Ghost (Salinger Security #5)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

NOAH

Thirteen Years Ago

Even after years away from the LA scene, certain doors still opened without question. I walked into Smirk, the most exclusive of the restaurants situated inside The Dane, like I had a right to be there, when in reality, I was actually gate-crashing.

An album wrap party for an up-and-coming boy band usually required strict security protocols, yet I breezed past the velvet rope as if I owned the place.

Walking into The Dane, the doorman merely nodded and greeted me by name as he instructed security to let me through.

It helped that my father was a sought after director.

And my mother… well, back in the day, it was said she spent some time on his couch before she got the role that launched her acting career.

It grossed me out to think I may have been conceived on a casting couch.

That was before the lavish wedding, of course.

Not that they were still married or anything, or that they approved of my career choices. Still, the Moore name opened doors even when it shouldn’t have.

Of course, knowing the head of security at The Dane, the most exclusive hotel in Los Angeles, helped as well. Since I wasn’t there to attend the wrap party, but rather to catch up with a friend who had left the Marines a few months before.

The host pointed me in the direction I needed to go.

The thick scent of cherry tobacco and expensive perfumes hung in the air, a stark contrast to the dust and sweat I was used to.

With a grin, Ronnie waved me over. We had been through the Marine Corps Boot Camp at the same time and were assigned to the same platoon for a while.

Once we each had our own team we still kept in touch when we could.

He had joined Force-Recon, the special forces branch of the Marines.

But after his last deployment, Ronnie did not reenlist. I, on the other hand, had just been reassigned to Force-Recon.

Since I was between deployments and in town to visit my parents, I took some time to catch up with my friend.

“Ghost, it’s good to see you.”

“You too, Alien.” His nickname had nothing to do with how strange he was, but more about the X-Files reference to his last name, Mulder. I looked around the restaurant. “Cushy gig you’ve got here.”

His face lit up as he motioned me to sit in the plush booth that gave us a fair amount of privacy. He indicated two fingers to the barman, the signal that some great whisky was on the way. “It more than pays the bills. And it means I get to see Jeanie more regularly than a few weeks at a time.”

Even with the party in full swing, the place didn’t seem crowded and we could still enjoy our conversation over the music.

Ronnie never complained about being deployed.

Like me, he came from money and wasn’t graced with his family’s approval.

And just like me, he was making a living without that money, and the strings attached to it.

But when he met the love of his life he wanted ‘safe and stable’.

It was an easy decision for him to leave. As easy as it was for me to stay.

I wanted a life away from Hollywood, or the entertainment industry in general. There was a reason none of the women I dated, if that’s what it could be labeled as, were not celebrities or stars. And when I was ready for more than that, it would be with someone as far from stardom as I could find.

The server placed a glass in front of each of us and I gave her quick thanks and a small smile. I stretched my legs and leaned back in the seat. The soft rust-colored velvet glided under my hands as I made myself comfortable.

“You seen your parents?” He was well aware of the relationship I had with my parents. It was something we bonded over. “They’ve been in here a few times. Once they were even together.”

My head snapped back to my friend. “Together? Please tell me they were at an after party together or something?”

Ronnie shook his head and chuckled, clearly enjoying my discomfort.

“Nope. The one time they were here together they’d gone straight to check in. I was off duty when they checked out, so I don't know anything more.”

I shuddered at the idea of them checking into a hotel for … whatever the reason was. I took a large gulp of my drink and savored the burn as the Taylor Creek whiskey went down. “I know they’re both single, but you’d think they’d be more discreet.”

“Please, two exes checking in for a quickie is one of the more wholesome things I’ve seen in this place.”

I had no doubt my friend was right. Even with all the changes Hollywood execs had to make in terms of sexual harassment and gender equality, the level of depravity in the city still put Hell to shame.

A laugh coming from the bar caught my attention. The blonde with a bright smile was enjoying something one of her friends said. I recognized her instantly. Eve… Halle, I think.

She’d been haunting my social media feeds for a few weeks singing about being breathless and wanting to be tempted and teased.

Not my usual music taste, but she was hot.

And even more beautiful in person. All that blonde hair was swept up into a high ponytail that showed off a long neck, and her smile lit up the entire room.

She was sitting with her back slightly toward me, and the flowy maroon dress she wore hid most of her body, but did nothing to hide those dangerous curves.

Then there were those boots, black lace-ups with sky high heels.

Yeah, it wasn’t difficult to imagine them at the small of my back.

I cleared my mind of the image and looked around the restaurant. It had been arranged so the seating was around a small dance floor. Smirk could accommodate a live band most nights but for an album wrap party they would hire a DJ.

I turned away from her and back to my friend.

Not that I paid much attention to his soliloquy about the security in the entertainment industry.

Yeah, the bodyguards were paid more and did less than in other industries.

The way they were treated varied from being considered part of the family to being nothing more than a piece of meat who would take a bullet.

Not that there were many shootings on the job.

No, celebrities mostly had overzealous fans and groupies who got out of hand.

Occasionally, there were fanatics who didn’t like what a star stood for and they could get pelted with food and sometimes fake blood.

Basically, your average Hollywood bodyguard would never face a bullet, or anything more dangerous than uncontained enthusiasm.

There were, of course, exceptions. Stalkers existed.

They were real, and while some of them could be harmless, some could be downright dangerous.

My mother had one who was considered harmless.

He broke into our house when I was a teenager, scaring all of us and leaving semen on my mother’s bed.

Because he didn’t hurt anyone, no one took it seriously.

I glanced over at the blonde once more. A quick scan around her told me that she had no bodyguard.

Either the record label she was with didn’t give her one, or, more likely, they assumed that The Dane security was sufficient.

They weren’t wrong. Unless she reached a level of stardom where her fans were out of control or she’d acquired a stalker, she didn’t need twenty-four-hour security.

“… and hired some of the men I worked with.” Ronnie darted his eyes between me and where my gaze kept moving to. “Should I be offended that your attention is divided between me and the hottest starlet of the year?”

Something uncomfortable shifted through me. I didn’t like Ronnie referring to her as hot. But that made no sense. She was hot, it wasn’t like I’d seen her first and planned on making a move. For fuck’s sakes the woman hadn’t once turned my way.

“She’s beautiful, that’s all.” I turned my attention back to my friend. “You were telling me about hiring some of the men we worked with.”

“Craven, you should remember him, he was in the same platoon as us.”

I nodded, remembering the redhead who was faster than anyone else. “Who else?”

“Goose. You remember him, right. Big tank of a man. Joined Force-Recon the same time as me. He’s actually working tonight. He left at the same time as Bowzer. Kincaid and I followed as soon as our time was up.”

“Nope.” I shook my head. “Must’ve been after we split.”

“Could be.” Ronnie looked over at the bar and smiled. “Looks like a certain blonde pop star has just spotted you.”

My head automatically turned to the side and my gaze caught a pair of sparkling turquoise eyes.

Her smile had been transformed into a sexy smirk and those pretty pink lips had me imagining things I had no business thinking about.

She was a pop star, an up-and-coming one at that.

I doubted that she would know who my parents were, but if she did, she’d want to stick around, and that was the last thing I wanted.

As the evening progressed my gaze barely left hers. My friend chuckled frequently at having to repeat what he had said. Her friends walked past our table a few times as well. When she changed to bottled water at about the same time I did, I knew I was about to break all my rules.

At one point the band who had released the album went and sat with her and her friends. Before long, one of them discreetly followed a man out of the restaurant. They were probably successful to everyone except the military trained security.

Each of her friends left to dance with a member of the band and she was left with the last one. Probably the one the record label considered as the good looking one. But he wasn’t going to get lucky.

Ronnie eventually stood. “Dude, Jeanie is probably getting home from set about now. I’m going to steal a few hours with her before she needs to get back.

” He motioned to the barman. Presumably to put the bill on his tab.

“Why don’t you go shoot your shot. It doesn’t look like Pretty Boy over there is going to get lucky. ”

“I’ll do just that.” I grabbed my bottle of water and shook Ronnie’s hand. “See you around, man.”

Slowly, I walked over to the woman known to the world as Eve Halle. I wedged myself into the gap she had created between herself and Pretty Boy. I looked at the other man. “Dude, you’re sitting in my seat.”

Pretty Boy’s eyes widened. “Sir, can’t you see I’m talking to the lovely lady?”

“The lovely lady would rather be talking to me.”

At least the guy had confidence, I’d give him that. “Are you sure about that?”

I smiled at him. “Let’s ask her.” I turned around to her and offered her my hand. “I’m Noah, would you like to get out of here?”

“Everly.” She took my hand and held on to it. “I have a room upstairs and would love to get out of here.”

I held her hand as she stood. “Let’s go.”

“Bye, Ricky.” She wiggled her fingers and waved at Pretty Boy, and we made our way out of the restaurant and through the hotel’s lobby.

The hairs on the back of my neck rose and a chill ran down my spine as we headed to the elevator.

I pulled her closer and looked behind me.

Nothing out of the ordinary, yet the itch between my shoulder blades wouldn’t quit.

Ricky stood and glared at us, and hotel security were keeping an eye on everyone.

Still, the sensation of a persistent stare followed me until the elevator doors closed.

I turned to Everly. “If you were using me to get rid of Pretty Boy, I can get off on the next floor.”

“His name is Ricardo Gilles. Or Ricky, and he’s harmless.” She shook her head and pressed the button to the tenth floor. “It’s not the penthouse suite, but I promise you, the king-size bed will be all we need.”