Free Nowhere to Turn by Lynette Eason

The attorney general even threw in his support. With state and federal liaisons, they had all of the tools—and more—that they needed.
    She took in a deep breath. “All right. We could do that. But for how long? I mean, all Stuart has to do is wait for you to leave.”
    “True, but it may be that every time he comes over and you have someone with you and you’re telling him to leave you alone, he’ll be more open to the fact that you seriously don’t want to see him.”
    “Do you think it’ll work?”
    “It has before.”
    She looked uncertain. “I guess we can try it.”
    “All right. Hold on a second.” He picked up the phone.
    Summer answered. “What can I do for you?”
    “I’ve got a previous engagement for tonight. David’s busy and I need someone to do some protection duty for Dani and her son.”
    “All right, let me check.”
    “What about Tabitha or Isaac? Or maybe Janessa?” If he couldn’t have David, the six-foot-two-inch Janessa Glenn would be the next best thing. Her rich ebony skin would blend in with the night. Her self-defense skills would give him much comfort in knowing she could fight whatever came her way.
    “Janessa’s available. I’ll call her.”
    “Thanks.” He hung up. “Janessa is going to be with you tonight. We’ll take shifts for the next week to see how things progress. We’ll see how determined Stuart is and do our best to persuade him that he needs to leave you alone.”
    She nodded, still not looking convinced. And frankly Adam wasn’t either. If it came down to it, he would make Dani and Simon disappear. He was hoping it wouldn’t have to come to that. “All right then.” He picked up his keys and looked at Dani. “I’ll take you home and make sure you’re settled. Janessa will meet us there. Let’s go.”

11
    Dani liked Janessa. She was intimidating and beautiful. And very kind.
    They sat at her kitchen table, each of them nursing a cup of coffee. “Simon’s a great kid.”
    “Yes, he is. He’s always hungry, though. I’m surprised he’s not down here.”
    Janessa smiled. “So, tell me about your husband’s family.”
    Dani lifted a brow. “Oh goodness. That’s a topic.”
    “Sorry, didn’t mean to pry.”
    “No, it’s okay.” She set her cup on the table. “Kurt’s family is wealthy. And distant. I don’t see them. Have actually only met them a handful of times. They came to the wedding and stopped by to see Simon after he was born. And then again about five years later.”
    “Wow. They don’t see their grandson? That’s a shame.”
    Dani shrugged. “I’m not sure it is. Kurt and Stuart grew up with nannies. A different one every few months or so.”
    Janessa winced. “Why have kids if you’re not going to raise them?”
    “Good question.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what I’d do without my son. Simon is everything to me.”
    “I can tell.” She smiled. “So they grew up with nannies. I find it strange they’d both end up in law enforcement. It’s not exactly an executive’s salary kind of job.”
    Dani sighed. “I think Kurt chose to become a cop because of the power trip. Respect was very important to him. And he liked it when people were afraid of him.”
    Janessa frowned. “And Stuart?”
    “He hated Kurt. I think their rivalry started out as a bid for attention from their parents. You know, whoever got the better grades got the most praise, whoever scored the most points in the basketball game or got the biggest trophy got the most attention.” She waved a hand. “I don’t know. But at some point, the childhood competition morphed into a rivalry that I was afraid might be deadly.”
    “Really?”
    “It didn’t have a chance to come to that, but I really think it could have. Kurt liked to play practical jokes on people. Mean ones. He would figure out your weakness, then turn it into a joke. Only it wasn’t ever really funny. Stuart was the brunt of Kurt’s jokes more than once.” She