Accidental Bodyguard by Sharon Hartley Read Free Book Online Page B

heaved a huge breath.
    The Weather Channel claimed this front would drop the temperature close to freezing, a rare event in Miami. There might even be frost by dawn. Hopefully that meant nobody would be out.
    Good. Because she couldn’t stand it any longer. She felt like a bird in a gilded cage and needed to break out of her prison for a short time. She’d be back inside before the rain started.
    She entered the security code and cautiously stepped outside with her back flat against the wall. The catch relocked with an automatic click when she closed the gate. Staying close to the wall, wary of anyone else out at this ungodly hour, she jogged toward the ocean.
    As she neared, she could hear waves crashing on Collins Island’s private beach. The wind had also stirred up the surf.
    She slowed her pace, breathing hard. God, but it felt good to get her blood pumping. She scanned the beach nervously, but quickly determined the area was deserted except for the hull of an empty beached boat. No one sat at the many lounge chairs and tables.
    That’s what she had hoped. The moon was only the thinnest silver crescent, so it didn’t provide much light.
    She’d be too obvious if she relaxed in a lounger. A line of coconut palms dotted the sand, and she collapsed in front of the thickest one hoping no one would see her from the street. She wouldn’t stay long. A few minutes.
    She lowered the hoodie and stared at the water. The endless ocean stretched out before her, whitecaps bouncing on the waves.
    She’d been miserable and lonely ever since Jackson Richards left late this afternoon. After her plunge in the pool, she’d stood by the gate for a long time, listening to the faint sounds from the happy hour in the clubhouse. People were laughing, talking, enjoying themselves. She’d longed to join the party, but of course couldn’t.
    This was bad, very bad. She’d been in exile less than a week and was already going crazy. What would she be like at the end of a month? This is what Carlos had done to her. She’d become a pitiful recluse hiding on a deserted beach in the middle of the night. She used to love people. Now she didn’t trust anyone.
    Not even the US Attorney who’d convinced her to testify.
    She brushed away a tear. Yeah, great, Claudia. Just what you need, a pity party.
    Her hatred for Carlos Romero threatened to swamp all that remained of the old carefree, fun-loving Claudia, the woman who wanted to help the hurting people of the world. That was why she’d become a nurse. Was there anything left of that person?
    Sometimes she thought her quest for justice was all she had to live for, her belief that someone had to ensure Carlos was punished for his irrational violent rampage. Yes, she’d been stupid to marry him, but he’d lied to her. He’d pretended to be something he wasn’t.
    Or had she been too much in lust to see it? No, she’d watched him change. And he changed her with him, drumming his paranoid philosophy into her head night and day. Claudia swiped a tear from her face, her anger churning again. What kind of a life would she have after the trial? Would she ever return to the woman she used to be?
    â€œAre you all right?”

CHAPTER FOUR
    C LAUDIA LEAPED TO her feet and whirled. Her heart pounded. She felt for the weapon at her waist, but hesitated before yanking it out.
    Before her stood an elegant, gorgeous woman of about forty smiling at her with what looked like sympathy. She held a wineglass in her long graceful fingers, one displaying a giant pear-shaped diamond. Luxuriant red hair framed her face, falling to her shoulders.
    â€œYou are weeping,” she said in softly accented words. Not Spanish. Maybe French.
    â€œI—I—” Breathing hard, Claudia shook her head. She’d been feeling so sorry for herself that this sophisticated woman, obviously one of the wealthy residents out for a late-night walk, had