In this suspense-filled Guardian Agency romance by USA Today
bestselling author Regan Black what appeared to be a fresh start has
turned into a nightmare for Jayne Salter...
Jayne's first date in
her new city takes a dreadful turn when a man she thought was a friend
drugs her coffee and tries to throw her into a van. Fortunately, the
kidnapping is interrupted by Ethan Shelley, a Guardian Agency protector
assigned to watch over her.
But why was she targeted?
Trust
has never been Jayne's strong suit, but with her illusions of security
shattered she must rely on Ethan's expertise in this race to expose the
person behind the attacks. Until they can determine if the threat is
from her past or her present there is no hope for a future with the
bodyguard she is quickly falling for.
If you like a page-turning suspense that packs an emotional punch, you'll love Deadly Observations!
Chapter 1
Ethan Shelley balanced near the top of the ladder, his neck and
shoulders aching from scraping away the old ceiling from what
would—someday—be a game room to envy.
Not that he had a big circle of
local friends who would stop in and hang out, but it was the principle.
He was creating his ideal home, one room at a time. He’d longed for a
serious party room with a pool table, bar, big screen television, deep
couches, and video game consoles since he was about twelve. What were a
couple of decades between a dream and reality?
Unable to bear the
ugliness, he’d pulled out the stained and worn shag carpeting down here
within an hour of taking possession of the house. The subfloor had been a
marked improvement.
Shaking his hands to loosen them up, he imagined
the final result: sleek, modern, and masculine. It wasn’t an impossible
scenario that an Army buddy would drop in and stay a while. Or maybe
one of his Guardian Agency bosses would make time for a beer and
conversation.
Patrick Gamble and Nolan Swann, the attorneys who
managed the private security and investigations company, weren’t always
in their Chicago headquarters. But they had the superb staff and
technology support to make everyone think that was the case.
From the back pocket of his jeans, his phone rang. Ethan rested the scraper on top of the ladder before he pulled out his phone.
“Speak
of the devil,” he said, his voice ringing through the empty room. Two
words appeared on the text message displayed on the screen: OBSERVE
DETAIL
Back to the real work he relished. He gazed at the
half-scraped ceiling with a critical eye. He should call in a
professional to finish this task. It would eat into his budget, but the
mess would be that much worse if he let it stand half done indefinitely.
When the Guardian Agency sent him this kind of order there was no
telling how long the job would last.
“We need to scope that knee,” Doctor Harold Greer said in the vague
direction of the battered man in the hospital bed as he reviewed the
patient’s chart. “It may need to be replaced.”
Jayne Salter set her
teeth, keeping her bland professional expression locked in place. It
wasn’t good medicine to question a doctor in front of a patient. To
argue with a doctor as influential and respected as Dr. Greer would be
career suicide.
She loved her work as an emergency room nurse. As the
newest hire in this downtown Charleston hospital, she had zero clout to
even twitch an eyebrow at his orders.
The patient, known only as
Chuck according to the friend who’d dropped him off at the ER, was
somewhat over fifty years old and homeless. No identification, no family
or emergency contact. Jayne adjusted the blanket and checked the drip
on his IV. His eyes were glazed with the medications they were pumping
into his system to ease the pain and prevent infection. In addition,
Greer had ordered a newly approved drug combination designed to relieve
traumatic inflammation quickly.
At first glance, Chuck was the
perfect candidate for the new product. The man’s face was swollen and
mottled with bruises under a thick layer of grime. They’d cut away his
clothing and found more damage across his torso and legs. Chuck had
taken a hard beating and unfortunately his friend hadn’t stuck around
long enough to give any helpful details.
“I’ll get him on the schedule, doctor,” Jayne said.
At
the foot of the bed, Dr. Greer tapped the closed chart against his
palm. “Better if we do it now. I’m concerned about fluid buildup on that
joint. Get him prepped. Notify my team.”
Her lips parted in shock
before she caught herself. “Yes, doctor.” The patient was in no shape to
sign the consent forms and yet it was on her to get that accomplished.
Greer
was one of the most aggressive doctors she’d ever worked with. In her
years of experience at other hospitals, the procedure he’d ordered would
go through a consultation with another surgeon and be delayed until the
swelling around the joint subsided.
She tried to shrug it off. Every
doctor had their treatment preferences. Though her suspicions about
Greer had been growing for weeks, she didn’t know the hospital politics
well enough yet to speak up. She’d made new friends among the nurses and
got along well with the people on her shifts, but that didn’t add up to
the level of trust required to murmur any concerns about a doctor’s
approach.
“Tell your dad I said hello,” Greer said, turning for the door. “I’m looking forward to our next round of golf.”
Jayne
smiled, grateful that he didn’t wait for her to come up with a
response. She’d first met her father, Jack Coker, a few months ago after
deciding to actively search for the man on a whim.
Her search had
brought her to Charleston, South Carolina from Florida. After a series
of harrowing events and the heart wrenching exposure of family secrets,
Jayne had been shocked to discover her biological father was a kind,
wealthy, and prominent man in the area. He’d never known about Jayne
thanks to her mother’s cruel manipulations. Not only that, but his wife
and the daughter they’d raised had welcomed Jayne into the family.
Family
ties had been too much to hope for when she’d started her search and
though her first Christmas with the Cokers had been wonderful, she was
still adjusting. Part of her kept waiting for the bubble of happiness to
burst. At some point, the novelty of a surprise sister and daughter
would surely wear off.
In the meantime, she soaked up the new
experience of being included and loved. Jayne’s childhood had been
filled with constant criticism, tantrums, and griping about the burden
and unfairness of motherhood. She’d considered it a relief when her
mother had died unexpectedly when Jayne was seventeen. A year in foster
care hadn’t been fun, but she’d been fortunate enough to have that brief
glimpse of a more affectionate family.
For the first time in her
twenty-nine years, Jayne had her own family. A twin sister along with a
mom and dad willing to listen to her chatter about topics from trivial
to serious. Still, she didn’t discuss Greer, not after learning that
Jack met him for a round of golf every few weeks. She didn’t want to put
her fledgling relationship with her father through that kind of test.
Didn’t want to confirm that his long-term friendships would trump a
newfound daughter. Not that she’d blame him, but why purposely bring on
that kind of disappointment?
She’d met plenty of doctors like Greer.
Arrogance and fast decisions went with the territory, especially when a
patient’s life was on the line. Jayne might not care for his approach,
but that didn’t mean he was wrong. If his treatment protocols were a
true threat, someone who had been here longer would’ve noticed.
She
finished entering the new orders and waited for the printer to finish
spitting out the pages of paperwork. “Not my job to fight all the
battles,” she reminded herself.
“You okay, Jayne?”
Jayne smiled at
Renée Babcock. The nurse had become one of her first friends outside of
the Coker social circle. With her petite build, short cap of auburn
hair setting off her bright blue eyes and the freckles dusting her nose
and cheeks, she reminded Jayne of a pixie. In reality, Renée was closer
to a superhero, able to calm patients with a few words and far stronger
than she looked.
“I’m good,” she said. It was mostly true. Her sour
mood couldn’t become a factor in patient care. “Prepping a patient for
surgery on Greer’s orders.”
A frown flitted across Renée’s brow, there and gone too quickly to warrant a comment. “Who crashed?”
“No one,” Jayne assured her. “Just a situation he wants to correct tonight.”
“Well, it’s a slow night, so a good time for it,” Renée observed.
That
must have factored into Greer’s decision as well. “I’ll be back in a
few.” She waved good bye with the papers as she headed back to the bay
where Chuck was waiting.
She gave her best effort to every patient,
on every shift. Things moved fast in this ER and one reason they didn’t
get a ton of backlog was their team approach to each crisis. Greer was
part of that system and Jayne had no obvious reason to rock the boat.
As
she guided her groggy patient through each page, hoping he really was
understanding what he was signing, it troubled her that she wasn’t
speaking her mind. Who would advocate for Chuck if she kept silent? He
didn’t have family at hand to keep an eye on his best interests.
She
understood how it felt not having anyone to rely on. Tackling life alone
was the only way she’d known how to do things until she’d found her
family.
With the paperwork completed, she proceeded with the rest of
the preparations, all the while talking herself out of doing something
that would get her fired. Just because she wasn’t great at trusting
people didn’t mean Dr. Greer was doing anything wrong. No one else on
the hospital staff seemed concerned when he rushed patients into
surgery. She’d adapt and get used to his methods. As the doctor, he kept
up with cutting edge protocols. He gave the orders and she carried them
out.
When the surgical team wheeled Chuck out of the ER, it occurred
to her that he might appreciate waking to a friendly face when he came
out of recovery.
During her break, Jayne slipped outside to see if
she could find the friend who had dropped Chuck off. She circled the
block, nodding to the security personnel stationed at the hospital
entrances. At this hour, caught between late night and early morning,
the streets surrounding the hospital were relatively quiet.
There was
no sign of Chuck’s friend in the immediate vicinity. Not surprising
since people were discouraged from loitering for safety reasons. She
glanced toward the parking garage across the street and would have
walked over if she’d had more time. Heading back inside to finish her
shift, she asked the security team monitoring the ER entrance to keep an
eye out for anyone who might ask about Chuck.
It wasn’t likely that
his friend would come back, but after being welcomed into the Coker
family, Jayne found herself hoping for all kinds of happier outcomes
lately.
Ethan silenced the alarm on his cell phone set to alert him to his
target’s end of shift. The notice was primarily a suggestion. She often
worked beyond the designated time if things were hectic in the emergency
room. Either way, it was time to get into position to escort her home.
From the shadows, of course. Within seconds he’d packed his gear and was
moving from the empty office space in the building across from the
hospital and down to the parking garage, closer to her parking space.
He liked her car, a glossy new Mini Cooper. The vehicle had style and spunk, just like his target.
After
three weeks on the job, Ethan knew the ins and outs of his target’s
routine. Jayne Salter walked into her shifts as an ER nurse with a big
smile on her face and a bounce in her step. More times than not, she
left at a more subdued pace, satisfied, but her expression etched with
exhaustion. She had a couple of female friends who would take breaks
with her. She went for a run—alone—within an hour of waking, no matter
what time of day.
According to the background information in her
file, there was no boyfriend. She had dinner with her parents at least
once a week, but he’d only observed that event once so far. Her parents
were on an extended vacation in Europe, celebrating her father’s
retirement.
Had they been in town, he suspected she would spend more
time with them since she lived in the smaller house on their property, a
tidy little bungalow tucked between the main house and the marsh.
The
parents were a new development. Jayne had been raised by a neglectful
mother who’d kept her existence a secret from Jack Coker, her biological
father. From what Ethan could see, they were delighted to have her in
their lives. Also in the file was a picture of his target’s twin sister,
Paige Coker. They were as identical as twins could be in Ethan’s
opinion. In person the similarities were even more evident. Both women
were fit and slender with fair skin and dark, shoulder-length hair. They
had dynamic smiles and deep blue eyes. When he’d seen Paige, he noticed
she dressed more formally, but she was some kind of consultant. He
found it curious that the sister was engaged to a Guardian Agency
protector, Carter Oakes and wondered how much of this file had come from
that source.
So far, Ethan had not had any reason to meet or speak
with Carter. The people in charge of this case had asked him
specifically to avoid that scenario for as long as possible. He wasn’t
sure why it mattered, but he respected the parameters.
He’d been in
Charleston long enough to adjust to the weather and get familiar with
the pace and layout of the city. He found the area inviting and his
target intriguing. Not that either was a factor in how he went about his
work. In his opinion, he was getting paid excellent money to watch a
beautiful woman who was perfectly safe.
Irrelevant details, but true.
Not his place to judge or even have an opinion. As a Guardian Agency
security specialist, his job was to follow the orders. He would carry
out his assignment to the best of his ability for as long as they wanted
him in place. That meant keeping track of her movements and activities
and intervening only in a life threatening situation.
By the end of
his first week on the case he was sure someone in Jayne’s life was being
overprotective. At the end of his second week he was equally certain
she had a stalker. Well, a stalker other than him.
Ethan managed to
get a few photos of the man that always seemed to be at the periphery of
Jayne’s movements. He would often smoke within view of the parking
garage at the end of her shifts and sometimes he used the same route as
Jayne for his run.
Ethan didn’t believe in coincidence.
He and his
research assistant, Jenna had been working up a file, looking for
reasons why the man was so interested. Jenna had yet to find anything
incriminating. The guy had a job as a bouncer at a club a few blocks
from the hospital. His name was Adam Davies but everyone seemed to call
him Ace, and he occasionally spent time with friends at the City Marina.
He’d been picked up for a couple of fights, but assault charges were
never filed. Ethan knew that came with the territory as a bouncer. Ace
had been to the ER for stitches twice in the last 3 months, according to
Jenna’s finesse with research.
Maybe that’s where he’d latched onto Jayne.
Ethan couldn’t blame him for that. The woman was compelling.
He’d
sent a query to his boss about conducting an impromptu interview and
was told to stick with his original orders and update as needed. Fine by
him. He didn’t want to stir up trouble or risk aggravating a client
over a misunderstanding.
The Guardian Agency operated solely on word
of mouth. No advertising. Another decision well above his paygrade,
which was exactly how he liked it. He didn’t want to manage people or
hand out challenging or sensitive assignments. Since recovering from the
injuries that ended his Army career, he wanted only to be responsible
for himself.
Which was why sticking to the shadows keeping an eye on
people who were supposedly in danger or dangerous was the perfect job.
Working observation-only cases, he didn’t have to be seen until it was
his choice.
When he reached the parking garage there was no sign of Ace. Maybe the other man’s interest had been a coincidence after all.
Ethan
debated the likelihood of that assessment as he checked Jayne’s
position through the app he used to track her cell phone. Looked like
she was getting off right on time tonight. Good for her. Once he and
Jenna had identified Ace’s interest in Jayne, Ethan had been sticking
even closer than normal.
This week she was on third shift which meant
he was too. In a career like his, he didn’t really bother wondering if
he was a night owl or an early bird. He was just a guy taking photos or
offering oversight from a distance for an operation. Time wasn’t much of
a consideration on a long-term gig like this one.
Third shift also
matched her up better with the bouncer’s hours. Although Ethan hadn’t
seen Ace yet tonight, he was confident the man was close.
He lifted
his gaze from his cell phone to the elevator and right on cue, the doors
parted and Jayne stepped into the harsh, bright light filling the glass
box that served as the bridge between the hospital and the garage.
But
she wasn’t alone. Ace wasn’t at his post downstairs, because he was
walking right beside her. From Ethan’s vantage point and his experience
watching Jayne, she didn’t appear too happy with the company.
“Look
I’m flattered,” Jayne said. Her words carried across the cement
structure, mostly empty at this time of morning. “But it really isn’t
appropriate.”
“Come on. It’s just a coffee,” Ace cajoled. “We’ve both had a long day.”
So
the guy was asking her out. Finally an explanation for why he’d been
keeping tabs on her. Ace was tall and brawny, perfect for his job as a
bouncer. Ethan guessed most women fawned over the hard jaw, scruffy
beard, and tattoos. A man as ripped as Ace should have more confidence
about dating.
Then again, confidence was one of those elusive traits that few people seem to have in the right balance.
Jayne
didn’t pause, walking right toward Ethan’s hiding place near her car
with the bouncer on her heels. “Because it’s been a long day, I’d rather
have a rain check. Please?”
“But you’re too wired to just crash,
right? We have that in common,” Ace pressed. “Not everyone gets it. Come
on, Jayne. Am I that hard to look at?”
The man probably didn’t have
any problem hooking up with women who came to the club, but he didn’t
seem like Jayne’s type. Of course, Ethan didn’t actually know her type.
She hadn’t been on any dates while he’d been assigned to her. The
outings with her sister and future brother-in-law didn’t count.
“Another time, Ace,” she said. “I’m not good company tonight.”
Why
not? Ethan wondered. Had her shift been problematic? He’d watched her
take a walk a couple of hours ago, but he’d assumed it was a normal need
for fresh air.
“And what if I really have a concussion this time?”
Jayne
laughed, the merry sound bounding through the cavernous structure. He’d
never heard her laugh. He’d seen it from a ways off, but the sound
mesmerized him. Created a pull of attraction low in his gut that he
hadn’t felt in ages.
Interesting. Enticing. And absolutely nothing he could act on with a client, even if she had been aware of his presence.
“From what I’ve seen, Ace, your skull was built for your line of work.”
He
didn’t care for the familiarity between these two, despite his lack of
evidence to back up any dislike of the man. Ethan pulled himself
together, giving the situation his full attention. Complacency led to
disaster. He’d learned that the hard way when he assumed what he was
seeing from a distance was the entire story.
“Fine,” Jayne relented. “I’ll have coffee with you. Then I really need to get home and get some rest.”
Ace beamed down at her as if she’d just offered him the moon.
Ethan
couldn’t blame the guy. Jayne had a way of giving care and focus that
made people feel as if they were the most important person in the world.
Even from a distance, those skills had been clear. He’d seen her in
action when she was out with her family and friends. On the rare
occasions when he’d strolled through the ER, her ability had been on
full display.
Would that hold up if she ever saw me? Ethan didn’t
have much hope of that. Didn’t matter, they weren’t destined to meet.
His job was to keep an eye on her from a distance. If he did his job
right, she would never see his face.
“Why not ride over with me?” Ace offered.
“Oh,
um. That’s thoughtful,” Jayne said, clearly taken aback. “But no,
thanks. I’ll meet you over there.” She opened her door and slid behind
the wheel before Ace could offer up another reason for her to shoot
down.
Ethan was grateful she made the smart move to drive herself.
Now he’d have plenty of room to follow on his motorcycle without being
spotted.
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