Callum greeted her. “Good to see you again.”
“Callum, what are you doing here?” Kerry’s blue eyes were direct and exuded confidence.
“My office is across the street. I saw a man in a car and thought it was suspicious.”
He had? Hazel looked across the street at the one-story strip mall. One of the spaces must be where Callum worked.
“This is Hazel and Evie Hart,” Callum said. “This is Detective Kerry Wilder. She’s also my brother Rafe’s fiancée.”
Hazel shook the pretty woman’s hand.
“Evie here saw the man when he got out of the car,” Callum said.
“You did?” Kerry asked in a lighthearted tone, crouching before the girl. “What did you see?”
Evie huddled closer to Hazel’s leg, bringing Cookie up to her face. She got bashful sometimes.
“She saw the driver of the car hit another man on the head and put him in the trunk,” Hazel answered for her daughter.
Kerry straightened and began writing on a small notepad.
The detective with Kerry went to take photos of Hazel’s broken mirror while Hazel described the man who had almost run them down. Then she gave the detective his plate number.
“All right. We’re going to talk to neighbors and tenants of the commercial building to see if there are any other witnesses,” Kerry said. “Why don’t you stop by the station later so we can have a sketch artist draw the man you saw?”
Hazel nodded.
“Callum, you should come, too. You can probably help with the description.”
Callum nodded once.
Detective Wilder put away her notepad. “Meanwhile, we’ll have officers on the lookout for this car.”
And whatever he had done with the man in his trunk. Hazel warded off a shiver. If he could hurt someone like that, what would he do to Evie?
“You should be careful until we locate him. Are you or your husband armed?”
“I’m not married,” Hazel said, then saw Callum glance at her at that revelation.
“Maybe you should stay somewhere else,” Kerry said. Then to Callum, “I don’t think they should be alone tonight.”
Callum looked a little startled by the suggestion, or that Kerry had directed the declaration at him, as though he should be the one to take care of them for the night.
“Do you have any family you can stay with?” Kerry asked Hazel.
They were all far away except her brother, but he was a two hour drive from here. She shook her head.
“Friends?”
All out of state. She didn’t know anyone well enough here to impose on them like that. Again, she shook her head. “All my close friends are in Colorado and I haven’t had time to make any here.” She looked down at Evie, who consumed every spare moment she wasn’t working.
“That man could have gotten your plate number the same as you got his. He might have a way to find out where you live,” the detective said. “Maybe I’m being overly paranoid, but I’d rather you be safe.”
That certainly unsettled her.
Detective Wilder smiled. “I’ll let you be on your way. Think about staying somewhere other than your house tonight after we finish up with the sketch, okay? Maybe get a room at the Dales Inn.”
“Okay.”
“What about letting Evie go to the station with Kerry for her safety? In the meantime, I’ll take you home to pack bags for both of you,” Callum said.
Oh. Hazel hated being separated from Evie under such dire circumstances, but her daughter seemed entranced by Kerry’s shiny badge and getting her own detective shield sticker.
Hazel hesitated. “Detective Wilder is the one with the gun...”
Kerry chimed in, “Maybe Callum can help out. He’s an ex-Navy SEAL turned professional bodyguard.”
Evie looked at Callum. “Are you going to catch the bad man?”
Callum didn’t respond, just stared at Evie as though flustered. What about her question had caused such a reaction? He seemed to be frozen.
“What if he comes after us, like you said?” Evie asked.
“I shouldn’t have said that in front of you,” Callum said.
“Honey, Callum isn’t a policeman. He is a bodyguard,” Hazel said.
“What’s a bodyguard?” Evie asked.
“Someone who protects people from bad men,” Callum said.
Evie smiled big and again Hazel noticed a change in Callum, the way his body stiffened. “Then you can protect me and my mommy.”
He smiled down at her. “I’ll try.”
Evie glanced down at her toy. “It’s okay, Cookie,” she said. “You’re all right now. Just remember, it’s wrong to hit and push. You should always be nice to other people.”
Hazel reached over and put her hand on Evie’s. “Now you’re going to the station and I will go home and pack clothing for us.”
“Okay, Mommy.”
It was getting late, past six in the evening. “All right,” Hazel said. “Let’s go.”
Detective Wilder joined her partner and Evie as they walked up the street.
“Let’s go to your place,” Callum suggested.
The abruptness stopped Hazel short. This man was a complete stranger.
“I’d like to talk a little more,” he said. “And Kerry has a point. I’m worried that man will come after you. You got his plate number. He probably got yours. He could find you.”
Why was he so concerned about her? He didn’t even know her. “I’m a newbie with all this. What kinds of people do you usually work with?”
“My next client is Blake Reynolds.”
“The country singer? Really? You must be some bodyguard. Are all your clients celebrities?”
“Oh, all right. Let’s go.”
The police were still working the neighborhood but the emergency vehicles had left a while ago. Callum drove Hazel in silence to her apartment, located above a bakery. Callum had arranged for someone to take her car in for repairs. She had left a key under the mat. She might drive a Mercedes but it
