Amy Vastine - Falling For Her Bodyguard

Donovan left her and her friends to finish their work. He stopped to talk to Ms. Delgado before heading down to the parking garage.

“Can I ask you a question about the items that were delivered here for Miss Bonner?”

The observant receptionist tilted her head. “Sure, what do you want to know?”

“I’m wondering if you remember how the packages were delivered. Did they come through the regular mail? Or maybe delivered by someone from wherever the gift was purchased?”

Juliette shook her head. “Same guy every time. Except for the singing telegram. That was a different guy, obviously. But all the rest were delivered by a young guy with sandy blond hair.”

“Can you remember anything else? Was he tall or short, fat or thin?”

“He was about your height. Sturdy-looking guy. I remember faces better than I remember other things about a person.”

“Did he appear to work for a delivery service? Was he wearing a uniform?”

“No uniform. One time he was wearing a hat, but it wasn’t from a delivery company.” She paused for a moment. She pursed her lips and rubbed her chin. “It was a college hat. Alabama maybe. Their colors are red and white, right?”

That was an excellent observation. “You are a gem, Juliette. If you see this man again, would you please call me?” He snatched a pen out of the holder on her desk and wrote his cell number on a scrap of paper. “And if he comes when Kelly is here, could you contact me right away so I can ask him a few questions. If she’s here, I’ll be nearby.”

“Absolutely. Whatever you need, Detective.”

Donovan headed down to the parking garage to take a look around. The officers who were investigating had probably done their due diligence, but it never hurt to have an extra pair of eyes searching for any clues that the stalker may have left behind.

There were no cameras in the garage. No way to be sure who had vandalized Kelly’s car. On the lower level, there was a valet. The officers had surely asked them if they had seen anyone suspicious. Donovan had one question for them the officers wouldn’t have known to ask, however.

Two men with jackets that clearly identified them as the valets were finishing up with a customer, who tipped the one who had retrieved the car. Once the man had driven off, he counted the wad of dollar bills.

“Hey there, can I ask you guys a couple questions?” Donovan asked.

“Questions about what?” one of them asked. He had a young face and dark hair the same color as Kelly’s.

“My name is Detective Walsh and I was wondering if you guys were working here yesterday afternoon.”

“We already talked to some cops earlier today,” the other one said. His hair was light brown and his complexion pale, like he didn’t get out in the sun much. He was built like a marine. Strong and thick.

“Yeah, I know. I’m just following up.”

“You got some ID?” the dark-haired one asked.

Why was it that when he didn’t have his badge, everyone wanted to see it? “You two aren’t in trouble. I just need to know if you were working yesterday and if you saw anyone suspicious hanging around.”

“He asked you if you have any ID,” the light-haired one said. “If you’re a cop, you should have a badge or something.”

Donovan inhaled sharply. “I don’t have my badge on me, but I—”

The dark-haired one pulled his phone out. “Maybe we should call those cops from this morning and tell them someone real suspicious is nosing around and asking weird questions, pretending to be a cop.”

“Go right ahead. They’ll be able to vouch for me and then you two can finally answer some questions.”

“I wasn’t working yesterday,” the dark-haired one said, putting his phone back in his pocket. “That’s what I told the cops this morning, so it doesn’t matter if you’re a cop or not. I can’t help you either way.”

“What about you?” Donovan asked the other one.

“I was here, but I didn’t see anything.”

“Have you ever noticed someone coming here to deliver things? Going in with flowers or packages and coming right back out?”

The dark-haired one shook his head. “We don’t pay attention to people who aren’t asking us to park their cars, man.”

“I’ve seen a guy,” the other one said.

“What did he look like?”

“Skinny guy. Maybe as tall as you.”

“Do you remember what color hair he had or anything about what he was wearing?”

“I think he had red hair. Maybe. I don’t know. I wasn’t checking him out or anything. Yesterday he parked his car down here, got out with a bunch of flowers and was in and out in a matter of minutes.”

“Was he ever wearing a hat? Maybe you saw a red hat not red hair?”

The valet shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. All I can tell you is I saw him a couple times. He was definitely a skinny guy.”

“If you guys think of anything else, please call the officers you talked to this morning. They would appreciate anything you can remember.”

They both agreed to do so but didn’t seem like they were going to lose any sleep over who was stalking Kelly Bonner. Donovan headed back to his truck to wait for Kelly’s call. His phone rang, but it was Avery.

“Hey, kiddo. How was school?”

“Fine,” Avery said. Based on the sounds in the background, she must have been rummaging around in the pantry, finding herself a snack.

“How was after-school club?” Donovan had Avery stay after school for a couple hours with one of the neighbor girls whose mom also worked. It cost more than he liked, but it was worth the peace of mind it brought him to have her supervised by someone other than her brother.

“Fun.” She wasn’t usually a one-word answer kind of kid. Graham was rubbing off on her regardless of Donovan’s attempt at preventing it.

“You thanked Mrs. Finnegan for dropping you off at home?”

“Of course I did, Uncle Donovan.”

“Good. I’ll be home at my regular time. Is Graham hiding in his room?”

“No. He’s watching Davey play some video game.”

Donovan moved his phone to the other ear. He must have misunderstood her. “What do you mean he’s watching Davey play a video game? He’s not supposed to have anyone in the house and he doesn’t have his controller.”

“Davey’s not in the house.”

“How is Graham watching him play if he’s not in the house?”

“He’s outside.”

“Davey’s outside or Graham is outside?”

“Davey is outside and Graham is inside.”

“And Davey is playing video games from outside.”

“Yep.”

Donovan pinched the bridge of his nose. The kid was creative. He’d have to give him that. “Don’t say anything to Graham. I don’t want him to know I know he’s watching Davey play video games, okay?”

“Okay. Can I watch TV in your room for a little bit?”

“Sure. I’ll be home soon.” Very soon. He hung up with Avery and dialed Kelly. She was going to have to leave work a little early whether she liked it or not. Donovan could only stand to stink at one job today and apparently parenting was what he was the best at failing.

CHAPTER FIVE

“YOU’RE REALLY NOT going to tell me why we have to go to your house right this second.” Kelly felt she had displayed an abundance of patience with Donovan today. He seemed to have a lot going on. Between whatever it was that got him put on desk duty and whatever these issues were at home, the man was a mess.

“I need to handle a situation at home. It should take me no more than a couple minutes. I promise.”

Speed limits did not seem to apply to the detective this afternoon and rolling stops were no big deal. Kelly held her breath as they ran a very late yellow light.