Chapter 20
Rand’s car squealed out in front of the first of two black sedans and then slowed down. There was nothing they could do and no room to go around. They too slowed and then stopped. Rand left his car blocking the path and leapt out, one hand resting on his gun, running to the front door of the first car, but the one behind rammed his into reverse and that one followed suit. Before Rand could get a good visual, both cars were reversing through the garage. He ran back to his and slammed it into reverse chasing them but before he could catch up, the cars were left, doors open, with no drivers in sight.
He called firm security and the police. And then he texted Coral. “Lost them. They might be in a new car. Go to karaoke. I’ll meet you there.”
South Carolina sounded like a great idea. But not in the company jet. Where was firm security during all this? What was up with Coral’s security team? Rand didn’t trust any of them and he’d much rather show up in Charleston under everyone’s radar.
When he met Coral at the karaoke place, she stood as close as possible without being too obvious. He pressed his arm into hers and squeezed her hand for a moment. “You want to get out of here?”
“Yes. Where can we go?”
“Let’s just go to my place.”
“Won’t they know where you live?”
“We don’t even know who they are. I’ll keep you safe.”
She nodded.
“But we can’t stop by yours. What are you doing about your security team?”
“I’m sure the ones who are still trustworthy have talked to my dad. He is going to be furious. And he will tell us to use new phones. We should probably throw away the ones we got from them.”
“Ok, next stop, new phones.”
“I’m sorry you’re caught up in this.”
“I’m not. I would hate for you to be handling this all on your own.”
“I keep thinking the logical choice would be to go home. But I can’t. I can’t just let these people terrorize royals.” She laced her fingers with his. “I want to fight them.”
The fire in her eyes caused a slow rolling warmth to grow inside him. “Let’s do it. Together. I think Charleston might be a great first stop, ironically.”
“So, do my job and track down terrorists at the same time?”
“Exactly.”
“You make all this sound easier than it is.” She sighed and held tighter to his hand.
He felt a surge of protectiveness like he’d never felt before rise up inside.
“And I feel stronger with you. Sorry to bring you into this. I mean, I didn’t totally bring you in. We can blame the firm. The royal clients…”
“The moonlight night…” He wiggled his eyebrows.
She laughed. “The shark attack. What is our problem. It’s like we ask for this stuff.”
“Oh, we don’t ask for it, but it finds us. And you know? Sometimes these things just happen, right. Maybe it’s fate.” Rand hadn’t really ever believed in fate necessarily, but enough stuff happened while he was doing his turns in the military that he had to believe in something. They were brought together for a reason and danger or no, Coral had grabbed his attention right away. She was in every way the kind of woman he would want in his life. He just had never thought they would actually be together. Even still, the fact that she would be ruling a small island one day was a rather large thing to overcome. But for now, he’d do his best to keep her safe, and if possible, help to put a stop to all this nonsense. If their client was somehow linked like Coral suspected, then he and Coral were on the front row of helping Lucan and his team and they were needed anyway. Either way, Charleston would be interesting.
“Let’s get out of here.” He whispered in her ear and couldn’t help but think of a safer time when he might say those exact words but with an entirely different meaning.
A line of goosebumps puckered on her neck and he placed his lips over them quickly. Maybe no one would notice.
She sucked in a breath and then lifted her eyes. They were close, kiss-ably close and he looked away from her soft mouth and the slight dip in her upper lip that was begging to be nibbled. “Come on, you. We have a long drive.”
“Wait, what?”
“How do you feel about road trips?”
Exactly one hourlater they were in his car, bags packed and on their way to Charleston. Luckily Coral was a no fuss kind of woman. She picked up some stuff at the gas station and said she could buy everything else when they got there. They’d thrown their phones away at the same gas station. And planned to buy new ones when they arrived. It was kind of freeing to be off the grid, so to speak.
He”d taken extra precautions to try and shake any would be followers, even pretending to be staying at an Inn and then sneaking back out and leaving. Coral had found that amusing. But now, with roads of emptiness behind them, he was pretty sure they’d left with no one aware, or caring to follow. Plenty of people knew they would be in Charleston though. They didn’t need to know where they were staying.
After about one hour in to their drive, Coral had fallen asleep. Every time he looked at her trusting, peaceful face, he wanted to be more, do more, fill her with safety, assurance. She was beautiful, in the most natural sense of the word. She was strong, intelligent, had goals. She was likely immensely wealthy but he would never know it by spending time with her. She was basically incredible and he didn’t know how he had been so lucky to be in her life.
They drove through the night. Coral woke up after a few hours and took a turn while Rand slept.
As the sun rose up above the ocean, they pulled into their small bed and breakfast. It sat on the water. The owners prided themselves in privacy and seclusion. And it turned out to be the most charming place he’d ever seen.
Coral grinned. “This is incredible. Can we remember this place and come back when we aren’t working or tracking international terrorists?”
“Of course.”
The porch wrapped around the whole of the house. It was a light blue in color with white gables, trim and shutters. A kindly looking woman with a full head of curls opened the door when they approached. “You must be the Wilkersons. Welcome.” She ushered them in. “We have snacks on the table and I can make anything on the menu for you right quick.”
“Oh, thank you.” Coral reached forward and gave the woman a hug. “You’re just the right kind of person I need to see right now.” She wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s been a long night.”
“Oh dearie, have you been driving all night?” The woman patted her back. “I’ll just send up some things to your room. There, there. And call me Abigail.”
“Thank you, Abigail. That would be wonderful.” Coral shook her head. “I think I need some sleep.”
“We both do. Tell me where to put our things and we will gratefully welcome whatever you send up by way of food.”
“And you’re the hungry one.” She laughed. “I’m going to love the two of you. I can tell already. You here for business of pleasure?”
“A little bit of both. Originally business, but who can resist this view?”
The ocean spread out in front of them, the sun further in the sky, the waves calm, the blue of the sky and water meeting in a soft hazy line at the horizon. “I could spend the rest of my life looking at that view.” Rand shielded his eyes from the sun’s growing brightness.
“That’s what I hope to do. You two get settled in. Up the stairs, you have the whole third floor. Bathroom’s yours, small office and the bedroom.”
“It’s just what we need. Thank you again.” Coral nearly stumbled as she took the first step.
The room was quaint. The bed huge, the bathroom clean and updated. The office amazing. The Wi-Fi fast. “I do believe we’ve found the perfect vacation spot.” Rand grinned as he plugged in his laptop.
But Coral was laying in the bed, ace down, and breathing steadily. He lifted the extra blanket, laid it across her middle and closed the blinds.
He would get in touch with Lucan on the secure browser and see if he had any updates. He figured the royals would want to know if Coral was safe and they could get word to her parents.
Lucan answered immediately, a video chat prompt pulling up. His face filled the screen. “Are you with Coral?”
“Yes. She’s asleep in the other room.” He updated Lucan on the events of the last day. He couldn’t believe it had only been one day. Before he finished talking, Nico’s head popped into the screen. “Tell me we didn’t just sign a contract with a law firm who is out to destroy us?” His tone was teasing but his expression serious.
Rand shook his head. “I sure hope not. Coral doesn’t think so. She thinks it’s potentially one of our clients though. We’re here to find out.”
“Her parents want her home. I’m to tell her to take the family jet which they have sent to Virginia and to leave immediately.”
“Could we get that jet here in Charleston? Just in case?”
“I’ll pass that along and be in touch.”
“We’re getting new cell phones today.”
“Excellent and until then, this server is open.”
“Thank you, Lucan. We have meetings with clients all afternoon. We’ll see what we can find out and we will be in touch.
“How’s Coral holding up?” Nico’s tone was gentle and also demanding in his own way, as if to say, she better be doing well and he was holding Rand personally responsible.
“She is exhausted. She was scared yesterday. But I think she feels better now that it’s just the two of us. Fewer people in the circle of trust I guess.”
“She’s something special. Well loved by us all.”
“I can see why. She’s something special to me too.”
Coral stepped into the office, her face soft. “You three men talking about me in here? What a bunch of gossips.” She pulled a chair up next to Rand. “Hey it’s my two favorite Valdez brothers.”
“I’m telling everyone you said that.” Nico sat up taller. “Hey, you know your parents want you home. I filled Rand in on the location of the jet.”
“Thank you. I need to stick this one out. We’re in the perfect place to learn some good information. If the client is related to the terrorists, then we need to find out and put a stop to this. Just tell my parents I’m safe. Tell them how great of a bodyguard Rand is. Military trained. Make him sound like he’s this huge buff guy with weapons.”
“Hey now wait a minute, I am a buff guy…with weapons.”
“Perfect. Tell the truth then.” Coral rested a hand on his shoulder. “He really is great guys. I’m in good hands.”
They smiled back at the two of them. And Rand knew he was seeing the rare kind of friendships that became family. He didn’t have any of those in his life so he couldn’t help the tiny ping of longing that nudged him to want to be a part of this royal bond they had.
When they hung up, Coral leaned her head on his shoulder.
“That was the shortest nap of all time.”
“I know. Power nap. We need to get phones, clothes and study up on this client.”
“Spoken like a true attorney. Okay boss. Where should we start?”