Elle James - Clandestine Christmas

A sheriff’s SUV arrived first, the deputy leaping out of the driver’s seat. “What happened?” he said as he dropped to the ground beside Kate.

Kate jerked her head to the injured man. “You tell him.” She continued applying compressions, refusing to give up. She’d be damned if someone else died on her shift. Not on her first day on the job.

The next vehicle to arrive was the ambulance.

A sliver of relief washed over Kate, but she wouldn’t give up on the compressions until the EMTs were out of the vehicle, with their equipment and ready to take over.

“We’ve got it,” a uniformed man bagged Sadie and another nudged her arm.

Kate couldn’t stop, afraid that if she did, Sadie wouldn’t live.

“Ma’am, you need to let us take over.” The EMT took her hands and forcibly removed them from Sadie.

More hands locked on her shoulders and dragged her to her feet. “Let them do their jobs,” a man said near her ear, his breath warm on her chilled cheek.

Kate stood on wobbly legs. Her back ached and her arms felt like limp noodles. She couldn’t take her focus off Sadie, afraid that if she did, the woman would die.

The man who’d been hit by the SUV, slipped an arm around her waist. “Lean against me. The medical techs will take good care of Sadie.”

“I have a pulse,” said the EMT forcing air into Sadie’s lungs.

“Thank God.” The one providing the chest compressions eased off. “Let’s get her loaded into the ambulance.”

They eased Sadie onto a backboard, braced her neck and got her onto a gurney.

The man Kate had been leaning on left her side to follow the procession to the ambulance.

Kate wrapped her arms around her middle, for the first time since she’d leaped out of her truck aware of the biting cold and her lack of a warm jacket. She shivered, but didn’t make a move toward her truck, her attention glued to the woman being carried away.

As the EMTs approached the open end of the ambulance, the woman gasped, sucking in a deep breath. “Chase!”

“I’m here, Sadie.” Her companion ran to her side and clasped her hand.

Opening her eyes for only a moment, Sadie said, “Where’s Jake?”

“At the ranch. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him,” the man named Chase said. “You concentrate on getting better. Jake loves his grandma.”

Kate stood to the side, her focus on the woman, heart hurting for her, and the grandson that stood a good chance of losing his grandmother.

When the doors closed on the ambulance, the sheriff’s deputy touched Chase’s arm. “You should ride with her to the emergency room and have the doctors check you over, too.”

“I can’t.” The man shook off the deputy’s concern. “I have to get back to the ranch.”

“Do you want someone to drive you there?” the EMT asked.

“No. I can get there myself.” He turned to face Kate, his face pale and haggard for such a young and vibrant man. “Thank you for doing what you did for Sadie.”

Her body trembling from the cold, Kate forced a casual shrug, ruined by the full-body tremor that shook her to the core. “I’d have done it for anyone.”

“That’s good to know. If you hadn’t come along when you did, no telling what the driver of that SUV might have done next.” He held out his hand. “Anyway. Thank you for saving Sadie. She’s a good friend.”

When Kate clasped the man’s hand an electrical charge zipped up her arms and into her chest. “I’m just glad I decided to push on, rather than stopping back in Albuquerque.”

“Where are you headed?”

She nodded toward the Lucky Lady Saloon, stomping her feet to keep warm. “I’m hoping to find a room at the Lucky Lady tonight. I have a reservation for tomorrow night, but, like I said, I decided to drive through instead of stopping.”

The man’s brows dipped. “Are you here on vacation?”

She glanced around at the Christmas lights and decorations on the buildings and streetlamps. “Though it’s a pretty little town, from what I can see in the dark, I’m here on business.”

“Meeting anyone I might know?”

She shrugged, not sure she wanted to share information with him. Kate figured she’d better jump into her role, the sooner the better. “I’m auditioning for a singing position on the stage at the Lucky Lady Saloon.” Her hand still warmly clasped in his could feel the instant tightening of his fingers.

“Auditioning for who?”

Never having sung on stage in her life, she figured, performers had to be personable and outgoing to attract a crowd. She forced a friendly smile when she’d rather be on her way to her room, a warm blanket and a recharging night of sleep. “I’m meeting with the owner, a Mr. Marsden. Do you know him?”

“I do.” The man’s hand squeezed hers once and he let go, his face grim, his lips pressed tightly together. “What’s your name?”

“Kate Rivers,” she answered.

“Is your talent agent Hank Derringer?”

She nodded, her brows furrowing. How many people in Fool’s Fortune knew she was coming and that Hank Derringer had sent her? Immediately on guard, she sized up the man in front of her. He was tall, darkly handsome, with a face that could have been on the silver screen. “As a matter of fact, Hank is my agent.” Or rather, she was Hank’s secret agent. “Your name is Chase. It wouldn’t be—”

“Chase Marsden.” The man’s lip curled upward on one side, his blue eyes dancing with the reflection of the streetlights. “Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Rivers.”

“Oh, dear.” Her heart fluttered and butterfly wings beat against the insides of her belly. She glanced around as the sheriff’s deputy jotted notes on an electronic pad. Kate lowered her voice. “I guess you needed...a singer more than I realized.”

“I wasn’t the one I was hiring you for. I wanted you to provide backup to Sadie. She’s the star.”

Kate’s eyes widened. “Sadie, the woman on her way to the hospital as we speak?”

He nodded.

“I take it the situation has gotten a lot more dangerous than you’d originally let on.” She glanced around. “Looks as though I’m a day late.”

Chapter Two

Chase had asked for Hank’s help in finding a woman who could blend in with Sadie’s everyday life.

The brown-haired, green-eyed woman standing in front of him was not what he had in mind for blending in with Sadie’s world. Her hair was pulled back in a low, no-nonsense ponytail at the nape of her neck and she wore little, if any, makeup around her brilliant green eyes fringed by thick, naturally dark lashes.

This woman intrigued him. What woman was gutsy enough to take on the job of bodyguard? Especially one who looked as if she could chew nails with her teeth and still have enough warmth in her heart to help a wounded animal. Kate was attractive in a girl-next-door way, not the typical female type Chase usually went for. But then, he’d never dated a woman longer than a month and usually was the one to break it off, finding them boring with only enough ambition to find the next great fashion statement to wear.

Chase tore his gaze away and asked, “Can you even sing?”

Her spine stiffened and she drew herself up to her full five feet eight inches. “I sing in the shower all the time.”

Chase glanced at the saloon and thought better of it. He wanted to get back to the ranch and check on Jake. “Skip the saloon. I know of a place you can stay and not put up with the noise of the bar.” He hooked her arm and started back across the street, sure to look for any oncoming, insane drivers before he took one stop off the sidewalk.

Kate dug her heels into the ground. “If it’s all the same to you, I don’t know you. You say you’re Chase Marsden, but for all I know, you’re someone else.”