The Doctor's Defender (Protection Specialists Book 3) (13 page)

“Is that our ride?” Brenda asked, staring at the beast as if it might rear on its hind legs and charge at them.

With a wry grin, he said, “Yep. Afraid so.”

The driver’s-side door opened. Trevor Jordon climbed out with a huge smile on his face. Big, tall and bald, the ex-paratrooper was as brash as they came. Which in most cases served Trent Associates well. Today, however, Kyle would have preferred a bit more discretion.

“What, you couldn’t find the most outrageous vehicle possible?” Kyle said as he clapped his friend and fellow bodyguard’s hand and squeezed.

Trevor gave as good as he got. “It was this or a Prius. I can’t fit in a Prius.”

“Yeah, me neither.” Kyle slid a hand to the back of Brenda’s lower back. “Meet Dr. Storm.” He caught the slight hitch to Trevor’s brows. Appreciation and interest flared in the younger man’s eyes. Kyle cleared his throat. “Our client,” he said pointedly.

“Ma’am,” Trevor said.

“Brenda, meet Trevor Jordon.”

“Hello.” She turned to give Kyle a quizzical look.

Before he could explain, the back passenger door opened. A wild head of blond curls and an impish face appeared over the top of the door. “Enough chewing the fat, people. We’re drawing enough attention as it is in this monstrosity without advertising where the doctor is.”

The woman shook her head, her piercing blue gaze landing on Brenda. “I’m just going to apologize now for these two lugheads.” She waved toward the car. “Come on and climb in here, Doc.” Then she disappeared back inside the belly of the vehicle.

“That’s Jackie Blain,” Kyle said with a wry grin. “She’s a firecracker.”

“I’ll second that,” Trevor commented. “We’ve got a safe house all set up.” He climbed into the driver’s seat. “Let’s roll.”

“What are they doing here?” Brenda asked, following him into the yellow vehicle.

“I asked for them.”

She paused and put a hand on Kyle’s arm. “Thank you.”

He cocked his head to the side. “For?”

“For everything. For them.” Though she couldn’t help the ribbon of disappointment that it would not be just them anymore.

His grin hit her in the solar plexus. “I’m not a martyr. The guy trying to kill you has got a team. Now we’ve got a team. It’s almost fair.”

Brenda swallowed back the spurt of fear as his words brought back their earlier conversation. The man who wanted her dead had hired mercenaries. Men who would kill her without remorse. She shuddered. “Almost?”

He winked. “They’re gonna get whipped.”

* * *

The safe house was an older brick, single-family townhome in the neighborhood known as Uptown, just six miles north of The Loop, Chicago’s historic commercial center.

Brenda was surprised by the interior of the house. Gleaming cherry hardwood floors, leather-upholstered furniture and dark wood cabinets gave the place an updated feel.

Trevor carried in two duffel bags and set them on the dining-room table. “We brought toys.”

She didn’t think they were talking board games or cards. Raising an eyebrow, Brenda looked to Kyle for explanation.

He unzipped a bag and held up a gun that even to her untrained eye was high caliber.

She supposed in their world guns were toys. And the ones with the biggest and the baddest ones won.

She hated this. Hated what this person had thrust her into by wanting her dead.

“Isn’t this great,” Jackie exclaimed as she plopped down on the leather sofa, yanked off her short black boots and tucked her bright-sock-clad feet beneath her. “Come on, Doc, take a load off while the boys wait on us.”

“Who owns this place?” Brenda asked, sitting down on the couch.

Jackie shrugged. “Don’t know. James, that’s our boss, made the arrangements. I wouldn’t doubt it if he’d bought the property.”

“Trent Associates must do well, then,” Brenda commented, thinking the townhome would go for close to a million on the open market. She wondered what the hospital was paying for three bodyguards. Whatever the price, she was thankful.

Kyle gave her a grin. “Told you. We’re good.”

He
was good. Her heart flipped in her chest. When he left the room, she missed him.

“So, Kyle’s filled us in,” Jackie stated, her crystal-blue eyes assessing. She pulled out a notepad and pen from her leather satchel she’d brought inside the townhome with her. “But I’d like to hear the details from you.” She wrinkled her upturned nose. “You know men, just the facts.”

They shared a smile, and Brenda decided she liked the petite blonde. She’d never had many close friends growing up, always too busy studying to really form any tight bonds. Settling back, Brenda started at the beginning with the delivery of the cupcakes and finished with waking up in the hospital this morning.

Jackie listened, her intelligent eyes never wavering as she furiously wrote on her notepad. “Interesting,” she finally said after Brenda fell silent.

Trevor appeared in the doorway. “Hey, ladies, brunch is served.”

Jackie was on her feet and headed toward the dining room before Brenda had even straightened.

Kyle leaned against the archway. “You coming?”

She sat back against the buttery-leather cushion, wishing he’d sit down with her, hold her close and tell her everything would be okay.

“Hey.” He pushed away from the wall. “You’re safe now.”

“I wish this was over.”

He sat across from her on the coffee table. Their knees touched. She took comfort in the slight contact.

“It will be soon,” he said.

And then she could resume her life. Go back to her career, back to Sunday dinners with her parents. A wave of homesickness hit her. “I’d like to check on my father.”

He nodded. “We can arrange a phone call. Trevor bought several burner phones. Also, I called Dr. Landsem to let him know you were safe. He said you’re scheduled for a deposition tomorrow in the Hanson case. Apparently the hospital’s attorney is freaking out because he needs to speak to you.”

A knot formed in her chest. “In the chaos of the last few days the lawsuit slipped my mind.”

“We’ll get through this.”

The promise in his voice unfurled a ribbon of relief through her. She wasn’t exactly sure when, but somewhere along the way she’d come to rely on Kyle not only for her safety, but her peace of mind.

“How long will you be here?” She blurted the question without filtering. She held her breath, almost afraid to hope he’d say forever and realizing how desperately she wanted him to.

He took her hand, his strong fingers curving over hers like a protective cover.

“As long as it takes,” he said. “I’m not leaving you until this is over.”

Disappointment dropped like a stone in her tummy. “Until your assignment is over, you mean.”

His eyebrows dipped. “Brenda—”

She held up a hand. “Of course you’ll leave then. I’ll be out of danger and won’t need you.”

A flash of something close to hurt or maybe regret crossed his face. “That’s how it works. I come, do my job and then I leave. And all of this will be a memory.”

A memory that would bring pain and fear and sorrow, because against her will he’d managed to breach the barricades she’d erected around her heart.

And she didn’t know how or if she’d be able to rebuild the protective barrier in time to keep herself from being totally heartbroken when he left.

TWELVE

“J
ackie was a deputy sheriff for a small town in the Midwest,” Kyle explained later that afternoon as they drove across town toward Heritage Hospital. He knew Brenda well enough to know she needed all the facts to feel comfortable. “She thinks if we go through your files, we’ll find clues that will lead us to the killer.”

“Maybe, but there’s this little issue called doctor-
patient confidentiality,” Brenda said. She sat in the backseat next to Jackie.

“
We
don’t have to lay eyes on the files, but we need you to,” Jackie stated. She sat behind Trevor with the window halfway down. Her blond curls whipped around her head, making her appear younger than twenty-nine.

“What will I be looking for?”

“That’s the million-dollar question,” Jackie said cryptically.

Kyle could see the anxiety in Brenda’s expression and knew the flip answer wouldn’t suffice. Brenda liked things straightforward. “As you go through the files, look for anything out of the ordinary, anything that could give any of your patients reason to want to get revenge on you.”

“Revenge,” Brenda said softly. “I hadn’t thought of it that way.” She nodded as determination firmed her jaw. “Okay. I’ll gather everything from my office. Do you think we should collect my files from the clinic, as well?”

Kyle smiled with approval. “Yes, I do.”

She held his gaze for a moment. He saw the trust and confidence in her dark eyes. Something intense passed between them. If they’d been alone he would have drawn her into his embrace. But they weren’t alone, and the back of the seat separated them. Which was a good thing because he was getting too involved with his client. And he had a feeling she was becoming attached, as well. It wasn’t unusual for a protectee to develop feelings for the one protecting him or her. She was placing her life in his hands. Going one step further and placing her heart there, too, wasn’t a huge leap. But he knew better. He knew the intensity of the situation had a way of clouding one’s thoughts. It was certainly clouding his, because all he could think about was Brenda.

With effort he shifted toward the road ahead. His gaze caught the amused glint in Jackie’s perceptive eyes.

Could she see what was happening between him and Brenda?

Heat crept up the back of his neck. Kyle needed to do a better job of hiding his attraction and affection for his client. Becoming emotionally involved with a protectee tended to impair a bodyguard’s judgment.

At least Kyle told himself as much. He chose to ignore the living contradiction that was his buddy and fellow Trent associate Don Cavanaugh. Don had taken on a client last Christmas only to fall head over heels in love during the course of the assignment. The two had recently married, in fact. Not a path Kyle had any intention of traveling down. He wasn’t a commitment type of guy.

Or at least he’d never wanted to commit to one woman until a certain dark-eyed doctor wove her way into his heart. Now he could envision staying in Chicago, spending his days and nights with Brenda. Could imagine weekends out on the lake, teaching her how to windsurf, her teaching him how to sail.

Giving himself a mental shake, he told himself to keep it together. Stay focused on the assignment, not his growing feelings for his client.

At Heritage Hospital they took her computer and boxed up her files without incident. Then they headed downtown. Kyle was impressed with the clinic Brenda had helped establish. Though the outside of the nondescript, flat-roofed, yellow-brick building wasn’t attractive, the inside was anything but drab. Bold-colored walls, bright, comfortable furniture and friendly smiles from the staff and faculty gave the free clinic a welcoming air.

The place hummed with activity. Several patients called out greetings to Brenda as she led the way to the back offices. She flipped on the light in the space and froze. File cabinets were open and folders haphazardly stuck out. Her computer had been smashed. Bits and pieces of plastic and glass were all over the desk and floor.

“Okay, everyone step back,” Jackie said, pushing her way in the office. “The place needs to be dusted before we remove the files.” She took a pair of latex gloves from her satchel and slipped them over her small hands. She inspected the computer. “Not sure anything will be recoverable off here.”

“I back everything up on a thumb drive,” Brenda said.

“Where do you keep it?” Kyle asked.

“In my locker in the changing room,” she said.

Taking her by the elbow, Kyle said, “Show me.”

She took him to the women’s employee locker room and stopped before a full-length locker secured with a combination lock. The place where a name should be was blank. Brenda quickly spun the dial and unlocked the locker. She opened the door. A pair of shoes sat on the top shelf. A white lab coat hung on a hook.

She reached into the pocket of the coat and brought out a small, flowered thumb drive and held it up triumphantly. “Ta-da.”

Affection swelled in his chest. He closed his hand over hers. “Awesome. You’re awesome.”

His gaze dropped to her perfectly bowed mouth then lifted back to her eyes. The longing in the dark depths made him suck in a charged breath. It would be so easy to dip his head, to capture her lips, to give over to the anticipation building in his blood.

Her lips parted.

An invitation?

He shifted closer, hovering, waiting. He’d never take without permission.

To his intense joy, she rose to meet him. Their lips touched. Her mouth molded sweetly to his, jolting his senses as if short-circuited. He slipped a hand behind her head, drawing closer, increasing the pressure. Her arms wound around his neck. Pleasure radiated outward from where their mouths joined. He lost himself in the moment.

“Hey,” Trevor called from the doorway. “Police are here.”

Jerked to reality, Kyle broke the kiss.

Brenda’s dazed expression mirrored the bemusement bouncing around his head and his heart.

She stepped back, touched a shaky hand to her lips before spinning away and practically running for the door of the locker room. She pushed past Trevor and disappeared out of sight. Trevor raised a questioning eyebrow at Kyle before following their client.

Rocked on his heels, Kyle needed a moment to regroup.

He’d kissed the doctor until his senses had ignited, threatening to incinerate them both. And she’d kissed him back with a fierceness that had not only surprised him, but by her reaction had caught her off guard, as well. Her control had slipped, revealing the warm and passionate woman he’d seen glimpses of beneath the reserved exterior. A woman he was rapidly falling for.

Raking a hand through his hair, he wondered when he’d lost his mind. He had no business toying with the doctor’s affections. He would be leaving when the threat to her life had been neutralized. Confusing the situation by allowing their association to become personal was a mistake. A mistake that could cost, or cause, them both heartache.

Forget any more kisses. And no more contemplation about a future together. That wasn’t possible. He wasn’t staying in Chicago, and he’d never ask her to leave with him.

Determined to keep himself in check and their relationship strictly professional, he went to find his client and do his job.

* * *

Jackie set the two boxes full of files on the kitchen table of the townhome. “This should keep you busy.”

Brenda attacked the files with gusto, glad to have something to concentrate on, something to distract her from the disturbing and oh-so-wonderful memory of Kyle’s kiss.

Using every ounce of single-minded concentration that had served her well all through med school, she examined each file, trying to recall the patient and any reason he or she would have to want revenge on her.

But her careful, clinically detailed notes held no personal musings, no indicators that she’d taken any notice of the patients beyond the illnesses that had brought them to her for care.

How could she have performed so many surgeries, yet have no personal connection to any of these patients? The question pounded at her as she worked her way through one box, then another.

And even more disturbing was the question of why was she now realizing how much she wanted connections?

Kyle.

That was why. He’d crashed into her world and stirred up longings that had lain dormant her whole life.

She wanted to be connected. She wanted to form bonds and ties. She wanted to be loved and to love. The romantic girl who’d once naively given her heart to the wrong man now wanted a chance to try again.

But did she have the courage?

Around midnight, Kyle put his hand on her shoulder, sending tendrils of pleasure sliding through her. The memory of his kiss charged to the front of her mind, making her heart speed up. Making her want a repeat performance, if for no other reason than for those few short moments, she’d not been afraid or alone, but had felt safe and connected to Kyle.

Had he felt the same? Did it matter?

“That’s enough for tonight,” he said. “Give it a rest.”

Frustration blasted through Brenda on so many levels. “If the answer’s somewhere in these stacks of files, I’m not seeing it.”

“You may discover something in the computer files.” He held out his hand. “But right now you need to rest. You have a big day tomorrow. Or rather, today.”

The deposition. Anxiety knotted in her chest. She allowed Kyle to lead her to her room, her hand encased within his warm grip.

“I’m right across the hall,” he said, releasing her hand and stepping back.

“Kyle.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

She wanted to ask him about the kiss. Had it meant anything to him? Did she mean anything to him?

The words stuck in her throat. What if he said no, the kiss hadn’t meant anything to him? She meant nothing to him? Her courage failed her. Better not to ask than risk being hurt.

“Good night,” she managed before escaping into her room.

She tried to sleep, but dreams and nightmares tormented her mind until she finally gave up and returned to the kitchen just before 6:00 a.m. to continue her perusal of the files.

When she walked in, Kyle was already sitting at the table doing his devotions. He stood and went to the counter, where a pot of coffee steamed. He poured a mug and set it on the table beside her. “I’m making French toast for breakfast.”

She leaned her chin on her hand and gazed up at him with yearnings stirring in her heart. She could imagine more mornings like this with him. She could imagine coming home at the end of the day to a home they shared. Against her better judgment, she imagined spending the rest of her life with him. “You’re spoiling me.”

He flashed a grin. Her breath caught and held.

“You’ll need your energy for today,” he said.

Reality intruded on her dreamy state of mind. The deposition. She straightened, focusing her mind on the day rather than her attraction to her bodyguard. “Yes, I will.”

She wouldn’t exactly appear competent dressed in jeans and tennis shoes. “I’ll need to go to my apartment for something more appropriate to wear.”

“Make a list of what you need. I’ll send Jackie and Trevor to retrieve it.”

Though he didn’t say it, she understood his words implied that it wasn’t safe yet to go back to her apartment. She wondered when or if it would ever be.

“I’ll need to call Mason,” she said. “I’m sure he’s having a fit by now.” The hospital’s lawyer, Mason Debuois,
was a bulldog of a man. Brenda didn’t exactly feel comfortable with the man. He was too high-strung for her taste.

“Already taken care of,” Kyle said. “Mr. Debuois will meet us thirty minutes early to prepare you.”

He made things easier for her. Warmth floated through her veins. A smile spread across her face. In spite of the day facing her, Kyle grounded her, calmed her when all her insides wanted to quiver. “Thank you.”

He saluted. “All part of the service.”

Her smile faltered. “Right.”

He wasn’t trying to make things easier for her. Of course he’d take charge of setting up the meeting; he was paid to take care of details that related to her safety. That was his job.

Disappointment robbed her of the good feelings she’d been experiencing.

But deep inside, in places she didn’t want to look at too closely, lurked a wish that she could be more than just a job to him.

A wish best kept hidden, even from herself.

Determined to stay on task and find some reason why someone wanted her dead, she squared her shoulders and dived back into the files.

Two hours later, stiff and tired, she asked Kyle if they could check on her father.

He handed her one of the burner phones.

She called the hospital but was told he’d been released. She dialed her parents’ home number.

When her dad answered sounding more like himself, her heart squeezed tight with love. He was home and resting. The antibiotics had kicked the pneumonia. He felt better.

“Just make sure you rest and stay hydrated. Don’t overdo it,” she cautioned. “I love you. Tell Mom I love her, too.”

She clicked off and handed Kyle back the phone. “He’s home. When can I go see them?”

“Soon, I promise,” Kyle answered with compassion in his blue eyes.

Brenda wanted to believe him. Needed to believe him. She knew he’d do all he could to make sure she could see her family.

The front door opened. Jackie and Trevor returning from Brenda’s apartment.

“Here you go,” Jackie said, handing over a garment bag. “Clothes for the deposition.”

Taking the garment bag, Brenda went upstairs to change into the classic and stylish two-piece, dove-gray skirt suit from Danny & Nicole. The lovely four-button jacket with a bead-embellished shawl collar fit snuggly over a cream shell, and the knee-length matching skirt finished the look. She’d worn the outfit only once before, to a luncheon where she’d been given an award for outstanding community service. The expensive suit had been an impulse buy she normally didn’t give in to. She usually chose her clothing for function rather than fashion.

When she came downstairs, Kyle let out a low whistle. Suddenly she was glad she’d splurged on the suit. She never cared what men thought about her style of dress, but Kyle’s appreciation sent shivers of yearning skating over her. She felt feminine and pretty. A way she normally didn’t feel wearing a white lab coat and a stethoscope for an accessory.