Page 7 of Daddy's Wild Girl

“And who watches that garbage?” Hayes added with a grumble.

“I think I saw it advertised,” Corbin said, trying to sound more positive. “She’s not still filming it, right?”

Kent waved his hand in the air. “You don’t have to have seen it. And no, the series ended when Bluebelle, the daughter, pulled out and refused to be on it anymore. But after that show ended, Barbara went on to produce several more reality TV shows. Like that one where they deliberately put a group of single people into a scary situation and see how they react. For example, they’d put them on a boat that starts to sink, and they’d have to get on the life raft and paddle to an island.”

“Sounds like riveting stuff,” Hayes muttered. “You couldn’t pay me to watch that. So, is the daughter a troublemaker?”

“Maybe when she was younger. She had a bit of a reputation. But I couldn’t find any recent press about her. Could be a matter of him being overly cautious.”

Corbin grew pensive. “Are you saying we’ll be less bodyguards and more handlers?”

“That’s not what I signed on for,” Hayes added.

“Like I said, there have been some threats against Bluebelle. Enough to worry Benton into putting in a security system at his daughter’s house and leaving her with bodyguards while he’s away for these four weeks. After that, he said he’ll reevaluate and look at his options. I made it clear we can only be there for a month. We’ll work on the security system and guard Bluebelle.”

It seemed simple enough. But he knew that things rarely worked out like that.

“How old is she?” Hayes asked.

“Twenty-five.”

“And she’s agreed to all this?” Corbin asked.

“Yes, I asked him that. He assured me that she has. Apparently, people either loved her or hated her on that show.And she hasn’t done anything on-screen since. I found a tabloid article about a guy she was dating who was only using her for her connections. He said as much on camera. And then her mother played that back for her. Which was also shown on the show.”

Wow. That was some motherly love for you.

Awesome.

“Some crazy shit goes on in the TV and film industry,” Corbin muttered. “I was just reading about how Rhodes Ripley had a stalker who turned out to be his sister’s personal assistant. The personal assistant killed Rip’s agent. Somehow, his ex-girlfriend was involved too. But that part seems to be hush-hush.”

“Lots of crazy stuff happening everywhere,” Kent muttered. “That’s what keeps us in business.”

“So there’s been a few threats against her,” Hayes said. “Some people wrote some awful things about this girl back when she did a shitty reality TV show, and her parents are worried that while they’re out of town, she’ll be attacked?”

“About sums it up,” Kent said. “And try to be discreet about it all. We don’t need the press catching on that there might be a story here.”

“Doesn’t sound like much of a story,” Hayes muttered.

“Our job is to keep Bluebelle safe.”

“This sounds like a fun job. Glad I left the SEALs for this. I’ll go pack.” Hayes stormed out.

Kent sighed.

“I don’t know about this,” Corbin said. “Are you sure about me going? About him?”

“Zeke is worried about Hayes. He thought . . . well, after leaving the SEALs, he was worried that he wouldn’t have anything to keep him going. Grounded. That he might become increasingly reckless. And he’ll be good at this job. He’s got the skills; it’s just that he . . . well, his people skills aren’t quite there. That’s why you’ll be good for him.” Kent grinned at him.

Corbin rolled his eyes. “Yeah? Sure you don’t want to send him out with Jed?”

Kent grimaced. “God, could you imagine the two of them together? No. Lennox would be better, but he’s on another job with Dominic in New York.”

Dominic didn’t like to be away from Gwen anymore, but she’d gone with him to New York for this job so she could see her best friend, Reuben.

Lennox had worked for JSI for about six months. He was quiet and secretive but still had more social adeptness than Hayes.

“And if I sent him to Zander . . . well, either they’d kill each other or become the best of friends.”

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