Guardian (The Protectors Series) Read Online Free Page B

were pals. Great. Just bleeding great. Cinda’s case would have an actual expert on it if Mel had to go all the way to the DC office to arrange it.
    First, though, they had to deal with this press conference.
    They had the wide hallway to themselves. It smelled of old wood, and its walls held portraits of dour-looking men. Beyond the glass double doors at the front, where a deputy stood, a sea of reporters and townspeople waited, with idiotic questions, no doubt.
    The sheriff said, “Stefan, I hear you’re gonna sing and play the guitar at Griff’s wedding next month. You do much of that?”
    Mel’s heart clenched. As students at Georgetown, he and she had sung together in the local folk music club, in their little studio apartment, and in bed, while joking with each other. The harmony of their blended voices seemed to parallel the harmony in their lives. Only there’d been a third part in the blend, one she’d never noticed.
    “I’m not much for singing in public these days, but Griff and Val are very close friends.” With a grin, he added, “They’ll overlook any off notes I hit.”
    Not that he’d have any. He was that good.
    Stefan looked at her, and his face softened. “I noticed Miss Baldwin was from Essex, and the name rang a bell. She taught you how to play the flute.”
    He’d remembered. Stunned, Mel nodded. Pain squeezed her heart again, and words slid out. “She always encouraged me to pursue it.”
    “I’m sorry.” Kindness warmed his eyes, and the obvious sincerity in his words soothed her. He’d once understood what music meant to her, but that had been nine years ago.
    He touched her arm, a brief, fleeting brush of his fingers, and the contact again sparked deep within her. Mel swallowed a gasp, wrenching her gaze to the side. Damn it, she couldn’t still be vulnerable to him. She wouldn’t be, not for a man who’d cheated on her.
    They reached the front doors, and Stefan turned to the side exit.
    “I’ll watch from the back,” he said, his voice strained. “See what people are saying.”
    “I think we can guess some of it,” Mel said in dry tones.
    His eyes turned cool and faintly amused. “I’ll join you after. Good luck.”
    She must have imagined that note of strain a moment ago. He gave her a nod, slipped sunglasses out of his jacket’s breast pocket and onto his nose, and strolled toward the side door.
    The sheriff tapped on the front door. Opening it, the stocky, graying deputy stepped to the side. Mel followed the sheriff out into the muggy heat and the din of shouted questions.
    Some of them would be crazy, judging by the talk in the café. Would Stefan subscribe to those weird ideas? Had he changed that much? His current job indicated he had.
    Tugging her own sunglasses from her pocket, Mel shrugged. No sense worrying about Stefan. She was getting him tossed off this case, and then she’d never have to see him again.
    *  *  *
    Stefan slipped around the side of the two-story, brick building and strolled past the crowd jamming the street. At least his six-one frame gave him a good view over their heads.
    Dan Burton started by summarizing the situation, mostly repeating what had been in the paper and adding a few facts about Ms. Baldwin. Behind him stood a deputy in uniform.
    The deputy shifted, revealing Mel. She stood straight, a tall, slender woman in a neatly tailored black pantsuit and blue, v-necked blouse.
    Stefan’s breath took an odd little hitch below his heart. That was probably indigestion from this morning’s Mexican omelet, but he couldn’t deny he felt something. He took off his sunglasses and surveyed her as he hadn’t been able to do in the sheriff’s office.
    The tailored shirt didn’t quite disguise the curve of the small, high breasts under it. Her dark hair hung almost to her shoulders in a sleek bob instead of the long, full curtain that once had fallen halfway down her back.
    It had felt soft when he buried his hands in it. When she let it