“Would you still do this job if there was?”
“I enjoy the work. I suppose it would depend on the woman,” he said after a moment. “There are other facets of my work besides safe-house level protection detail.”
She liked his thoughtful answers. They crossed the narrow footbridge over the dunes and the breeze off the ocean was more energizing than a cup of coffee. “I’m not sure I could handle a boyfriend who had to spend time isolated like this. Especially not a boyfriend with a secret weapon like your smile.”
“Thank you?” he replied, with a question in his voice.
“Yes, it was a compliment.” She paused to roll up the hem of her jeans and Carter did the same. Her feet sank into the loose sand. She twisted a little bit, savoring the natural massage of the sand before moving closer to the tide line. “Your smile is the thing I remember from that day on the beach,” she said. “It was how I finally recognized you at the house.”
“I don’t remember smiling much during either conversation.”
“It’s a professional smile you use. Polite, yet firm. You must’ve hoped we’d be reasonable with the dog.”
“You were. And I thank you for it.”
“Ha.” With the cool water rolling up over her ankles, she turned to the horizon. “You know, when you stare out at the ocean nothing else seems very important. I’ve always enjoyed that sense of being insignificant.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Because in the tight social circles I was raised in, I’m told all the time that I’m very important. That I have influence. I’m told my last name carries weight and makes an impact. Of course, there are times when it’s true, but it’s still only an impact on a small little corner of the world.”
“So you don’t read or believe in your own press?” he asked lightly. He doubted she could be as genuine or compassionate if that was her habit.
“No way. Never take the reports at face value.” She aimed a look at him. “Always go straight to the source.”
So that’s why they were out here. She wanted to talk about him. Carter barely stifled the groan as she watched him from under the hat, her blue eyes hidden by the big sunglasses. She must have dug into his background last night. Maybe it was a good thing. Researching him would be a distraction from her own troubles.
“Just ask, Paige. I’ll tell you anything. If you want to verify the details, I’ll give you the direct number to the law firm who manages the agency.”
“It was a very public incident,” she reminded him.
“Yes, it was.” Being convicted by public opinion had been torture. He knew what she was up against as soon as news of Melissa’s murder got out.
He could tell her exactly how many years, months, weeks and days had gone by since that incident. But he assumed she wanted more than the timeline. “What do you want to know?”
“What did the media get wrong?”
Just about everything. A little girl had died on his watch on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon on Labor Day weekend. He’d never worked as a lifeguard again.
“Reporters missed the part where I tried my best,” he said. “They glossed over the fact that the grieving family had been negligent. Criminally negligent if you ask me.”
No one had asked his opinion about those details. The public defender helped him plead out and worked to make sure Carter didn’t serve jail time for an outcome that wasn’t truly his fault. But he had taken all the blame, lost his job and his college plans stalled out.
“They missed the start of it all,” he added. “I did my best to save that little girl after one of her cousins surfed right over her. I was the first one in the water, though her mother was closer. No one mentioned that.” He paused to breathe through the memory of that angelic little face, the lifeless body in his arms.
“I’d been lifeguarding for years. I knew my job. I followed protocol, made the call as I ran into the surf. Administered CPR as I hauled her up and out of the water. Several people helped me, but it wasn’t our day.”
“I’m sorry for your loss, Carter.”
He stared at her, wasn’t sure he’d heard her right. “No one’s ever said that to me.”
She rested a hand on his shoulder. “Someone should have. I’m sorry you lost your job. You were really good at it.”
He hadn’t meant to unload quite so much, but maybe his opening up would help her. “Thanks.”
“What did you do after the case?”
“A lot of community service, thanks to the public defender. I had to hit pause on college so I picked up any and all jobs around the marinas to make some money. Found a great gig on a fishing boat for a while.”
“How did you become a bodyguard and investigator?” she queried.
“I bumped into a lawyer who was in town on vacation. He liked my work ethic and curious nature. We talked a lot whenever he came down to fish. I didn’t think anything of it until another lawyer from a firm called Gamble and Swann offered me a chance to change my life.”
For several quiet minutes they listened to the ocean. “I admire how you changed your life,” she said.
He liked that she could be comfortable in silence. “We should probably turn back,” he said reluctantly. “What would you change about your life?”
The wind teased her hair and she pulled it back from her face. “Aside from a certain segment of surveillance footage?” She gave him a wry smile.
“Yes, aside from that.”
“I’m not sure. My life has been wonderful. I probably should’ve insisted on more independence after college, but my parents mean well and want the best for me.”
“You don’t feel smothered?”
“Sure, sometimes. I have friends who live hundreds of miles from their parents who feel smothered. My parents did everything possible to give me opportunities when I was little. I wasn’t going to repay that by running off and ignoring them once I finished college.”
“Does that hold even now, when you’re so sure your dad’s hiding something?”
She nodded emphatically.
“Families are made of people and therefore, by definition, they’re imperfect systems,” he said. “When you find a system that works for everyone it’s a good thing to hang on to.”
“A good thing to protect?”
“Absolutely. As long as you remember you’re responsible for your own happiness.”
“I’m happy.” She lifted her face to the breeze. “Or rather, I was. I expect to be happy again. It would be nice to have answers from Dad and justice for Melissa though.”
“How will you cope if you find out that the woman who looks just like you, a woman who might well be your sister, is actually a killer?”
She turned and stared out at the horizon, hugging herself. She did look small, standing against the backdrop of the endless ocean. But he didn’t see her as insignificant. She radiated power, courage and commitment with a warmth as tangible as sunlight. Small or not she was important to her family and to this community. He silently vowed to do whatever had to be done to return her to the life she deserved.