Page 13 of My One and Only (Blackhawk Security #10)

A fter Cam finished his shower and was safely back in his room, Jo took her own quick shower in the hall bathroom, then threw on fresh clothes. Cam was still in his bedroom, presumably getting dressed. Jo hurried into the kitchen and checked out his refrigerator. Pulled out a carton of eggs, a hunk of cheddar cheese, a package of English muffins and some butter. By the time Cam walked into the kitchen, looking much steadier than he had the day before, she almost had scrambled eggs and muffins ready.

“Have a seat,” she said, glancing at him over her shoulder. “Breakfast coming up.”

He studied her, standing in front of the stove, and scowled. “Cooking isn’t in your job description,” he said. “You didn’t have to make breakfast.”

“I did if I wanted to eat,” she shot back. She used a spatula to scoop the eggs onto two plates, then added a buttered muffin to each of them.

“I usually pick something up on the way to work,” he muttered, and her lips twitched at his grumpiness.

Clearly, he didn’t like being taken care of. Which was too damn bad. Her job was guarding him, and as far as she was concerned, that meant making sure he ate. “If you prefer fast food to homemade, you can do that tomorrow. But today we’re eating cheesy eggs and muffins.” She slid one of the plates of eggs and a muffin in front of him. “You want jam on your muffin?” she asked.

“Sounds good,” he said around a mouthful of eggs. Swallowing, he said, “Thank you, Jo. This was really nice of you. How did you know I’d be ravenous?”

She shrugged one shoulder. “Not hard to figure that out. You ate hardly anything the last three days.”

Grabbing her own plate, she slid into the same chair she’d used last night and began to eat. She didn’t speak, and neither did he. He was too busy eating.

After rinsing the dishes and loading them into the dishwasher, they left the house and climbed into Jo’s car. She entered his office address into her mapping app, and ten minutes later, they arrived at his building.

“Stay in the car for a bit,” she said as she climbed out. She put one hand on the gun under her left arm, covered by her blazer, as she scanned the parking area. The street in front of it. No one in any cars. No cars sitting on the shoulder of the road. Finally she opened his door. “We’re good. Let’s go inside.”

As he struggled to stand, she held out her left hand. She wouldn’t take her right hand off her gun until they were inside.

After a long moment, he grasped it and she helped him stand up. He dropped her hand as soon as he was vertical, and after he closed the door, she used her key fob to lock it.

He walked slowly toward his building, but he didn’t wobble. Didn’t stumble, although his face paled as he moved. She was certain his head pounded painfully, but he didn’t say a word. She opened the door, looked around the empty reception area, then held the door so he could enter the building.

‘You have an elevator in here?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “ADA rules.”

“Good. I don’t care if you usually take the stairs. We’re riding the elevator today.”

He drew a shaky breath. “Not gonna fight about that,” he said. “I normally take the stairs, but I can’t handle them today.”

She stared at his back as he shuffled into the elevator. At least he was being honest about his abilities today. She studied Cam as the elevator rose slowly. His face was pale, and a bead of sweat slid down the side of his face. But he stared straight ahead. Gripped the railing running around the car at waist level with white knuckles. When the doors slid open, he exited, catching his foot on the tiny gap between the elevator and the floor.

Jo curled her arm through his and hugged his arm to her side. He tried to tug away from her, but she tightened her hold. “You wanna fall on your ass out here? Where any of your employees could see you sprawled on the ground?” she asked quietly.

After a long moment, he said, “No.”

“Then let me hold onto you. I won’t let you fall.”

He jerked his head, then kept walking, staring straight ahead.

He stopped in front of the door with his name on it and fumbled in his pocket for the key. She slid it out of his hand, opened the door, and walked in with him.

When she closed the door, he leaned against it for a long moment. Finally pushed himself away and stood upright, swaying. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then walked slowly toward his desk. Collapsed into his chair like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

Jo studied him for a long moment. “You should have stayed at home today.”

Before she’d finished speaking, he shook his head. Winced. Pressed his palm to the side of his head for a long moment.

“Too much work to do,” he said, dropping his hand and scooting his chair closer to his desk.

Jo sighed. He was clearly in pain -- the stiff way he held himself, his eyes blinking too fast, the fingers he pressed into the left side of his head all gave him away. But she’d let him preserve his pride. If she said anything about the pain he was clearly feeling, he’d deny it. Tell her he was fine, and ready to get to work.

He belonged back home, sitting in a chair or in bed. Taking a nap. But for some reason, watching him gut it out made her admire him. He was being foolish, but she perversely enjoyed seeing his strength. His iron will. His determination to get back to normal, even though he should be taking a nap at home.

She’d admired all those qualities back in high school. But since she’d last seen Cam, those qualities had been refined and focused on his business. Honed to a sharp edge. No wonder he’d succeeded in a tough, competitive field.

“How about some Tylenol?” she asked. “Since you insist on working.”

He began to shake his head no. Stopped immediately. “Not supposed to take pain killers.”

“That’s aspirin and ibuprofen, and it was only the first twenty-four hours,” she said. “Tylenol is fine. It won’t cause any bleeding issues.” She took a bottle out of her purse. Set it on his desk. “Take two of those now. Two more in four hours.”

He stared at the bottle as if facing down an enemy. Finally sighed, opened it and spilled two capsules onto his palm. Swallowed them dry.

Then he turned his head slowly to look at her. “If you want something to do, you could start the coffee,” he finally said. “Pour me a cup. Cream. No sugar.”

“Not sure your head needs caffeine,” she said.

He closed his eyes. “Maybe that’s why my head hurts so much. No caffeine for three days.” He managed a tight smile. “My addiction hasn’t been fed.”

“Okay,” she said, keeping her voice quiet. “I’ll get a pot started.”

The coffee pot had been cleaned out since it was last used. Cam? His secretary? She had no idea, but she was glad it was clean. She dropped in a filter, spooned the correct amount of coffee into the basket and poured in a carafe of water. After switching it on, she glanced over her shoulder at Cam. “Anything else you need?”

He began to shake his head. Stopped immediately. “No, I’m good,” he said, but his voice was tight with pain. “Go ahead and get to your own work.” He pointed at the empty desk near the window. “You can use that, if you like.”

“Thanks, I will,” she said. “Who usually sits there?”

“No one, now. Used to be my secretary’s desk. But she’s a talker. Couldn’t shut her up. That’s why she’s out in the reception area.” He smiled. “She’s great with any customers who come in. And she knows all the sales people. Best move I made, putting her on the other side of my door.”

“Sounds like it,” Jo said.

He went back to work, but she studied him for a long moment. That was another reason he’d been successful with his company. Cam had a gift for reading people. She’d seen it in high school but had forgotten all about it until now.

Which made her wonder why he hadn’t seen what she did when she’d known his partner Don all those years ago. Was Don his blind spot?

Or was she judging Don based on what she’d seen in high school? If she was, that wasn’t fair to Don. No one should be judged on who they were fifteen years ago. From now on, she’d give Don the benefit of the doubt.

She found a legal pad and made a list of what she needed to do. First on the list was calling Mel. So she dialed her boss’s number. The phone rang twice before Mel picked up.

“Hey, Jo. You bored with your leave time? Want to come back early?”

“Hell, no,” Jo said. “I’m keeping busy.” She explained what had happened with Cam and the accident. “So I’m using the rest of my leave time to act as his bodyguard. If we haven’t resolved this by the time my leave is up, he’ll contact you and sign a contract for me to stay on.”

Mel was silent, the rat-a-tat of her pen bouncing off her desk the counterpoint to her thoughts. Finally Mel said, “Leave time is for you to relax and recharge your batteries. Not to do volunteer work.”

“I understand, but I went to high school with Cam,” Jo said. “He was my best friend. Now he owns a construction company and he’s building a house for my mom. He’s had some issues with his workmen, and we were on the way to the job site when he was T-boned. He managed to avoid a direct hit so he escaped with only a concussion, but he clearly needs protection.”

“Were you hurt?” Mel asked, urgency in her voice.

“No. I was in a car behind him,” she said. “I’m fine.”

“And you stopped to help your friend instead of chasing the car that hit him?”

“Yes,” Jo said. “It didn’t even occur to me to follow the truck that hit Cam. I wanted to make sure he was okay.”

“I see,” Mel said.

Jo got the uncomfortable feeling that Mel saw far too much in her explanation. “Cam’s my friend,” she repeated, and she knew she sounded defensive. “I couldn’t just leave him there without knowing how badly he was injured.”

Another silence. Finally, Mel said, “Okay. I get it.”

Jo wanted to ask exactly what Mel got, but she pressed her lips together. She was pretty sure she wouldn’t like the answer.

“The truck was a dark blue Ram four by four, new the last year or two. Its license plates were obscured with what looked like mud. Can you check the license registration records in Illinois and send me all the trucks that fit those criteria?”

“Yeah, I can do that,” Mel said.

“Thanks, Mel. I’m going to call the police and see if they found an abandoned vehicle of that description. If they haven’t, I’ll start calling repair shops and see if anyone brought in a truck like that with front-end damage.”

After a long moment, Mel said, “Good. That’s what I’d do.” She sighed into the phone. “Thanks for the heads-up that you might be away for longer than your leave,” she said. “There’s a job I was going to assign to you, but I’ll send someone else. Let me know ASAP if you need to stay.”

“I’ll do that, Mel. Thanks.”

“Be careful,” Mel said. “Both personally and professionally.”

“I will,” Jo said. “I’ll talk to you as soon as I know what’s going on here.”

“Thanks, Jo,” Mel said, then hung up the phone.

Jo stared at the cell phone in her hand, wondering at the odd tone in Mel’s voice, then set it on the desk. She heard Cam talking and turned to look at him. He was trying to hire a carpenter.

It reminded her that she’d promised to ask her friends from the service if any of them were interested in work. She’d forgotten all about it in the aftermath of Cam’s accident. So she composed an email, sent it to the fifteen email addresses she had, and hit send.

She was about to start calling repair shops about the blue truck when someone knocked on the door. When Cam called out, “C’mon in,” she looked up and saw Don Kincaid walk into the room.

Focused on Cam, Kincaid didn’t notice her immediately. She would have recognized him, but he hadn’t aged well. He looked ten years older than Cam. As he started for Cam’s desk, he must have caught sight of her out of the corner of his eye, because he looked over at her. Frowned.

“Jo? Jo Finster?” he said.

“Hi, Don,” Jo said. “It’s Jo Hatch now. How’re you doing?”

He shrugged. “I’ve been great since I partnered up with Cam. Love what I’m doing.”

“Always good to love your job,” Jo said.

“What are you doing in Ogden?” Don asked.

“I was visiting my mom,” she said. “I’d been working at the local library, but ran into Cam and he offered me the use of the extra desk in his office,” she said easily. “Believe it or not, it’s a lot more quiet here than at the library.”

“Cam’s a generous guy,” Don said. He turned to Cam. “You have a few minutes to review some job applications?”

“Sure,” Cam said. He pressed his hand to the left side of his head, and Jo didn’t think he was even aware of the gesture. “Can you bring them in here?”

“Yeah, but,” Don frowned. “Easier if you come into my office,” he said.

“Normally I would,” Cam said. “But my head still hurts like a son of a bitch. I really don’t want to walk down the hall to your office.”

Don waited a beat too long. Finally said, “Of course I can bring them in there. I should have realized that your head would hurt. I’ll be right back.”

He glanced at Jo, and Cam waved his hand. “She’s busy with her own work. We won’t bother her.”

Don held Jo’s gaze for a long moment, then nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

He walked out of the office, being careful to ease the door closed. As soon as he was gone, Cam looked at Jo. “I couldn’t think of any reason to have you join us in Don’s office. I hope we don’t disturb you.”

Jo smiled at him. “Don’t worry. You won’t. I have to say I’m impressed by how quickly you thought on your feet. Great reason for not wanting to go to Don’s office alone.”

Cam sighed. “I’m trying to be a cooperative protectee,” he said. “It’s the least I can do after being such an ass the past few days.”

Jo swiveled in her chair. “Trust me, Cam. I’ve guarded a lot worse than you.” She grinned. “I had to threaten to toss one guy out the window from the seventeenth floor if he didn’t stop harassing me. You’re a piece of cake after that dickhead.”

“Glad I haven’t veered into dickhead territory,” Cam said.

“Believe me, if you did, I’d let you know.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you would,” Cam said. He nodded at her yellow pad. “Making any headway?”

“I’m writing down my plan. Then I’ll start implementing it. But I talked to my boss. She’s sending me registration info on blue Ram trucks from this area. Once your meeting with Don is over, I’ll start calling repair shops. If we’re lucky, someone has a blue Ram pickup with front-end damage and we can get the VIN. Find out who it belongs to.”

“That sounds too easy,” Cam said.

“Yeah,” she said with a sigh. “It does. It’s never that easy.”

Cam nodded toward the door. “What’d you think of Don?”

Jo shrugged. Don had made her skin crawl, just like he had when they were in high school. But she wasn’t going to tell Cam that.

“He hasn’t aged well,” she said after a moment. “But he seemed pleasant enough. He’s wondering what I’m doing here, though.”

“He can wonder all he wants. I’ll fill him in after we catch the guy who hit me and the problem is solved.”

“Good. I don’t want anyone to know that I’m your bodyguard.” The fewer people who knew, the better. She’d make sure Cam told his mom not to talk about her son’s new bodyguard, either.

“I won’t say a word,” Cam said.

“Thanks.” And she’d keep her eye on Don. It probably wasn’t fair, but he’d pinged her radar just as he had in high school. She was pretty sure it was just the residual distrust from fifteen years ago. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t paying attention to it.

She’d play her ‘ran into Cam and he offered me this desk’ role for Don. She didn’t want him, or anyone else, to know who she really was and why she was spending so much time with Cam.

Because she had no idea who was behind the sabotage to Cam’s houses and his accident. And until she knew, no one would know why she was here.