Bodyguard Under Fire

A long silence stretched between them.

“I won’t try to keep you from seeing Charlie,” PJ said.

Chuck stared up at PJ. She’d lied by omission about Charlie. Would she lie about trying to keep him from seeing his daughter? What about the visit to the attorney? Was she only trying to set an agreement in place, or was she preparing to cut him out of Charlie’s life?

At this point, Hank didn’t want her to know Chuck had been hired as her bodyguard, not as a handyman as he’d told PJ.

PJ glanced at him and sighed. Then she held her hand up, spoon and all. “I swear on my mothers’ graves I won’t keep you from Charlie. There. Are you satisfied?”

Chuck nodded. He liked the strong, determined woman she’d grown into in the year he’d been away, and found himself even more attracted to her than before. “Okay. I trust you.” He might trust her about visitation with Charlie, but he wasn’t as sure about where they stood, or if he trusted her with his heart. Was attraction enough?

“Trust or not, it’s the truth.” She turned back to the stove. “You about ready for dinner?”

Chuck gazed down at the baby sleeping in his arms. He didn’t want to let go of her even to eat supper. “I guess.”

PJ chuckled. “Does my cooking reputation precede me? I’m not Cara Jo, but I can—”

Footsteps pounded on the staircase and then in the hallway outside PJ’s apartment door.

PJ turned to Chuck. “Give me Charlie.” She held out her hands for the baby.

Chuck handed her over and motioned for her to get behind him. “Go into the bedroom and close the door.”

PJ did as she was told, her eyes wide, her face pale. As she closed the bedroom door, someone pounded on the door to the apartment.

“Help! Please, help!” a female voice called out, followed by loud sobs.

Chuck peered through the peephole and then yanked the door open.

The young woman from the resort front desk fell against his chest, her face streaked with tears. “Please help him.”

Chapter Five

Chuck caught the woman and held her as she sobbed into his chest. “Help who?”

“Danny, my boyfriend. He’s hurt.” She sniffed and pushed her hair out of her face. “He’s at the bottom of the stairs. I don’t know if he’s breathing.”

Chuck shoved the woman into the apartment. “Stay here and call 9-1-1, and lock the door behind me.”

The woman nodded, her hands shaking.

PJ, still carrying Charlie, flung her bedroom door open. “What’s wrong? What’s happening?”

“I don’t know. I’ll be right back.” Without waiting for her response, Chuck slipped past the distraught woman and lumbered down the stairs two at a time, jolting his bad leg with each step. He almost fell over the crumpled body at the bottom.

The light over the stairs wasn’t working, but the glow from the security light in the rear parking lot shone enough on the inert form that Chuck could see a pool of blood.

As he felt for a pulse, Chuck glanced around to ensure whoever had done this wasn’t waiting to do it again.

After several long seconds, he could detect the weak beat of the young man’s heart. Rather than hurt him further, he carefully checked for injuries without moving him. The blood appeared to be coming from a wound to the forehead, which would explain why he was unconscious.

Within minutes, sirens wailed from the direction of Wild Oak Canyon’s small hospital. A sheriff’s vehicle whipped into the parking lot before the ambulance, lights blazing.

A man in uniform leaped out, gun drawn. “Step away from the body,” he called out.

“I’m the one who had you called.” Chuck didn’t recognize the man from the previous night’s call.

“Still, step away from the body until we secure the area.”

Chuck held up his hands and stepped out into the parking lot. “He’s alive, seems to be breathing on his own, but he appears to have suffered a blow to the head.”

The ambulance bumped over the rough pavement and came to a halt. Two emergency medical technicians jumped out. One opened a side panel and extracted a medical kit while the other unloaded a backboard.

Cara Jo rounded the corner of the building, her eyes wide. When she spotted Chuck, she hurried to his side. “What the hell’s going on?”

“I’m not sure. You know almost as much as I do. The young man’s name is Danny. His girlfriend, Alicia, the young woman who works part-time at the front desk of the resort, found him and let us know he’d been hurt.”

“I know Danny. He’s a nice kid. Who’d want to hurt him?” Cara Jo shook her head.

“Good question.”

“Holy hell.” Cara Jo shoved her hand through her hair. “Two attacks in as many days. I don’t get it.”

“Me, either. But tomorrow, this handyman is putting in some additional security measures.”

“Glad to hear it. I’m sure the boss won’t mind footing that bill. Especially when his employees are being mauled.” Cara Jo laid a hand on Chuck’s arm. “PJ and Charlie are okay, aren’t they?”

“Yes. I was with them when Alicia showed up at the door. Alicia and PJ are upstairs now, if you want to check on them. The deputy will want to speak with the one who found Danny. Maybe you could bring Alicia down as soon as the EMTs get him loaded into the ambulance.”

“I’ll do that.” Cara Jo waited while the EMTs checked vitals and carefully maneuvered the injured man onto the backboard, stabilized his neck and lifted him onto a gurney.

Once the stairway was cleared, the diner owner sprinted up the stairs.

Chuck and the deputy followed the injured man as he was rolled across the rough pavement. Danny’s eyes blinked open as they neared the ambulance.

“Wait.” The deputy touched the arm of one of the medical technicians. The gurney came to a smooth halt, and the officer leaned over the gurney. “Son, can you describe the man who attacked you?”

The young man blinked again, and then his eyes rolled upward and he slipped into unconsciousness.

The emergency personnel loaded Danny into the back of the ambulance and climbed in beside him.

Cara Jo was leading a distraught Alicia down the steps.

When Alicia reached the bottom, she ran toward the ambulance. “Is he going to be okay? Can I ride with him?”

“Are you a member of his family, ma’am?” the attendant asked.

She shook her head, wringing her hands. “No, but he’s my boyfriend.”