Keeping Guard

“Yeah, he doesn’t tell many people about it. I think he’s afraid of disappointing some of his father’s old friends.”

“Darlene and Harvey, by chance?”

“Yes. You’ve met them?”

Kylie nodded. “A couple of times already.”

“Yeah, so all of that combined with the bad relationship he just got out of a few months ago—”

“Kylie.” Both women snapped their heads toward Nate, who’d appeared in the doorway dangling a telephone. How much of the conversation had he heard? “You have a phone call. Your brother.”

Suzy scurried away, no doubt before she heard an earful from her boss. Kylie had no choice but to approach Nate, though. She couldn’t read his expression as she took the phone and placed it at her ear. His gaze remained on her another moment before he turned and stomped back into the dining room.

Once he was out of earshot, she finally spoke into the receiver. “I thought I already called you and told you I was here and doing okay. Are you doing the overprotective thing on me again?” She tried to sound lighthearted and erase all the worry that always seemed to be present in her brother’s voice.

“Kylie.” His voice sounded serious, much more serious than she’d expected. “Your house was ransacked last night.”

“Ransacked? What do you mean? I thought the police were watching it.” That ice-cold feeling chilled her spine again. She backed away from the dining area, out of earshot.

“A cruiser was going past every ten minutes. We have no idea how the break-in happened. It almost seems like someone was watching, like they knew we were monitoring the house and waited until just the right moment to strike.”

“Was anything taken?”

“It’s hard to say. Nothing valuable. Your TV, computer, jewelry, all of those things are still there.”

“So…” Kylie couldn’t finish her thought. Her mind raced with possibilities.

Her brother’s voice softened. “No, this doesn’t appear to be a random break-in. This was mostly likely your stalker, and he’s most likely trying to figure out where you went.” Her brother paused. “Did you leave anything in your house that might give away your location, Kylie?”

Had she? Her mind replayed the events of the past few days. The only place she’d written down her destination was in her notebook. She’d jotted Nate’s address and phone number, plus some quick directions her brother had given her. But then she’d torn that page out and had brought it with her. That paper had sat in the car seat beside her on the drive here. She was sure of it.

“No, I didn’t leave anything there.”

“Good. You should still be safe there in Yorktown. Did you let Nate know what’s going on?”

“We talked last night.”

“If anything at all suspicious happens, let him know. Promise me?”

“I promise.” Before they hung up, Kylie told him about the note she’d found scribbled in her book.

Her brother’s voice sounded stern. “Kylie, be careful. I don’t like this.”

She nodded. “Neither do I.”

SIX

Nate looked away from a conversation with one of his regulars and glanced at Kylie, whose face looked whiter than flour. She slowly placed the phone on the hook, and from the way her body sagged, it looked like she hung on to the wall mount to keep from sinking to the floor. He had the urge to go and help steady her, but he didn’t. She seemed to like her privacy, and Nate wanted to respect that, even if he had to grip the chair to keep himself from rising.

But when Kylie looked over at Nate with strained eyes, he decided she was inviting him to help. He apologized to his customer as he hastily rose and walked into the kitchen. Kylie appeared dazed as he approached.

“Everything okay?” He slapped the dish towel over his shoulder, trying not to appear too concerned. Still, he reached out and gripped her elbow so she wouldn’t stumble.

Her eyes flickered around as if her brain was processing a large amount of information. “Someone broke into my apartment back in Kentucky last night.”

He bristled at the news. “The same man?”

“Most likely. Nothing was stolen.”

“Your brother is a good police officer, Kylie. I know he’s making sure that the people assigned to your case are doing their job. They’ll figure out whoever is doing this to you. And when they do, that person will pay.”

Kylie nodded. “You’re right. It’s just so hard being here when all of that is happening back home. I feel like I need to be there, to go through my things, help pick up the pieces.”

He squeezed her elbow, trying to reassure her. “You’ll have plenty of time for that later, Kylie. Right now you just have to focus on your safety. That’s the most important thing.”

She let out a little laugh, the action ruffling her bangs. “You sound like my brother, you know.”

Nate smiled and released his grip on her some. “Your brother is a good man.”

She sighed and leaned against the counter, some of the lines disappearing from her face. “He said you served together in the Coast Guard.”

“That’s right. Bruce helped keep me sane.” He did more than that. Bruce had saved Nate’s life. After a devastating rescue gone wrong, Nate had picked up some bad habits to ease his pain. Bruce had been the only one brave enough to gently, yet firmly, correct Nate. He couldn’t imagine what life might be like today if Bruce hadn’t intervened.

“When did you guys work together?”

“When we were stationed at Elizabeth City, North Carolina. We were both rescue swimmers. The first day we met we discovered we both rooted for the same pro football team. We were inseparable after that.”

Kylie pulled her arms across her chest. “I used to pray for Bruce every day when he did that job.” She closed her eyes. “Jumping out of helicopters, battling the seas, the temperatures and storms and all those other elements that came with being out in the middle of the ocean…I don’t know how you guys did it.”

Those were the moments that Nate missed. Those rushes of adrenaline. Knowing he could save someone’s life. Using every ounce of strength to do his job.

But there had been tough moments also, moments when he hadn’t been able to save everyone. Moments where he had to tell one family member that another hadn’t made it. He pushed the memories away.

Saving people—whether it had been at sea or just in life itself—had been his passion. He’d failed. And as further proof and a daily reminder of that failure, he now ran this restaurant.

“Nate?”

Kylie’s voice pulled him out of the memory. He decided to put the focus on Bruce and hoped Kylie wouldn’t ask too many questions of him. He wasn’t ready to go there. The emotions of leaving the Coast Guard two years ago still felt raw at times. The last thing he needed was for Kylie to feel sorry for him. “Your brother was a great rescue swimmer. I was surprised when he decided to get out of the Coast Guard.”

Kylie nodded. “I guess he decided he’d had enough excitement in his life. So he came back to Kentucky and became a police officer instead.”

Nate thought of what his second career choice had been, before the restaurant had been given to him. He’d been offered a position as instructor at the Coast Guard Training Center in Yorktown. Every day, he questioned whether or not he should have taken that position there. But his father’s wishes had been for him to take over this place after he died. How could he say no to the man who’d sacrificed so much for him? Besides, that last mission always seemed to haunt him.

His gaze focused on Kylie for a moment, and he could see her studying him, probably trying to figure him out. Few people had ever accomplished that task. She shifted her weight, and Nate waited to hear what she’d say next.

“I think Bruce misses the Coast Guard. I know he really loved it.”

“We had some good times. That’s for sure.”