Mistletoe & Kisses (29 page)

Chapter Six

I PACED BACK and forth in front of the window.  God, I felt so stupid.  I didn’t know why I’d thought it would be so simple for someone to get there quickly.  It was
snowing
, for heaven’s sake.  In fair weather, getting from the Denver area to Beaver Creek would have been simple, doable, and fairly fast, but the weather was
not
pleasant.

It turned out Manny couldn’t come up anyway.  He was already obliged to something else and couldn’t get out of it.  But he told Brad he could send Chuck, his best employee.  Not only was the guy a former Marine and total bad ass (this was coming from Manny via Brad), but he had a great sense of humor.

Oh,
I thought,
this oughta be good.
  I hadn’t had many bodyguards in my life, but I hadn’t had one yet who had a sense of humor.  It didn’t bother me, because their job certainly didn’t require having a quick wit, but the thought alone would have made me smile…if my stomach hadn’t already been twisted in knots.

As I continued watching the snow fall, Gracie and the kids curled up on the couch to watch movies.  After a bit, I went to the bedroom to talk to Brad.  He had his guitar on his lap, plucking some strings, but he looked up when he caught me walking in.  “Doing okay?”

“Maybe we should call Manny and tell him to never mind.  The snow’s still coming down hard out there, Brad.  The guy’s gonna get killed just driving up here.”

Brad gave me a gentle smile that bordered on condescending, but only because I think I was frustrating him.  “Val, they keep I-70 as clean as they can.  They’ll close off the road or make it where people can only drive with chains on their tires if it gets too bad.  Manny and his guys are no dummies.  They wouldn’t endanger themselves.”

Okay, now I was
really
worried.  “Uh, yeah, they do, Brad.  They do it every day in their jobs.”

Brad grinned.  “You got me there.  But babe…”  He placed his hands on my shoulders.  “You’re already stressed out.  Don’t start inventing new reasons to worry, okay?”

My voice was lower.  I didn’t want the kids and Gracie in the other room to hear me.  “
Inventing?
  What?  Like I
like
feeling like I’ve depleted the wells of adrenaline in my body?”

He slid his hands from the balls of my shoulders to right next to my neck and began massaging my muscles.  “Relax, Val.”  I raised an eyebrow, ready to tell him it was easy for him to say, but he knew exactly how to rub my shoulders.  I melted and shut my mouth.  I knew he was right, but I couldn’t calm my frazzled nerves or force my emotions to calm enough so I could think of what was practical.  I closed my eyes and he brought his lips to my ear.  “Do you remember the first time you got onstage?”  Like I could forget—he was the guy who’d dragged me up there.  “And the second time…and the time after that?”  I nodded.  “Did you know there are people who could
never
get up there?”  I was preparing an argument, but he cut me off at the knees before I could even start.  “I know it’s not the same, but it’s something you’ve conquered.  Whether or not Chuck makes it here is something we have no control over.  I hope he makes it here okay too, but I also hope he’s not a damned idiot and turns around or stops if his life’s in danger.  I’m no bodyguard, but there’s no way in hell I’ll let anything happen to you.”  I opened my eyes and looked into his.  Oh, he was so sincere, so loving, and I believed him…but I also remembered all the stories I’d heard in the past, those of women (and men) who’d been stalked and killed—and just because there were anti-stalking laws in place didn’t mean I or my family were safe.  Not by a long shot.  These folks were often disturbed, so why the hell would they care if they broke the law?

Brad’s cell phone rang.  He kissed me on the forehead and then grabbed it off the nightstand.  He was distracted in conversation and so I went back into the living room area.  I sat on the sofa next to Chris.  Hayley was playing on the floor with toys, but Chris was rapt in the cartoon on the television.  It was one I hadn’t seen before, but I couldn’t get into it.  I was too stressed.  I instead patted him on the head while lost in thought.  Gracie’s eyelids were getting heavy, drooping, and she was having a hard time staying awake.

Brad came in the living room a while later.  “Chuck’s almost here.  He had a hell of a time getting here.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

He chuckled.  “Not because of the snow.  He said the roads actually weren’t too bad, but he thinks they’ll be bad after the sun goes down.”  He shrugged.  “I’m pretty sure he was exaggerating, but he said he thought he wasn’t going to get through the welcome gate.”

I knew Brad was talking about the attended gate where the town of Avon became Beaver Creek resort.  “Seriously?”

“I think that’s the sense of humor Manny was talking about.  He said the woman at the gate was giving him the third degree because of his beater truck and his tattoos and piercings.  He thinks he finally scared her into letting him in.”

I stood, because I didn’t want my emotions to freak Chris out.  He needed to enjoy the cartoon he was watching without having me acting all high strung and out of control.  I lowered my voice and got close to Brad.  “That’s not even funny.  This person stalking me…all he had to do was scare someone to get in and then our body guard can’t even talk his way through?”

“Val, they’re not like apartment attendants.  If he told them he has business up here, they’re going to let him in.  I seriously think it’s what Manny was saying—the guy’s a clown.”

“Yeah, and that’s supposed to make me feel better
how
?  I’ll be laughing all the way to the grave.”

Brad was growing exasperated.  “Knock it off, Val.  We haven’t actually
seen
this stalker person.  Until we do, what are we going to do about it?  Run?”  No, he was right…but I didn’t want to feel like I was being blown off.  I opened my mouth, ready to speak, and Brad said, “That’s
why
Chuck’s here.  He’s our eyes, ears, and muscle, and his presence might be all it takes to make that psycho back off.”  What he said made sense, so I nodded and let the air out of my lungs.

It was either that or pack up and go home—and none of us were ready to do that.

* * *

Manny hadn’t been kidding about Chuck’s sense of humor.  The guy was a big goofball.  He had a range of voices and facial expressions that made me relax in spite of the fact that I couldn’t take him seriously as a bodyguard.  Sure, he was the size of a Mack Truck, but he didn’t have the scary
don’t-fuck-with-me
vibe I got from most bodyguards.  Those were the feelings I got that made me feel a little more relaxed with bodyguards nearby.

Unlike a lot of kids, my children weren’t put off by tattoos, piercings, or unusual hairdos thanks to their dads and their dads’ friends.  I think they were a little intimidated by Chuck’s size, but he had them eating out of the palm of his hand in minutes.  Once the introductions were done and Chuck had the kids giggling, I made them lunch and then Chuck asked to speak with Brad and me in private.

I was going to suggest the bedroom when Chuck asked if we wanted to get coffee in one of the hotel restaurants.  I asked if that would be safe, leaving my kids behind.  “
You
are the one being stalked, correct?”  I nodded.  He looked at Gracie and said, “Make sure your cell phone is on at all times.  Keep all the doors locked and use the peephole before opening the door.  You don’t know them?  You don’t even crack that fucking door.”  It was then that he acted like he realized once more that my kids were present.  “Oh, sorry.”  He spread out his lips in an exaggerated smile, sticking his top teeth out to create a fake overbite.  Then he talked in a down South pretend yokel voice, saying, “Hey, kids, Uncle Chuck don’t know when to shut up.  Next time I say a bad word, y’all can slap me, all right?”

Chris burst into laughter.  Hayley had a big grin on her face but was fingering the bread from her sandwich.  I breathed a bit of a sigh of relief as Chuck switched back into bodyguard mode, giving Gracie basic instructions.  I’d been put off by his general nature at first, but I soon relaxed, realizing he was no nonsense when it came to work.  That was all I needed.

Within minutes, the three of us were walking down the long hallways toward the main area of the resort.  Chuck wasn’t talking much, instead keeping on the alert.  I felt more at ease the longer I was with him as I realized he wasn’t messing around.  He was definitely a former military type.  His dark brown hair was cut short, very short, and he looked like the kind of guy who could get away with having his head shaved.  He had about two or three days’ growth of dark facial hair, green eyes, and a square jaw.  At this moment, he looked all business, and it was then that I realized that Chuck put me in the mind of an actor.  He could “play” the bad ass bodyguard, but I had the idea that his true self was nothing like it.  Still…as long as he could save me if I ever needed it, he could be as silly as he wanted to be when we could let our guard down.

Oh…and the guy looked like a football player.  Solid, sinewy, but I believed he could run like a rabbit.  He seemed to have strength and agility.

We made our way into the first restaurant we came to.  In just a few minutes, we were seated with steaming cups of coffee.  Chuck also ordered some food to go, and after the waiter left, I said, “We have lots of food back at our place.  You’re welcome to help yourself to whatever you like.”

“Thank you.”  He took a swig of his coffee (yes, a
swig
.  Chuck was the kind of guy who didn’t do
anything
half-assed) and then looked at me.  “Okay.  Manny gave me a lot of the details, but let’s go over some basics.  First, about me.  At the heart of it all, I’m a Marine.  Once a Marine, always a Marine, and if you know anything about us, you know that when it comes to matters of safety, we don’t fuck around.  Manny and I met a long time ago when we were both bouncers for the same venue.  We hit it off and were running buddies for a lot of years—kept each other motivated and in shape.  Anyway, when Manny decided to open his own business, I don’t think he realized how high the demand for his services would be once word got out about how good he really is.  Not too long after he started, he called and asked if I would work for him.  I turned him down at first because I liked where I was working.”  He grinned, letting his guard down for a fraction of a second, but then scanned the restaurant again.  “I was a bouncer at a strip club.  I liked the fringe benefits.  But Manny asked again, made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, and I’ve been with him ever since.  Bottom line—I don’t stop training.  I work out every day, so it’s a good thing this joint has a gym, although I can skip a day or two if we’re knee deep in shit.  Manny also passes along reading material he thinks might be relevant for the job.  I don’t know if that shit’s so important, but I spend my time observing, even when I’m not working.  I’m always looking, always assessing the situation.”  He looked at me, sending a shiver of terror down my spine.  Apparently, he was also practiced at intimidation when he needed to be.  “Know why we sat here?”

I blurted out, “Because they have coffee?”

He laughed.  “No, I mean this particular spot.”

I looked around the restaurant.  We were far from the door, in a booth near the kitchen.  Brad was up against the wall and I sat next to him.  Chuck sat on the other side by himself.  Brad didn’t say a word, knowing the question had been for me.  I shrugged.  “No.  I didn’t realize you had chosen it intentionally.”  As soon as I said it, though, I remembered Chuck pointing to the booth and requesting it.

“I did.  It’s not ideal, but look around.  It’s busy in here.  I sat on this side so I could watch the doorway for suspicious characters.  I can also see the entire restaurant from here, and if we need a quick getaway, the kitchen is right there.  Most kitchens have other exits, because they accept deliveries away from the eye of the customers.  In a hotel, they also deliver to rooms and sometimes have banquet areas and so the kitchen should have lots of egresses.  In fact, I’m counting on it should we need it.”  So far, I was impressed.  “I also had your husband sit there, and that was a tough judgment call.  If you were close to the wall, he would shield you, but if we have to get the hell out of here fast, I can grab you and he can catch up.”  I nodded and looked at Brad.  I could tell he didn’t appreciate being treated like chopped liver, but I could also see that he saw the logic in it.  If I was the one in danger, I was the one who had to be protected, and Brad would not be happy if Chuck saved him instead of me.

“But enough of that shit.  You don’t need to know why I do what I do.  You just need to know that I am constantly making decisions that are based on my observations, and my utmost concern is your safety.”  He emptied his coffee and then said, “I need you to bring me up to speed.  As I said, Manny told me all about your situation, but I want to hear it from you.  Tell me when it started and everything you think I need to know.  Be as detailed as you can.”

I felt so much more at ease, and telling Chuck the entire story made me feel even that much better because he seemed serious and sincere…and competent.  Earlier in the morning, I had been ready to throw my hands in the air, ready to give up and go home, but Chuck made me feel safe and secure.  Maybe my family’s Christmas holiday was saved after all.