. “I guess.”

PJ chuckled. “Does my cooking reputation precede me? I’m not Cara Jo, but I can—”

Footsteps pounded on the staircase and then in the hallway outside PJ’s apartment door.

PJ turned to Chuck. “Give me Charlie.” She held out her hands for the baby.

Chuck handed her over and motioned for her to get behind him. “Go into the bedroom and close the door.”

PJ did as she was told, her eyes wide, her face pale. As she closed the bedroom door, someone pounded on the door to the apartment.

“Help! Please, help!” a female voice called out, followed by loud sobs.

Chuck peered through the peephole and then yanked the door open.

The young woman from the resort front desk fell against his chest, her face streaked with tears. “Please help him.”

Chapter Five

Chuck caught the woman and held her as she sobbed into his chest. “Help who?”

“Danny, my boyfriend. He’s hurt.” She sniffed and pushed her hair out of her face. “He’s at the bottom of the stairs. I don’t know if he’s breathing.”

Chuck shoved the woman into the apartment. “Stay here and call 9-1-1, and lock the door behind me.”

The woman nodded, her hands shaking.

PJ, still carrying Charlie, flung her bedroom door open. “What’s wrong? What’s happening?”

“I don’t know. I’ll be right back.” Without waiting for her response, Chuck slipped past the distraught woman and lumbered down the stairs two at a time, jolting his bad leg with each step. He almost fell over the crumpled body at the bottom.

The light over the stairs wasn’t working, but the glow from the security light in the rear parking lot shone enough on the inert form that Chuck could see a pool of blood.

As he felt for a pulse, Chuck glanced around to ensure whoever had done this wasn’t waiting to do it again.

After several long seconds, he could detect the weak beat of the young man’s heart. Rather than hurt him further, he carefully checked for injuries without moving him. The blood appeared to be coming from a wound to the forehead, which would explain why he was unconscious.

Within minutes, sirens wailed from the direction of Wild Oak Canyon’s small hospital. A sheriff’s vehicle whipped into the parking lot before the ambulance, lights blazing.

A man in uniform leaped out, gun drawn. “Step away from the body,” he called out.

“I’m the one who had you called.” Chuck didn’t recognize the man from the previous night’s call.

“Still, step away from the body until we secure the area.”

Chuck held up his hands and stepped out into the parking lot. “He’s alive, seems to be breathing on his own, but he appears to have suffered a blow to the head.”

The ambulance bumped over the rough pavement and came to a halt. Two emergency medical technicians jumped out. One opened a side panel and extracted a medical kit while the other unloaded a backboard.

Cara Jo rounded the corner of the building, her eyes wide. When she spotted Chuck, she hurried to his side. “What the hell’s going on?”

“I’m not sure. You know almost as much as I do. The young man’s name is Danny. His girlfriend, Alicia, the young woman who works part-time at the front desk of the resort, found him and let us know he’d been hurt.”

“I know Danny. He’s a nice kid. Who’d want to hurt him?” Cara Jo shook her head.

“Good question.”

“Holy hell.” Cara Jo shoved her hand through her hair. “Two attacks in as many days. I don’t get it.”

“Me, either. But tomorrow, this handyman is putting in some additional security measures.”

“Glad to hear it. I’m sure the boss won’t mind footing that bill. Especially when his employees are being mauled.” Cara Jo laid a hand on Chuck’s arm. “PJ and Charlie are okay, aren’t they?”

“Yes. I was with them when Alicia showed up at the door. Alicia and PJ are upstairs now, if you want to check on them. The deputy will want to speak with the one who found Danny. Maybe you could bring Alicia down as soon as the EMTs get him loaded into the ambulance.”

“I’ll do that.” Cara Jo waited while the EMTs checked vitals and carefully maneuvered the injured man onto the backboard, stabilized his neck and lifted him onto a gurney.

Once the stairway was cleared, the diner owner sprinted up the stairs.

Chuck and the deputy followed the injured man as he was rolled across the rough pavement. Danny’s eyes blinked open as they neared the ambulance.

“Wait.” The deputy touched the arm of one of the medical technicians. The gurney came to a smooth halt, and the officer leaned over the gurney. “Son, can you describe the man who attacked you?”

The young man blinked again, and then his eyes rolled upward and he slipped into unconsciousness.

The emergency personnel loaded Danny into the back of the ambulance and climbed in beside him.

Cara Jo was leading a distraught Alicia down the steps.

When Alicia reached the bottom, she ran toward the ambulance. “Is he going to be okay? Can I ride with him?”

“Are you a member of his family, ma’am?” the attendant asked.

She shook her head, wringing her hands. “No, but he’s my boyfriend.”

“I’m sorry, only family members.” The technician closed the door.

Cara Jo slipped an arm around Alicia’s shoulders. “Don’t worry. I’ll give you a ride to the hospital.”

The deputy shook his head. “I’ll need to ask her a few questions first.”

The ambulance pulled away, and tears fell anew from Alicia’s eyes.

“I’m Deputy Farnam. I’m sorry about your boyfriend,” the policeman offered. “He’s in good hands. Can you tell me what happened here?”

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