Jennifer Morey - Colton Family Bodyguard

“I want to see if we can identify him.” He watched in the rearview mirror as the vehicle behind him got into the right lane and passed them. The second car moved over next. The white sedan slowed with Callum, maintaining distance. Whoever was driving wouldn’t risk being seen up close.

Not wanting to incite the man into drawing a gun or doing anything else that might endanger Hazel, Callum sped up and drove the rest of the way to the station. As they made the turn into the parking lot, the other car drove by. Callum stopped his truck and looked out his window. He saw a man who probably was about six feet tall. He had a hoodie and wore sunglasses—at night—and looked right at him, lights from the dash meagerly reflecting on him.

Callum waited until the white car disappeared from view, having memorized the plate number.

He parked. “Wait for me. Don’t get out.”

Hazel stayed in the truck and Callum opened the door for her, looking for the white car. Then he put his arm around her and walked with her to the front entrance. Inside, he turned to the glass doors and watched for a few minutes. The car didn’t reappear.

He heard Hazel ask for Detective Wilder and turned from the door. A short while later Kerry appeared from a hallway.

“Evie is looking at mugshots,” Kerry said. “I thought you both should have a look as well. Right this way.” She waved her hand in encouragement.

Callum followed Hazel and Kerry down a hall to an office where Evie was perched on a desk chair that all but swallowed her. Seeing her mother, she hopped down and ran over on her little legs.

“Mommy!”

Hazel picked her up for a hug. “Hi, sweetie. Did you have fun?”

“Yes. The artist is really good. He said he likes his job.” Her innocent eyes were wide with excitement.

“Oh, really?”

“And I looked at pictures of bad people.”

The kid would probably go down hard when Hazel put her to bed. Who needed sugar when you had such an active imagination? Evie definitely needed a lot of stimulation mentally. She would probably do great in school. He often wondered what his daughter would have been like. Who would she have been? What would her personality have been like? His personality or her mother’s?

Callum went over to Kerry and told her about the white car, glad for the distraction. She went to the computer where Evie had been “working” and must have navigated somewhere that would tell her about the car.

“Reported stolen this afternoon,” she said.

Damn. The stranger was being very careful. Callum didn’t like how he had followed them. He had found where Hazel lived. What if he found them at the inn? He felt enormous pressure to keep Hazel and Evie safe, more so than his usual clients. This seemed more personal.

Before that thought could cause him some heartburn, he went with Hazel to the computer, where Kerry brought up the mugshots. They spent about an hour going through those, but none of them looked familiar. They also couldn’t say with any certainty that any of those who had the same type of build might be a potential suspect. Evie’s assessment was their best shot at this point.

He’d been so consumed with protecting Hazel and Evie that he hadn’t asked Kerry about the progress of the investigation into his father’s shooting.

“Hey, have you gotten any further on finding Nan Gelman?” Nan was a nurse who’d been working on the maternity ward at Mustang Valley General Hospital the day Ace had been born—and swapped with another baby. Though the hospital’s records had burned, the Coltons were trying to track down Nan to find out what had happened that day.

Kerry made a disgruntled sound. “No. I found a Gelman living in Mountain Valley, but they aren’t related to Nan. No one in that family worked at the hospital.”

Maybe he’d see what he could dig up. “I might be able to help. My company has resources that you may not have access to.”

She brightened. “That would be great.”

“Detective Wilder?” Callum looked up and saw an officer in the doorway. “We have a body. It might be related to the near hit and run.”

Kerry indicated for Callum and Hazel to follow.

Hazel looked at Callum. “Evie should probably have a tour of the station or something.” She should not hear about a dead body.

An officer approached at Kerry’s gesture and Evie happily went off to resume her fun-filled day at the police station.

Callum and Hazel went into a conference room, where other detectives had gathered.

“Kerry’s here now,” the chief of police, Al Barco, said. Fifty-two, mostly bald and with a slight paunch, he had calm, kind green eyes, despite his commanding nature.

And a man started talking through the speakerphone on the long table. “Hi, Kerry. It’s Dane Howman.”

“Hey, Howman. What have you got for me?”

“A hiker found a body on the banks of a river a few miles from where Evie saw him put in the trunk. Preliminary forensics suggests the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. He had a wallet and an ID. It’s Nate Blurge.”

“I know that guy,” one of the other officers in the room said. “He’s a wild twenty-six-year-old, been arrested three times for drunk and disorderly conduct. Practically lives at Joe’s Bar and always gets into fights.”

“Could one of the people he crossed have killed him?” Hazel asked.

“That’s a possibility,” Kerry said. “It’s where we’ll start in the investigation.”

Hazel looked over at Callum and he could feel her worry. How long would the investigation take? How long would she have to be on high alert?

“I’ll find the killer as fast as I can so you and Evie can have your lives back,” Kerry said.

Hazel answered with a slight smile that was more of a silent thank-you than anything else. The reassurance didn’t alleviate the fear, and Callum’s determination to protect them with all the skill he’d gained over the years redoubled.

Rejoining Evie, Hazel flashed back to Callum’s reaction when she had asked him about his past relationships. Clearly something bad. It bothered her that he had trouble talking about something personal like that and also made her doubly curious.

Again, both she and Callum added what little information they could to the description of the killer. Right now her daughter was transfixed by Kerry’s badge.

“I’ve booked out one of the two-bedroom suites at the Dales Inn,” Callum said.

Hazel looked at him, startled. “You mean...you and me and...” In one suite? “I can’t afford that.”

“I can. Don’t worry.”

She kind of did worry, but she decided not to argue. Keeping Evie safe was most important to her. He put his hand over his chest. “I’m a bodyguard. Consider this a professional courtesy. No charge.” Now he opened his arms in offering, and oh, what an offering.

She stared at him for long seconds. “Oh, I don’t—”

Hazel felt some trepidation at staying with a man she had only just met. Nearly being killed had frightened her but this was all happening so fast. Her routine had been disrupted.

“Actually,” Detective Wilder said, removing her badge and handing it to Evie, who took it and felt the top, “Until we find Blurge’s killer, I think you should stay at the Dales Inn with Callum.”

More than one night? “I don’t—”

“I’ve already offered my services as a bodyguard,” Callum cut in again.

Hazel hesitated.

“You’re in good hands, Hazel. He is one of the best bodyguards in the country. His company is known for that. They have a solid reputation. You can trust him.”