Page 9 of Defending Love

Chapter Eight

Dani

T he woman in scrubs sized me up and down. “Ma’am, this is the employee exit. You’ll need to go through the front and sign out.”

I forced a smile and read her name tag. “I know this is unusual, Becky. My ride is picking me up here.”

The downturn of her pressed-together lips displayed her obvious annoyance. “For the safety of our patients, our protocol?—”

Eli pulled up to the curb driving the black SUV that Guardian Security lent him.

Without another word, I pushed the bar, unlatching the door. For a split second, I anticipated alarms. There were none as I hurried down the sidewalk to the SUV. The woman called something after me, but I had no intention of responding.

Eli rushed from the driver’s seat and opened the back door. As he shut the door, he waved to the concerned woman. Once he was back behind the steering wheel, he exhaled. His green stare met mine in the rearview mirror. “Did you have any problems?”

“Just that employee. Her name tag said Becky. It should have been Karen. She’s probably reporting me as we speak.” I twisted the top of the cylinder still in my grasp to lock and pushed the pepper spray back into my purse. When I looked up, Eli was turned toward me with a smile. “What?”

“Good girl.”

I lifted my eyebrows.

“The pepper spray. I hoped you’d have it at the ready.”

“Yeah, Becky almost got a taste.”

Eli chuckled as he turned the SUV around.

“Tell me about the reporters,” I said.

“They’re fishing for information. I didn’t say a word to them.”

“Did any of them look suspicious?” I asked. “Was it overkill to whisk me out the back door?”

“At this moment, nothing is overkill,” Eli said as he steered the SUV around to the front driveway of the rehab facility. The grounds near the front doors were still filled with people with microphones. I saw a TV crew from WFTV News 9 filming. “I don’t trust any of them.”

My pulse kicked up as I briefly scanned the crowd. “I hate living like this.”

“You can hate it, Dani.” His sunglass-shielded stare shifted to the rearview mirror. “You just need to keep living.”

I laid my head back against the seat, trying to make sense of my thoughts as Eli navigated the Florida area traffic. Within the Villages, the large black SUV stood out among the vast number of golf carts as we pulled up to Mom’s villa.

Once we were parked in Mom’s driveway, Eli spoke, “Let me do an inside sweep, and then I’ll come to get you.”

My nostrils flared as I nodded. In only a few weeks, I’d grown fatigued of the routine that showed no signs of stopping soon. When Eli got out of the driver’s seat, he left the engine and air conditioning running.

I watched as Eli entered the villa. A short time later, he returned, turned off the vehicle, and escorted me to the front door.

Inside, the absence of my father caused my steps to stutter.

“Dani?”

I inhaled, refusing to discuss my feelings. “I’m fine. Let me look for the things on Mom’s list.”

He pressed his lips together and nodded.

While I searched to fulfill Mom’s requests, Eli walked room to room, surveying every outlet, corner, and picture frame. Next, he sat down at their computer and inserted the same thumb drive he had on my laptop. I filled a beach bag with various items, opening drawers and going through their closet.

The sight of Dad’s clothes within their closet returned the lump to my throat.

His golf bag was next to Mom’s in the garage along with their bikes and golf cart.

Running my finger over the bicycle handlebars, I remembered how hard Dad had worked to regain his health after his heart attacks.

It was then that I thought about their dog.

I hurried back into the house. “I should go next door and check on Hoosier.”

Eli’s gaze went from the computer screen to me. “What’s a Hoosier?”

“A person from Indiana. It’s also the name of Mom and Dad’s dog.” The villa seems too empty without Mom, Dad, and that little dog.”

“You said the dog’s next door?”

“When we came down right after the shooting, I made arrangements with Carol next door. She was happy to help.” I narrowed my eyes at Eli who was scanning the monitor of my parents’ computer.

“You don’t think Jack or any of the other people assigned to this case would have already checked their electronics? ”

His lips quirked up in a lopsided grin. “I prefer to do things myself. That way I know they’re done right.”

“Did you find the same virus you found on my things?”

“According to Ben, it was already found.”

“While we’re alone… tell me what it does?”

He shook his head.

“Why?”

Instead of answering, he looked at the beach bag. “Do you have everything your mom requested?”

I lifted the bag. “I do.”

“What do you want to do tonight?”

“Besides get some straight answers from you?”

His smirk was back. “Besides that.”

“If my laptop passed your inspection, I guess we’ll take these things to Mom and then go to the villa you rented. I can catch up on emails and find out if I’m missing anything important happening at Sinclair.”

“No live music or partying in the Villages?”

“If I said yes, you’d tell me it wasn’t safe.”

Eli removed his thumb drive from my parents’ computer. “Sounds like you remember things about me, too.”

“Not you particularly,” I lied. “I’ve had a few other bodyguards, and you’re all the same.”

He took a step closer, the musky notes of his cologne tickling my nose and his massive chest settling at my eye level. His tenor dropped an octave. “We’re all the same.”

That wasn’t true.

Melinda didn’t cause my core to twist or my nipples to bead. Even Silas Hartman, the other man who worked with Ella and me a year ago, didn’t have the same effect on my body that Eli did. I swallowed and looked up. “Yes. All very predictable.”

For longer than necessary, we stood merely inches apart as his strikingly green gaze stared down at me, penetrating my veneer and searching deep into my heart and soul.

Maintaining eye contact, I stared back, determined not to be the first to blink.

My decision to remain resolute in keeping our relationship professional grew more difficult to remember as my breathing shallowed.

Finally, his deep baritone timbre shattered the stare-down. “You’re not a convincing liar.” He winked. “Don’t play poker.”

“I’ll have you know, I’m excellent at Texas Hold’em.”

“I’ll walk with you to the neighbors.”

The neighbors?

“Hoosier,” Eli reminded.

“Right.” Our face-off had my mind a bit preoccupied.

I tried to move on, rambling on about things I may have already told him.

“The neighbor’s name is Carol. She’s a widow who moved in about the same time as Mom and Dad…

” We locked Mom’s place and walked along the sidewalk to Carol’s house.

As soon as I rang the doorbell, I heard the familiar bark.

“Dani,” Carol said as she opened the door, allowing Hoosier to rush out and greet me.

I picked him up and nuzzled my face against his soft light-brown fur. “Thank you for keeping him.”

“Come in,” she waved as she looked up at Eli.

Once in the foyer of her lovely villa, I spoke to Carol, “This is Eli. And this is Carol,” I introduced to Eli.

“May I get the two of you anything to drink?”

“We can’t stay. I just wanted to check on Hoosier. Mom will be happy to hear he’s doing well.”

“How is Marsha doing?”

“She’s up and walking with a walker. And if I know my mom, she won’t need that for too long.” I lowered Hoosier to the tile floor. “Can I give you any money for his food and care?”

Carol waved her hand. “There was plenty of food in the garage. If I need to buy more, I will.” She grinned. “I’m enjoying his company.”

“Have you been in the Sinclairs’ home?” Eli asked.

“Yes, we exchanged keys long ago.” Her eyes widened. “Is that a problem?” She covered her lips with her fingertips. “There was no tape. It’s not considered a crime scene, is it?”

“No,” he replied. “Have you noticed anyone else coming and going?”

“Right after the…what happened, there were people there for days. I spoke to one man who said he was a detective.”

“Did he have a badge?” I asked.

“Oh goodness. I can’t remember.”

“Did he say which department he represented?”

Carol scrunched her nose. “I’m sorry. I didn’t ask.”

“Anyone else?”

She nodded. “Last Tuesday, there was a group of people. No, it was Wednesday, because I play pickleball on Wednesdays.”

“People?” I encouraged.

“Yes, they were there when I got home, carrying boxes from Marsha’s house.”

“What was in the boxes?” Eli asked.

She shook her head. “Papers, I think. They were file-like boxes. I couldn’t really see what all they had.”

I tried to understand. “Boxes of papers?”

Carol nodded. “Papers or small books. I was going to ask who they were, but they seemed very no-nonsense.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “Gave off a vibe.” She looked at Eli and back to me. “Some people do.”

I grinned. I supposed Eli gave off a vibe too.

Carol went on, “I did notice that they were wearing rubber gloves and dark uniforms.”

My gaze went back to Eli. “I want to look closer in Dad’s office.” I reached out to Carol, touching her hand. “Thank you. You have my number. If you see anyone else or need anything, please reach out to me.”

She lowered her arms. “Give Marsha my love.”

I nodded as we walked toward the front door and paused to give Hoosier one more pet. “I will. Thank you.”

Once we were back outside, I asked, “Was anyone at Guardian aware that someone took items from their house?”

“I’m going to find out.”

Standing on Mom’s front porch, I asked, “What were you looking for earlier? Do you think this house was bugged?”

“We can talk about that in a more secure location.” He unlocked the door.

If it was possible, the house seemed even quieter than it had been a few minutes earlier.

I went straight into the front office, separated from the foyer by a set of French glass doors.

Upon opening the doors, I was hit with the familiar scent of my father.

It wasn’t anything in particular, just a reminder that this was where he spent his time.

I started to reach for a drawer handle and stopped. “Should we try to get fingerprints?”

“Carol said they wore gloves, but let’s be sure.” He reached into his suitcoat pocket and pulled out latex gloves. “Here. Put these on.”

I quirked my eyebrow. “You just carry these with you?”

“I’m prepared.”

Slipping my hands into the gloves, I began opening the drawers to Dad’s desk.

Eli also donned gloves and began to inspect the tall bookcases.

The top drawer contained pens, paper clips, a stapler, checkbooks, and a calculator.

The last item made me smile. Only my parents would still have a calculator when their phones were capable of everything.

The next drawer had stacks of notepads and envelopes.

I opened the larger file drawer and gasped.

“It’s completely empty.”

My hands started to tremble as Eli came closer and looked down into the cavernous space. “Do you have any idea what he kept in there?”

“No.” I had a thought. “There’s something else.

Dad showed me this after he had it installed.

” I stood. Going to the large window that faced the street, I closed the plantation shades, dimming the room.

After I turned on the light, I looked at the opposite wall.

The bookcases Eli had been inspecting went from the floor to the ceiling on each side.

In the middle was a cabinet with a decanter of bourbon.

Above the cabinet was a large, framed picture of Sinclair Pharmaceuticals.

Pulling on the corner of the frame, the picture swung out, revealing a safe. “He thought it was very Hollywood.”

“Who knew about it?”

I shrugged. “Knowing Dad, he probably told anyone who would listen.”

“Do you know the combination?”

I stared at the digital keypad. “I could make some educated guesses.” My gaze met Eli’s. “It’s not going to explode if I enter the wrong code, is it?”

He ran his hands around the edges. “Hard to say for sure. I don’t see or feel any wiring, but then again…” His lips quirked as he took a picture of the keypad. “It’s more likely to lock if the wrong code is entered too many times. In that case the emergency key would be needed.”

“I could message Mom. If Dad had any important documents, he wouldn’t have left them in his desk. They’d be in that safe.”

Eli sent the picture of the front of the safe to the Guardian Security team, to learn the number of digits that would be needed. At the same time, I called Mom’s cell phone. It rang three times before going to her voicemail.

“No answer,” I told him. “Hopefully, she’s asleep. We could take her things to her and ask her for the combination or where the key would be. Then we could come back.”

Eli nodded. “I want to talk to Jack. Find out if he knows anything about the people coming and going.” He pushed the picture back against the wall.

The facade was well hung. If they didn’t know that it was hiding a safe, no one would be the wiser. The problem was that my father was a sharer. I imagined him standing in here with golf buddies, drinking bourbon, and showing them all his hidden safe.

As we turned to leave, the doorbell rang.