Daniel

Three months later

Muted sunlight shone through the floor to ceiling windows facing out over downtown Detroit twenty stories below, illuminating the plush office in a warm glow. Daniel’s light-sensitive eyes began to ache and he turned away from the beams of daylight before they became like shards of glass, digging into his head. Normally, out of deference to his injury, he handled only night-based cases so he’d been surprised when he received the text to come to the office ASAP.

His boss and the former Sergeant Major of his Marine battalion, John Milton, looked up from the paperwork covering his desk and shook his head. The deep lines around his mouth curved slightly, the old man’s version of a smile.

“At ease, Escobar.”

Daniel flushed and quickly corrected his stance, realizing he stood at parade rest before his boss. “Sorry, sir. Guess I’m still getting used to the civilian world.”

Milton grunted and pushed away from the desk. He still cut a trim figure in his thousand-dollar suit, and the slight limp from walking with a prosthetic leg was hardly visible. “Takes some time to adjust to the outside world, but you seem to be holding up.” He turned the full force of his gaze on Daniel. “Anything you want to tell me about? Any issues you want to discuss?”

It took a great deal of effort to keep his expression neutral. The last thing he wanted was his boss to find out about the nightmares that kept him awake at night, affording him maybe four hours of solid sleep not haunted by bloody images from the battlefield. Then again, considering what some of his buddies went through with PTSD, he was the poster child for mental health. “No, sir, I’m doing all right.”

Milton studied him for a moment longer before grunting. “I see you decided to grow some shit on your face. Why is that the first thing men do after they leave the service?”

Daniel stroked his neatly trimmed black goatee and grinned. It was a running joke among the staff of the Contego Agency, the elite personal security firm Milton owned, about the men having different types of non-regulation hair. Milton kept his face shaved smooth and his haircut in a high and tight ready for inspection while his employees had everything from a full beard to hair long enough to braid. One agent had even tried to grow mutton chop side burns before he realized women didn’t dig it.

Daniel shaved his head completely due to the seven inch shrapnel wound going down the center of his head. No hair would grow there and he hated how it made him look like he had a reverse mohawk. “You said you had a special assignment for me, sir?”

Milton’s lips tightened and he strode over to the window, going into the same parade rest posture he’d chided Daniel about. “You’ve been with us for five months now and excelled at everything we’ve thrown at you.” Daniel’s chest warmed at the rare compliment from Milton. “I think you’re ready for your first baby.”

Baby was a term they used for clients who would need twenty-four/seven protection, someone they would have to keep as safe as an infant in their cradle. Unlike regular personal security, babies often came with a load of problems and were usually assigned to the unmarried employees who could devote themselves 100% to the clients. It was also considered a job given only to the best men in the Contego Agency. In the Marines, Daniel had done his time in SpecOps and earned this position with the Agency. Even so, it still felt nice to be given responsibility again.

To be given a purpose.

Pride filled him and he stood a little taller. “Yes, sir. Thank you for this opportunity.”

Milton continued to gaze out the window. “Save your thanks until after the job is done.”

Daniel cocked his head to the side, unable to interpret Milton’s tone. He sounded weary, but also amused. Maybe he’d been assigned to guard one of those pain in the ass starlets who expected you to walk their dog and wipe its furry ass. “Sir?”

“Her father is the one who actually hired us. He was adamant that you be the one to guard her.” He sighed and ran a hand through his brush cut. “I’ve spoken with her and she is rather...strong willed.”

Translation, she was a bitch. He bit back a groan. Being a war hero and having his face plastered all over the local papers had brought him his share of clients who wanted him guarding them for the notoriety and press it would bring them. This usually meant standing around in a suit and dark sunglasses looking menacing, something he did very well, but Milton said this was a baby case. That meant protecting the client from real danger, not just overzealous paparazzi.

“Whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it.” And he would. Milton had offered him a safe haven in the real world when he recruited Daniel the moment he left the Marines. The old man and the rest of the employees had helped ease him back into the civilian world, each having been in his shoes when they had to leave the war behind and relearn how to exist in a land where peace and safety were taken for granted. The men and women of the Contego Agency liked to joke Milton had set up a halfway house for Marines getting out of the service.

“Also, the client’s father said she knows you. That you went to high school together but lost touch with you after graduation.”

He shrugged. “That doesn’t narrow it down much. My mother traveled for her job and I went to high school in at least five different cities.” Actually, his mother had moved from city to city to live with different loser boyfriends and dragged him along, but Milton didn’t need to know that.

“He seemed to think you would remember her.”

“What’s her name?”

“Hope Walker.”

The ground beneath him seemed to turn soft and he stumbled before regaining his composure. With a rush, the blood drained from his head and his ears rang, black spots darting along the edges of his vision. Only Milton’s presence kept him from slumping to the ground as memories crashed through his mind, tearing at the thick mental walls he kept around his past. He took a deep breath, willing himself to remain conscious.

Deep breath in, slow breath out.

This couldn’t really be happening. It had to be some super intense dream. Then again, he didn’t usually dream every single detail of waking up and going to work. It couldn’t be his Hope. The fact that her father specifically wanted Daniel to guard her said that loud and clear. Hope’s father hated him with a passion.

His unsteady feet carried him over to the water cooler at the other side of the office so his back was to Milton when his boss asked, “You know her?”

He turned so Milton couldn’t see how his hands shook as he poured himself a cup of water. “Yeah, I know her.”

Something in his voice must have alerted Milton because his tone became sharp. “Escobar, are you all right?”

“I’m okay. Direct sunlight still gives me a headache sometimes.” While that was true, he hated himself for using it as an excuse. He took his sunglasses from the breast pocket of his suit coat and slipped them on. His pupils still didn’t react correctly in bright light, and he occasionally had to wear the sunglasses, sometimes even at night. While this didn’t interfere with his tough bodyguard image on the job, he hated being stared at in public for wearing his sunglasses during the evening or in brightly lit rooms.

The thought of Hope being somewhere in the building, somewhere close enough to touch, threatened his careful control. Part of him wanted to shake Milton, demand he take Daniel to her right now, but another part wanted him to run as far away from her as possible. Her father’s words from ten years ago still rang in his head like a shell blast.

You’ll never bring her anything but heartache and trouble. If you really love her and want her to be happy, leave her alone. That’s what she wants, Daniel. She’s engaged to a nice young man who loves her. Let it go.

Why the fuck did her old man want him to watch over her now?

Straightening his shoulders, Danny smoothed down the gold silk tie that cost more than his entire wardrobe in high school. With a start, he realized Milton had said something and waited for his reply. “I’m sorry, sir, can you please repeat that?”

“I said, if you don’t think you can handle it, you need to tell me now. That little lady is in deep shit and sinking fast. I can give the case to either Boden or Omar if you don’t think it’s right for you.”

That caught his attention and he turned, his gaze focused on Milton like the laser sight on a sniper rifle. Even though he and Boden were good friends, there was no way in hell he trusted Hope’s life to anyone but himself. And Omar had such a reputation with the ladies that no one ever let their female relatives around him. The last thing he needed was either one of his buddies hooking up with Hope if she was single. For all he knew, she could be happily married with kids. She was such a beautiful, smart, and compassionate woman that he couldn’t imagine her not being someone’s cherished wife. The thought of some other man loving Hope made Daniel’s pulse race with anger as regret tore at his stomach. God, it had been close to a decade since he’d last seen her but that didn’t seem to make a difference to his inner Neanderthal. That dark part of his psyche wanted to beat the crap out of anyone who touched her.

Shit, he needed to get his head straight and remember she was probably married. He would never, ever fuck with someone else’s wife. Despite all his protests, he couldn’t help but wonder if maybe she was single. After all, she went by her maiden name, Walker. He knew lots of women who kept their maiden name for their professional job after they’d married, but that didn’t seem like Hope. She was the kind of woman who would be proud to take her husband’s last name.

He cleared his mind and made himself concentrate on Milton. “No, I’ve got this. Can you give me the details, sir?”

Milton motioned for him to follow and the men left the office together, heading for one of the conference rooms.

“Dr. Walker believes a hit has been put out on her by a local mob boss.”

Daniel smiled at the addition of the word doctor to her name, proud that she’d managed to follow her childhood dreams. Hope’s passion in high school had been to be a pediatrician and his had been to get a job as a police officer and marry Hope. He was glad at least one of them managed to achieve their goals. Then, the rest of what his boss said penetrated his brain and he stared at Milton. “What?”

“Seems Dr. Walker helped the wife of Frankie DeLuca escape for parts unknown with their two kids.”

“Frankie DeLuca? Isn’t he the crime boss who runs the south side of Detroit? How the hell did Hope get involved with a mob wife?”

“Mrs. DeLuca was one of Dr. Walker’s patients.”

“Shit,” Daniel said in a low voice as they approached the closed double doors of the conference room.

“That’s not all. Before Mrs. DeLuca went into hiding, she also took some information on Frankie with her as a sort of insurance policy so he would leave her alone. Frankie, being the not too smart guy that he is, sent some of his goons to beat up his wife’s sister and the wife turned the info over to the cops.”

“Has he been arrested yet?”

“Not yet. He went underground as soon as he realized his wife left him. The FBI is involved now and they’re doing their best to find him. A warrant has been issued and some of his businesses and personal property have been seized. Word on the street is the other mafia bosses are circling DeLuca’s territory like sharks smelling blood. DeLuca’s reputation is on the line and pretty much the only way to save face is to kill his wife. Dr. Walker is the only one not in federal custody who knows where she is.”

“Why isn’t Hope, I mean Dr. Walker, in the witness protection program?”

“Because she refuses to go into it.”

“Why the hell would she do that?”

Milton gave him a wry smile. “Ask her yourself.”

Before Daniel could stop him, Milton opened the door and stepped into the conference room. Daniel’s stomach contracted and his heart threatened to burst out of his chest at the first sight of Hope in over ten years. Every nerve, every cell in his body screamed for him to cross the small distance between them and kiss her senseless.

Her dark cinnamon skin glowed with amber highlights beneath the recessed lighting, and instead of the beaded braids she’d worn in high school, her hair was now a mass of carefully styled curls. The full, baby cheeks she’d had when she was seventeen had melted away to reveal a bone structure that would have made Nefertiti weep with envy. And those lips...god, those lips. Full and perfect, he’d spent hours kissing her when they were dating. The only thing that remained the same was her big, gorgeous brown eyes that held a kindness and wisdom far beyond her years.

Back in high school, she’d been a bit awkward, having been home-schooled by her over-protective parents for most of her life. They’d finally let her go to a private Catholic high school for her senior year after her pleading, and she stuck out like a sore thumb among her peers with her lack of social skills and perfect manners. Daniel knew what it felt like to be the new kid and not have any friends. So when he’d seen her sitting alone at lunch on her first day looking so sad and lonely, he sat with her. The moment she’d looked up at him with those amazing eyes he’d been a goner. He discovered she had a wonderfully dry sense of humor and was incredibly smart. She saw past his tough guy act right away, and for the first time in his life, he felt as if someone saw him for who he really was.

“Daniel?” Her eyes grew wide and she leaned forward, gripping the edges of the table. “Danny? Is that you?”

He ignored Milton’s speculative look. “Hi, Hope.”

Milton cleared his throat. “I take it your father didn’t inform you that he’d asked for Mr. Escobar to guard you?”

Her mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. She stared at Daniel and he tried not to fidget. “No...no, he didn’t.” She took a deep breath and gave Milton a bright, fake smile. “To say I’m a little surprised is an understatement.”

Daniel gripped his hands into fists and hid them behind his back, standing once again at parade rest. “It’s good to see you, Hope.”

Her voice cooled considerably. “You too, Mr. Escobar.”

He winced, stung by her formality. Once, long ago, he’d been her Danny Boy, but that was the past. She stared at him, the vein on the side of her throat beating at a rapid pace. Unable to hold her gaze, stunned at actually being in the same room with her, he took a seat on the opposite side of the table, as far away as he could without being rude. His emotions flipped between old anger and happiness faster than a coin spinning on a table top.

“Dr. Walker, do you want me to assign someone else?”

Hope looked away and Daniel sucked in a quick breath. She shook her head and sat back in her chair, once again the urbane, cultured woman. “No, it’s just a bit of a surprise to see Da...Mr. Escobar after all these years.”

Milton sat closer to her and gestured to the bar against the wall. “Can I get you anything? Coffee? Some water?”

“No, I’m fine. Thank you.”

Daniel stole a glance at her, taking in the elegant purple blouse and diamond stud earrings. Around her graceful throat lay a gold chain with a small star pendant. Everything about her screamed class and sophistication. Everything he wasn’t. He should say something, anything, but he couldn’t form a coherent sentence so he settled for Milton taking the lead.

“Have you reconsidered the FBI’s offer to put you into protective custody?”

Before she even said anything, Daniel knew the answer. The little line between her eyebrows deepened and that only happened when she wouldn’t be budged on something. “No. DeLuca needs to be caught. If he’s as focused on finding me as everyone says he is, that will keep his attention on me and not on avoiding the police.” A grim smile curved her full lips. “After all, I’m the one who maced him.”

Daniel stared at her. “You maced a mob boss? Are you crazy?”

She flushed and looked down at the table. “I had to. He started to beat up Bonnie in front of me and his children.”

“You maced a mob boss.” He shook his head in a mixture of amazement, disbelief and even admiration.

Her chin came up and she straightened her shoulders, meeting his stare head on. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

Milton snorted, drawing their attention back to him. “Considering it made you DeLuca’s number one target, I would say, yes, it is a bad thing.”

“So what should I have done? Let him drag Bonnie out and kill her in the street right in front of me? In front of her children? Never.” Though her voice was still quiet, no one could miss the icy bite beneath her words. “Besides, people get stupid and make mistakes when they’re angry. If he’s focused on me, and you guys keep me alive long enough, we can get him.”

Daniel crossed his arms over his chest and tried to keep his voice level when what he really wanted to do was yell at her for being so naive. “So, you’re going to use yourself as bait? You’re going to gamble with your life and pray that DeLuca slips up before you do? What does your husband think about that?”

Her lips parted and she stared at him. “That’s my decision to make, and I’m not and never have been married.” She held up her hand, bare of any type of wedding band or engagement ring. “Not that it’s any of your business, Mr. Escobar.”

His heart stopped, then slammed in his chest. He strained to keep his expression neutral, but the odd look Milton gave him showed he wasn’t fooling anyone. “My mistake, Dr. Walker.”

That lying bastard.

His hands shook with anger beneath the table and he tightened them into fists. He’d tried to write Hope while he was in boot camp, but the only letter he’d received in return was from her father stating she was happily married and that Daniel needed to leave her alone. That miserable old prick lied to him and he’d fallen for it. A headache began to form behind his eyes as he struggled to find his footing. If her father was so concerned then about keeping them apart, why had he chosen now to bring them back together?

Milton cleared his throat, then shot Daniel a warning look and tried to bring the meeting back on track. “Dr. Walker, while I can’t force you to go into hiding, I must point out how dangerous your decision is. DeLuca won’t hesitate to kill you, or worse yet, torture you until you beg for death. You won’t be able to hide anything from him, like the fact that you and Bonnie still email each other, something he could use to find his wife.”

She nodded and kept her gaze on Daniel. “I understand the risks, but I can’t let him win. Besides, Bonnie uses an email account given to her by the FBI.” She leaned forward and the little star pendant swung against her throat. “Bonnie will never have a moment of peace, never be able to go on with her life as long as he’s out there. How could I live with myself if I could help capture him, but I was too much of a coward to do it?” Her voice had risen to a near shout by the end and she clasped her hands together and took a deep breath. “Besides, I’m sure Mr. Escobar wouldn’t let anything happen to me.”

Guilt pricked the bubble of Daniel’s anger. He wanted to yell at her that he had let someone hurt her, that it was his fault she had a scar going across her chest hidden behind her blouse, a knife swipe that could have easily cut her throat if it had gone a few inches higher. But now wasn’t the time or place. “I’m not Superman, Dr. Walker. I make mistakes, we all do, but my mistakes could get you killed.”

She didn’t look up at him, continuing to stare at her clasped hands. “I know, but I trust you to try your hardest to protect me.”

Milton cleared his throat again. “Dr. Walker, it’s all well and good you trust Daniel, but he is only one man.”

“I’m not a fool, Mr. Milton.” Her voice turned hard and cold again as she gave Milton a challenging stare. “I understand exactly what and who I’m facing. I’ve dealt with the horrors men like him visit on women every day for the past five years. I’m far from naive, but I also won’t hide, and I won’t let Mr. DeLuca harm Bonnie.”

Daniel didn’t understand most of what she said about horrors, but he did know the thought of anything happening to her made him want to destroy anyone and anything that threatened her. “Dr. Walker, you’re not being reasonable.”

She turned those intense eyes on him and nailed him to his chair with a glance. “Don’t you tell me about being reasonable, Mr. Escobar. I’m going to do what I have to do, and if you can’t help me, then I’ll find someone else who can.”

His spine stiffened and he glared at her through his sunglasses. “I never said I wouldn’t help you.”

She took a deep breath and nodded to Milton. “Good, we’re all in agreement then.”

Daniel gaped at her while Milton shook his head. “Dr. Walker, you seem determined to get yourself killed, but we’ll do what we can to keep you alive as long as possible.” She started to smile, but the hard look Milton gave her made her actually seem unsure for the first time since Daniel had walked into the room. “That means you are going to do what we say, when we say it. You will follow Daniel’s instructions to a T and you will not go anywhere, ever, without him. Am I clear? If you go anywhere in the daytime where Escobar’s sight would be a liability you will be assigned a backup bodyguard, and you will do what they tell you or you could get them and yourself killed. Understood?”

Having been on the receiving end of that stare many times in the Marines, Daniel felt a moment of sympathy for her as she replied in a more subdued tone, “Yes, sir.”

“Escobar and I will work the logistics out, but you’re not staying at your home.”

“But...”

“No, that is absolutely a non-negotiable condition of our taking this contract. You will stay in a safe house with Daniel.” She started to protest and he held up his hand. “I’m not talking about a safe house like the FBI uses. This is a home, equipped with a state of the art security system and a hell of an ‘oh shit’ room.”

“What’s an ‘oh shit’ room?”

Daniel leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “It’s a room, well more like a vault, in the basement with its own power supply and air filtration system where we can go if things get bad.” He drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair and tried to see Hope as a client, not the only woman he’d ever really loved, and the woman who’d broken his heart. “Will you be able to take off work for a few weeks?”

Her lips thinned and she shook her head. “No, not possible. Besides, my building is heavily protected and fortified.”

He was about to ask her if she worked in a fortress, but Milton spoke first. “Dr. Walker’s office is very secure. I doubt they would try to hit her there.”

Hope quickly added, “If they plan on hitting me at all. For all we know, DeLuca didn’t send that package.”

“What package?”

Milton braced his forearms on the table and leaned forward talking to Daniel while keeping his gaze on Hope. “When Frankie got hold of Mrs. DeLuca’s sister, he knocked some of her teeth out in addition to breaking bones. The next day, Dr. Walker received a package in the mail with a couple of teeth and a letter stating she was next.”

Daniel swore under his breath and caught a glimpse Hope’s lower lip trembling before she swallowed hard and squared her shoulders. “If you’re trying to scare me, it’s working.” Her voice quivered slightly, and Daniel wanted to reach across the table, gather her hands in his and tell her everything would be all right, but he didn’t know how to breech the gulf ten years had created between them. “I know I’m in danger, and I realize I’m putting Mr. Escobar in danger, too, by asking him to watch over me, but I have to do this.”

Milton muttered something about “damn stubborn women”, then stood and smoothed his jacket. “Daniel will take you in one of our vehicles to pick up some things from your house.”

Hope stood as well and Daniel followed suit. Seeing her again put him in an awkward emotional space. Part of him wanted to shake her and ask her what the fuck she was doing showing up in his life, but another part just wanted to hold her. Man, he had enough issues to keep a psychiatrist in business for years without adding this new wrinkle to the mix.

Milton’s voice cut through his worries like a splash of cold water. “Escobar?”

“Yes, sir?”

“I asked if you would take Dr. Walker to our munitions room. She says she has a handgun at home she’s familiar with, and she is licensed to carry a concealed weapon, but could use some extra ammo.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ll have Vanessa pack you a bag to take along as well. I have another client to see, so check your email after you get Dr. Walker to the safe house for further instructions.” He turned to Hope and gave her a nod. “Dr. Walker, try not to let your sense of honor get my man killed.”