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“No name again?” Nancy Oliver was the station’s production assistant and Kelly’s best friend. They had bonded when Nancy started as an intern around the same time Kelly landed her job as the afternoon on-air personality for the biggest country station in Nashville.
“Of course not. This guy wants to remain as creepy as he can.” Kelly tried to shake off the eerie feeling that overcame her every time one of these anonymous gifts showed up.
“I thought it was sort of romantic in the beginning. Now, I think it’s time to call your uncle. Maybe he can trace where the gifts are coming from, get you a name at least.”
“My uncle Hal has bigger fish to fry than some fan with a crush.”
Nancy adjusted her glasses. “Isn’t the advantage of having a cop for an uncle that he can scare away the stalkers?”
“He’s not a stalker. And knowing my uncle, I’d have a twenty-four-hour armed guard following me around for the rest of my life if he heard what was going on.” Kelly’s uncle was a captain for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. He was also extremely overprotective, always had been, but his sense of obligation to watch over her increased tenfold when Kelly’s dad died three years ago.
“When I was little, I wanted to be so famous that I’d have to have a bodyguard who would clear a path for me through the throngs of wild fans who would always be trying to get to me,” Nancy said.
“I only want fans who let me come to them through the radio. No bodyguard needed.” What Kelly needed was this guy to reveal himself so she could let him down easy and be done with the gifts. “I have a show to do. Feel free to take those home with you or throw them away. I don’t care which,” Kelly said, gathering her notes for today’s show.
“Kelly, Kelly, Kelly. How are we this fine afternoon?” Stan Benson was the station’s promotion director. His thinning blond hair was parted to best maximize coverage of his growing bald spot. “We have the first round of charity concert tickets to give away today. And good news... They agreed to let you onstage to kick things off.”
“Me? Not Travis and Holly?” Travis and Holly were the morning team, who were usually assigned the fun promotional gigs.
“When I talked to Dean Presley over at Grace Note, he said they were hoping you would do it. You always treat their artists well when they come in here for some press. He likes you. And why wouldn’t he? You’re our rising star.”
She liked the sound of that. With her contract ending soon, she’d been working tirelessly to gain listeners, asking for more opportunity to promote the station and get her name and face out there so she’d have some bargaining power when they discussed her renewal. Stan’s willingness to give her a chance was huge.
“Well, I appreciate the chance to support the station. I’ve been looking forward to that concert. To get to be a part of it is awesome.”
Stan grinned and was back on the move. “The more you’re in front of the public, the better,” he said over his shoulder before turning the corner.
Kelly was determined to do whatever it took. If they wanted her to make public appearances every day, she would. Working in radio was a dream come true and she planned to do this for the rest of her life if they’d let her. Maybe they would if things kept going the way they were. She entered the studio with an extra bounce in her step.
“Someone looks extra happy today,” Lyle Conrad, the show’s producer, said once she put on her headphones. He sat in the control room, separated from Kelly’s studio by a glass wall. Off-air, he could talk to her through the headset and on-air, he typed her messages through the computer. “Anything to do with those flowers out front? I didn’t know you were dating someone.”
“I’m not.” The thought of the flowers had the opposite effect on her mood. “I think I might have a misguided fan. One who thinks we’re destined to be together.”
“Ah. We’ve had a couple of those over the years around here. Don’t worry. Eventually, they get the hint and move on with their life.”
“Let’s hope so.” Kelly didn’t need the distraction. She didn’t even have time for a real boyfriend, so Mr. Anonymous was out of luck.
“Caller number ten wins two tickets to the sold-out Grace Note Records Concert for the Kids on Saturday, June twenty-ninth,” Kelly announced about halfway through the show. “We’re talking Sawyer Stratton and Piper Starling, the Good Ol’ Boys, Finch and Wells, and the one and only Boone Williams. This is not a show you’ll want to miss, Nashville.”
She clicked the button to play the commercial she had cued up before answering the calls as they came in. Clicking through the lines, she let the non-winners down easy. “Hi, you’re caller eight. Thank you. Bye. Hi, you’re caller nine. So close! Have a good one.”
She switched on the VoxPro recorder before clicking on the winner. These calls were prerecorded just in case someone got a bit too excited and said something not exactly FCC-approved. Lyle gave her the thumbs-up and she pressed the last blinking red light.
“Hello, you are caller ten and our winner!” Usually, callers hollered or screeched when they heard they won, but this one was quiet. Another reason to record these calls—it allowed Kelly the chance to edit it and remove the dead air. “Hello, can I get your name?”
“That depends,” the deep voice on the other end of the line replied. “Is this Kelly?”
Something about the way he said her name caused a shiver to run down her spine. “It is. Who is this?”
“Someone who’s been wondering if you’ve been receiving my gifts. It’s been very disappointing not to hear from you.”
Her secret admirer. Now was her chance to finally find out who he was. “I’ve gotten several gifts lately. I’ve been waiting for a name so I could thank you properly.”
“Which gift was your favorite?”
“That’s hard to say. I’d really like to know who you are.”
“Are you wearing the earrings I gave you?”
Kelly exchanged looks with Lyle. This guy wasn’t going to give up his name even for concert tickets. Her commercial break was almost over. There wasn’t time for all this creepy chitchat. Lyle typed her a message to put the call on hold so he could take over.
She did as Lyle suggested and turned the call over to him. Cutting their conversation short was the best option. Maybe being short with him would end this infatuation. Lyle messaged a few minutes later that the guy had hung up and the new winner was a very nice lady named Rhonda from Brentwood.
The rest of the show went off without a hitch. Kelly threw it to the next deejay and set her headset on the desk. She met Lyle in the hallway outside. He was tall and lanky with arms so long it was almost like he wouldn’t have to bend over to pick things up off the floor.
“Great show, Kel.”
“Thanks. Too bad we didn’t get the name of my secret admirer. I just want the gifts to stop.”
“You don’t have to worry about that guy anymore. Not only was he not happy when I took over the call, but he was downright annoyed when I told him you already had a boyfriend and weren’t interested in his gifts.”
“You what?”
“I solved your problem. Now, he thinks you have a boyfriend and maybe he’ll back off and start stalking someone else,” Lyle said with a shrug.
Kelly felt a calming sense of relief. “Let’s hope so. I mean, the part about him backing off, not the part about stalking some other woman.”
“I’m here to help whenever you need.”
“What about me, Lyle?” Nancy joined them in the hall. “Are you here to help me, too?”
Lyle’s cheeks flushed red. “Of course, Nancy. Do you have a stalker I can scare off?”
“You scared off Kelly’s stalker? Well, you’re our hero.” She touched his arm and his face got redder.
Kelly, Lyle and Nancy went to her office to plan for the next day’s show. When they finished, Kelly said goodbye to Nancy and she and Lyle headed out to the parking garage together.
“You and Nancy are close, right?” he asked as they entered the elevator.
“We are.”
“Do you think she’d ever be interested in getting dinner with someone like me?”
“Someone like you or the actual you?”
Lyle rolled his big blue eyes. “The actual me. I’m bad with rejection. If you could give me a heads-up on my chances, I would be forever in your debt.”
Kelly had suspected there was some interest on his side of things for a couple of months. He laughed at all of Nancy’s jokes. Especially the ones that weren’t even a little bit funny. He had memorized her coffee order even though it was some ridiculously long demand that would drive any barista to quit. And today, the man was completely flustered by a simple touch.
“Honestly, I don’t know, but I could ask.”
“Don’t be super obvious about it, though. If she’s not interested, I don’t want her to know I am.”
His fear of being vulnerable was relatable. Kelly wasn’t the biggest fan of being 100 percent up front about her feelings, either. Being open meant the possibility of being hurt. Being hurt was no fun. She would make sure Nancy knew nothing if there wasn’t a chance. “I’ve got your back on this one, buddy,” she assured him.
Instead of thanking her, Lyle stopped dead in his tracks.
“What’s the matter?”
“That’s your car, isn’t it?” He pointed behind her.
Kelly spun around and gasped. Both headlights had been smashed and on the hood of her car someone had keyed the word TEASE into the paint.
“This is my fault,” Lyle lamented.
Kelly’s heart beat double time and it was hard to breathe. She scanned the parking lot, fearing that her secret admirer turned hater was still nearby. No one else was around. The garage was eerily quiet. It was definitely time to call Uncle Hal.
* * *
“WALSH! GET IN HERE, right now.”
Hal Bonner was not the kind of boss you wanted to cross. He was similar to all of the commanding officers Donovan had ever had in the Marines. Unfortunately, Donovan had been on the captain’s bad side ever since he had lost his temper and broken the jaw of a known drug dealer. The guy completely deserved it but had better lawyers than Donovan had expected. While the case was under investigation with Internal Affairs, Donovan was stripped of his gun and badge and stuck on desk duty. It was worse than prison.
“Sir,” he said, standing in the captain’s doorway.
“Come in and shut the door.”
Donovan did as he was told and waited for permission to sit, something the military had ingrained in him. Captain Bonner didn’t look up from his computer because he was too busy typing. Two fingers pecked at the keys. Technology wasn’t his strong suit.
Captain glanced up and noticed Donovan standing there. “For the love— Sit down!” he snapped. He shook his head as Donovan complied. “If only I had been there to say, ‘Don’t break his jaw,’ you wouldn’t be in this mess, apparently.”
Donovan was very good at following commands but did have a tendency to let his emotions get the best of him in the field. That had been an issue in the Marines, as well.
Captain finished typing and rubbed his eyes. The man looked exhausted. “I’m putting you on a special assignment.”
Donovan sat up a little straighter. Special assignment sounded so much better than desk duty. “I’ll do anything you need me to do, sir.”
“Glad to hear that.” He jotted something on a scrap of paper and handed it to Donovan. “I need you to go to this address and pick up my niece, Kelly. You will then spend the rest of your shift watching her. I have squads sitting outside her place at night, but I need someone on her during the day. Wherever she goes, you go.”
Babysitting? Desk duty wasn’t sounding so bad all of a sudden. “Sir, I don’t—”
“You don’t what? You don’t think you want to help me keep my niece safe from harm?”
“No, sir. That’s not what I was going to say.”
“Good, then it’s settled. I’ve got some unidentified jerk running around Nashville obsessed with her. Yesterday, he vandalized her car. I want to make sure he doesn’t get the chance to lay a hand on her. You start now.”
Donovan tried to think of something to say that could get him out of this, but there was nothing. Nothing that would change Captain Bonner’s mind. Babysitting someone in relationship trouble was worse than desk duty.
“Goodness, Walsh! Stand up, walk to your car and go to the address I gave you,” Captain said in a huff.
Donovan did as he was told.
He said a silent prayer that she wasn’t in high school. If Donovan had to spend the whole day surrounded by teenagers, he might just quit. Living with one was bad enough.
“Where you headed, Walsh? Did they put you on administrative leave?” Detective Steven Dillon was Donovan’s partner.
“Special assignment. I have to go babysit his niece—” he pulled out the piece of paper with her name and address on it “—Kelly. Know anything about her?”
Dillon’s head fell back as he laughed. “Oh, man. My only words of advice are look but do not touch. Captain will crush anyone who even thinks about having inappropriate thoughts about that woman. Good luck with that.”
Not a teenager at least. Donovan wasn’t worried about having inappropriate thoughts about anyone. Once his niece and nephew were out of his house, he planned to live the rest of his life very much alone.
He drove to the apartment building and took note of his surroundings. It was a quiet street. Not a lot of cars. No traffic lights or businesses nearby with cameras, however. The complex was secure but there was no one manning the entrance. He punched in her apartment number in the intercom.
“Hello?” A voice came through the speaker.
“Miss Bonner, I’m Detective Walsh. Your uncle sent me. I’m supposed to—” he wasn’t sure she’d take too kindly to him calling it babysitting “—keep you company today.”
There was no answer and no opening of the door. Donovan buzzed the apartment again.
“Hang on.” She sounded exasperated.
She was annoyed? He was the one who had to follow her around doing whatever mundane things she had on her agenda for the day. This could be a bigger nightmare than he imagined.
A woman on her phone pushed open the door. “I understand you’re trying to protect me, but this is a little extreme don’t you think?” she said as she jogged down the steps and onto the sidewalk. Ending her call, she turned around and glanced up at Donovan. Her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her eyes were covered by aviator sunglasses. “Well, come on. He’s going to send you to the station regardless of what I have to say about it.”
This must be the niece. Dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt knotted at her hip, she didn’t give him many clues as to what she might have to do today. Donovan could see why Dillon told him Captain was protective. She was attractive, albeit a tad rude. She stormed ahead before coming to an abrupt stop.
“I was about to call for a car, but I assume you have one?”
Donovan moseyed up beside her. “I do. Where are you headed in such a hurry?”
She took off her sunglasses, revealing the most stunning crystal-blue eyes. “The station,” she said in a flustered tone. “I have a meeting before my show.”
“Station?” The only station Donovan was aware of was the one he just left.
Kelly’s head rolled back and she sighed. “He didn’t tell you anything, did he?”
“I was directed to go where you go, miss. That’s what he told me and that’s what I’ll have to do.”
“I work at K104, the radio station. I need to get there in the next twenty minutes or my station manager is not going to be happy with me. This would be the same station manager who will hopefully be renewing my contract soon and I really don’t need her to be unhappy. Maybe I can drive? Which car is yours?” She held out her hand as if he might actually consider relinquishing his keys to her. That was not happening. No one drove his truck except him.
“I’m right over here,” he said, pointing to his black F150 and wishing he had asked for one of the station’s cars. Being on desk duty meant he was only allowed to use his personal vehicle.
Kelly didn’t follow him. “Since when does the Nashville PD drive around in pickup trucks?” she asked. “Can I see your badge?”
Donovan grimaced. That was a problem. No gun or badge. “Funny story,” he said, slowly spinning around to face her and the can of pepper spray that was pointed at him.
