Married by Monday (Weekday Brides) (13 page)

Like anyone who watched the evening news, Carter knew the damage a police dog could do. What worried him wasn’t that Eliza could stay safe with one at her side, but why she needed him.

“
You really think this is necessary?”

“
It’s an added layer of security we can slip Eliza without too much of a fight. Making her move in with a friend…or a boyfriend to help keep her protected isn’t something she’d agree to easily,” James said.

Dean huffed out an exacerbated breath. “She’s more stubborn than my ex-wife.”

“
Which one?” James asked, laughing.

“
Both.”

“
She’s really in that much danger?”

Dean nodded.

“
And you’re not going to tell me why, or who might be after her?”

“
We’re telling you to give her the dog and watch her back. If anything looks suspicious we need to know.” Dean removed a card from his wallet and handed it over. “If you weren’t running for office, I’d suggest you stick to her like a shadow until we know she’s safe. Your high profile life is what started this mess, and the last thing Eliza needs is more media exposure.”

The sick feeling deep in Carter’s stomach started to spread. He needed answers.

He needed them yesterday.

Carter stood and both men followed. James secured a leash on Zod and offered the other end to Carter.

“
Zod? That’s really his name?” Sounded like a sci-fi god.

Zod responded to his name with a bark.

“
He eats special food. One of the deputies will bring a case of it out to your car.”

A stat call to Roger was in order. Eliza couldn’t be the only one able to call the dog off.

****

“
Witness relocation program.” Roger’s words resonated through Carter’s hands free connection in his car.

“
I should have guessed that earlier,” Carter informed his friend.

“
Digging information up is like peeling layers of duct tape away from each other. You’d be better off going to the source to find answers.”

Carter glanced over to Zod who pressed his nose to the crack in the window for a sniff. He’d tried Eliza’s home, but she wasn’t there. And she wasn’t returning his calls. A message from Blake revealed that Eliza was having lunch with Samantha in Malibu.

“
I don’t know if she’ll talk.”

“
Most don’t. But then, most avoid the spotlight and split once their identity is revealed.”

She hadn’t run. Yet Carter knew she wanted to. He wasn’t positive why she stayed, but he would do his best to keep her rooted in her new life.

Zod grew bored with the world outside the car window and settled into the passenger seat of Carter’s car. The K-9 rested his head on the armrest between them and his cold, wet nose brushed against Carter’s dress shirt. “What do you know about police dogs?”

“
As much as the next cop who doesn’t work with them, why?”

A car behind him honked when he didn’t notice the light at the intersection had turned green. Zod’s eyebrows pitched, but the animal didn’t lift his head.

“
I have one staring at me right now. A present from Eliza’s friends at the station.”

Roger blew out a long-winded whistle. “No shit?”

“
No shit!”

“
That’s huge, Carter. You need to be careful.”

It wasn’t himself he was worried about. “The dog isn’t for me.”

“
I gathered that. If the cops want one of their own with your girlfriend, they believe there is a viable threat. Criminals don’t care who’s caught in the crossfire.”

Carter turned off the overcrowded Pacific Coast Highway en route to his best friend’s estate. “I know the score, Roger. What I don’t know is how to speak German to a dog. I need some direction here.”

“
You’re in the car, right?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Then I’ll have to call you back. Wouldn’t want Fido to misfire.” Roger laughed over the line.

“
His name is Zod.”

Roger laughed harder. “Who says cops don’t have a sense of humor?”

Carter rolled up to the gate and used the remote access he had to the estate. He waved at the cameras as the gate slowly opened to let him pass.

“
Gotta go,” Carter told his friend. “I’ll call you later.”

“
Be careful, governor.”

As Carter clicked off the call, he remembered his campaign and realized how quickly he’d forgotten about it during his concern for Eliza. His gaze shifted to his beautiful distraction’s car parked in the driveway. He smiled at the thought of seeing her again and felt his gut warm. He missed her.

The question was…did she miss him?

Zod strolled along beside him as he walked up the steps to the house and sat when Carter reached the door. One of the housekeepers let him in and only gave the dog a passing glance.

Carter considered leaving Zod outside but decided against it when he saw a gardener walk around the house. Even though he used the leash, Zod stuck to Carter’s side and moved when he did.
Smart.

The housekeeper directed Carter toward the family room. Already he could hear Eliza’s voice mixed with Gwen and Samantha’s. The women were laughing. Something Carter had forgotten about doing for the past few weeks.

Gravity shifted and suddenly he felt very tired. He rubbed a hand over his face before he faced the women.

“
Mrs. Harrison?” the maid called into the room. “Mr. Billing’s is here.”

Samantha darted her gaze to the door, which Carter caught, then his eyes found Eliza and stayed there. Their eyes locked. She appeared drawn, exhausted.

He knew the feeling. “Hey,” he managed before Gwen shoved out of the chair and walked toward him.

“
Carter?” She wrapped her arms around him and kissed both his cheeks before dropping to her knee to address the dog.

A play of emotions crossed Eliza’s face. He supposed his own face mimicked hers. Part hesitation, part excitement. The last time they’d seen each other he’d all but molested her. Okay, he had…not that she’d minded. Still, it met with the question of how he should act now. Carter guessed it would be best to follow the woman’s lead with a room full of spectators.

“
Who’s this?” Gwen asked, oblivious to the emotions rolling inside Carter.

“
A gift,” Carter managed, his eyes never leaving Eliza’s dark, questioning gaze.

“
A gift?”

Eliza blinked a couple of times and dipped her focus to Zod. She sucked in a deep breath, and the smile she’d worn as he’d stepped into the room faded.

“
For Eliza.”

Eliza shook her head and pivoted on her heel.

Samantha joined Gwen and let Zod sniff her hand. “So you know,” Sam said.

Eliza glanced over her shoulder…and waited.

“
I know what?” Carter asked.

Sam glanced up from her crouched position next to the animal and stared at Carter. A brief look to her best friend, and Samantha asked, “What’s his name?”

“
Zod.”

Gwen started to laugh, and Eliza shook her head all the while her back was turned away from the room.

“
Zod?”

The dog barked a few times at the sound of his name. “Don’t look at me,” Carter said. “I didn’t name him.”

“
If you didn’t, then who did?” Gwen asked.

Samantha twisted toward Eliza who refused to look at them. Then he glanced at Gwen’s confused expression.

“
Sam,” Carter started. “Would you…could you and Gwen take Zod so I can talk with Eliza alone for a minute? He could use some water…or something.”

Sam took the hint and reached for the leash. “Sure. C’mon, Gwen.”

Thankfully, Gwen and Sam left the room without question, both chatting as they walked away. Once they were gone, he waited for some outward sign that Eliza knew he was standing there waiting for her to do something…anything.

“
I don’t want him,” she finally spoke.

Not,
I’m not taking him
. Not,
I want you to take him back.

“
Apparently you need him.”

She blew out a quick breath. “Don’t try and pretend you don’t know why.”

She still wasn’t looking at him. Her back was so stiff it must have hurt. She appeared ready to run. Bolt out of the room at the first sign of trouble.

“
I know two things,” Carter started. “A couple of your friends I met the other day asked me to give you the dog.”

She kept shaking her head. “And the second thing?”

“
That the police are trying to protect you.” He left out that he had discovered she was probably a part of the witness relocation program—hoping she would volunteer that information. “I’m not sure why, Eliza.”

Carter took a chance and walked closer. When he was a foot away, he lowered his voice. “What’s going on?” he nearly whispered in her ear.

“
It’s complicated.”

“
I’m a good listener.”

“
They shouldn’t have come to you. I don’t need a guard dog.”

“
Dean said you’d refuse him if he and his partner gave him to you.”

“
Dean would have been right.” Eliza finally turned toward him. Her eyes pierced his. “I still don’t want him.”

“
But you’ll keep him…right?”

Her jaw tightened, her eyes darted toward the door the animal had walked through. “I don’t know.”

Carter placed a hand on her shoulder, and when she didn’t shrug him off, his insides doubled in. Somewhere in the back of her eyes, he noticed fright. It only lasted a minute before it was gone. “For a little while. Please. I can’t be with you all the time.”

“
I didn’t ask— ”

“
And you live alone. Tarzana isn’t the safest city in the valley.”

“
It’s not the worst either,” she defended.

“
Are you going to tell me why? Why Dean and James asked me to give you this dog…why they know you to begin with?”

Eliza swallowed a couple of times, obviously struggling with her words. “They’re being paranoid. Overprotective cops who think everyone is the enemy. They’re cautious is all.”

“
You carry a gun in your purse, Eliza. That’s more than caution.”

She shrugged away from him and moved to the window to stare outside. After a few minutes of silence, she told him what he’d already been told. “I’m part of the witness protection program. Dean and Jim were assigned to my case when I was a kid. The guy they’re worried about is serving a life sentence, so there really isn’t anything to get worked up about. Zod is overkill. I’m not in any real danger or they’d have moved me on by now. They’re just paranoid. Have been since the press conference.”

Carter felt strain in his arms and realized his fists were clenched. Hearing confirmation of his earlier concerns angered him. “Who? Who are they protecting you from?”

“
It isn’t important.”

“
Bullshit.”

She swiveled on him, her hands rested on her hips. “I’ve already told you why. What you’ll probably hear from Blake once he and Samantha talk. I would never ask my best friend to keep this from her husband, and I know you’ll talk to him. But no more, Carter. I see no need to place you or Sam and her family in any more danger.”

“
I can take care of myself.”

“
Maybe you can. But what about Sam? What about Eddie? The witness relocation program isn’t set up for petty theft.”

“
I know that.”

“
Then you know I can’t reveal any more than I have. Against my better judgment, I’m standing here and not running off like a scared rabbit. That doesn’t mean I won’t if there is any real sign that someone is after me.”

“
Dean is giving you a police dog. They’re worried.”

“
Paranoid. Not worried.”

“
What’s the difference?”

“
Because they gave me a dog and not a human escort, that’s why. I know what I’m talking about, Carter. I’ve lived with this my whole life. If there was any real threat they would ambush me and make sure I had twenty-four hour protection until I could disappear or be as protected as the President of the United States.”

Carter wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or upset.

He was uneasy, regardless of her explanation. “You’ll keep the dog?”

“
Will it end this conversation?”

For now.
“Yes.”

“
Fine. I’ll keep the dog.”

Carter accepted it as a small victory. She’d told him some of the truth, and he accomplished the goal of maneuvering a guard dog into her home.

What Eliza didn’t know was that he planned on being beside the dog every moment he wasn’t working. And if he couldn’t be there, then he’d find a way to have others by her side.

Chapter Ten

An impromptu dinner party began once Blake returned home. In truth, Eliza was comfortable with the distraction. Zod sat on the floor between her and Carter and eyed the people at the table. Police dogs like the massive shepherd were trained to ignore offerings of food from strangers, but that didn’t stop
some
people from trying to feed them.