The Heart of Christmas

“I see,” Cheyenne said slowly. “That was probably wise. How did they take the news?”

“Much better than I expected. I guess I underestimated them.”

“Or you set even higher standards for yourself than they do.”

Cheyenne took the seat opposite her. “Is that your present?”

Eve handed over the watch so Chey could take a closer look. “Stunning, isn’t it?”

“Gorgeous!”

“They’re such great parents.”

“You just made a mistake, Eve. We all know what you’re really like,” Cheyenne said, giving back the watch.

Eve smiled at the compliment. Her friends and family all thought they knew her, but she wasn’t sure she knew herself anymore. Who was the woman who’d let go of all inhibition and thrown everything she had into making love with a complete stranger?

* * *

Rex was in his room, packing up his stuff, when he received a call from Marilyn. He thought maybe he’d accidentally skipped a check he was supposed to sign, and hoped it wasn’t because she’d run into trouble with her car. Her engine had started fine when she gave him a ride to Sexy Sadie’s to pick up his Land Rover....

Pausing to sit on the edge of the bed, he hit the answer button. “’Lo?”

“You’re never going to believe this,” she said.

After what he’d been through in his life, he could believe just about anything. But he tensed, wondering if she’d run across proof that The Crew was indeed coming after him. “What is it?”

“I got a call from Scarlet Jones, the photographer from San Francisco.”

He let his breath slowly seep out. “I provided security for her some time ago.”

“You remember.”

“Of course.” After splitting off from Virgil back east, where they’d run the same kind of business, he’d hung out his own shingle here in the west and she’d been one of his first clients. “She was getting some strange mail, felt she was being followed. What’s going on with her now?” He knew everything had been okay after his contract ended because he’d checked in with her periodically, although not in the past year.

“Apparently she’s being harassed again. The first incident happened a few months ago, in September, when she received an email containing a picture of a man’s penis.”

“So this guy’s another Anthony Weiner? That’s not particularly creative.”

“She forwarded it to me. What he sent wasn’t particularly impressive, either.”

Rex had to chuckle. “Sounds like he should have stolen more than Anthony’s idea, maybe something from a porn site. But if this happened in September, why’d Scarlet wait so long to contact us?”

“The threats she got before never amounted to anything. She thought if she ignored it, this would go away, too.”

“Let me guess—it hasn’t.”

“No. It’s getting worse. But what I don’t understand is why whoever it was stopped in the first place.”

“Maybe the guy went to prison.”

“That would explain it. Because he’s taking up where he left off, except the letters she’s receiving are even more personal,” Marilyn said. “One mentioned a mole on her, um...”

“Breast? Ass? What? You’re seldom at a loss for words.”

“It’s somewhere even more intimate.”

“So whoever is doing this has been quite close to her.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Or talked to someone who has.”

“That’s just...creepy.”

“At least it narrows the list of potentials. She still has no idea who it might be?”

“No. She says that none of her past lovers would do anything like this.” She cleared her throat. “You, uh, weren’t aware of the mole?”

“I don’t get sexually involved with our clients. You know that.”

“I do. But I thought this client might be an exception. She’s extremely attractive. And she’s not married.”

He had a soft spot for Scarlet, but she was more like a younger sister to him. When he’d watched over her before, he’d still been in love with Laurel, Virgil’s sister, but he wasn’t remotely tempted to change his relationship with Scarlet, even now. “You said it was getting worse. What else has happened?”

“Yesterday someone broke into her house and urinated on her bed. That’s why she finally called.”

“Was anything taken?”

“Several pairs of underwear.”

What he’d just learned made Rex itch to get back to work. It had always bothered him that the police hadn’t been able to find the guy who’d tormented Scarlet. “What’d you tell her?”

“I said I’d be happy to arrange for a bodyguard until the police can find out who’s behind it, but when she realized the bodyguard wouldn’t be you, she started to cry.”

This type of security was very up close and personal. He could see why she’d want somebody she already knew and trusted.

He wished he could help her, but he couldn’t ask her to sit tight and wait until he felt safe to return to the Bay Area. He couldn’t drag her around the Sierra Nevada foothills with him while he tried to keep a low profile, either. He was about to say he was sorry but there was nothing he could do when a flyer he’d found pinned to the public message board at the local coffee shop popped into his mind. It had advertised rooms for rent in a private residence....

Why not answer that ad? He could hunker down in this quaint town and have Scarlet join him. That would remove them both from their usual circles—take them out of the flow of motel life, too, which added a degree of security. He might not come up with such a perfect solution, at least not such a perfect and immediate solution, anywhere else, especially during the holidays.

“Text me her number. Given these latest problems, I’m guessing she’s changed it since I spoke to her last.”

“What are you going to do?” Marilyn asked, sounding surprised.

“I’m going to take the job.”

“How?”

“By inviting her to come and spend some time with me here in Whiskey Creek.”

“You think she’ll do that?”