Page 32 of More than a Memory
“Oh Sam! I’m so confused right now. I’m on a rollercoaster of feelings. I don’t know if I’m coming or going,” she admitted.
“How about neither. How about the worddwelling?” he said, putting his arm around her shoulders and hugging her against his side. “That way you’re here with me in this moment and I have you all to myself. I’m not watching you come or go, I’m just with you now. Don’t push the river, Darcy. You don’t have to always figure everything out. It never goes the way you think it’s going to anyway. If you go looking too far ahead, it will only freak you out. Just be with me. I’ve got you.” He leaned down and kissed her nose, loving the sprinkle of freckles.
“I like the sound of that, Sam Parker,” Darcy said.
* * *
Sam dropped Darcy off after midnight, and she quietly let herself in, careful not to make too much noise and disturb Annie. She let the wild pack out and put the kettle on, hoping a hot cup of chamomile tea would calm her nerves. She was crawling out of her skin with confusion and desire. After dinner, they had curled up on his couch to watch a movie and had both fallen asleep in each other’s arms. It had been way too comfortable for Darcy. She felt like she was home, and that terrified her. Sam had kept the sexual heat at a simmer, much to Darcy’s disappointment. When he had dropped her off, they shared a deep goodbye kiss, and that was that. Did he have any idea how much she desired him?
She knew that they were opposites when it came to the dating arena. He wanted intimacy and commitment and she wanted a casual lover. She thought he believed that if he were patient enough, she would change her mind and open herself up to a deeper connection. Darcy knew otherwise. She would never again take the risk of heartbreak and losing one’s most precious treasure. The raw, unending sorrow she had experienced after the loss of Ryan had been nearly unbearable. So what if she had the occasional yearning for an everlasting love? She had learned to put those needs neatly in a box, and they rarely surfaced … until Sam. Damn the man. He had managed to slip beneath her armor without her knowledge or consent, and now here she was miserably scrambling to do damage control.
She would just have to remind him that she was serious when she said that they had no permanent future together. He had to either accept that or move on. Better to end it now than to get in too deep. The wedding was next weekend and they had a date for that, but no other plans had been made. Just as well. Time for her to re-center and focus on her life and career. She vowed she would quit mooning over this charming, handsome, kind, funny, sexy man. If he wasn’t interested in a lover, there were plenty of men who would be! Satisfied with her decision, she drank the last of her tea and, leading the parade with three canines falling in-line behind, she headed for bed. Just as she was drifting off to sleep, her cell phone pinged, signaling a text message.
Sam: I’m cold and my bed is too big! I’m wishing you were here in my arms, Shamrock. I hope I’m your last thought before you drift off to sleep. I know you will be mine. Sweet dreams and quit worrying.
He is freaky, Darcy thought. How was it that he always knew what she was thinking and feeling? She couldn’t contain the excited fluttering in her pulse. She fell asleep with a smile on her lips and in her heart, despite herself.
15
Monday turned out to be a miserable, dreary, and soggy day. Driving to her office, Darcy found herself thinking that everything seemed flat without Sam there. Not good! Not good at all! She would have to do something about that. As it turned out, she had received an early morning phone call from a new client wanting to see her immediately, so she had a temporary distraction to be thankful for.
It was Freddie’s turn to join her today, and they arrived at the office early. She was glad to see that she still had plenty of time to put on a pot of coffee and power up her computer. She printed out a client intake form for him to fill out and attached it to a clipboard. Other than his name, he had offered no further information in their brief phone conversation, which seemed rather mysterious. Naturally, her curiosity was up and her antenna wires on high alert.
From years of habit, she reflexively touched her holster, not even realizing that she did so. Glancing at her watch, she noted that he was already 10 minutes late. She sure hoped this wasn’t going to be a no-show! That would be beyond annoying. Just as she was getting ready to dial the number from her caller ID, the front door jingled and a heavily-built man walked into her office.
He looked as if he were deliberately in disguise, with a baseball hat pulled low over his brow, dark glasses, a closely shaved dark beard, and a scarf wrapped around his neck. From the little glimpse of his face you could see, he appeared to be Caucasian. He sported a tan bomber jacket, khaki jeans, and nondescript brown shoes that had seen better days. When he greeted Darcy, his voice was raspy, like a two-pack-a-day cigarette addict.
“Hello, I’m Darcy Morgan. You must be Mitch?” She held out her hand for a shake.
“Yes, Mitch. Mitch Davis. Thank you for seeing me on such short notice.”
“Have a seat,” Darcy said, waving at the chair in front of her desk. “Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“Yes. I take mine black.”
Of course you do, Darcy thought. “Here, you can start filling this out,” she said, handing him the clipboard as she walked to the coffee maker. She poured a generous amount of brew into a large ceramic mug and a cup for herself as well. Adding cream and sugar to her own, when satisfied that it was sweet enough, she returned to her desk to face Mr. Davis. Freddie had settled by her side on his orthopedic bed.
Looking up from the intake form he was filling out, he said, “I know this sounds bad, but my address at the moment is a Motel 6. I’ve been holed up there for the last couple of days. I have $5,000 in cash on me for a retainer fee. I hope that is enough?” he asked.
“Well, first, let’s have a conversation about what you are hiring me for, then we will talk about my fees,” Darcy suggested.
“I have to know that this is completely confidential and that anything I tell you will not go any further than between you and me,” he requested.
“My work is only protected if the main purpose is for litigation, or if I’m hired by an attorney and therefore covered by their privacy shield, otherwise any facts uncovered could be subject to disclosure at some point,” Darcy said. “Having said that, of course I keep the information you share with me between us, unless I have to use it to help fulfill my obligation to you, or in the event that I am subpoenaed. Might I say, that the undercover look makes you even more conspicuous,” she added kindly.
“You’re probably right, but I didn’t know what else to do. I came here by Uber and had them drop me off about three blocks away. I know I wasn’t followed, but I felt I still wanted to be incognito just in case. Look, Darcy, may I call you Darcy?” he asked.
“Of course.”
“I think someone might be trying to kill me,” he said as if talking about the weather.
“What?” Darcy sputtered. “Why do you think that?” Darcy got up quickly to lock the front door and pull the blinds.
“I’ve been working as a bodyguard for the last ten years. I’m ex-military, special forces,” he said proudly. “I was hired by my current boss, Conrad Cohen, about eight years ago, and after he got married, I mostly protect his wife. Sometimes I’m called to guard Conrad, or the two of them together at special events and public appearances. She is much younger than he is, and quite the stunner! She is also alone most of the time due to his demanding travel schedule. Over the course of my time working for the boss, I have witnessed, how should I say this … some indiscretions on his part. I also know that he treats her more like a possession than a wife. My job is to protect Gina, not to be anyone’s priest, so up until now I have kept the judgments to a minimum and my nose out of it. However, recently, the tables reversed, and she took a lover. It started about nine months ago, give or take, seemed to be much more serious than a casual fling. I can’t say I blame her. Recently, I overheard her and the lover-boy fighting, and it got heated, so I was left to ponder whether I was keeping the peace by not telling my boss or risking my own ass by keeping quiet. You see my dilemma here, right?”
“Go on,” Darcy commanded.
“Well about two weeks ago, after a particularly heated argument between Gina and her lover, I happened to run into him as he was leaving the house. I decided to intervene on behalf of Mr. Cohen, and I told him if he didn’t break it off with Gina, that I would be notifying my boss about the affair. Not that I would have really gone through with it, but at that time I felt like I needed to put a stop to it, for Gina’s sake as well as Mr. Cohen’s,” he explained.