Tanner kicks the door wide open, causing me to jump backwards from the shock. A little warning would have been nice.
As I stay back wondering if I should follow Tanner in or not, a shrill scream enters my ears. I’m stunned for a second at how high-pitched the screaming sounds. That’s not a guy. There’s a woman in there.
I order my legs to follow Tanner. As soon as I get to the door, I find him with his gun raised and aiming at the last person I expected to see today, my friend Mia.
“My God, put that stupid gun away,” I say, rushing to hug my best friend.
“I’m so sorry,” I tell her, kissing her cheek a couple of times to calm her.
“What’s happening?” Mia says, shaking a little in my arms.
Where do I begin? “We thought someone had broken in,” I tell her to keep the message as simple and comprehensible as possible.
“We?” Mia bends her face at Tanner, half-terrified, half-curious.
“Yeah… Mia, this is Tanner, my bodyguard. Tanner, this is Mia.”
I expect her to fall into stunned silence or maybe laugh at this, not believing a word I’m saying. Instead, she furrows her brow as she takes a closer look at stoic, ferocious Tanner.
“Your bodyguard? That’s hot,” she says.
“No, that’s not hot,” I tell her, freeing her of my hug finally. “That would be actually horrible. Are you serious, Mia? You should be traumatized after the shock of having a gun in your face.”
“I am,” she says, “but being shocked can be interesting.”
I take a peek at Tanner, wondering how this girlie talk is affecting him. He doesn’t even blink. His eyes focus on the wall behind Mia and me as if we don’t even exist.
“I’m sorry we frightened you. I thought you’d be in Europe still,” I say to change subjects, leading Mia to the couch.
“Do you even check your phone anymore?”
I do, I just assumed all the messages she left the past few days would be pretty much identical to the first twenty ones she sent: Spain is cool but Spaniards are hot, or, What a hell of a hangover… AGAIN!!!
“I’m such a terrible friend. I’m sorry, Mia. Behind on messages.” Now that we’re more relaxed, I notice she has a new haircut and a lighter color. Her new short bob cut makes her cute face glow even more.
“I’ll forgive you if you tell me what the hell is going on. I mean, I’ve used the key you gave me hundreds of times before and it never led to a bodyguard holding me at gunpoint.”
“It’s as messed up as it sounds. I’m not sure you want to know.”
“For fuck’s sake, tell me everything. Start with Jaxson Cole. Last time we talked you were ready to jump his bones and then… nothing. I’ve emailed, texted, no answer. I’m dying to know, did you do it or not?”
I turn to Tanner. “Would you mind giving us some privacy?”
He takes his time to think about this. Mia pinches my arm as we wait, trying to contain a chuckle. His seriousness is too much for her.
“I can’t go far,” he says. “This is not a secure location.”
“What about the kitchen?”
We watch him lift his shirt and tuck the gun in a hidden holster. His abs are all bulging muscle. He nods before walking to the kitchen.
“Wow, just wow,” Mia says as she watches his behind. “He could shock me in so many interesting ways.”
“Mia. I’m sure he heard that.”
“Perfect,” she says, giggling. “All right, your turn. Spill.”
I take a deep breath in. “First things first, my father’s back.”
Her eyes widen so much I think they’ll pop out. “That’s awesome. Right?”
I shake my head. Wrong. In fact, she couldn’t be more wrong. So I tell her everything. She listens closely, getting more and more restless.
“So you see,” I conclude, “it’s not safe for you to be around here.”
She’s speechless. When she finally talks, it’s only a half-sentence she can manage. “This is just so…”
I’m about to help her finish her thought when Tanner barges in the living room holding his gun again. A second later, there’s a knock at the door. How the hell did he know that was going to happen? He has canine hearing.
“Everybody just relax,” I whisper, glaring at Tanner.
“Who is it?” I say, walking to the door.
“Rick Esposito.”
Oh, shit. I walk back to Tanner. “It’s the police,” I say in a voice so low I can only hope he’s heard me.
He has and quickly returns to the kitchen.
“What’s going on now?” Mia says.