When she awoke, it was with a start, the nightmare still clinging to the edges of her consciousness. Only this time Shana hadn’t been dropped onto the fence, she’d been blown up. But then it hadn’t been Shana, it had been Wade and she’d been kneeling beside what remained of him, wailing. She shuddered. “For crying out loud.” Olivia flopped over onto her side and rubbed her eyes. “Stupid nightmare.”
She saw her bag on the chair near the bed and figured Katie or Haley had brought it in to her. She must have been sleeping soundly. She glanced at the clock, but didn’t need to. Her stomach rumbled that it was time to eat. Way past time. She hadn’t eaten breakfast and now it was one o’clock in the afternoon.
She checked her phone and saw nothing urgent in her messages that needed her attention. She lay still, staring at the ceiling, taking a few moments to gather her thoughts and let her pulse slow down.
She couldn’t believe she’d told Wade as much as she had. She didn’t spill her story to clients. She didn’t get emotionally involved with her clients. And yet she found herself doing exactly that with Wade and his family.
She cared.
And she didn’t want to in spite of the fact that’s exactly what her now dead friend, Shana, had requested—no, expected—from her. Shana had died almost ten years ago and still her memory continued to plague Olivia, her friend’s last words echoing through her mind as she bled to death in Olivia’s arms.
“Don’t die, Shana, don’t die,” twenty-one-year-old Olivia had pleaded as she’d done her best to hold her friend still. She’d stared in horror at the spike from the fence protruding from Shana’s chest. “Don’t die.”
Shana gasped and grasped her arm. “You were right. I should have listened to you.” Blood dribbled from her mouth and Olivia wept and screamed for help. Sirens blared, help was on the way. “Shana—”
“Look for God, Liv. He’s . . . there. He . . . loves you. Let him help you. Tell my family I love . . .” Another gasp, a wince. Shana’s grip slackened, but she kept her eyes on Olivia’s. “Carrie—”
“I’ll take care of Carrie.” Carrie Blaine. Another performer like Shana but one who’d been receiving threats. One who’d also refused a bodyguard.
Shouts reached Olivia’s ears. Help had arrived.
But she knew. She knew and didn’t want to know. She let the tears flow freely down her cheeks.
Olivia cried out and sat straight up, her heart pounding in her throat. The dream. Again. This time the way it had originally happened.
She must have dozed back off. She sat still, gasping for breath, and let the images fade. Only they didn’t fade fast enough. She got up and padded barefoot into the bathroom, splashed water on her face, brushed her teeth, and turned on the shower.
Fifteen minutes later, she towel dried her hair and still couldn’t shake the dream. It had been even more vivid than usual. She stared into the mirror, but all she saw were Shana’s pretty features standing out in detail. Memories of that day surged to the forefront. Was it because she’d allowed herself to talk about Shana last night?
The screams of the crowd still echoed and she pressed her hands against her ears. Even ten years later, standing in the steamy bathroom, she could almost feel the press of the hot, sweaty bodies. Feel the ache in her lungs as the crowd crushed tighter, stealing her breath and keeping her helpless, unable to get to her friend—or her weapon. Other bystanders had been horrified and tried to help. To get the rabid ones to release Shana. Only it had backfired. They’d not released her, they’d dropped her. Right onto the fence. Shana’s agonizing cry played over and over in her mind.
Olivia shuddered. “Stop,” she whispered. “Stop, stop.” She pushed away from the sink and blinked, trying to dispel the images, the memories.
The horror.
She quickly changed into the clean clothes from her bag and headed downstairs to find Wade and Amy in the den, playing a game of Jenga. Stacy sat in the recliner reading a book. Wade was intently placing his block on the top of the stack when he looked up to see her. The stack crashed to the coffee table and Amy jumped up with a shriek. “I won! I won!”
Wade shot Olivia a rueful look.
“Sorry,” she murmured but couldn’t hide the smile curling her lips.
He shrugged. “It’s okay. I just have to make her bed for her for the next week.”
Amy did a little dance and poked her finger at her dad while she mocked him. He grabbed her with a growl and tackled her to the floor, gently, taking care not to hurt her, then tickled her until she begged for mercy. He let her go and the preteen lay on the floor laughing in between her gasps.
Olivia watched their interaction and had a brief flash of her own father pushing her on a swing in a park on a clear summer day. She blinked. Where had that come from? She shut the memory down. Even now, all these years later, it hurt to think about what could have been, had her parents not been killed, how different her life would be. But what was the point in dwelling on it? It did no good and just brought up feelings better left unfelt.
“You hungry?” Wade asked Olivia.
“Starving.” She looked around. “Where’s Katie?”
“She’s patrolling the grounds every so often. She left just a minute before you came down.”
Olivia nodded. That was standard operating procedure. She watched the workers installing the alarm system. She’d gotten a list of names from the person she’d hired and had a background check done on each one. Nothing suspicious had popped up on the three men and one woman, and she felt confident the finished product would meet her specifications. She knew Wade resented the need for the improvements, but she appreciated him holding his tongue.
Wade clasped his hands in front of him. “Haley left and said she was going to the hospital to check on Maddy, get some rest, and would be back at midnight tonight.”
Olivia nodded. “Good.”
Wade stood. “Follow me and I’ll feed you.”
“Can me and Stacy have some ice cream?” Amy asked.
“May Stacy and I. And sure.”
Amy and Stacy trailed them to the kitchen where Wade opened the refrigerator and pulled out a plate of sub sandwiches. He handed them to Olivia. “Will this work?”
“Like a charm. Thanks.”
“Martha made them before she left to run some errands. I usually hang out with Amy on Saturdays, and Martha does whatever she wants to do without worrying about us. Chips are next to the coffeemaker.”
She set the tray on the counter and took one of the sandwiches, placed it on a paper plate, and grabbed a bag of Doritos. She seated herself at the table while Wade scooped a generous helping of ice cream for Amy and Stacy.
Olivia glanced at Wade. “Did you get some sleep?”
“A little. I don’t seem to need much anyway.”
Olivia nodded and watched the girls devouring their ice cream. “So what are your plans for the rest of the day?”
Wade shrugged. “Just hanging out here. Thought we’d take a swim in the pool.”
Olivia tensed. Swimming was outside. But it was behind the house and surrounded by a fence. She nodded. “Sounds like a good plan. We can work with that.”
“Would you like to join us?”
Olivia hoped she hid her shudder. “No thanks. I’ll stick to watching the area, but you three have fun.”
He studied her for a moment, then nodded. “All right then.”
Amy finished the last bite of her ice cream and stood. “Come on, Stacy, let’s go get our bathing suits on.” The girls raced out of the kitchen and Olivia finished her sandwich while Wade sat silent.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked.
His eyes flicked up to hers. “Who this person is.”
Of course. “I have a recommendation.”
“What?”
“Enjoy the time with the girls, don’t think about Thursday night or last night. Just leave the worrying to me and my team, and live your life.”
He pursed his lips and gave a slow nod. “Easier said than done, I think.” The girls bounded into the kitchen, dressed in swimsuits, towels slung around their necks. Wade smiled at their exuberance, then swung his gaze back to hers. “But I think it’s good advice for now.”
He rose. “Give me a few minutes to change. I’ll be back in just a sec.” He left and Olivia let a slow breath escape her lips even as her stomach churned. She’d rather face a ticking bomb than a swimming pool. “You guys better know how to swim really well,” she muttered. Because there was no way she was jumping in the water.