Bare Facts Read Free

the first glimpse of the woman he’d read about on paper. “Very well. When are we leaving?”
    “In an hour. I have one last meeting in a few minutes.”
    “I’m going to check out the suite. How confident are you that your security team can protect you?”
    “I hired you, didn’t I?”
    “You don’t give much away, do you?”
    “It doesn’t pay in my business.”
    “Well, I’m your new best friend if you want to stay alive, so consider sharing with me,” she said.
    “Honey—”
    “Please don’t call me that. You may address me as Ms. Keone or Charity.”
    “Charity, then, I’m not the sharing type,” he said. She might play at being tough as nails, but he was damned sure he would have to protect her if they got into any trouble.
    What the hell was Sam Liberty doing hiring a woman like her?
    “Wait here,” he said, turning his back on her. He sent a message via his BlackBerry to Sam Liberty.
    I need a bodyguard, not a distraction. Please send a replacement ASAP .
    There was a rap on the door and he moved to open it. But Charity got there first, stopping the door from opening all the way, using her body to shield the room.
    “How can I help you?” she asked.
    “I need to speak to Mr. Williams,” Alonzo said.
    “What’s your name?”
    “Alonzo MacAfee. Tobias Jenner is here to see Mr. Williams.”
    Daniel walked over to Charity and tried to scoot past her. She stopped him with a hand on his arm.
    “Mr. Williams, I need to secure the room before you enter it.”
    She definitely was going through all the motions of what he thought a bodyguard should. His BlackBerry twittered and he glanced at the message from Sam.
    Keone is the best I know .
    “I’m not going to need a bodyguard.”
    “Alonzo,” Charity said, “please give us a moment. Have you searched Mr. Jenner?”
    “Yes, ma’am. And this room is secure.”
    She nodded at Alonzo and then closed the door, leaning back against it. She crossed her arms over her chest.
    “Why don’t you need a bodyguard? Has the threat to you passed?”
    “No, but I think I can handle this myself. In fact, I have from the beginning.”
    “Give me twenty-four hours to change your mind.”
    “Why?”
    “I don’t want to see you make a stupid mistake because you don’t think I can do my job.”
    He refused to lie to her. “You’re right—I don’t believe you are capable of protecting me. I think you’re probably really great at protecting celebrities on the red carpet because you blend in with the Hollywood crowd, but in my line of work, on this assignment, you’re out of your league.”
    “What will it take to change your mind?” she asked.
    “You can’t,” he said.
    “Let me contact Sam.”
    She turned on her heel and left the main room of the suite and went to the little alcove just inside the main doorway.
    He watched her go, wishing he was at a different point in his life where he could have indulged himself by keeping her around as his bodyguard.

Chapter Two
    If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you.
    —Gospel of Thomas
    C harity knew it was going to take more than divine scripture to save Daniel. He was stubborn and too sure of himself. She wasn’t sure why she was surprised that Daniel didn’t want her as his bodyguard. It wasn’t the first time.
    “Please contact your boss.”
    She smiled tightly at him and turned away, pulling her BlackBerry from her pocket.
    : DW wants me to leave him unguarded.
    : Give me a few minutes and I’ll talk to him. We are still on the job.
    : I’ll stay. But he’s resistant to safety measures.
    : I have faith in you.
    : Thanks.
    “Sam will be contacting you shortly. I can’t leave until he pulls me off the job. Until then we’ll operate with me as bodyguard.”
    “I don’t have time to wait; I’m expecting a colleague for a meeting in a few minutes. In fact, you’ve left him standing in the hall.”
    He glanced down at