Margaret Daley - Bodyguard Reunion

REUNIONS CAN BE DEADLY

Teaming up with an old flame is not what bodyguard Chloe Howard would call a smart move. Nine years ago Chloe and T. J. Davenport worked on a case together, fell in love, then went their separate ways. Now she’s reunited with the fearless bodyguard to protect a controversial couple on a book tour through Texas. And the reunion reminds Chloe of dreams best forgotten. She knows she has to keep her emotions in check so their clients’ protection remains their top priority. Protection that is the only thing keeping them from falling prey to a stalker’s deadly schemes.

He felt responsible for her.

What happened with his car only strengthened that belief. Someone had tampered with the brakes and Chloe could have been seriously hurt…or killed. He shuddered at the thought.

She laid her hand on his shoulder. “You’re upset about your car, aren’t you? We knew this could be a dangerous assignment. We’re in a dangerous business.”

T.J. stared into those glittering eyes and wanted to lose himself in them, to forget where they were for a few minutes at least. He wished they were anyplace but here in the middle of a case heating up. He grazed his forefinger across her cheek. “I should have been in my car,” he whispered.

For a moment he allowed himself to focus totally on her. The house faded from his consciousness, and it was only Chloe and him, together in their own private world.

Then he heard the noise he dreaded—footsteps, approaching in the dark.

MARGARET DALEY

feels she has been blessed. She has been married more than thirty years to her husband, Mike, whom she met in college. He is a terrific support and her best friend. They have one son, Shaun. Margaret has been writing for many years and loves to tell a story. When she was a little girl, she would play with her dolls and make up stories about their lives. Now she writes these stories down. She especially enjoys weaving stories about families and how faith in God can sustain a person when things get tough. When she isn’t writing, she is fortunate to be a teacher for students with special needs. Margaret has taught for more than twenty years and loves working with her students. She has also been a Special Olympics coach and has participated in many sports with her students.

Bodyguard Reunion

Margaret Daley

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

—Proverbs 3:5–6

To my husband, Mike. I love you.

Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

EPILOGUE

DEAR READER

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

EXCERPT

ONE

Her first day on the job as a bodyguard for the Zimmermans and Chloe Howard already wanted to quit. In a limousine heading for the Dallas Community Christian Church, Chloe sat next to her client, Mary Zimmerman. Across from her, T. J. Davenport guarded Mary’s husband, Paul. If Kyra Hunt, her employer at Guardians, Inc., had told her she would be working with T. J. Davenport, she would have declined the assignment. Instead, she would be around the man for the entire month of the Zimmermans’ book tour.

Chloe kept her gaze trained out the side window, but occasionally felt the brush of T.J.’s dark gaze. He was probably trying to figure out how to back out of this assignment, too.

She’d worked with him nine years ago when he was a Secret Service agent and she was a police officer for the Dallas Police Department. From the beginning she’d been attracted to him, and when they had started dating, the attraction had grown into love—or so she’d thought. But his job had taken him away, and now she’d discovered he was back in Dallas, no longer a Secret Service agent.

The limo driver turned onto the road that curved up to the covered vestibule of a megachurch, where they would exit the vehicle. People crammed the entrance, waiting for the couple to arrive. Even on this windy, cold day, a large crowd was here, hoping to get a glimpse of the couple whose book, Taking Back America, had rocketed to number one on the New York Times bestseller list. This was the third such appearance by the Zimmermans, who wrote about putting God back into daily life. Off-duty police had roped off a path for the Zimmermans to the double glass doors, and each officer had taken up a post every few feet to hold the throng back.

Was it enough? Whoever had targeted Mary and Paul at their second stop in the book tour could be in the multitude waiting for them to climb from the car. So far, no description had been obtained of the person or persons in Paris, Texas, who had thrown stink bombs into the gathering, scattering everyone. Mary had nearly been trampled before her husband had gotten to her. Knowing what Mary and Paul stood for and the effect it must have had on them tightened Chloe’s gut. That incident had led to the Zimmermans’ publisher hiring two bodyguards for the third stop and the rest of their book tour.

Chloe straightened, scanning the area through the windows while T.J. did the same, his large body poised and alert. The Zimmermans had only reluctantly agreed to protection, not totally convinced there was a threat against them. They’d always had dissenters and had even received hate mail. A particular nasty letter had arrived at their first stop in Longview, Texas, and might be tied to the incident in Paris.

Chloe had wanted to sneak the couple into the church through a back way, but the Zimmermans didn’t want to go that far. They wanted to be accessible to the people who had come to hear them speak. She’d tried to convince the pair of the potential danger, and to her surprise, T.J. had agreed with her.

Their parting in the past had been intense, filled with anger and hurt. He’d wanted to continue with a long-distance relationship. She’d seen too many of those fail—like her parents’ marriage with her dad in the navy and gone a good part of the year.

As she did a final check of the huge crowd before exiting the limousine, her gaze collided briefly with T.J.’s. Not one emotion showed on his face, creating what she had come to think of as his professional facade. Cold. Determined. At one time she’d known a side to him apart from work. His laughter and smiles had always fulfilled a need in her for more of that in her life. There had been little of that growing up with a mother who hadn’t been happy her husband was gone so much.

Chloe had even begun to picture what it would be like married to him—the children they would have. She’d wanted a family since she’d worked as a teenager in the church nursery each Sunday. She’d fallen in love with caring for children. No, she wasn’t going to think about what could have been with T.J. if circumstances had been different.

She quickly focused on Mary Zimmerman, who had insisted on being addressed by her first name. “We need to escort you inside as fast as we can. Keep moving. I’ll be right behind you.”