Page 5 of Not the Bodyguard's Baby
Adam complied and sat in front of the desk.
“First off, I believe you. If you say you are not the father, you’re not. But that doesn’t change what the note says. Since the police didn’t leave with the baby, I presume you didn’t deny paternity.” Jethro raised his brows, waiting for Adam to answer the unasked questions.
“Assuming the child is September’s and not part of some weird stunt, she must have been desperate to name me as the father and then leave the baby here. It doesn’t make much sense, even if this is one of her manager’s stunts. I don’t see what the endgame would be. If they want publicity, there are a dozen A-listers she could pin paternity on. I’m a nobody bodyguard. No money or anything.”
“There is your sister and her husband.” His sister Abbie’s marriage into one of the wealthiest families in the United States had taken her from guarding others to being guarded. To the best of Adam’s knowledge, they’d received no more threats than any of the others in Chicago’s elite.
Adam shook his head. “Why bring them into it? There is no reason for Preston and Abbie to pay to keep this quiet. September is hardly the first star to deliver a child out of wedlock. Could this be something to discredit Hastings Security?”
“Maybe. Do you know who has September’s security contract now?”
“After I quit, her manager, Shyla, hired a security firm out of LA. I heard she fired them the week September checked into rehab. I have heard nothing official since.”
Jethro leaned forward. “For September being a former client, you’re keeping pretty good tabs on her...”
Again, his father hadn’t asked a question. This time Adam refused to be baited. He’d lost his heart long before the night he’d lost his head and kissed September. His head might be back on straight, but his heart remained in recovery. The resemblance of the baby to her mother was making him lose his heart all over again. He couldn’t help following what September was doing in the news. Every time he surfed social media, he sought out information about her, even after swearing he wouldn’t. There had been very little media about September for months now. The only recent news indicated the possibility of a tour in the fall and a pending movie contract.
Jethro frowned. “I don’t like this. I wasn’t comfortable with the whole rehab thing, either. What job were you heading up?”
“I’ve been helping Andrew set up security for Ogilvie’s and spelling off Alex on the Crawfords. They intertwine the
two jobs.”
“I’m pulling you off both. Consider the baby a client, since whatever is going on, she is the only innocent party. May as well move in at our house. Your mother will be back tomorrow. Your apartment isn’t big enough for the two of you.”
“I thought Mom would be out with Grandma another week.” Not that he would turn down any help.
“When I called and informed her you were a father, she changed her plans. There is a port-a-crib in Abbie’s old room. Your mother has been collecting things at garage sales for years in anticipation of being a grandmother. May as well get some use out of them.”
“Who exactly am I guarding the baby against?”
“That is something you will need to figure out. I don’t want any PIs on this. We handled September’s parents’ security before their deaths and September’s until last year. I feel I owe them as much privacy as we can give them after two decades of working with them. I will discreetly ask around to find out who she currently employs. It will be helpful if we can at least figure out where she is living, as I assume it isn’t some Puget Sound detox center as her website claims.” Jethro stood and came around the desk. “Keep me in the loop. I still think of September as family. I’ll have Elle screen and forward your calls to your cell.”
“Thanks, I’ll see you later.” Adam returned to his office. Elle sat in his desk chair with the baby.
“I’m going to my parents’ house with her. Was there anything besides the diaper bag and the car seat?” Adam gathered up the items he’d pulled out of the bag earlier.
“Only the letter. I scanned it and put the original in a file.”
He folded the changing mat. “Did you clean this?”
Elle nodded.
“Thanks. Remind me to send you flowers for putting up with me today.”
She chuckled. “It will cost you more than flowers, which I would end up ordering myself anyway.”
“Probably right, which reminds me... Where do I get more diapers and stuff?”
“The same place you order groceries. I assume you order groceries. Alan does.” She laid the baby in the car seat and buckled the harness. Adam adjusted the buckle and shifted the baby in the seat, then tucked a blanket around her.
“Where did you learn how to do that?” asked Elle.
“The baby-safety class we took before the Crawfords had Joy. Properly putting a child in a car seat requires attention to detail. There wasn’t a base with this carrier, was there?”
“No. Should there be?”
“I can secure the seat in my SUV without it, but using the base would be better.”
