“When will my dad get here?” Eleanor asked in a huff.
“He’s chatting with Cal and the team now, so I’m sure he will be here soon, Eleanor,” Charlotte answered, trying to placate her.
“Chatting,” she said with an eye roll. “More like yelling and throwing his name around.”
Eric’s snort from across the room drove Charlotte to glare at him.
“What? She clearly knows her father.” He gave her the palms out, and this time it was Eleanor who giggle-snorted.
“I also know Cal doesn’t let my dad push him around. I’m glad about that. You should always stand your ground with bullies.”
“You’re saying your father is a bully?” Charlotte asked.
“Just calling a spade a spade. My dad thinks he’s president of the United States already. He hasn’t even run yet.”
“Is he planning to?” Eric asked, leaning forward.
“Last I heard,” Eleanor said with boredom. “It’s all he talks about right now. I’m sure that’s what he’s planning to reveal at the next party. He needs big bucks to throw his hat in the ring, which means he needs big donors to like him.”
Charlotte didn’t follow politics, much less Minnesota politics, but she would do a deep dive once they got back to Secure One. Dorian was a long-time client of theirs, and she wanted to familiarize herself with him, his career and his family. Well, his family was easy. He was a single father to Eleanor and spent most of his time in Washington while his daughter lived in Minnesota with his mother. Her grandmother raised Eleanor while Dorian pursued his career. Eleanor’s mother was killed in a car crash when she was a baby, and Dorian had never remarried. Eric shot Charlotte a look before he picked up the tablet and started typing. He was probably making notes since the team was busy with Dorian in the command center.
“Why can’t I go to my room?” The girl was frustrated, and Charlotte couldn’t blame her.
“I’m sorry, Eleanor. Cal wants you to stay here with us until they’re done briefing your dad on what happened tonight. I’m sure it won’t be much longer.”
“Please, call me Ella. Eleanor makes me feel so...” She motioned her hand around in the air until Charlotte answered.
“Old?”
Ella pointed at her. “Ancient.”
“I understand,” Charlotte assured her with a chuckle. “I feel the same way about the name Charlotte.”
“I don’t think Charlotte is a bad name, but maybe a little old-fashioned. Do you have a nickname?”
“I used to,” Charlotte said, pausing on the last word.
“Well, what is it?”
“I’ve only told one other person this before.” She paused, and Ella cocked her head, fully engaged with her now. Charlotte didn’t want to lose that connection, so she took a deep breath and spoke. “Hope. I was an artist in my former life.”
“You’re still an artist. A damn good one,” Eric said without lifting his head from the tablet.
That made both Charlotte and Ella smile. “I’m still an artist, but I was a street artist back then. Do you know what that is?”
“Sure,” Ella said with a shrug. “You tagged buildings. Graffiti.”
“I guess some would call it graffiti, but I painted murals on buildings while everyone else slept. They were my way of bringing hope to the other kids on the streets.”
“Your tag name was Hope?”
Charlotte nodded, trying to force a smile to her lips, but it didn’t come. She noted Eric nodded his head once as though he respected her. No one had ever respected her before, but that was the feeling she got from him and Ella. She could change her name to what it was before The Madame washed her history, but doing that meant she’d have to face her past as Hope. After all, there was a reason she’d jumped on The Madame’s offer to change her name and find a new life. She just hadn’t expected that new life to be as an escort, drug mule and mercenary against her will.
“That’s a cool story. You must be a fantastic artist if you painted murals on buildings.”
“She is,” Eric said, still without lifting his head. “Charlotte—Hope—should show you some of her work. She doesn’t just draw a picture. She tells a story. She has natural talent, and that can’t be learned.”
“Would you show me?” Ella asked with excitement. “I do some drawing, but I’m not that good.”
“Yet,” Charlotte said with a wink. “We all get better with practice and time. I don’t have my sketchbook here, but I promise to bring it to the next party. We can hang out in mobile command and draw.”
“That would be great,” Ella said with excitement, but Charlotte also noted a hint of relief in her voice. “I hate his parties. He makes me show my face for a little bit, but then I always find a place to hide to avoid all those people.”
“I feel your pain,” Eric said, lowering the tablet. “There’s nothing worse than a bunch of snobby adults jockeying for the top spot as richest in the room.”
Ella laughed while she pointed at Eric. “I like you. Not many people get what it’s like to deal with politicians and their donors. It’s exhausting. That’s why I live in St. Paul with my grandma. I want to go to school and live a normal life. Well, as normal as possible. Yes, I have to go to private school, but I could never live in Washington, DC, year-round. I go in the summer, and that’s enough for me.”
“I’m ex-army,” Eric said. “I know what it’s like to deal with the government and politicians. I don’t blame you for wanting time away from that three-ring circus.”
Eric’s phone rang, and he held up his finger, then answered it, stepping into the corner of the room to talk to the caller.
Ella glanced at him and then leaned in closer to Charlotte. “I’m not kidding here when I say I need to go to the bathroom in my room or I’m going to ruin this gown.”
“Understood,” Charlotte said with a nod. “Let me get Eric.”
“He’s busy. Besides, I don’t want him ushering me to my room to get pads. Please.”
Charlotte could see Ella was embarrassed, but she bit her lip with nervousness. They weren’t supposed to leave the room on Cal’s orders. Then again, he didn’t put them in a room with a bathroom either, so she had to assume he knew they’d have to leave for that.
“Okay. This place is crawling with cops. It won’t be a big deal to run up there, but I need to tell Eric, and I’m going with you. To your room and back. No other stops.”
Ella held up her hands in agreement, so Charlotte walked over to Eric and leaned in to whisper. “She needs the restroom. It’s an emergency. I’ll take her there and bring her right back. Will Cal object?”
Eric put his hand over the receiver, glanced at Ella and back to her. “Not much we can do other than be careful. There are cops everywhere but stay alert. I’m not expecting any other problems tonight though.”
Charlotte nodded and tucked her required Secure One Taser into the holster on her belt. While she was trained on handling a gun, she rarely carried one. Too many innocent people had died from a bullet meant for someone else, and she couldn’t live with herself if she were the cause of an innocent person’s death.
She motioned for Eleanor to follow her to the door. This was her chance to prove to Cal that she was part of the team, whether she was cooking for them or doing unexpected bodyguard duty on a US senator’s daughter. Cal had trained her for this, and when she’d asked him why, his answer was simple: You never know when you will have to keep yourself or someone else safe in this business. If you work here, you’re part of the team, and everyone on the team does this training. She always thought she’d never need it, but tonight, she was ready to prove she’d learned her lessons well.
CHARLOTTE STOOD OUTSIDE the bathroom door and waited for Ella. She had agreed to let her change clothes before they went back to where Eric was waiting. She was right, it didn’t make sense to parade around in a ball gown, but Charlotte also didn’t want to be gone too long.
“Hey, Hope,” Ella called from inside the bathroom. Charlotte didn’t cringe at the name, and that surprised her. “Did you happen to see Tia and Leticia before they left?”
“I did,” Charlotte said, reminding herself not to spill their secret. “They left with their parents after they talked to the cops.”
“Were they okay?” she called back through the door, and Charlotte heard rustling on the other side as though she were hanging up the gown.
“They were fine. Why?”
“They found a dead woman in the river. I figured they’d be shaken.”
The door opened, and Ella stepped out wearing a pair of pajama pants and a long T-shirt. She was ready for bed, and honestly, so was Charlotte, but she dragged a smile to her face and nodded. “They were shaken up, but by the time they left, they’d calmed down.”
“I felt so bad when I found out they were the ones who found her,” Ella said, following Charlotte to the door.
“Why?” A look left and then right had Charlotte stepping out into the hallway with Ella.
“They go through enough already. It’s hard being in the closet. Then, when you finally get some time alone, that happens.”
“Wait. You know?” Charlotte asked.
“Everyone knows,” Ella said with an eye roll. “We go to a Catholic school, so we all pretend we don’t know just to protect them.”
“Wow, I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Why? Because I’m a snobby rich kid who doesn’t care about anyone else?”
Charlotte stopped and spun on her heel to face her. “I would never think that, Ella. I’ve known you barely an hour and know you’re nothing like your father. You care about getting to know people. I wasn’t expecting you to say that because the girls told us no one else knew.”
Ella’s shrug was simple. “That’s what they need to believe, so as a class, we decided we would let them believe it. We protect them whenever someone starts asking too many questions and always make sure we have parties where there’s a place for them to escape together. Did you see them together?” Charlotte nodded but didn’t say anything. “Then you know that they’ve already found their soulmate at sixteen.”
Charlotte turned and started back down the hallway, keeping Ella on the inside of her against the wall. “Do you believe in soulmates?”
“I do. I think that’s why my dad has never remarried. My mom was his, and when she died, a piece of him did too. He never dated again after she died. Women try, trust me, but he’s not interested. I wish he would though.”
“Why?”
“It might chill him out a little. He’s always wound so tightly that I’m afraid he’ll have a heart attack one day.”
“I agree with you. Your dad strikes me as an all-work-and-no-play kind of guy.”
“He so is, but this summer, when I’m in Washington, I’m going to do something about it.”
Charlotte had already messaged Eric to let him know they were on their way back, and as they started down the stairs, she noticed that the house had cleared out and was much quieter.
“What are you going to do about it? Set him up?”
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do!” Ella said, laughter filling the stairwell as they stepped onto the lavish parquet flooring. Calling this house a “cabin” insulted the artists who’d poured their souls into it. The view during the day must be breathtaking from the large bay windows that faced the back of it, and the chef’s kitchen and extensive library weren’t something you saw in most “cabins” in Minnesota. Charlotte hadn’t lived in Minnesota long, but she did know that much.
“I’m sure that’ll go over well,” Charlotte said with a chuckle just as a man dressed in black stepped out of a hallway and grasped Ella’s elbow.
“I’ll take Miss Dorian to her father now. Thank you for your help,” he said, tugging Ella’s arm to follow him.
Charlotte instinctively grabbed Ella’s other arm and held tight. “I need to see ID, and I’ll have to call my boss before I can relinquish Miss Dorian into your care.” She sounded calm, but she wasn’t. She was panicking, so she forced the sensation back and focused on her training. If you ever feel like something is off, hit your all-call button, and we’ll come running.
Mack’s words ran through her head, but she hesitated, taking stock of the man again. He wore a black suit and coat, a black hat and had an earpiece running from his jacket to his ear. The tall man kept his head bent low, ensuring that Charlotte couldn’t get a good look at him.
“I said, I need to see your ID.”
“I’m protection detail for Senator Dorian,” he repeated. “I don’t have to show you anything.”
“Then you can’t take Miss Dorian. We’ll wait for her father in the designated area. Come on, Ella.”
Charlotte tugged on Ella’s arm, but the man didn’t release her. The girl looked terrified, which told Charlotte that she had never seen this man before. Without hesitation, Charlotte hit the button on her vest and then took hold of Ella with both hands. “You should leave now unless you have ID.”
She unhooked the button on her holster, but she never got to pull the Taser before a fist flew at her from her right. She dodged it but not before it glanced off her jaw and tossed her head to the side. She didn’t let go of Ella, who was now screaming for someone to help them. Charlotte couldn’t worry about help arriving. She had to concentrate on protecting Ella. She was afraid he would punch Ella next, so she yanked the girl to the left and then kicked out with her right leg, landing a hit in the guy’s solar plexus. He let out a huff, but it wasn’t enough to stop him from hitting her dead in the eye with a sharp jab.
Ella had fallen to the floor and was crab-walking backward as the man went for her. Gathering her wits, Charlotte struck him in the back with her elbow and then hit him behind the knees with a back kick that sent him to the floor. Commotion and shouting filled the house as men came running from all doors, but the man in black wasn’t giving up. He turned and swept Charlotte’s feet out from under her, and she fell, hitting the floor with her head. Dazed, she knew she had to fight him off long enough for Mack or Eric to get to them. All she could think to do was lift her feet and kick up. A smile lifted her lips when the resounding crack told her she’d made contact with her target. He bellowed and pinwheeled backward, right into Eric’s waiting arms, who quickly subdued him.
Charlotte didn’t get up off the floor. She just stared at the cathedral ceiling, the colors swirling and spinning in the atmosphere around her. She had to catch her breath before she could move again. The fight had taken everything out of her.
“Hope!” Ella said, her face swimming in her line of sight. “Are you okay?”
Charlotte wanted to answer her, but all she could do was watch the swirling colors above her head.
“Hope, I mean, Charlotte needs help!” Ella yelled. Charlotte could hear the frantic tone of her voice and reached for her, trying to reassure her, but her hand missed its target and fell back to the hardwood floor. “Someone, please, help her!”
A voice broke through the din in the room, and she begged her mind to focus on the sound. It was her name on Mack’s lips as he scooped her up, wrapped her in his protective arms and started running.
“I need a medic!” Charlotte found his bellowing voice more soothing than scary. “I’m going to get you help, Charlotte,” he promised, and it was only then that she closed her eyes.
MACK PACED ACROSS the floor of mobile command, where the team had met up after the attempted kidnapping of Dorian’s daughter. They’d have lost Ella tonight if it hadn’t been for Charlotte. What had Eric been thinking letting them go alone? He would never say it to the man, he felt bad enough, but Charlotte had paid a heavy price.
“I’m fine, Mack,” she said from the corner chair where she sat with an ice pack on her face. Not only did she have a concussion from hitting her head on the floor, but the jerk had given her a black eye and swollen jaw.
“You’re a warrior, Charlotte, but I can’t stop thinking about how close we came to a kidnapping on our watch.”
“Me neither,” she said, wincing when she held the ice to her eye. “Did anyone get anything out of the guy?”
All eyes were on Cal and Eric. They’d taken the guy aside and had a “chat” with him before the police arrived. “Not much,” Cal said with a shake of his head. “I have to hand it to you. You broke the guy’s jaw with that last kick. He was twice your size and strength.”
“He wasn’t taking Ella on my watch. When she looked at me with terror, I knew she didn’t know the guy, which meant he wasn’t part of the senator’s detail. I had to stop him long enough for you guys to wade in and help me.”
“I’m proud of you, Charlotte. Hand-to-hand isn’t easy for anyone, especially when you’re outsized the way you were. That was Secure One protection at its finest.”
Mack noticed her chest puff up and her shoulders straighten at Cal’s words.
“He’s right, Charlotte. You saved Ella, and all of us here know it.” Mack glanced at Eric, who was glaring at them with his arms crossed over his chest. Whether he was ticked at them or himself, Mack couldn’t say.
“I’m glad she’s safe, but we have to find out who this guy is.”
“The cops will know that quickly, but so will we,” Cal said, holding up a glass slide. “I accidentally got the guy to touch this.” He gave her a wink. “I’ll get Mina working on it back at Secure One. In the meantime, we have to assume that it’s either tied to Dorian’s reelection campaign or the body they found tonight.”
“I’m leaning toward his reelection campaign,” Mack said. “He’s got enemies, and what better way to get you to back off something than to leverage the one person you love the most.”
“Agreed,” Cal said. “I think it was coincidence, or else the person behind the kidnapping got wind of the chaotic events tonight and decided he’d take advantage of it. It was smart to send someone in when there were already so many people in a tight space. You could get away without being noticed.”
“Wait,” Charlotte said, leaning forward. “The guy we got isn’t the person behind the kidnapping?”
“Not according to him,” Eric said, finally engaging with the team. “He told me he was hired to get the girl and bring her to a secure location where he’d hand her off for a big payday.”
“More likely, he’d trade her for a bullet to the head,” Cal muttered, and Eric pointed at him.
“So he was doing someone’s dirty work. What does Senator Dorian think?” Selina asked while checking Charlotte’s blood pressure.
Mack kept his gaze trained on the readout and was relieved when her blood pressure was normal.
“He thinks it has something to do with his future bid for the presidency,” Eric said. “Mack’s right. He’s made enemies. There aren’t many politicians who don’t, but Dorian seems especially good at it. Someone saw an opportunity and took it tonight. I shouldn’t have let you go alone to her room.”
Charlotte brushed her free hand at him and sighed. “I thought nothing of it either,” she said, trying to reassure him. “When I took her up there, cops were everywhere. There was no way to know this guy would appear out of nowhere and attempt a kidnapping amid that much law enforcement.”
“It was brazen,” Cal said. “No doubt about it, but there’s nothing we can do until Mina gets me a name and we can look into his past.”
“I doubt it will lead us anywhere. I would bet my month’s salary that he’s got a laundry list of previous convictions and multiple addresses where he’s lived,” Eric said. It was easy to hear the frustration in his tone, which was mirrored in everyone’s body language. It was after 3:00 a.m., and they’d been going for over eighteen hours. Everyone needed rest and food. Good thing their cook turned bodyguard had stocked the kitchen with easy-to-grab meals.
“Most likely,” Cal agreed, “but you know Mina. All she needs is one tiny hint of a path, and she will find where it leads. We trust our team at home until we can get there, which won’t be until tomorrow. Right now, we all need sleep.” Heads nodded, and shoulders slumped at the idea of finally closing their eyes.
“Selina, let’s keep Charlotte—”
A knock on the door interrupted Cal. “I want to talk to you, Newfellow!”
Mack heard Eric swear from the corner, giving him a mental fist bump. Dorian was the last person they needed to deal with right now.
“Let me do the talking,” Cal said, and heads nodded as he opened the door to the senator and his entourage.
Dorian climbed the stairs and stood with his hands on his hips in front of the team. “How in the hell did that happen?” he demanded, pointing behind him. “I pay you exorbitant amounts of money to keep the security tight on this place!”
Cal held up his hand and nodded. “You do, Senator. What happened tonight was unforgivable. I completely understand if you want to cancel your contract with Secure One. We let you down tonight.”
Mack glanced at his boss with surprise and wasn’t entirely sure that Cal didn’t want exactly that to happen. Cal had grown tired of the senator’s dramatics long before tonight. The man was fussy, ornery, demanding and never took the time to understand why or how something did or didn’t work before he flew off the handle.
Ron Dorian’s shoulders dropped an inch when he shook his head before he spoke. “I don’t want to cancel my contract. I realize there were extenuating circumstances tonight that you had no control over. Though, I do want to know how that little thing in the corner was the only one around to save my daughter from a kidnapper!”
He gestured at Charlotte while he glared at the rest of the men in the room. Eric stood and walked toward the man. He wasn’t going to follow Cal’s no-talking order. “She was with your daughter because you put us in a room without access to necessary facilities. Ella is a sixteen-year-old girl who needed a restroom for reasons I don’t think I should go into here. I sent the trained Secure One operative your daughter felt comfortable with and stayed in contact with them the entire time they were gone. I had all the exits covered, meaning no one was getting out of the house without an ID check.” Eric held up his hand to the man who was ready to speak. “And before you ask, we don’t know how he got inside. He may have snuck in when parents were coming and going with their kids. We will search our camera footage for that. When our operative indicated she needed help, I was there in less than twenty seconds to offer her assistance, though I’m sure it felt much longer to her and Ella. You can be unhappy with what happened here tonight, but our team did what we’re trained to do regardless of the situation. So, yes, our trained operative in the corner currently nursing a concussion saved your daughter tonight, as any of us would have.”
Eric faced off with the man for a moment and then stepped back and sat in the chair again. If a pin had dropped, everyone would have heard it. Mack couldn’t remember the last time Eric had stepped up and taken the lead role. He wasn’t sure he picked the right time to do it, but that was between him and Cal.
Dorian turned to Cal. “My daughter wants her,” he said, pointing at Charlotte, “as her bodyguard until this guy is caught.”
“Charlotte is not a bodyguard,” Cal said.
“I don’t care what you call her, but she will be by my daughter’s side until this guy is behind bars.”
“Sir—”
“Don’t sir me,” Dorian said. “Just listen. I want the girl, Mack, and the mouthy one,” he pointed at Eric, “in my house in twenty minutes.”
“I’ll arrange it, sir,” Cal said rather than continue to argue with him. “But Charlotte will need rest tonight. She can’t take charge of your daughter until she is no longer concussed.”
“That’s what he is for,” he said, pointing at Eric again. “We both know she’s in no shape to protect my daughter now, but Eleanor doesn’t, so we’ll let her continue to think Charlotte is her bodyguard while he provides the muscle. I want Mack there because I trust him to keep the perimeter safe.”
“Eleanor is staying at the cabin and not returning to St. Paul?” Mack asked to clarify.
“I don’t want my mother involved in this, so I’m keeping Ella here until they have the guy behind the kidnapping in handcuffs. She’s on spring break this coming week, and if it takes longer than that to find the guy, she will do school online for the duration.”
“I don’t know how long I can be without two of my head men,” Cal said, and Mack could hear in his voice that he was dead serious. Leaving Mack and Eric here meant a heavier workload at Secure One for the rest of the team. At least they wouldn’t have to worry about Dorian’s place, but that still spread them thin.
“Then you better find more guys or tell the police to hurry up. I have to fly to Washington for a vote. I will return to Minnesota once that is completed to prepare for my reelection campaign party. Understood?”
“Understood. I’ll need to brief the team staying here and set them up with equipment in the morning. That means our mobile command will remain here until then.”
“I’ll need to assess Charlotte before we can leave as well,” Selina added.
Mack bit back a smile. Everyone was tired of Dorian pushing them around, it appeared. He noticed that Charlotte had remained silent through the entire exchange. He glanced at her and noticed she was sagging in the chair. She needed rest.
“Dorian, I need a room for Charlotte immediately. She needs rest if she’s going to hang out with Eleanor tomorrow,” Mack said, taking a step forward.
“My staff has already readied a room. I’ll see you there shortly.”
Before anyone could respond, he turned and left the command center, his entourage closing in behind him and following him back to the house. When Mack turned back to the team, they were all awaiting Cal’s orders.
“You heard the man. Mack, carry Charlotte to the house and get her settled.”
“I can walk,” she said, but Mack didn’t like how soft her voice sounded. He glanced at Selina, who gave him a headshake. He’d be carrying her.
“Eric will follow you with bags for the night. Tomorrow, we’ll regroup and figure this out. Nothing we can do until we’ve had some sleep.”
Mack walked over to Charlotte and scooped her into his arms, her cry of surprise weak enough that everyone made way for them as he left the RV. Mack glanced down into the battered face of the woman in his arms and smiled.
“I know you feel like you went ten rounds with Mike Tyson, but remember, you were the hero we needed tonight. I’m so proud of you for not backing down and protecting Ella when she needed it.”
“I’ve been Ella, and no one was there for me, Mack,” she said as she rested her head against his chest. “I righted more than one wrong with a few of those kicks.”
She fell quiet, and soon, her soft even breathing reached his ears. He wanted to rage against the world that she’d had to go through those things, but they had made her the strong determined woman who refused to shrink away from the flame. She had been burned so many times, but she proved to him tonight that she wasn’t afraid to walk right back into the fire when it mattered most.
Her past made her a soldier.
What she’d done tonight made her a hero.