Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
The sound of breaking glass woke Sienna from a deep sleep. The first real rest she’d gotten since the notes had started. Frowning at the late, or rather early, hour of four in the morning, she drew on a robe and hurried from the room, stopping abruptly to avoid smacking headlong into Zeke.
“Get dressed.” His tone didn’t encourage an argument. “Someone tossed a brick with a note through the window. We need to get out of here.”
Taylor’s door opened, revealing her sleepy nanny. “What’s going on?”
“Taylor, this is my cop friend Zeke. I—we need to pack our things.” She knew they should have left the moment she saw the note but had thought they’d be safe enough with Zeke standing guard.
And they had been until now.
On cue, Bailey began to wail. Turning from Zeke, she quickly opened the door and hurried over to her daughter. “Shh, it’s okay. Mommy’s here.”
“I’ll get dressed, then help pack Bailey’s things,” Taylor said.
“What can I do?” Zeke asked. “We can’t stick around for long. The police may already be on the way.”
She nodded in understanding. Officers responding here would file a police report, which was the last thing she wanted. “Will you hold Bailey?”
“Gladly.” He moved closer to take the little girl from her arms. She hoped Bailey wouldn’t fuss; sometimes she didn’t like strangers. Thankfully, the little girl snuggled against Zeke’s broad shoulder. The way she never could with her own father.
Swallowing hard against the lump in her throat, she returned to the main bedroom. Her suitcase was huge, mostly because of the various dresses she needed for her three performances, so it took several minutes to get everything tucked back inside. Then she lugged it out into the hallway, joining Zeke.
He looked surprised to see her large suitcase but didn’t complain. “I’ll take that out to my SUV and Taylor’s too.”
“Then I’ll take Bailey.” She gently took the toddler from his arms, then followed him outside. “Don’t forget to grab the car seat.”
“Understood.” Zeke scowled. “Wait inside, okay?”
She ducked back inside the rental house, as Taylor finished packing Bailey’s diaper bag. After what seemed like forever, they had everything stored in Zeke’s SUV. After placing Bailey in the car seat, she joined Zeke up front, leaving Taylor to sit beside her daughter.
That’s when she noticed the brick sitting in an evidence bag. “This is what came through the window?”
“Yeah.” Zeke’s brow furrowed. “We need to figure out a place to stay that even your manager doesn’t know about.”
“Like where?” Taylor asked from the back seat.
“I’m not sure.” Zeke navigated the small neighborhood, putting distance between them and the rental house. “We’ll find something. In the meantime, you need to let your manager know to pay for the window to be repaired ASAP.”
Pulling her phone from her purse, she called Dirk. He didn’t answer right away, and when he finally did, his voice was thick with sleep. “Now what?”
“I’m sorry to bother you at this hour. A brick came through the window of the rental. I need you to get it repaired tomorrow morning.”
“Are you hurt?” Now he sounded concerned.
“I’m fine, and so are Taylor and Bailey. I just need you to do this for me, okay? And keep it out of the news.”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll take care of it.” He paused, then added, “Is there a problem?”
“No problem, I have a feeling this was nothing more than a couple of kids goofing around.” She strove to keep her voice even. She debated telling him about her new engagement to Zeke now but decided to wait. “Thanks, Dirk. I appreciate your help. We’re moving to a hotel for tonight just to be on the safe side.”
“Keep in touch and don’t forget your TV interview is this upcoming Thursday morning.”
As if she could forget something like that. “I’ll be there. Thanks again.” Before he could say anything more, she ended the call.
“You really think he believes a kid threw that brick?” Zeke asked, his tone skeptical.
She shrugged. “I hope so. If there has to be a police report, I’d rather the claim is related to petty vandalism than any potential danger to me.”
Taylor soothed Bailey as the toddler fussed. Sienna turned in her seat. “Try giving her a bottle.”
Nodding, Taylor rummaged through the diaper bag. “I made one just in case.”
“Thanks.” She turned to Zeke. “Where are we going?”
He glanced at her. “There are a few options. I’m leaning toward the City Central Hotel. They have suites available that will meet our needs. And it’s located in downtown Milwaukee, as I assume that’s where you’re performing.”
“It is.” She hadn’t even thought about her next rehearsal. “The City Central Hotel sounds like a plan. Thanks.”
He looked as if he wanted to say more but didn’t. Probably because Taylor was sitting behind him. Her plan to introduce Zeke as her fiancé had seemed like a good idea last night. Now, she was having second thoughts.
For his sake more than hers. He’d said he wasn’t involved with anyone and that he could easily take vacation time, but this was obviously a huge imposition. One he was putting up with only because he and Luke had been best friends in high school.
She noticed Zeke was heading west, which didn’t make any sense if the City Central Hotel really was downtown. “Where are you going?”
He shrugged. “We’re taking the scenic route.”
It took a moment for her to realize he was winding his way around the city to avoid being followed. Which only added to her guilt. She’d gotten several decent hours of sleep but doubted Zeke could say the same.
Was she being foolish not to report the notes and the brick incident to the authorities? Just the thought of Josh using the information against her sealed her decision to stay silent. She turned to look at her daughter, grateful to see Bailey had finished her bottle and had drifted off.
If she didn’t need the money and hadn’t already signed a contract, she’d be tempted to turn her back on this tour and take Bailey someplace where they could hide off-grid.
Unfortunately, not responding to Josh’s legal motions could result in her losing custody of Bailey, too, so that wasn’t an option. All she could do was pray that the court outcome would be in her favor.
Pray that the judge would see through Josh’s manipulative actions.
Yes, she absolutely had to stay the course. Even if that meant imposing on Zeke’s kindness. Blinking back tears, she tried to look on the bright side.
It was nice to be home, even just for a week. The move to Los Angeles seven years ago had seemed like a good idea at the time, especially as she and Josh had gotten their record deal.
Now, she dreaded having to return.
“Hey, we’ll be at the hotel soon,” Zeke murmured, covering her hand with his.
“I know.” She managed a wan smile. “I don’t have anything major going on today. I only rehearse every other day when I have upcoming back-to-back performances.”
“I imagine you need to save your voice,” he said.
“Yes.” She gripped his hand, drawing strength from his presence. Calling Zeke had been the right thing to do. There had to be a way to make it up to him, even though she knew any attempt to reimburse him monetarily would be rejected. She’d have to think about how to make sure he understood how much she appreciated him.
Ten minutes later, he pulled into the small parking lot of the City Central Hotel. She was surprised to see it was relatively close to the courthouse. A sobering reminder of Josh’s latest attempt to fight for custody of their daughter.
“Wait here while I go in and grab the keys,” Zeke said.
She nodded, glancing back at Taylor. The minute Zeke was out of the car, Taylor leaned forward. “He’s so handsome,” she whispered.
“Yes, he is.” She was not immune to Zeke’s charm. But she wasn’t looking to get involved again either. Battling Josh took too much time and energy. Between her work and taking care of Bailey, she didn’t need other complications. “He—uh, we’re going to pretend to be engaged. That way, he can accompany me to the music hall and hang around backstage without raising suspicions.” She grimaced. “Plus, he promised to work on finding the person responsible without putting everything in a public access police report.”
“Engaged?” Taylor echoed in shock. “Wow, that’s a big request. Do you think that’s necessary?”
“Yes.” She shifted her gaze to her daughter. “Nothing matters but protecting Bailey.”
“I guess it can’t hurt to have a cop hanging around.” Taylor’s gaze reflected her concern. “You know I’ll support you in any way I can.”
“Thanks for that.” Taylor shouldn’t have to worry about being in danger too. And if things didn’t settle down, she’d let the nanny go and find some other way to work around her daughter’s needs.
The responsibility of completing her tour while caring for her daughter and Taylor was staggering. Leaning on God’s strength was helpful, but so was having Zeke at her side.
They could do this. They had to. Failing to protect Bailey would crush her.
It took longer than Zeke anticipated to get the baby, the nanny, and Sienna settled into the hotel suite. It was the largest suite the hotel offered and still felt small and cramped with the four of them inside.
Taylor disappeared into her room, while Sienna settled Bailey in hers. He was making a pot of coffee when Sienna returned. “If you’d like to get some rest, I can move Bailey out here.”
“No need. Let her sleep.” He gestured to the coffee. “I’m usually up early anyway.”
“I am, too, except for nights I’m on stage,” she confessed with a wry smile. “I find it hard to fall asleep after performing. My body is too keyed up to relax.”
“I can understand that.” He thought she was beautiful dressed casually in jeans and a sweater. He could only imagine how she’d looked all dressed up and singing on stage. “What about your nanny?”
“Oh, she’s a morning person.” She shrugged. “I think these notes are getting to her, though. She doesn’t feel safe.”
“I don’t know much about babies, but I can help,” he offered.
“I’m sure we’ll be okay. Taylor has been with me for about three months now. I found her in Wisconsin. The notes just started a few weeks ago.”
“What’s Taylor’s last name and date of birth? I’d like to run her through the system.” He kept his voice low so the nanny wouldn’t overhear. Just because Sienna trusted her didn’t mean he was going to do the same.
A cop’s motto was to consider everyone a suspect until cleared.
And that was especially true now.
“She came with stellar references,” Sienna said with a frown. When he continued holding her gaze expectantly, she sighed. “Okay, fine. Taylor Templeton, her birthday is June 10 of”—she waved a hand—“I’m not sure. She’s twenty-four. You do the math.”
“I will.” He jotted the information down and then reached into his duffel to pull out the laptop. By the time he’d finished verifying Taylor Templeton didn’t have a criminal record according to the expanded search, considering her home address was in Madison, the coffee was finished.
“Told you,” Sienna said, filling a cup for him. “She has a degree in early education, and I pay her a decent salary.”
He didn’t care what her salary was. Greed was still a motivator for many crimes. “I see the worst in people every day. Those who would hurt or kill others for a lousy few hundred bucks. Does your ex-husband come from money?”
“Yes, his parents, Alice and Tom, are extremely well off,” she said with a frown. “But Taylor cares about kids. She wouldn’t do anything to hurt Bailey.”
He wanted to believe that for her sake. “Fine. What about the rest of your schedule?”
“I have it here.” She scrolled through her phone. “I can send you the document. What’s your email?”
He gave it to her, and a minute later, a message popped up on his screen. Thinking of her phone and the way she’d been found made him frown. “We’ll have to head out to buy a few things once the stores open. A new phone for you is at the top of the list.”
She looked as if she wanted to argue but then caught herself. “Fine. If you think that’s necessary, I will, even though it’s probably overkill.”
The comment irked him. “Come on, Sienna, how else is your ex tracking you?”
“This phone is new since our divorce,” she said. “I understand that phones can be tracked, but it’s not like he even has this number. All of our communication since the final divorce hearing has been through our respective lawyers. I haven’t spoken to Josh directly in almost two years.”
“But he’s rich, and you’re famous,” he said. “Your shows aren’t a secret; we passed a billboard on the way here. Obviously, Josh knows you’re in town.”
She took a sip of her coffee, then sighed. “The shows have been well advertised, but I made the decision to come here several days early. I don’t have any idea how Josh figured that out. Especially to track us to the rental house.”
“From this point forward you don’t tell anyone, including your manager, where you’re staying.” The more he thought about this situation, the less he liked it. “I don’t even want him to know your new phone number. We’ll keep the old one to use on rare occasions, and only after we’re in a public place.”
Her eyes widened in shock, but she nodded in agreement. “That works. I shouldn’t really have to talk to him much anyway. He’s in town for the shows, and I can arrange for all meetings to be in person at the venue.”
It was a step in the right direction, but he still wasn’t satisfied. There were too many ways this plan could fail.
Badly.
Scrutinizing Sienna’s schedule didn’t help. Today was wide open, but tomorrow afternoon she had a rehearsal scheduled and the following morning was the TV interview. Then Friday evening was her first live show, followed by another on Saturday night and Sunday night.
One day at a time, he told himself. When Bailey awoke, drawing Sienna’s attention, he used the time to leave a message for his boss, Rhy Finnegan. He didn’t like leaving the team in the lurch by taking vacation at the last minute, but Rhy always said family came first.
Sienna being his fiancée, fake or not, still counted as family.
Which reminded him about the need for her to wear an engagement ring. They’d get a new phone first, then the ring. Based on how difficult it was to get everyone out of the rental last night, he estimated the two errands would take half the morning.
Taylor emerged from her room looking freshly showered. The nanny quickly hurried over to help with Bailey. “Would you like me to make a bottle?”
“Thanks, and some cereal too.” Sienna turned to him. “Would you mind grabbing the car seat? That will have to work as a high chair to feed her.”
“Sure.” He should have asked for baby furniture when making the reservation. “I’ll see what the hotel has for us too.”
As predicted, by the time they’d gotten a crib and high chair from the hotel and had their room service breakfast delivered, the hour was going on nine o’clock. He reminded himself that babies couldn’t be rushed, but it wasn’t easy to sit back and wait.
“I’d like to say grace,” Sienna said, when Bailey was finished. She set the toddler on the floor with some toys to distract her.
“Of course.” He bowed his head, thinking about how things had changed for Sienna since her divorce. She and Luke hadn’t grown up attending church, but she’d found a home singing Christian music.
Nice to know it wasn’t all for show.
“Dear Lord Jesus, we ask You to bless this food we are grateful to eat. And we ask that You continue to keep us all safe in Your care. Amen.”
“Amen,” he echoed. After a heartbeat, Taylor did too. To help lighten the mood, he added Roscoe’s favorite ending to each before-meal prayer. “Dig in.”
Sienna smiled and took a bite of her veggie omelet. Taylor seemed to enjoy her scrambled eggs, giving Bailey a few to try. The way the little girl toddled around unsteadily made him want to cushion the place with pillows to soften her inevitable fall.
When Rhy returned his call, he rose to take it in the other room. “Hawthorne,” he answered.
“What’s going on, Zeke?” Rhy demanded. “I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone, much less seriously enough to propose.”
“Sienna and I have been friends for years but only grew more seriously involved recently.” Like yesterday , he thought grimly. “I’m sorry to bug out on you at the last minute, but I’d like the rest of the week off.”
“Yeah, I listened to your message,” Rhy said. “When’s the big day?”
The big day? Oh, the wedding. He fought a flash of panic. “She’s a Christian musician doing several shows, so I’m not sure yet. I just appreciate you giving me this time off.”
“Yeah, sure.” He could tell by the sound of Rhy’s voice that he hadn’t fooled his boss. “You know we’re here if you need us, right?”
“I do. Thanks. Later.” He ended the call, but Rhy’s comment gave him an idea. He quickly called Flynn. “I need a favor.”
“Yeah, I heard. Don’t worry, Grayson is covering your shifts. Roscoe is still around, too, at least until Libby goes into labor.”
With a wince, he realized he’d forgotten about Roscoe’s pregnant wife due any day now. “Thanks, Flynn. What are you doing this morning? Any chance I can convince you to babysit a nanny and a two-year-old for a few hours?”
“Wait, if I’m babysitting the two-year-old, what’s the nanny doing?” Flynn asked.
“No, Taylor, the nanny will take care of the baby. I just want you to sit here and keep an eye on things.” He and Flynn as the two single guys on the team had gotten close over the past few weeks. “I’ll explain everything later, okay?”
“Sure, why not?” Flynn sighed. “My shift doesn’t start until three. I can hang around at the City Central Hotel for a while.”
“Thanks. I owe you.” He gave Flynn their suite number. “Text me when you get here.”
“Will do. Should be there in fifteen to twenty. That’s minutes, not years,” Flynn joked, before ending the call.
Zeke couldn’t help but smile as he returned to the kitchenette. In some ways, he had a feeling this week would feel like an eternity. At least until he had this guy tossing bricks and leaving notes in custody.
He finished his breakfast, then filled Sienna in on the plan. “I have my buddy Flynn stopping by here to watch over Taylor and Bailey while we run a few errands.” He caught Taylor’s curious glance, and added, “He’s a cop too. We both work on the tactical team, which means we have special training that other police officers don’t have.”
“That sounds great.” Taylor looked relieved by the news.
“Yes, thanks for arranging that,” Sienna agreed. She stood and scooped Bailey into her arms, swinging the little girl high and making her giggle. “That gives me just enough time to change her.”
“I can do it,” Taylor offered.
“It’s fine. You’ll have Bailey all to yourself soon enough.” Sienna pressed a kiss onto Bailey’s chubby cheeks as she carried her into the other room.
“She’s a great mother,” Taylor said, after they were gone. “I really hope you get the man responsible for this. Sienna doesn’t deserve this. And from what I hear, her ex-husband shouldn’t be allowed in the same state as Bailey much less have joint custody.”
“I’ll do my best.” He didn’t like making promises he couldn’t keep. Yet in this instance, he had no intention of failing Sienna or her daughter. He turned to pin the nanny with a stern look. “I don’t want you talking to anyone except me, Flynn, or Sienna. Not her manager or anyone else, understand?”
“Here.” She pulled out her phone and handed it to him. “My life is in jeopardy too. Go ahead and take it.”
He couldn’t decide if she was clever and conniving or innocent and concerned. He didn’t take the phone, thinking she’d need a way to get in touch with Sienna if Bailey got sick or needed something.
“Keep it for now.” He offered what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “We’ll get a replacement for you when we pick up new disposable phones. Flynn will be here to keep an eye on things.”
“Whatever you decide.” She sighed, then added, “I’m relieved Sienna has police support on this.”
“I agree.” He rose and stacked their dirty dishes together. Then he opened the door to set the tray out in the hall. Before he had a chance to hang the do not disturb sign, Flynn walked up the hall. “Hey, Flynn.”
“Zeke.” Flynn arched a brow. “Is it true?”
Wow, news of his engagement was traveling fast. “Yes.” He wanted to tell Flynn the truth but held back.
“Congrats, bro, but how is it possible I didn’t know you were dating anyone?” Flynn eyed him with suspicion, making him realize he may not be able to pull this ruse off with those closest to him. Especially Flynn.
“Look, I’ll explain everything in more detail later, okay?” He kept his voice low. “For now, I need you to go with the flow.”
Realization dawned, and Flynn nodded. “You can trust me. I won’t let you down.”
Zeke knew Flynn still felt guilty over the inadvertent role he’d played in letting Steele down in a situation earlier in the year. Since then, Flynn had gone above and beyond to support the members of the team.
“I know I can trust you.” He lightly punched Flynn in the arm. “That’s why I called you.”
He quickly introduced Taylor and Sienna to Flynn. Even Bailey seemed to take his buddy’s presence in stride. Zeke quickly got Sienna out of there, desperate to get to work.
“Phone first,” he said, once they were seated in his SUV. “I hope you don’t mind a disposable phone for the interim. We’ll keep your phone off until we absolutely need it.”
“Fine with me.” She seemed to relax for the first time since they’d had to leave the rental house. “Flynn seems nice.”
“He’s great.” He headed for the interstate. At this hour, traffic should be minimal. And it was, to a degree.
Until he caught sight of a dark-blue car keeping pace behind him. He mentally kicked himself for not getting rid of the SUV before now. “Sienna? Hang on.”
“Why?” The word had barely left her mouth when he jerked the wheel, taking the next exit without any warning.
His pulse spiked when the blue car followed. Not good.
“Zeke? Who is that?” Sienna’s voice tightened with panic.
“Don’t know. Just hang on.” He focused on weaving through traffic, desperate to lose the blue car tailing them. Seconds later, the passenger window opened revealing the barrel of a gun. He shouted, “Down,” as the sharp report of gunfire rang out.