Chapter 2
I grabbed my suitcase by its sides and lifted it, putting the bulkiness between me and the Hulk coming toward me.
He tilted his head to the side as he approached the black metal gate—my last line of defense—and his steps slowed. “Do you need help with that?”
“No!” I stepped backward, careful not to fall off the sidewalk onto the road. My arms already ached from holding up my bag. I really needed to get back into a gym routine.
Mr. He-Man unlatched the gate with a flip of his wrist. Why hadn’t I seen the latch? “I’m Reed from Death Finds You First. Didn’t Delaney say I’d be here?”
“Oh,” I spat out the breath and lowered the heavy suitcase. My heart didn’t take the hint and continued to beat erratically in my chest. Delaney did mention I’d have someone here with me, but I’d completely forgotten with the almost dying in a plane crash earlier.
He grabbed my bag from my hand and wheeled it past the gate. “Our place is back here. It’s hard to see from the road. Delaney said it’s the unit Lisa used to live in. Her son rents out two of the units as short-term rentals, one with a long-term tenant, and then his private space.”
“You read the case file?” I asked, even though he clearly had.
He gave a half chuckle. “I expected Delaney on this trip, and they warned me she’s a stickler for the facts.”
Whoever told him that knew her well. “That sounds like her. She had a family emergency. Hence our quick switch.”
A dim porch light did a horrible job cutting through the gloomy night, but I glimpsed Reed’s face as he walked under it, carrying my bag into the Airbnb.
Holy shit, talk about super-hot. His chin looked like he shared DNA with Gaston, but in a good way.
Not the evil villain trying to take out a prince type of chin.
It matched perfectly with his broad shoulders and long stride.
Sometimes hot guy stereotypes were true.
Unfortunately, that probably meant he was a jerk.
No one so hot had a chance at a good personality.
He pushed the door open and let me slip past him to enter our place first. I did my best to not touch him on the way in, but I caught a sniff of his woodsy cologne. Ah man, he even smelled good. He definitely had to be an asshole.
Get a grip, Elenore. It’s just a man.
“Wow, this place is nice,” I said, stopping halfway into the front room. It was enough to see most of the layout.
From the front door, I entered an open foyer and dining area.
They had a round table with four wooden chairs to the side.
On the right was a small bedroom with a gorgeous green and white bedspread.
A large archway connected the front space to the living room where a TV, couch, and two chairs welcomed visitors.
A small bathroom connected off that, another closed door, and finally another much smaller arch lead to a galley kitchen.
“I took the smaller room,” he said, pointing to the one on our right with the pretty bedspread. “It puts me closer to the main door, and the other bedroom has an attached bath for you to use. There’s a dresser, but the closet is locked.”
“Oh, thanks.” He wheeled my case toward my designated room. I slowly followed behind him. “I didn’t think you’d be so…ah—” My toes caught on something, and my body pitched forward, trying to throw me into the ground.
Reed spun quickly, threw his arm out, and caught me before I made impact. “Careful, there’s a lip.”
I righted myself, my cheeks flaming. “Thanks.”
“You didn’t expect me to be so…” he asked, starting again.
Oh, crap. He heard that? “Early,” I lied.
I thought I’d mumbled the disrupted question, but I’d definitely been about to say big, or muscular, or hot… not early.
He chuckled again, totally not put off by my almost crash. “Yeah, I caught an earlier flight. I’ve got a friend in the area, and we met up for dinner. Did you have a pleasant ride in?”
“It was memorable.” I stepped around him as he spun my case into my room.
The wet shirt, tripping, and overall embarrassment hit me like a slamming door.
I peeked into my space and sighed at the super comfortable-looking bed with a blue duvet.
“Do I really need… this?” I asked, gesturing toward him.
His once cheerful expression turned serious. “Management at the podcast thinks it’s a wise choice for a while. After what happened in February, they don’t want a repeat.”
“Right. February.” I forgot about that. Nobody wanted a repeat of February. “Well, I’m going to head to bed. We can get a fresh start in the morning.”
He nodded. “Sleep tight. I bought coffee supplies in case you need them.”
I definitely would.
With a quick nod in acknowledgment, I closed the door behind Reed’s retreating back and leaned against it. Great, I had to spend seven long days working one-on-one with a man who could star in an action movie. I should have let the plane take me out. That might have been a better end.
I almost sent Delaney a text as I brushed my teeth in the gorgeous half-bath, but didn’t want to disturb her in case she was at the hospital with her dad.
Reed’s rough words rumbled around in my head. I’d forgotten about the incident earlier this year. In February, an armed man robbed a podcast researcher in southern Florida as she’d been staking out a biker bar. But I still didn’t understand exactly why I needed a bodyguard.
When Delaney told me I’d have backup, I expected a nerdy guy with glasses. I had zero plans of going anywhere sketchy in Savannah. I barely knew what I was doing, but I certainly planned to do it as safely as possible. There was no need for so much… muscle.
* * *
Monday morning and the official start of my short foray into investigative journalism came hours too soon.
I spent most of the night tossing and turning in the comfortable bed.
Between the anxiety of not dying on the plane and sleeping just a few inches and a piece of drywall away from the hottest man I’d ever laid eyes on, I couldn’t fall asleep.
My eyelids weighed more than an electric car, and I struggled to keep them open as I brushed the last few pieces of my hair. Vibrations from the phone I’d set on the sink’s edge worked hard to push the last few remnants of sleep away.
I answered Delaney’s call with a quick hello.
“You didn’t text me that you arrived,” she started the shakedown right away.
My makeup bag tilted on the small shelf beside the sink when I tossed the brush on top. “Sorry. I didn’t want to bother you. How’s your dad?”
I felt her noiseless sigh rather than heard it. “Last night he told the nurse she had legs like Madonna. That’s weird. Right?”
“Yes.” I slipped on my shoes beside the bed. “But at least he’s getting spunky again. I guess.”
“I guess. And hey, don’t feel bad about not texting. Reed checked in for you, so you’re in the clear.”
At the mention of his name, I froze. Could he hear us talking about him through the walls? Was he awake already? I hadn’t heard a single peep in the rest of the house and had put off looking as long as possible. I lowered my voice just to be safe. “You didn’t warn me he was hot.”
Delaney laughed. “I’ve never met him. Tell me. What’s he look like?”
“I can’t right now,” I whispered forcefully. Was she crazy? He’d definitely hear.
“Send me a picture!”
“Shhh.” I shoved the phone closer to my ear so none of her voice escaped. “Why did you call me?”
“Oh, right,” she said as if thoughts of hot guy pictures made her forget. “The boss wants the investigation report on his desk by next Monday. He’s hopeful it will be enough for a Halloween special this year.”
Man, it was only April. They definitely did their prework.
If the podcast producers liked what I wrote up, they’d schedule official filming dates and set up interviews with important people from the case.
But I had to sell it if I wanted this location to make the cut. Which I did because I enjoyed winning.
“Does he want me to say a ghost killed Lisa Boyd?”
“That would be cool,” she answered without missing a beat. “But probably not. The place Lisa died is said to be haunted, though, so… They run a ghost tour and investigation. I got you and Don Juan tickets, so you can scope out the place after hours.”
“What?” She hadn’t told me about this before I agreed. We never discussed after-hours ghost investigations with a hot guy.
She kept right on talking. “I’m emailing you the information now.”
The Don Juan in question knocked on my closed room door. “Are you okay walking to the interview location?”
I whipped my head in that direction, feeling my anxiety rise to the surface again. “Yes.”
“Is that him?” Delaney asked. “He sounds hot.”
“Dee, I’ve got to go,” I yelled more than said into the phone.
My finger hovered over the disconnect button as she yelled out, “Send pictures!”
“Be careful of the step,” Reed said with a half-grin as I walked out of the room toward the small table by the front door.
Against my will, my cheeks heated again. I had to get a grip. He was one freaking hot guy, and I wasn’t a teenager. You’d think I’d gotten stuck in puberty or something. I stopped at the small lip in the flooring separating the two rooms and made a small jump over it. Like a dork. Ugh.
Why did God make me so embarrassing? I wanted to be cool just one time.
Someone fun and sexy. The life of the party.
I dropped the overstuffed notebook from Delaney with case clues on the small table and took out the packet for today’s interview.
I had a meeting with one of the local reporters who tracked Lisa’s case.
Thankfully, Delaney wrote down the questions she wanted me to ask.
She’d also given me a hand-held voice recorder to use after learning I didn’t know shorthand.
Did anyone know shorthand? It’s not like I missed the lessons on it in college or anything.
“We’re meeting the reporter from WJCL at The Double-Wide Diner,” Reed said with one eyebrow a tic higher than the other. It was an interesting name for a café, but I trusted Delaney. “But it’s within walking distance, so I thought we’d enjoy the weather.”
“It’s snowing in Michigan this week, so I am all for enjoying the Georgia weather.” I also appreciated that he’d given our approach some thought rather than making me figure it all out. Especially since I hadn’t given it any.
We walked out of the Airbnb together and turned to the right on Broad Street, walking in silence for a few blocks until we hit Bay Street.
Reed turned left, and I followed, letting my gaze wander to the distance where we had a view of the water beyond.
“It’s too bad they have that apartment building there. It blocks the view.”
Reed turned his head to see where I pointed. “Yeah, you’d have a clear view in both directions. It’s a pity.”
We walked on without either of us consulting a map. I hoped he knew the way because I was blindly following. “You know your way in the city well. Have you been here before?”
He smiled as I struggled to keep up with his steps in the crowded street and then slowed a little. “No, just Google and the government teaching me to always be aware.”
Oh. That filled in a few bodyguard type gaps. “Were you in the army?”
That time, he outright chuckled. “Navy. The SEALs.”
“Wow, that’s great, but why is a SEAL contracting with a true crime podcast?” I barely understood the need for a bodyguard. I definitely didn’t see requiring one with that much experience. Where did Delaney plan to send me?
Reed ran his hand through his dark hair and shook his head. “It’s complicated. The podcast signed a contract with a service out of Maine. My buddy got me the gig. It’s temporary to see how I like it.”
The intense blast of a loud exploding crash slammed through the air. My feet left the ground as I jumped in fear. Reed switched his body to the side, turning himself around to protect me against whatever happened behind us.