The Rancher Bodyguard

It was that terrible moment in time with Grace followed by the unexpected death of his father that had made him take a good, hard look at his life and realize how unhappy he’d been for a very long time.

Still, it was as a defense attorney that he frowned at her thoughtfully. “What do you mean she was passed out? Was she asleep? Drunk?”

Those icy blue eyes of hers darkened. “Apparently she was drugged. She was taken to the hospital and is still there. They pumped her stomach and are keeping her for observation.” Grace leaned forward. “Please, Charlie. Please help her. Something isn’t right. First of all, Hope would never, ever take drugs, and she certainly isn’t capable of something like this. She would never have hurt William.”

Spoken like a true sister, Charlie thought. How many times had he heard family members and friends proclaim that a defendant couldn’t be guilty of the crime they had been charged with, only to discover that they were wrong?

“Grace, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I’m a rancher now.” He wasn’t at all sure he wanted to get involved with any of this. It had disaster written all over it. “I’ve retired as a criminal defense attorney.”

“I heard through the grapevine that besides being a rancher, you’re working part-time with West Protective Services,” she said.

“That’s right,” he agreed. “They approached me about a month ago and asked if I could use a little side work. It sounded intriguing, so I took them up on it, but so far I haven’t done any work for them.”

“Then let me hire you as Hope’s bodyguard, and if you do a little criminal defense work in the process I’ll pay you extra.” She leaned forward, her eyes begging for his help.

Bad idea, a little voice whispered in the back of his brain. She already hated his guts, and this portended a very bad ending. He knew how much she loved her sister; he assumed that for the last couple of years she’d been more mother than sibling to the young girl. He’d be a fool to involve himself in the whole mess.

“Has Hope been questioned by anyone?” he heard himself ask. He knew he was going to get involved whether he wanted to or not, because it was Grace, because she needed him.

“I don’t think so. When I left the hospital a little while ago, she was still unconscious. Dr. Dell promised me he wouldn’t let anyone in to see her until I returned.”

“Good.” There was nothing worse than a suspect running off at the mouth with a seemingly friendly officer. Often the damage was so great there was nothing a defense attorney could do to mitigate it.

“Does that mean you’ll take Hope’s case?” she asked.

“Whoa,” he said, and held up both his hands. “Before I agree to anything, I need to make a couple of phone calls, find out exactly what’s going on and where the official investigation is headed. It’s possible you don’t need me, that Hope isn’t in any real danger of being arrested.”

“Then what happens now?”

“Why don’t I plan on meeting you at the hospital in about an hour and a half? By then I’ll know more of what’s going on, and I’d like to be present while anybody questions Hope. If anyone asks before I get there, you tell them you’re waiting for legal counsel.”

She nodded and rose. She’d been lovely a year and a half ago when he’d last seen her, but she was even lovelier now.

She was five years younger than his thirty-five but had always carried herself with the confidence of an older woman. That was part of what had initially drawn him to her, that cool shell of assurance encased in a slamming hot body with the face of an angel.

“How’s business at the dress shop?” he asked, trying to distract her from her troubles as he walked her back to her car. She owned a shop called Sophisticated Lady that sold designer items at discount prices. She often traveled the two-hour drive into Oklahoma City on buying trips. That was where she and Charlie had started their relationship.

They’d met in the coffee shop in the hotel where she’d been staying. Charlie had popped in to drop off some paperwork to a client and had decided to grab a cup of coffee before heading back to his office. She’d been sitting alone next to a window. The sun had sparked on her hair. Charlie had taken one look and was smitten.

“Business is fine,” she said, but it was obvious his distraction wasn’t successful.

“I’m sorry about William, but Zack West is a good man, a good sheriff. He’ll get to the bottom of things.”

Once again she nodded and opened her car door. “Then I’ll see you in the hospital in an hour and a half,” she said.

“Grace?” He stopped her before she got into the seat. “Given our history, why would you come to me with this?” he asked.

Her gaze met his with a touch of frost. “Because I think Hope is in trouble and she needs a sneaky devil to make sure she isn’t charged with a murder I know she didn’t commit. And you, Charlie Black, are as close to the devil as I could get.”

She didn’t wait for his reply. She got into her car, started the engine with a roar and left him standing to eat her dust as she peeled out and back down the driveway.

Grace drove until she was out of sight of Charlie’s ranch and then pulled to the side of the road. She leaned her head down on the steering wheel and fought back the tears that burned her eyes.

A nightmare. She felt as if she’d been mysteriously plunged into a nightmare and couldn’t wake up to escape, didn’t know how to get out.

She’d barely had time to mourn her stepfather, the man who had married her mother when she’d been sixteen and Hope had been a baby.

William Covington had not only married their mother, Elizabeth, but had also taken on her two children as if they were his own. Grace’s father had died of a heart attack and William had adopted the two fatherless girls.

He’d guided Grace through the tumultuous teen years with patience and humor. He’d been their rock when their mother had simply vanished two years ago, taking with her two suitcases full of clothing and her daughters’ broken hearts.

Grace raised her head from the steering wheel and pulled back on the road. She couldn’t think about her mother right now. That was an old pain. She had new pains to worry about and a little sister to try to save.

No way, she thought as she headed toward the hospital. No way was Hope capable of such a heinous crime. And Hope had always been the first one to declare that she thought drugs were stupid. She couldn’t be taking drugs.

But how do you know for sure? a little voice in her head whispered. She’d been so busy the last couple of years, working at the shop and flying off for buying trips. Since the disappearance of her mother and her subsequent breakup with Charlie, Grace had engaged in a frenzy of work, exhausting herself each day to keep the anger and the heartache of both her mother’s and Charlie’s betrayals at bay.

Sure, lately, when she’d spent time with Hope, the young girl had voiced the usual teenage complaints about William. He was too strict and old-fashioned. He gave her too little freedom and too many lectures. He hated her friends.

But those were the complaints of almost every teenager on the face of the earth, and Grace couldn’t believe they had meant that Hope harbored a killing rage against William.

She turned into the hospital parking lot and slid into an empty parking space, then turned off the engine. She stared at the small structure that comprised the Cotter Creek hospital, her thoughts filled with Charlie Black.

Six months ago, everyone in town had been buzzing with the gossip that Charlie Black had finally come home. She knew his father had died from an unexpected heart attack and had left Charlie the family ranch, but she’d assumed he’d sell it and continue his self-destructive path in the fast lane. She’d been stunned to hear that he’d closed up his practice in Oklahoma City and taken over the ranch.

She’d met Charlie two months after her mother’s disappearance. She hadn’t told him about her mother, rather she’d used her time with him as an escape from the pain, from the utter heart break of her mother’s abandonment.

With Charlie she’d been able to pretend it hadn’t happened. With Charlie, for a blessed time, she’d shoved the pain deep inside her.

She’d refused to tell him because she hadn’t wanted to see pity in his eyes. She’d needed him to be her safe place away from all the madness, and for a while that’s what he’d been.

As soon as she’d heard about William’s murder and Hope’s possible involvement, Charlie’s name was the first one that had popped into her head. All the qualities she’d hated in him as a man were desirable qualities in a defense attorney.

His arrogance, his need to be right, his stubbornness and his emotional detachment made him a good defense attorney and would make him a terrific professional bodyguard, but he was definitely a poor bet for a personal relationship, as she’d discovered.

That was in the past. She didn’t want anything from Charlie Black except his ability to make sure that Hope was safe.

As she got out of her car, she recognized that she was in a mild state of shock. The events of the past three hours hadn’t fully caught up with her yet.

She’d been at the shop when she’d gotten the call from Deputy Ben Taylor, indicating that William was dead and Hope had been transferred to the hospital. He’d given her just enough information to both horrify and terrify her.

Her legs trembled as she made her way through the emergency room entrance. She hadn’t been able to see Hope when she’d been here before, as Hope had been undergoing the stomach pumping. Surely they would let Grace see her now.

She told the nurse on duty who she was, then sat in one of the chairs in the waiting room. She was the only person there. She clasped her hands together in her lap in an attempt to stop their shaking.

Was Hope okay? Who had really killed William? He’d been a kind, gentle man. Who would want to hurt him?

She blinked back her tears and straightened her shoulders. She couldn’t fall apart now. She had to be strong because she knew this was only the beginning of the nightmare.