Keeping Guard Read online

“No, I just need some aspirin and a rewind button.”

  “I can help with the aspirin but that’s about it.” Harvey squeezed his shoulder. “You’ll have to get that rewind button from your magic genie.” He paused and pretended to rub an imaginary genie lamp.

  Nate put his hand on Harvey’s shoulder. “If only I had one, Harv.”

  Kylie wrapped her arms over her chest and tried to will her teeth to stop chattering. They wouldn’t. Nor would her limbs stop shaking. This whole night was just too much. Yes, she’d take one of those rewind buttons also. If only they existed.

  Nate knew he shouldn’t snap at the woman. She hadn’t been the one to hit him over the head with a rolling pin. But if she had waited just a moment to have a logical conversation then maybe she would never have run away and caused this whole fiasco. To Nate, logic and reasoning were the solution to…well, just about everything.

  Still, he couldn’t deny that Kylie looked just about as skittish as a cornered cat. Maybe he should have just let her run. Maybe he shouldn’t have gone after her.

  He sighed. He could do nothing about it now.

  And man, his head was killing him. He’d never underestimate Darlene’s brute strength again. Who knew the little woman who worked in the church nursery every Sunday could pack that much punch?

  Thunder crashed again in the distance. The storm didn’t want to let up. He had a feeling it was going to be a long, long night. A long week, for that matter, now that he’d have Kylie underfoot. Or was it a week? How long had Bruce said she’d be here? For as long as needed until an investigation he was working on was over. Kylie was supposed to fill him in on the details.

  If it had been any other friend, Nate would have said no. But not to Bruce. He could never say no to Bruce, especially not after Bruce had saved his life so many years ago. He was forever indebted to his friend.

  He reached the alcove of his back door and stuck his key into the lock. He pushed the door open before turning to Harvey and Darlene. “I don’t know whether to thank you or tell you I never want to see you again.”

  “You know you love us, Nate.” Darlene smiled sweetly, her rain bonnet reminding him a bit of a halo.

  Yes, he did love them and knew they were only watching out for a woman in distress…distressed for some unknown reason.

  He bid them good-night before sweeping his hand inside, motioning for Kylie to go in. Instead, she nodded toward the alley.

  “I’ll be going.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Going where?”

  “I’m not sure. But I understand that you probably don’t want me here anymore after the headache I’ve caused you.”

  “You’re not going anywhere.”

  The petite woman stopped and raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t sure if the look in her eyes was relief or fire. Maybe a mix of both. “Excuse me?”

  “I told your brother I’d watch after you. I plan on doing just that.”

  Her chin rose. “I don’t need a babysitter. I just need a place to lie low for a few days.”

  Good, she’d said a few days. He could put up with her for a week, but no longer.

  “Your apartment is already ready for you. It’s no problem. If it was, I would have said no.”

  He climbed the stairs and listened to the sound of her shoes clicking on the wood, a much more pleasant sound than his heavy stomps.

  Yep, just a few days. It was a good thing. The last thing he needed in his kitchen—or in his life—was a woman.

  THREE

  How could her brother ever have trusted this cranky man?

  Their gazes locked, and Kylie knew this would be the longest week of her life. Yet at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel relieved that she had a place to stay, somewhere to lie low until the madman back in Kentucky was arrested.

  He would be arrested, right? The police had said they had a good lead and they should have the man behind bars within a matter of days. And with the man’s advances becoming more aggressive, they’d suggested that Kylie get away until everything was cleared up.

  She’d overcome obstacles before in her life—huge obstacles, she reminded herself. She could overcome this, also. Though it was the second time in her twenty-nine short years that she’d had to fight for her life, she’d learned a lot during that first battle.

  Nate cleared his throat, and Kylie snapped from her thoughts to see him waving her through a doorway. She averted her eyes and stepped over the threshold into a modest apartment located over the restaurant that Nate owned. The small space would be perfect—for a week.

  Her gaze swept the place. It appeared to have all that she needed—a great room with a breakfast bar separating the living room and kitchen, one bedroom and one bath. A wall of boxes lined one wall, no doubt storage items for the restaurant in the previously unused space.

  “Home sweet home,” Nate muttered, a sour expression still etched on his face.

  Kylie swallowed before speaking. “I appreciate you giving me a place to stay. And I’m sorry for the rough start.” She silently begged him not to ask for any more details. Not now.

  He seemed to study her face for a moment before nodding. “I’ll need you down in the kitchen by nine for prep. We open at eleven.”

  Kylie nodded. “No problem.”

  He rubbed his head and turned to leave, but paused to point toward the ceiling. “I’m in the upstairs apartment if you need me.”

  He stepped into the hallway, and Kylie had the impression that it was in her best interest that she not need anything in the next eight hours. Regardless, she cleared her throat. “Nate?”

  He turned.

  “You know you can’t go to sleep after taking a blow like that, right?”

  He scowled again. “Yeah, I know.” He stomped toward the steps before yelling, “And call your brother. He’s worried sick.”

  Kylie closed the door slowly and clicked each lock into place. She then leaned against the door and looked at her new temporary residence. She’d be safe here. No one knew where she’d gone except for her brother, and he’d never tell. Everyone else thought she was out doing research.

  Her brother…she had to call him. She rushed across the room to where an old rotary phone rested on the breakfast bar and dialed the familiar number.

  Bruce answered halfway through the first ring. “Where have you been? I keep trying to call your cell phone and it goes straight to voice mail.”

  His voice sounded tight and anxious—just what Kylie had expected. “I know. I dropped my phone into a puddle on the way here. The weather put me behind schedule.” She twisted the phone cord around her index finger and shivered. The chill from her wet clothing seemed to seep through all the way to her bones. She’d have to get some dry clothes before going to bed.

  “But you’re there now? You found Nate?”

  “Yeah, I’m here now.” She glanced around the small apartment. “But I don’t know about Nate. I think I’m just going to be in his way. And you know me, I like to do things my way.”

  “Yes, believe me, I know you.” Her brother chuckled. “Listen, I know Nate comes across as tough, but once you get to know him, he’s the nicest guy you’ll ever meet. He’ll make sure nothing happens to you.”

  Kylie raised an eyebrow as she remembered their introduction earlier. “I have my doubts.”

  “Kylie, believe me. You can trust Nate. I wouldn’t have sent you there if you couldn’t.”

  She didn’t know who she could trust. And of all the people who came to mind, Nate Richardson sure wasn’t one of them. Not with the cold reception she’d received from him. Not that she could blame him. He had been rendered unconscious because of her.

  “Thanks for your help, big bro. You’ll let me know as soon as he’s arrested, right?”

  “You’ll be the first person to know. One of the officers here is a dead ringer for you. She’s going to do the cooking demonstration on Friday and we’ll wait for your ‘friend’ to show up. Then we’ll arrest him. We’ve got him on breaking and entering and harassment. This nightmare will be over soon. I promise.”

  Kylie closed her eyes and said a feeble prayer that things would go as planned. “Thanks, Bruce.”

  “Tell Nate I said hi. And Kylie? You can trust him.”

  She still wasn’t sure about that. “Thanks.”

  She hung up and shivered again. She had to get some dry clothes.

  She glanced out the window as lightning flashed across the nighttime sky. The last thing she wanted was to go outside again. Was the only way to get to her car through that dark alley again? There had to be another way. She bit her lip, considering her options.

  Beneath her, a nice-size puddle had formed on the floor. She opened a door beside the bathroom, hoping to find some towels. Nothing. She frowned. She couldn’t—or shouldn’t, at least—complain. At least the place was furnished. But the furnishings would do nothing right now to keep her from catching cold in her soaked clothing.

  That settled it. She had to get to her car. She could ask Nate to go with her.

  She shook her head, remembering his rotten mood and realizing she’d only further perturb him by disturbing him now. They’d already gotten off to a rough start.

  As quietly as possible, she opened the door and tiptoed into the hallway. A wooden floorboard creaked underneath her and she shushed it. Lightly, she crept down the stairs. She paused at the outside door, trying to gather her courage before plunging into the night.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Nate stood at the top of the steps and watched as Kylie gasped, turned around and pressed herself against the door with wide eyes. A hand went over her heart. The woman looked almost childlike with her big eyes and delicate features.

  “You scared me to death.” Kylie’
s hand moved from her heart to her forehead and she closed her eyes, looking as if she wanted to melt right then and there.

  “Yeah, same here. I thought someone was trying to break in.” He lumbered the rest of the way down the stairs, his head still throbbing. When would that aspirin kick in? “What are you doing? You have no business going out at this hour.”

  “I need my bags.” She looked down at her clothes. “I’ve got to change or I’ll end up sick and be no help to you at all.”

  It was true. Nate had already changed into some sweats and a T-shirt. He hated to go back out into that rain again. But he would, like it or not. His mother had raised him well.

  He nodded the opposite way of the back door. “Come on. We’ll go through the kitchen and avoid some of the storm outside.”

  He didn’t check to see if Kylie was following him. He could hear her soft steps behind him, though. He unlocked the door leading to his kitchen and allowed her to go inside first.

  She stopped in the doorway and her face lit up as she looked around. “This is fabulous.”

  Her compliment gave him a small amount of satisfaction. “Thanks. I like it.”

  She stepped forward and gingerly ran her finger across the tile counter. “You’ve kept this as original as possible to a Colonial times restaurant, haven’t you? That’s just brilliant.”

  Nate watched her carefully, surprised by her fascination and knowledge. “Yeah, I wanted to give people the experience of what it would be like to eat in Revolutionary War times—with a few modern amenities, of course. That’s why they come to Yorktown, after all. To experience a bit of the past.”

  She twirled around, apparently forgetting about her wet clothes and whatever problems had brought her here. Her eyes seemed to absorb each and every appliance—or lack thereof. She looked like a girl who’d woken up on Christmas morning to find she’d gotten everything she’d asked for.

  “This is going to be amazing.”

  Nate actually felt his lip begin to twitch in the start of a grin. Seeing someone who actually had some passion for the place felt nice. He only wished he had a touch of that same fire. “I’m glad you like it.”

  “I more than like it. I’m just…I’m amazed. Maybe being here won’t be so bad after all.”

  The beginning of Nate’s smile slipped into a frown. She seemed to catch what she said and she dropped her hand from the countertop to look at him with doelike eyes. “Sorry.”

  “No need to apologize, Kylie.” He stepped around her, going toward the front door.

  If she didn’t need to apologize, then why did he feel so annoyed? He knew the answer. He’d already screwed up one rescue mission and he had no intention of screwing up another. But Kylie—the very person he was trying to save—could very well be his biggest obstacle also.

  Just as he reached the front door, lightning brightened the sky to purple. The flash of light illuminated a man at the restaurant’s front window. The man stood with his hands to his eyes, peering through the glass into the darkness.

  Before Nate could say a word, a splitting scream cut the air.

  FOUR

  “Harvey,” Nate mumbled, walking toward the door.

  The tall, lanky man grinned and waved from outside, clueless to how shocking it had been to see his face pressed to the glass.

  Nate unlocked the door and pushed it open. “All due respect, Harvey, but are you crazy?”

  Harvey stepped inside, shaking the rain from his coat. His miniature poodle walked in behind him and followed suit, sending water all over the entryway.

  “No, I’m not crazy. Your earlier fiasco, you know, the one where you drug me out of bed? Well, that woke up Tinkerbell and she insisted on coming outside in the rain for a little potty break. As I was walking past, I saw the light on and just wanted to make sure all was okay.”

  Nate glanced behind him at Kylie, who still stood with a ghost-white complexion. Her hands gripped the countertop, the skin tight over her knuckles. The woman was a basket case. He knew she needed to hide for a few days, that someone had threatened her. But he would need to find out more. Terrified seemed to be an understatement.

  “Harvey, wait here with Kylie for a minute, will you?” He turned to Kylie. “Kylie, let me have your car keys so I can grab your stuff.”

  She nodded, fished through her pocket and pulled out a ring of keys. She tossed them to Nate, her hands trembling. She noticed him staring and quickly stuffed her fingers into her jean pockets.

  With Kylie under Harvey’s watchful eye, Nate jogged into the rain to her car—the only one in front of his restaurant at this hour. He popped the trunk and heaved out a large—very large—suitcase. This is how the woman packed for a few days?

  He slammed the trunk closed and hauled the suitcase inside.

  Harvey and Kylie were chatting like old friends when Nate stepped back into the restaurant. Kylie’s face had lost some of its ashen appearance as she squatted, petting Tinkerbell. He noticed her hands still trembled, though.

  She stood when Nate approached and leveled her gaze with his, seeming to retrieve some of her confidence. Nate dropped the suitcase in front of her, a little harder than he intended. “Dry clothes.”

  He chose not to mention that his were now soaking wet—again. Instead, he looked at Harvey. “Why don’t you go out the back door, Harvey? You won’t get quite as wet.”

  “Sounds good.” Harvey winked at Kylie before turning to walk through the kitchen. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning!”

  “Tomorrow morning?” Nate questioned.

  “I just invited you and Kylie over for breakfast. We’ve got to get to know our new neighbor. It’s the Southern way.”

  Nate started to argue but changed his mind. “I’ll see you then, Harvey.” He opened the door for his neighbor, watched as he exited and then turned, expecting to see Kylie behind him. She was gone.

  Curiously, he wandered down the hall, through the kitchen and back into the dining area. By the front door, Kylie knelt with a roll of paper towels, wiping up the rain Harvey dripped inside.

  “You don’t have to do that, Kylie.”

  She glanced up, her face pale again. “It’s okay. I don’t mind. Besides, I need to earn my keep. Call me crazy, but it’s the way I was raised.”

  He started to deny what she’d said but changed his mind. Instead, he grabbed some more paper towels and wiped at the wet footprints tracked across the floor.

  After they finished cleaning, Nate touched Kylie’s arm. She flinched.

  “Listen, I know you’re wet and tired. Will you do me a favor, though?”

  She nodded. “Of course.”

  “Go upstairs, change and then come back down here, have some coffee and tell me what’s going on. I can’t help you if I’m in the dark.”

  She looked numb as she said, “Okay.”

  “Let me get your suitcase upstairs for you then.”

  Dressed in dry yoga pants, a sweatshirt and slippers, Kylie crept downstairs. Her gaze darted to every dark corner. She flinched at each creak of the old wooden staircase. Her heart sped as she paused by the backdoor.

  How had her life become this? Just when she’d been doing so well, truly beginning to stand on her own feet. Then one man had decided to turn her world upside down.

  She’d fought coming here, convinced herself that going into hiding made her look weak. She wanted to stay in Kentucky and confront her faceless nightmare head on. Her brother insisted staying in Kentucky wasn’t safe. And after that last encounter with the person she called “the Man in Black,” she’d conceded—but not happily.

  She’d come to refer to him as the Man in Black because that was simply all she knew about her stalker. Not knowing what his face looked like only increased her anxiety. His eyes and features were always shadowed by that hood. He could be anyone.

  Kylie had seen him only three times. Once he’d been outside the window at her house. Another time he’d been watching in the distance as she went grocery shopping. He hadn’t gotten close to her, but she’d known it was him from the way he’d stood idly by, watching. And at her last cooking demonstration, he’d been there, at the back of the crowd. By the time she’d alerted someone, he’d disappeared, probably abandoning the sweatshirt so police couldn’t identify him.