Chapter Five
Birch was forced to go to the hospital and get stitched up before the police let him go. He promised to call if he thought of any other details, frustrated the man had slipped from him and that the vehicle was stolen. The police had promised him, many times, that Allison would be protected and go into protective custody if she couldn’t hire her own private security. Knowing the stalker was still at large and that the guy apparently knew where she lived and had been leaving notes for weeks didn’t sit right with him. He knew the Sticky Notes Stalker was targeting many actresses, but the police didn’t have any information that he’d attacked any others. It scared him for her sake. Birch was invested in Allison, whether he wanted to be or not.
He’d crept around his parents’ house earlier and finally slipped out a side entrance when he heard Bermuda in the entryway with his sister asking if he was around. Why she wanted to speak with him he couldn’t say but he’d hurried to escape so he could meet Allison and now he was in no frame of mind to deal with Bermuda if she was still there waiting for him.
He walked the quiet streets of Dana Point. The only useful thing the police had given him was her name: Allison Bradford. He’d never heard of her, but he avoided celebrity gossip and rarely went to movies. He liked her name. It wasn’t an actress name. Her name was nice, solid, pretty. She was so much more than any of those descriptors. And he’d completely offended her. Yet what choice did he have?
He knew it wasn’t right or fair to judge all actresses from his life experiences, family members and their friends, but he had to. He’d promised his brother long ago, right before Blade had died and right after Bermuda had trampled on Birch for the last time, that he’d never date an actress. Why now was he yearning to be around Allison more, get to know her, give her a chance? She was sugar and spice. He smiled thinking about her flirting so cute with him and then slugging him in the gut, then he frowned thinking about that loser pinning her down in the sand.
Yanking his phone out he sank onto a city bench and Googled her name. Lots of pictures came up. She was gorgeous and had a string of different men circling their arms around her in various shots. He didn’t like the pictures of her with other men. He didn’t like the ones with her caked in makeup. He liked the pictures of her that were candid, with minimal makeup, and by herself. He didn’t question why. He knew he couldn’t date an actress and was only indulging his craving for more information about her.
Her latest film had been a big one that would release soon, a highly anticipated romantic comedy with none other than Scarlett Lily. The famous actress with a Navy SEAL husband, Griff Quinn. Scarlett Lily was one of the few in Hollywood he respected. He appreciated what the lady was trying to do, be a proponent of and only act in clean movies that encouraged a high moral standard—no sex, nudity, drugs, or foul language, and minimal violence. It was impressive, but Scarlett was fighting a losing battle. In Birch’s vast experience, Hollywood was a corrupt, foul place.
His phone rang, saving him from staring at pictures of Allison all night. Not that he would’ve minded, but he needed to escape that rabbit hole. He could never get sucked in by an actress again and as bad as he’d ticked her off, he doubted he’d see her again, especially with what she was dealing with right now. He hoped the police would keep her safe from that stupid stalker. He touched the twelve stitches on his abdomen. Not a big deal, minimal compared to other injuries throughout his military career, but enough of a distraction that the guy had gotten away. That ticked him off.
“Isaac,” he greeted his friend and team leader warmly. When they weren’t on base, on assignment, or deployed, Isaac insisted on not being called “Captain Jewel”.
“How are you, Professor?” Isaac asked just as warmly. The entire squad teased Birch because of the proper speaking that had been drilled into him as a child.
“Fabulous,” he lied. “Living the dream.”
Isaac chuckled. “So no desire to leave Southern Cal and take a side job for a few weeks?”
Birch perked up instantly. The only reasons he wanted to stay in Southern California were the weather, the ocean, and a beautiful woman who was off limits and wanted nothing to do with him. He definitely needed to leave. “I could be persuaded. What’s the assignment?”
“You’re on a three-way call,” Isaac explained. “My brother-in-law needs a security specialist he can trust. It seemed ideal that you’re not only in the area and have leave time, but are also one of the men I trust completely.”
“Thank you.” Birch was touched by his words.
“Abe?” Isaac said. “You there?”
“I’m here,” a different deep voice said. “Pleasure to meet you, Birch. Isaac speaks very highly of you.”
“Thank you, sir.” The guy didn’t intimidate Birch, few people ever had, but something about his voice inspired respect.
“No on the sir,” Abe said. Birch got the sense that under normal circumstances the guy would be an upbeat, go-getter type of person, but something was obviously wrong. “The assignment is protecting my sister.” Birch liked that he got straight to the point. “She’s in Southern Cal as well and the police have recently informed me that she’s been a target of the Sticky Notes Stalker for the past three weeks and the guy attacked her tonight. She only escaped because of the quick actions of a military hero on the beach.”
The hair on Birch’s arms was standing on end. He swallowed and asked, “What’s her name?”
“Allison. Allison Bradford.”
Birch cursed.
“Excuse me?” Abe said.
“Birch?” Isaac’s voice.
“My apologies. I would be willing to protect your sister.” What was he saying? Blade would be cursing him from heaven if he knew Birch was not only interested in this woman but willing to spend more time with her. He could stay strong though, right? He wanted to protect her to make sure that guy, or no one else, hurt her. It was just an assignment. He could stay immune to an assignment.
“But I am certain she won’t appreciate the arrangement.” Here was Birch’s escape valve. “You see …” He cleared his throat, stood, and started pacing the sidewalk. “I may have offended her earlier tonight.” There was no “may have” about it. He knew he’d ticked her off. He pushed at his short, curly hair. “The truth is I said some … things about actresses and she punched me in the gut.”
Birch wasn’t sure what reaction he’d expected but a deep chuckle from Allison’s brother wasn’t it. “That’s my sister. Always the feisty one. Did you deserve the punch?”
“Yes sir, I did.”
“I like your honesty.”
“Birch is honest to a fault,” Isaac said. “Which is why I know he’ll answer my next question truthfully.” He paused and Birch dreaded the next question. “Were you the military man who protected her?”