Chapter 3
C ole watched as two officers walked Jerry and Wanda out in handcuffs. He took a deep breath and then sighed. “I don’t think so. They are just passionate about what they believe in. So I?—”
“Cole, may I speak with you, please? It’s important.”
He nodded. “Sure.” He gazed over at the police officer. “Would you wait a minute please?”
“Yes, sir,” said the young man, who was probably in his mid-twenties but looked younger and seemed like he was fresh out of the academy..
They stepped to the end of the box for privacy.
“I think you should impress on the officer you want to have them pursue the maximum charges and that you will follow up with the DA to make sure of it. Jerry wanted to kill you. Despite what he says. I saw it in his eyes. He wanted to make an example of you and what would happen to anyone else who crossed them. Please, Cole, you might be saving someone else’s life. ”
He bit the inside of his cheek, his mouth pursed. Was she right? Do I trust her instincts? I better if she’s being my bodyguard. If I don’t trust her now, I might as well fire her and I’m not ready to do that. Something about her intrigues me. “What makes you think you can know what he wanted?”
“I saw it enough times when we interrogated prisoners in Afghanistan. Trust me on this.”
Cole took a deep breath. “Very well. I will, but only because Mason trusts you and I trust him. I don’t know you well enough to trust your instincts alone.”
She nodded. “That’s enough for me. You’ll get to where you trust my instincts, too. I have no doubt about that.”
They walked back to the police officer.
Cole cleared his throat. “Yes, Officer, I do want maximum charges filed against them. Jerry admitted the weapons were to threaten me. Wanda did nothing but sit there. She may be involved in felony conspiracy to kidnap and possibly kill me. I believe the plan was to get me out of the theater and when they got to the vehicle, she would taze me with the taser she had in her purse.”
“Thank you for the information, Mr. Kincaid.” The police officer finished writing in his small notebook. “I appreciate your cooperation, Ms. Phillips.” He nodded once and walked away.
Cole gazed at Regan. She was beautiful and didn’t seem to know it, or she ignored it. “I think I’d like to call it a night. I’ve lost interest in the play now.”
“Of course.”
He pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket and called for the car. Then he nodded for her to precede him from the box seats.
The car couldn’t get closer than the end of the covered courtyard. Cole held out his arm.
Regan looked at it for a moment before curling her left hand through the crook of his elbow. She liked her right hand to always be free to handle her derringer, but in reality, she was almost as good with her left hand as her right.
“I probably shouldn’t do this. But it would look strange for you to offer me your arm and me not to take it.”
“Yes, I suppose it would.”
Cole strolled toward the street end of the courtyard.
Regan could already make out the limo waiting for them. When they reached it, the driver held the door open, and she waited for Cole to climb in.
He quietly gave the driver instructions and the address to her apartment. Then he lifted a brow and huffed out a breath, but slid onto the seat.
She climbed in and immediately kicked her shoes off.
He grinned. “And I thought you could handle anything.”
Regan grimaced. “You try walking in three-inch heels. It’s not as easy as it looks, and they are the most uncomfortable shoes ever designed.
And I bet they were designed by a man because hey, he doesn’t have to wear them and women are just insecure enough that they will put up with anything for fashion.
Yours truly included, because I have to fit in now, don’t I? ”
“Here, give me your foot.”
Regan narrowed her eyes. “Why? What for?”
He sighed. “Just give me your foot…please.”
She turned in the seat, held her dress down, and then lifted both feet into his lap.
Cole took one of her feet in his hands and massaged it.
She moaned. “Oh, my goodness, that feels wonderful.” She closed her eyes, leaning back against the side of the limo.
He worked her left foot for a while and then he took her right foot and did the same thing. “There, do you feel better?”
“I do, thank you.” She lowered her feet to the floor and sat up. Regan looked at the man who had her moaning and feeling almost better than she ever had during sex. “How did you learn to do that?”
Cole shrugged. “When I was growing up, our grandmother lived with us for a while before she passed. She got terrible cramps in her legs and her feet. I would rub them. All of us did, at one time or another. She taught us how to do it to provide the most relief. With six of us, we each got one night a week, and then we’d rotate Sundays.
I’d have done anything for her. She was an amazing woman, and we were so lucky to have her with us for as long as we did. ”
“You were lucky.” Regan turned and looked out the window as the city passed by.
She realized that even the potholes in the road were smoothed out by the seats in the limo.
She was the most comfortable she’d ever been…
in a vehicle. When she turned back to Cole, she thought he’d been lucky to have both parents still living.
Then she realized she was lucky to have the mother she did who was still alive and kicking, feisty as ever.
“She taught you well and I’m sure she appreciated every one of you. It sounds like you were good kids.”
“We tried. I guess when you love someone you’ll do anything for them. What about you? Do you have family here?”
She dropped her gaze to her lap. “My father died when I was five. My mother raised my little brother and me by herself.” She looked at Cole.
“She didn’t have it easy. I made her promise she’d never replace my daddy, and she never did.
My older sisters were pretty much gone from the house by then.
Gena was there until she was eighteen, then she got married.
Charlene got married just before dad died.
“When I was about sixteen, I asked Mom if she’d never remarried because of me and what I made her promise.
” Regan smiled at the memory. “She told me I was an idiot. That she couldn’t remarry unless she found someone like my dad, but she couldn’t live with someone like my dad ever again. She valued her independence too much.
“Apparently, my dad ruled the roost when he was alive. He wasn’t a mean man, but he expected certain things done and had certain ways to do them.
My mother grew up believing that was what a woman was supposed to do.
That a good wife saw to her husband’s comfort above all else.
” She chuckled. “My grandparents were very old-fashioned and taught her that. They were completely wrong, of course, but Mom didn’t know that at the time. ”
Cole reached over and squeezed her knee. “I’m sorry for your loss. Your mother sounds like an amazing woman. Where does she live now?”
“She is amazing. She lives alone in the foothills, west of Golden. That’s where I grew up. I wanted to be home, or at least close to home, which is one reason I ended my career here.”
“Don’t you worry about her being alone in the mountains?”
She leaned back against the side of the limo and chuckled.
“Let me tell you a story. A true story, by the way. When I was young, they could still burn trash, so we had our trash in a big fifty-five gallon barrel. Well, this bear knocked it over again and again and spread trash all over the hillside. Mother grew tired of always having to pick it all up, so when she caught the bear doing it again, she went after him with a broom. The bear ran away, and we had no more trouble. I know that sounds like a made-up story, but I swear it’s true. ” She crossed her heart.
Cole threw his head back and laughed. “I don’t believe that for a minute, but if it is true, your mother is a very brave or a very crazy woman. But what if the bear had turned on her?”
Regan shrugged. “She said she was too mad to think about that.”
“You said you have a brother. What does he do?”
“He’s a mechanic and a darn good one. He runs his own shop and always has cars backed up for repair. I can’t even get my car into him and expect it back in less than a week.”
“What’s his name? Maybe he needs some help. I could send some very good mechanics to help him out.”
She shook her head. “He doesn’t have the space for anymore. He only has four bays and they are always full.”
“Then maybe he needs a bigger shop. I could arrange it.”
“You’d have to talk to him about it. He’s the only one who makes decisions about his business. He doesn’t even consult his wife, Stacy.”
“I think you said he’s younger than you. Does he have any kids and what is his name?”
“His name is Randy. He’s a year-and-a-half younger than me.
He’s been married to Stacy, his high school sweetheart, for nine years.
They have three kids: Robbie, Rochelle, and Jamie, who are eight, six and two.
” She chuckled and kept the grin on her face.
“Jamie was a bit of a surprise. A happy one, but a surprise, nonetheless. Randy got a vasectomy soon after she was born. He and Stacy decided three kids were enough.”
The limo turned on to Regan’s street and then pulled up in front of her apartment building.
“If you’ll wait just a moment, I’ll grab my go bag, and we can get underway. I understand you have both a house and an apartment. Where do you prefer to live?”
“The ranch down by Castle Pines. It has a helipad if I need to go somewhere, and it’s close to Centennial Airport. I’m sure you’ll be happy in one of the guest rooms.”
“Sure. I’ll sleep on the couch or floor if I need to. I’m not picky.”
Cole chuckled. “Glad to hear it. I’ll come with you to get your bag.”