Page 1 of Wyoming Bodyguard
Chapter 1
Madden McKay scrubbed a palm over the scruff along his jawline and studied the information on his computer screen. The numbers made his head hurt, but he couldn’t look away. Not until he figured out how to stretch the limited amount to pay the bills at Sunrise Security for another month.
An impossible feat if he couldn’t drum up more work.
Pushing away from his cluttered desk, he blinked the barrage of rows and columns from his brain and stared out the lone window in his office. His view of Main Street showcased a cluster of mom-and-pop shops with colorful awnings stretched onto the sidewalk and hand-painted murals celebrating the town of Cloud Valley, Wyoming, on the storefront windows.
But it was the mountains in the distance that called to him. That made his blood hum, and he wished he could shut off the damn computer and enjoy the land that was a part of his soul.
Sighing, he pinched his nose and refocused on the computer screen. Working outside on the ranch where he grew up, the mountains his constant backdrop, wasn’t an option anymore so no use daydreaming about what might have been. Especially when he had a struggling security business he needed to save.
Sunrise Security had given him purpose when he’d returned from The US Marine Corps a few years before, broken and with no direction. He couldn’t let the business fail—couldn’t let down his partner, Reid Sommers, who’d stood beside him month after month to make this new dream a reality.
A sharp knock on his open door lifted his head.
Reid stood in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest and concern in his narrowed gaze. His gray T-shirt matched the color of the walls. “How ya doing, boss?”
Madden rolled his eyes. “I told you not to call me that. We’re partners. Evenly split in this whole mess.” He picked up the pile of unpaid bills then let them fall back down.
Reid shrugged then crossed the room to sit in the single black bucket chair in front of the desk. “Not from where I sit. You’ve got a lot more to lose—a lot more invested.”
“And most of the reason for our financial issues is my fault.”
“Dude, you’ve poured your blood, sweat and tears into this place. Things will turn around. We’ve gotten a few more clients this past month.”
Madden huffed out a frustrated breath. “Yeah, two ranchers who want us to install cameras on their property to catch cattle rustlers. We need more consistent work. Higher paying jobs. People in this town don’t trust me to protect them—protect their property—and my bad reputation is taking you down with me.”
Reid ran a hand thought his shaggy brown hair then leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. “We both knew it’d take time. We knew people here would hold some resentment after your father sold a parcel of land from McKay Ranch to developers. But maybe if people understood why he sold part of the land they’d be a little more forgiving.”
“Not gonna happen.” No one except him and his dad knew the full reason his dad had to off-load a big chunk of the ranch. Neither of them wanted those reasons to be public knowledge.
Reid frowned but nodded. “That’s your choice and I respect it. But the fact remains, something’s got to give.”
Madden sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Whether folks around these parts like me or not, I know them. They’re stubborn as hell, and in their eyes, selling family land to out-of-towners is an unforgivable sin. No matter the reason.”
“You knew that before we decided to set up shop here. You were confident you could change minds. That you could show you care about Cloud Valley and what happens here—that you want to protect the folks you’ve known your whole life. We can still make that happen. We just have to figure out how.”
Listening to Reid speak reminded him of his reason behind returning to his hometown despite the dirty looks and snide remarks. He had something to prove not only for himself, but for his dad and brother as well.
With a surge of determination, Madden rose to his feet and swiped his black cowboy hat from the coatrack shoved in the corner. “You’re right, and moping around locked up in my office isn’t going to help a damn thing. We need to show everyone we’re a part of this community, and we ain’t going anywhere.”
Reid clapped his hands then rubbed them together before standing. “Hell yeah. That’s what I’ve been waiting to hear. My boy’s got some fight back in him. What’s the plan?”
A quick glance at the clock ticking away on the wall showed him it was lunchtime. “We’re heading to Tilly’s Bar and Grill.”
“Not sure what you plan to do at Tilly’s to help drum up more work, but I’m down for a burger and fries.”
“We’re buying more than that today my friend.” Madden slapped a hand on Reid’s shoulder then strolled down the narrow hallway, which spilled out to the lobby.
Reid dipped into his own office, situated directly across from Madden’s, then appeared with a tan cowboy hat covering his mop of hair.
Peggy Reynolds, the receptionist Madden had mostly inherited with the rental space, ate her packed lunch at the sitting area in the middle of the room. She’d laid her plastic containers on the coffee table in front of her, balancing a peeled clementine on her knee while reading one of the magazines usually splayed where her lunch now rested.
“Where are you boys off to? Got a hot new assignment?” Peggy popped off a wedge of her clementine and slid it into her mouth, smearing a bit of the pink lipstick that always painted her lips. She wore her gray hair straight and to her shoulders, her bifocals on the top of her head keeping the locks from spilling on her lightly wrinkled face.
“It’s May in Wyoming,” Madden said. “Everything we do is hot.”
Peggy flicked a finger toward her desk, situated where it was the first thing a customer saw when they walked in the door. “Madden, Dax called and left a message. Not sure why that boy refuses to just call your cell, but so be it. I left the note by the phone.”
