Stonewall had been assigned to Shep’s youngest son, Dalton. He was the real challenge, since Dalton was a party animal who liked frequenting the clubs. He liked women. At times had a restless soul and would eliminate fidgeting by driving that sports car, sometimes breaking the speed limit, on the interstate during the middle of the night when most police officers were somewhere getting their fill of donuts and coffee.
Tonight had been Stonewall’s grandmother’s seventieth birthday, and his sister had thrown a private party at a local restaurant. She’d threatened to do him bodily harm if he didn’t show up. He’d been replaced tonight with Bobby Turner. It wasn’t that Bobby wasn’t good or dependable, but he was young and not as experienced.
“Your gut feeling is probably nothing more than exhaustion, Stonewall. You, Quasar and Striker have been protecting Shep’s sons for over a month now with barely a break.”
Stonewall remembered when they’d begun. It was right after Sheppard Granger had received a mysterious email on the prison computer, warning him that his three sons’ lives were in danger. He’d told his attorney, Carson Boyett, to hire bodyguards, and she’d called Roland. Since Roland, who’d also been an inmate in jail with them at one time, had known of their relationship with Shep, he had mentioned it to them, and they’d readily taken the job.
“You could be right,” Stonewall said, sliding into the chair across from Roland’s desk. “But I’d rather not leave just yet. Think I’ll grab a few hours of sleep downstairs.”
Roland had a cot room for any of his men who needed power naps between jobs. “Okay. You aren’t scheduled to switch off with Bobby until the morning. But if it makes you feel better, I’ll check with Bobby to see how things are going,” Roland said, picking up the phone.
Bobby answered on the first ring, and Roland placed the call on speaker. “Got Stonewall here. We just want to know how your night is going.”
“Boring as shit,” Bobby replied. “The best part was trying to keep up with him on the expressway and not be seen. He finally decided to call it a night, thank goodness. However, I did notice a car parked across the street with the engine running when we pulled up. I planned to check it out but didn’t have to.”
“Why?” Roland asked. “Did the person drive off?”
“No, it was a woman making a booty call to Granger.”
Stonewall frowned as he eased up out of his chair. “How do you know that’s what she was doing?”
“Because he opened the door for her and before she could get inside he was shoving his tongue down her throat.” Bobby chuckled.
Stonewall shook his head. “During all my time guarding Dalton Granger, there’s never been a woman to show up at his place.”
“Then she must be hot enough to earn an invitation,” Bobby countered. “Even though she was wearing a coat, I could tell she’s hot. Besides, there’s a first time for everything, and like I said, she didn’t force her way inside. From what I saw, he was already kissing her before the door slammed shut.”
“I don’t like it. Is she still there?” Stonewall asked, beginning to pace again.
“Yep. And she probably won’t be leaving for a while yet. I figured after giving his living room a good workout they’ll head for the bedroom and—”
Suddenly, a commotion and loud voices could be heard in the background. A woman was shouting an order to Bobby, “Get out of the car. Now!”
Roland glanced over at Stonewall, who was already rushing toward the door. “I’ll call Carson on the way there. She’ll want to know about this,” he said, grabbing his gun from the top desk drawer and quickly following Stonewall.
Five
Bobby Turner found it hard to think with two Glocks staring him in the face. What the hell happened? How had his cover been blown? And from the questions the two were firing at him, it had been blown to smithereens. He recognized the man as Dalton Granger, the person he was supposed to be protecting. However, he had no idea who the woman was, other than the one he’d assumed had been making a booty call.