Wyoming Cowboy Bodyguard

“I expect you to listen to the man currently keeping you safe. Do me a favor? Don’t be cliché or stupid. Which means stay put. I’ll be back.” And then he walked out the front door.

And locked it from the outside.

* * *

ZACH HAD NO doubt he’d made all the wrong moves in there, but he didn’t have time to make the right ones. He pocketed his keys, double-checked the gun holstered to his side and stepped out into daylight.

He took a deep breath of the fresh air, trying not to feel the prick of guilt at Daisy being locked inside for close to twenty-four hours. But it was for her safety, and Cam’s phone call proved to him that he had to keep being excessively vigilant.

Which was why he scowled when Cam pulled up to the shack that disguised a garage behind the big house. Hilly was in the passenger seat so Zach tried to fix his expression into something neutral, but his sister being here complicated things.

Hilly was acting as their assistant. She ran the errands for groceries and the like, and she was helping with some of the paperwork while she went through nursing school.

Cam pulled his truck into the garage, then he and Hilly exited. Zach pushed the button himself to close the door so it went back to looking like a falling-down shack.

Cam’s expression grave and Hilly’s suspicious. “I still can’t believe this place,” she said with a little shudder. “It’s so creepy from the outside.”

Zach smiled thinly. “And, as you well know, perfectly livable from the inside. So what’s the deal?”

“Is she in there?” Hilly asked with a frown.

“Yeah.”

“Well, let’s go inside.”

Zach rocked back on his heels. “Not a great idea right now. Besides, she doesn’t need to know about this.”

Hilly’s frown deepened. Zach wanted to scowl at Cam for bringing her, but that would only make Hilly angrier.

Truth be told, he didn’t understand the way Hilly got angry at all. It was sneaky, and came at you in new and confusing ways. Like guilt. He didn’t care for it.

She glanced back at Cam. “I thought I was here to see what Daisy needed.”

“You are,” Cam agreed. “I just have some things I need to discuss with Zach about the case privately. I thought maybe I could do that while you talk to Daisy about anything she might need.”

She looked back at Zach, her lips pursed, surveying him. An expression he never knew how to fully read. Judgment? Disappointment?

“I still think we can go inside and talk. There are rooms. Or you can let me go inside while you two powwow out here.”

“Aren’t you going to demand to know what’s going on?”

“No. Cam and I agreed that there were certain cases that required his confidentiality. I’m okay with that. So why don’t you let me in?”

Zach nodded. He didn’t particularly want to introduce anyone to Daisy, but she was likely tired of just him and walls for company. Hilly could talk to her about anything she needed, maybe make her feel a little more at home, and Cam could fill him in on the details in the privacy of his room.

They walked to the front of the house and Zach unlocked and relocked doors as they entered, and when he stepped into the common area he frowned at the absence of Daisy.

Then at the fact the door to his room was open. He stepped toward it, hand moving to his gun without fully thinking the move through.

He stopped short in the doorway, shock and irritation clawing through him at equal measure. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Zach demanded from the doorway.

Daisy didn’t even have the decency to jump as she sat there on his bed, rifling through his things.

“I can’t say your room holds any deep, dark surprises, Zach. Bland guy. Bland... Oh, hello.” Daisy leaned her head to the side to look around him.

“Get your hands off my stuff.”

She blinked up at him oh so innocently. “Won’t you be doing the same for me? Or have you already?” She got to her feet in a fluid movement and crossed to Hilly and Cam and held out her hand.

“Daisy Delaney,” she offered with a sassy grin that likely served her well on stage.

“Hi, I’m Hilly,” Hilly said eagerly, shaking Daisy’s hand. “I’m Zach’s sister.”

“Zach’s sister.” Daisy looked at him and raised an eyebrow before her smile sharpened. “Well, Hilly, you might be my new best friend.”

“Sorry, if you’re looking for dirt we only kind of found out about each other last year.”

“Okay, so you can’t give me the Zach dirt. How about you tell me what the hell is going on? I’m presuming you know.” She moved her gaze to Cam. “Or you do.”

“I, uh...” Cam cleared his throat, looking shockingly ruffled and uncomfortable.