Page 60 of Baby Bodyguard

“What have I done?” Babe whispered as the door closed behind Reggie. “What have I done to lose his trust?”

Sami crossed to her mother’s side. “You haven’t done anything. He doesn’t want to tell you the truth.”

“What truth?” she demanded.

“He’s broke, Mom.”

“Broke?” She spun around. “No. That’s not possible. The advertising business—”

“He sold it when Daddy died.”

“But… why?”

“From what he’s said—which isn’t much—Igather that Dad was the idea man while Uncle Reggie took care of the details. Having seen him work with Widget and the other women, I’d say he excelled at his job. Unfortunately, without the ideas, the details didn’t matter.”

Babe stared in bewilderment. “But the business was worth a fortune. When he sold out, he should have been set for life.”

Sami caught hold of her mother’s hand. “Not if he gave it all away.”

“Gave it away. Who would he…?” Her eyes widened in disbelief. “Oh, no. Oh, please, no.”

“Dad bought the apartment and the house shortly before he died. Pacific Heights. Nob Hill. That’s prime real estate. He used his share of the business as collateral. Uncle Reggie couldn’t bear to see us turned out of our home. He made sure it didn’t happen the only way he knew how.”

“He didn’t take anything?” Her voice broke. “Not a dime?”

“I think he believed he could start over, build a new fortune.”

“And when he couldn’t, he abducted you to recoup some of the money?” Babe shook her head. “No. Idon’t believe it. All he had to do was ask. I’d have given him whatever he needed.”

“I suspect he’d have refused you,” Noah interrupted. “He’s a proud man.”

Anger flared. “But it’s okay to abduct my daughter?”

“That’s not what happened.” Sami wrapped an arm around her mother’s shoulders. “I found out about his money problem years ago, quite by accident due to a mix-up at the bank. One of his business deals had gone sour and they called me, thinking I was his daughter. After that, Ihad a long talk with Bill and learned every time Reggie lands on his feet, an old friend or a new friend or even a total stranger approaches looking for a handout.”

Tears glittered in Babe’s eyes. “He always was a sucker for a hard-luck story,” she chided unevenly.

“You’ve been helping him, haven’t you?” Noah askedSami.

“He wouldn’t take any money at first,” she explained. “So I circumvented Reggie and told Bill to leave me a note whenever their finances became tight. Bill has a rather peculiar sense of humor and would leave these blackmail notes on the hallway table where I’d eventually find them. Whenever one arrived, I’d deposit funds directly into Reggie’s account. But this time, something went wrong. Inever received the message. I’d told Bill in the past that if our wires ever crossed, he was under strict orders to snatch me off the street, if necessary, but to make sure I got to the bank and took care of the problem.”

Noah made the connection from there. “Got it. That’s why Bill said he was following instructions.”

“Widget heard that, did she?” Sami shrugged. “After I transferred the funds over, Icame up here to spend some time with Reggie. He’d been trying to talk to me for ages. He has some fantastic ideas for expanding my work project. Bill’s intervention gave us the perfect opportunity to discuss them.” Sami glanced from Noah to Babe. “So what happened to the notes Bill left?”

Babe clasped her hands together. “I found one in my mail right after I moved out.”

“As soon as she read it, she called me,” Noah added. “I have some experience helping people. Iguess you could say I’ve made a career of it.”

Sami’s narrowed gaze switched from him to her mother and back again. “That’s how you came to be my birthday present?”

Damn. Noah waited for the other shoe to drop. It didn’t takelong.

Anger flashed across her face, hot and furious. “You’re not really a man Friday, are you?”

“No.”

“Then what are you? Who are you?”

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