Chapter 6 #2
“That would be great.” Grady searched his memory for a moment. “I believe Lauren spoke to a David Braun. We’ve also been in contact with Detective Kramer and a Lieutenant Olson from the Chicago PD. Nobody knows we’re in Fullerton, though. So don’t let that information out.”
“I’ll keep your location confidential,” Griff promised. “And let me see what I can do with these names. Are they all from Chicago?”
“As far as I know, yes. Nelson and Bobby were in a fraternity together at Loyola University.”
“That will help me narrow it down.” Griff sounded thoughtful. “Anything else I can do?”
“When you reach out to the FBI agent from Chicago, ask if he’s been kept informed of the recent shooting attempts against Lauren and Lucy. I want to be sure the local police are doing their part in this.”
“Not a problem,” Griff said. “If this David Braun wants to talk to you and Lauren, can I give him this number?”
“Yes, that works. And thanks, Griff. I owe you one.”
“Nope, you’ve helped the Sullivans over the past year when they were in trouble. This is the least I can do. I’ll be in touch.” With that, Griff ended the call.
Feeling better, Grady pocketed his phone and headed into the kitchen. Seeing the black electrical tape sitting on the counter, he remembered he needed to head outside to alter the license plates.
“Are you ready to eat?” Lauren set a plate of sandwiches to the table.
“Sure.” He reached over to close the laptop, pushing it aside to make room. When Lauren and Lucy were both seated, he dropped into his chair, cleared his throat, and said, “I, um, would like to say grace.”
Lauren flashed a startled glance at him, but then she nodded. “Of course. Lucy, fold your hands together like this.” She demonstrated for her daughter.
“Why?” Lucy asked, doing what she was told.
“Because we’re going to thank God for our blessings.
” He wasn’t used to praying out loud, but having been around the Sullivans for years, he was no stranger to how it was done.
“Dear Lord Jesus, we ask You to bless this food we are about to eat. We also ask that You keep us all safe in Your care as we seek the truth. Amen.”
“Amen,” Lauren echoed. She looked pointedly at Lucy until her daughter added, “Amen.”
“There, now that we’ve said grace, we can dig into our meal.” He grinned and took a big bite of his sandwich. He was glad Lauren and Lucy had participated in the prayer.
With the danger surrounding them, he knew they needed God’s protection now more than ever.
* * *
Lauren had only heard part of Grady’s side of the call with the Wyoming FBI agent. It was nice to know he had friends in law enforcement. She trusted Grady to keep her daughter safe.
And she wished, not for the first time, that Grady would stick around after the danger was over.
But that wasn’t going to happen. Grady was clearly at home here in the middle of nowhere. Which was good because his skills were necessary to keep them hidden. But she couldn’t imagine living in a place like this year-round.
“Can I play outside in the snow?” Lucy asked between bites of her sandwich. “I want to build a snowman.”
“Oh, um, okay.” She hadn’t purchased snow pants for Lucy but had noticed there was a small washer and dryer unit tucked into the corner of the main bathroom.
“I can take her outside with me when I alter the license plate,” Grady offered.
“Thanks.” She’d have to head outside, too, she couldn’t just leave Lucy out there alone, but she was grateful he’d be nearby as well. “I appreciate that.”
When lunch was over, she asked Lucy to help with clearing the table. Deciding to wait to do dishes, she bundled Lucy up in her winter coat and new snow boots from the outlet mall.
Grady snagged the black electrical tape as he led the way outside.
Lauren guided Lucy to the open area behind the cabin.
Lucy enthusiastically dug her mittened hands into the snow, throwing it up into the air with glee.
Watching the little girl made her chest tighten with love.
That anyone would try to harm an innocent child made her angry.
“Come on, Mom, let’s make a snowman!”
With a sigh, she did so. Grady worked on the license plate, then came over to help them. He worked faster than she did, expertly making a large ball of snow for the base.
By the time they’d finished, Lucy was shivering with cold. “Okay, let’s go back inside now,” Lauren said. “I need to dry your clothes.”
“Yours too,” Lucy said, eyeing her wet yoga pants.
“Yep.” She was cold to the bone but hadn’t wanted to stop Lucy from having fun. After everything they’d been through, they deserved some downtime.
“Your snowman looks great, Lucy.” Grady grinned at her daughter.
“He needs a snow wife and kid,” Lucy declared.
Lauren felt herself flush, knowing her daughter didn’t mean that the way it sounded. “That’s a project for another day. For now, let’s go inside.”
Inside the cabin, she took Lucy into the bedroom to have her strip out of her clothes. Then she wrapped the little girl in a blanket. “Have a seat on the sofa,” she said, guiding her into the living room. “Maybe Grady can figure out how to work the television.”
Grady nodded at her wet clothes. “I can do that, but you need to change too.”
“I will. Do you have anything you want washed?” Again, her cheeks heated with embarrassment. When she’d asked for a bodyguard, she hadn’t imagined they’d be living together in a log cabin in the middle of the woods.
“Why don’t you let me wash the clothes?” He seemed to understand the source of her discomfort. “You sit on the sofa with Lucy. I’ll take care of everything.”
“You know how to do the laundry?” she asked in surprise.
“I’ve lived alone for years, so yeah, I know how to do the laundry.” His dry western drawl made her smile.
Of course, Grady knew what to do. He seemed to be an expert on everything, from keeping her and Lucy safe to stealing a car and even mundane tasks like laundry.
As she stripped off her clothes and wrapped up in a blanket, she wondered if there was anything Grady couldn’t do. And quickly decided there wasn’t.
After he threw their wet clothes into the dryer, he found a children’s station on the television, then sat at the table, also wrapped in a blanket from the waist down, to work on the computer. When she caught herself drifting to sleep, she straightened and made her way to the kitchen to join him.
“Can I help?” She leaned over to see the screen. She was surprised to see Nelson’s mug shot. “Wow, he really looks awful.”
Grady nodded. “He was probably coming to grips with knowing that life as he knew it was over.”
She looked away, suddenly embarrassed. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I married him in the first place.”
Grady shrugged. “I’m sure he was on his best behavior.”
She let out a harsh laugh. “That’s an understatement.
He was sweet, charming, and spent money on little gifts for me.
I thought it was nice how he paid for everything while we were dating.
He seemed indifferent to my trust fund. I’m ashamed to say I really bought into his act.
A few months after the wedding, I discovered I was pregnant.
” She fell silent, lost in memories of the past. She’d been so excited to learn about her pregnancy.
“What happened?” Grady asked softly. He kept his voice low, the way she did, so Lucy couldn’t overhear.
“Nelson seemed happy about the baby, but it didn’t take long for our relationship to unravel.
He started drinking more, buying expensive Scotch.
He also spent more time with his old frat buddies, like Bobby Morton.
But it wasn’t until I overheard him talking to someone about how he was planning to invest a quarter of a million dollars into some new enterprise that things got nasty.
I discovered Nelson was in debt after our marriage.
He claimed it was investments that had gone south.
So when I heard him making that deal, I knew he didn’t have two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
He’d planned to use my money, which of course he believed he had every right to do.
” She couldn’t hide the bitterness in her tone.
“Whoa, not without talking to you, he didn’t,” Grady said with a frown. “That’s not how marriage is supposed to work. Big financial decisions like that should be made together, with both parties in agreement to the plan.”
“Exactly what I said to him. He just shrugged and said the money was a drop in the bucket compared to what I’m worth, and besides, what’s mine is his now.
He claimed he could do whatever he wanted.
” She grimaced and looked away. “That’s when I knew it was all a lie.
That the only reason he’d married me was to get access to my money.
It wasn’t about me and certainly not about our baby. ”
Grady slipped his arm around her shoulders, drawing her into a hug. “I’m sorry you had to find out the hard way.”
She leaned against him for a moment, inhaling his masculine scent. “Yeah, well, better late than never, right?”
“Right.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “And you got a great kid out of the deal.”
She couldn’t help but smile. Lifting her head, she gazed up at him, touched by his comments. “Yes, I did. And for that, I have no regrets.”
For a long moment, their gazes locked and held. She found it suddenly difficult to breathe, her senses so focused on Grady. She wished she’d married someone like him—strong, sweet, and not looking for financial security in any way.
Unless, of course, she was reading him wrong, too, the way she’d initially believed Nelson’s seemingly good intentions.
“I, um, think we need to keep digging into those who knew your ex and his buddy, Bobby Morton,” Grady said, interrupting her thoughts.
“Okay.” She looked away, hoping her cheeks weren’t as red hot as they felt. “Although I’m not sure why Nelson would start coming after Lucy now.”
Grady frowned. “The timing is interesting. Can you think of any reason why Nelson would be focused on you at this time? Maybe the heart ball that’s coming up to benefit St. Mary’s Children’s Hospital?”
She shook her head. “I became a spokesperson for the charity after Lucy was born and had to undergo open heart surgery as a result of a birth defect. Nelson and I were separated by then. I made sure to issue the financial separation first, so he couldn’t continue to go through my money.”
“The jerk,” Grady muttered.
She privately agreed. “Our divorce was final just two weeks before his arrest. I wondered if he’d been out drowning his sorrows over our breakup, not that I think he missed anything but the cash flow.”
“So this isn’t some sort of anniversary?” Grady pressed.
“Nope.” She tried to think back to their brief marriage. “I wish I could tell you more. I blocked most of those memories away, refusing to dwell too much on the mistakes I made in the past.”
“Smart thinking,” he murmured. “I’m surprised he didn’t drag the divorce on longer, though.”
“My father made Nelson sign a prenup.” The fact that Nelson had argued long and hard about the need to sign a legal document prior to their marriage should have been a red flag.
Unfortunately, she had waved it off as his way of asking her to trust him.
Too bad, the joke was on her, because she couldn’t trust Nelson as far as she could throw him across the room.
“I sued for full custody of Lucy, and he didn’t even argue about it or put up a fight, which frankly surprised me.
The best way for him to get access to my money was to sue for joint child support.
” She sighed. “Of course, his going to jail didn’t hurt.
The judge granted me sole custody without blinking an eye. ”
“His loss, Lauren.” Grady’s compassionate expression was so intensely kind and sweet that it was all she could do not to kiss him. Then, as if he’d read her thoughts, Grady leaned in and brushed his lips against hers.
“Mom, my show is over,” Lucy called. Lauren sprang back from Grady so fast she nearly tipped her chair over.
“Coming.” Her voice sounded low and hoarse, as if she’d been screaming at one of Lucy’s soccer games.
Flustered, feeling certain her longing to kiss Grady had been telegraphed on her features, she jumped to her feet, clutching the blanket close as she hurried into the living room to find another show for Lucy to watch.
But the brief kiss she and Grady shared left a tingling sensation on her lips as if she’d touched a live wire. Something that had never happened with Nelson.
More proof that she’d married the wrong man. Now, she just needed to remind herself that Grady was here because she’d hired him through Grayson’s Guardians to protect Lucy.
Not because he cared for her on a personal level.