Rock Your Body: A BWWM Romance (19 page)

CHAPTER 14

Kelly drove to work with a smile on her face. Today was Friday. One more day of work and then she’d get to spend a half day with Larry. After last night’s conversation, she was beginning to warm to him.

Tonight she’d do laundry after dropping her daughter off at her father’s. Hopefully she and her ex were truly on the same page about Sophie. Life was pretty good.

Her phone rang. Since she had Bluetooth, she answered it.

“Hi Tamra.”

“You sound pretty cheery. You get laid?”

Kelly laughed. “No, just in a good mood. What’s up?”

“Colin had a strange call on his phone early this morning. The woman said she was his biggest fan and kept asking if he was safe.”

“Just like on the card on the flowers. Must have spooked him.”

“It did. The phone is a throwaway, but I’d like to give the number to the detective you talked to.”

“I’ll e-mail you his information. Is Colin getting a new phone?” Kelly said.

“Not for the time being. I was hoping if this person calls again we can track them down more easily.”

Kelly pondered what all this meant. “How do you think she got his cell number?”

“Haven’t figured that out yet. Any ideas?”

“I’ll think on it. You back staying at his house?”

“Yeah,” Tamra said.

“How is the romance going?”

“Really weird.”

“Weird?” Kelly asked.

“Well, just odd. He’s really easy to be with.”

“Why is that odd?”

“He isn’t how I expected him to be,” Tamra admitted.

“You expected a brat.”

“I did.”

“Do you think Larry would put up with someone like that?”

Tamra laughed. “If the person made him money.”

“How else is it weird?”

“He’s filthy rich. I mean a one percenter.”

“He told you that?”

“I asked him how much he was worth. We were having dinner and he said I could ask him anything. Not sure why that was what I thought of. I’ve never cared about money,” Tamra said.

Kelly laughed. “That took balls, Tam.”

“Yeah, I know and now I’m embarrassed that I know that information.”

“He probably doesn’t care that you know. You could have Googled it instead of asking him.”

“Yeah, I guess I could have. There’s one more thing.”

“What?”

“I do a search on him and there are all these pictures of him with these really hot women. I’m a little intimidated and not sure what he’s seeing in me.”

Of course Tamra would feel that way. “You are an amazing woman. He is probably enjoying the fact that you are normal.”

“I guess so.”

“You don’t sound convinced. Just go with it. He’s a pretty hot guy.”

Tamra laughed. “Do I have competition?”

“Even if I were interested, he only has eyes for you. What do you need me to do?”

“Nothing really. Glad we didn’t take down the cameras.”

“Guess this case isn’t over.”

                                                                        ***

Tamra sat at her computer, touching base with her other clients and her employees. That’s all she could do from Colin’s house. She only stopped when her eyes threatened to droop closed.

So she opted for a nap. Colin had not come out of the studio all morning. Before going upstairs, she checked that all the doors were locked. The outside alarm was on so she could sleep peacefully.

She wondered what he did down in that studio, but sleep was calling and she didn’t want to disturb him.

She dropped off as soon as her head hit the pillow. She was awakened by the outside alarm what seemed like not too long after.

Something had breached the wall around the house. Tamra was instantly out of bed. She ran barefoot to the kitchen to grab her gun.

Colin was just emerging from the basement.

“Go back down and lock yourself in,” she said.

“No.”

“Yes.”

She didn’t have time to argue as she jammed her feet in shoes and ran out the door. She hoped he would listen to her and not put himself in danger. With an intruder, she had enough to deal with.

Outside the sun was shining. It seemed like a day that nothing could go wrong. Except that someone had come over the wall. She ran a perimeter of the house but saw no one. She ran the opposite way and still didn’t encounter anyone.

She stopped in the
backyard
, listening. She didn’t hear anything. Her heart pumped loudly in her chest as she stood behind a tree for cover.

Sirens sounded in the distance. Damn. She still didn’t know who had breached the wall.

She also hoped that Colin had listened to her and was in the basement. Safe and sound. She walked slowly through the trees her eyes darting every which way. Still no sign of the intruder.

“Put your hands in the air.”

She did. “I’m the bodyguard.”

“Drop the gun and get down on the ground.”

She knew better than to argue. It had been a miscalculation on her part to be ou
t
here with a gun. She should have greeted the officers and had her gun away.

She did as they said. An officer came up and yanked her hands behind her back, cuffed them, then yanked her to her feet. There was no need for that treatment, but then she was a black girl in a primarily white neighborhood.

Hopefully she’d have a chance to sort it out before they got to the station.

“You have a permit for that gun?”

“Yes, in my purse. Inside the house.”

“Inside the house? Huh?”

“I’m the bodyguard,” Tamra said.

“Right.”

He kept hold of her arm and walked her around the house. Colin was on the front porch.

“Why the hell do you have her cuffed?” he said.

She tried to shake her head. If he made a big deal, this would be worse.

“You know her?”

“Yes, she’s my bodyguard,” Colin said, striding towards her.

“Stay back, sir,” the officer said. He turned to Tamra. “You’re really the bodyguard?”

“Yes.”

He unlocked the cuffs. “I still need to see the permit for the gun before I can return it to you.”

“Follow me inside.”

***

Colin wanted to take Tamra into his arms, but he wouldn’t in front of the cop. Anger had spiked through him. Why were they treating her like this?

She was being so calm about it. The group walked into his house and into his kitchen. Had they found the intruder?

“I have some men still on your grounds since we know we don’t have the intruder,” the officer said.

“Good.”

He didn’t feel any safer. Tamra showed the officer her permit and he gave her the gun back.

“Sorry about that,” the officer said.

“No problem. I understand what the situation looked like.”

“We’ll help them search, but I think the person is long gone. Do you have cameras out there?”

“No, only close to the house. We may have to install them or choose to move somewhere else,” she said. “I also have something for Detective Quinn, but I’ll see him later.”

“This is part of a bigger case?”

“Yes, it is. He had someone  stalking him. An anonymous stalker.”

“Well, then you better get stronger security.”

The officer shook Tamra’s hand then left. A half an hour later the cops had gone after letting Tamra know they found no one.

She sat in the kitchen and he paced around her, a Diet Coke in his hand.

“That was awful, what they did to you,” he said finally.

She shrugged. “They only knew that there was an alarm here and I was the first person they saw and I had a gun. I would have done the same thing.”

“Why are you so calm about it?”

“Because they are trained to react a certain way. They did. It isn’t like I got shot.”

He shuddered. That would have been awful if she had been.  “Do I need to move my base of operations?”

“You might. Can you find another house?”

“Well, there are a few I can rent in the state.”

“Then I would have Larry find you another one. I think it isn’t safe here,” she said.

                                                                     ***

Kelly thought the day was going to be calm. Then she received the phone call from Tamra.

“The outer alarm went off so we thought we had an intruder. Neither the cops nor I found the person. Then we found something in the kitchen that didn’t belong. A note on the fridge that said, “Are you safe?”

“You think the person got in the kitchen then left in all the confusion.”

“Yep. We have to move our base of operations. Colin’s getting in touch with Larry to find him a new place.”

“It needs a recording studio?”

“Yes. I’d rather protect one area,” Tamra said.

“Understood. What can I do?”

“See who isn’t working on any of our other projects and send them here. I don’t want to rely on just me to protect him in this house.”

“No problem. I’ll call you back when I know who is coming. How is Colin holding up?”

“I think he’s spooked, but he went back down to his studio. I guess he’s working.”

“I can understand that. Keep his mind off of it,” Kelly said.

“Yep and not drive me nuts,” Tamra said, then laughed.

Kelly joined her. “I can cancel my plans for tomorrow and be there.”

“No, don’t. What do you have going on?”

“I meeting Larry in the city and I’m not sure what we’re doing after that.”

“Sounds fun.”

“But I could cancel and relieve you for a bit.”

“No, you can do that on Sunday,” Tamra said.

Kelly thought  Tamra was enjoying this assignment more than usual. Guess Colin was good in bed. Good for Tamra. She deserved some happiness in her life.

Tamra continued. “I can’t believe that this person has flown under the internet radar for so long. Roger, Colin’s assistant, said he’s never had any message with those words in them. Nothing in the fan mail.”

“You think it is a spurned girlfriend?”

“Why now? He said he hasn’t been with anyone in more than six months. Why all of a sudden is this person doing this?”

“Because of you?” Kelly said.

“No one outside of our circle knows about me and Colin,” Tamra said.

“Good point. Well, let me ponder it and Larry and I can talk about it, too.”

“Enjoy yourself.”

Kelly laughed. “You, too.”

*

Roger came to visit and to go through Colin’s calendar for the next week. Tamra appreciated that he was on board with what needed to happen to protect Colin.

Roger sat with Tamra in the kitchen which had become her de facto office. Colin was still in the basement.

“How is he doing?” Roger asked.

“I think okay, but he’s been holed up down there since the cops left. He should be surfacing for lunch soon.”

“He’s not one of those people who hides how he feels,” Roger said

“Ya think?”

Roger chuckled. “He’s the poster child for wearing his heart on his sleeve. It also means he gets hurt easily.”

“Is that a warning?”

“Yes, in a gentle way. He’s like a brother to me. When I came out of the closet, I did it to Colin first. He has been very supportive of me. And of course he gave me a job when I got out of prison.”

“You owe him a lot.”

“I do.”

She appreciated Roger’s candor. She also appreciated that Roger had accepted her as Colin’s bodyguard and as his lover. She wasn’t sure she accepted herself as Colin’s lover, but she’d see how it would all pan out.

Colin appeared in the doorway. “You guys waiting for lunch?”

He leaned against the counter, his hands in his pockets. His face was unreadable.

“I’m hungry, but I can go out and get something,” Roger said.

“Yeah, that’d be great,” Tamra said.

She wasn’t sure about Colin’s mood. He seemed more down than she’d ever seen him.

“Pizza?” Colin said.

“I’ll call it in. What do we want?” Roger said.

“I’ll eat anything,” Tamra said, her gaze never leaving Colin’s face. She was trying to read him, but his expression was shuttered. Or maybe she just wanted to be able to read him well enough to know.

She was concerned that he had been traumatized by the whole intruder incident.

Roger made the call, then left to pick up lunch.