Night Watch (Kendra Michaels #4)(79)

“That sounds like a plan. Lynch doesn’t impress me as a man who likes to be kept out of the loop. Control, all the way…”

*

THE LIGHTS OF SAN DIEGO were sparkling, glowing in the darkness. There was a strong wind whipping occasionally over the rooftop, which was vacant except for Kendra and Jessie.

“We could go down to the condo if the wind’s bothering you.” Kendra grinned as she righted one of the cartons of Thai food on the table between their chairs. “But you did say you wanted movement.”

“No, I like this,” Jessie said. “For Pete’s sake, I own a motorcycle.” She lifted her face to the wind that was blowing her hair wildly back. “Wind is clean and strong. Both good things.”

“Except if it comes packaged in a tornado,” Kendra said dryly as she lifted her wine to her lips. “I think I’d choose to go inside if it escalated to that point.” She smiled. “But I like it, too.”

“Do you come up here often?”

“Not often.” The last time she had come up here was that night with Lynch, when everything had blown up both sexually and emotionally. Those memories were suddenly bombarding her, and she could feel her body readying, tightening at the thought of him.

Back off. Everything about her relationship with Lynch was full of pitfalls and uncertainties, including what she wanted from him.

Except sex. That was very clear at this moment.

“Did you ever come up here with Lynch?” Jessie’s gaze was narrowed on Kendra’s face.

Jessie was very perceptive, and she had probably been able to read Kendra’s response. “Yes,” Kendra said as she took another bite of Thai pepper steak. “This is really very good, isn’t it? How is yours?”

Jessie immediately took the hint. “Delicious. Some of the best Thai I’ve had since Delilah had a box of it flown in special from Bangkok.” She leaned back and lifted her wine to her lips. “But in that case, anticipation was a heady sauce, and that might have made it seem better.”

“Delilah?”

“Delilah Winter. I worked for her for a while.” She shot a glance at Kendra. “She’s a pop star. Have you ever heard of her? She probably doesn’t produce the kind of music that you teach your kids, but she’s pretty famous.”

“I’d have to live in a cave not to have heard of her,” Kendra said. “She won a Grammy last year, didn’t she?”

“Yes, she deserved it. That new song she wrote rocks.”

“She rocks,” Kendra said. “And I do use her in my therapy sessions. The kids don’t live in a cave either, and her rhythms are wonderful.”

“She’d be glad to hear you say that. Delilah is like a lot of teenage kids who made it big too early. She’s still not sure whether she has the talent or that she’s just fooling everyone.”

“Sad.” She asked curiously, “How did you come to work for her?”

“It’s a long story.”

“You don’t want to talk about it?”

She shrugged. “It’s not something I’m particularly proud of, nor am I ashamed. It was just a job. I took it because the opportunity was there, and I needed the money. I’d just gotten my degree in criminal justice, but that was during the downturn in the economy, and there were no decent jobs to be had. I got work as a bartender and part-time as a stuntwoman. Then I heard about that TV show American Ninja, and I trained and competed for it. I won first place and got a decent amount of money and a little fame thrown in. The notoriety attracted Delilah, and she hired me to head her security.” She smiled. “She was just a kid who thought that if there was a star beside the name, the person had to be a star, too.” Her smile faded. “She made a lot of mistakes like that. You have no idea how many jams I had to get her out of before she finally grew up.”

“But it must have been exciting.”

“And exhausting, like living in Disneyland without the rules that Disney enforces about smiles and the customer is always right.” She took another sip of wine. “But the money was terrific, and I made sure that I earned every dollar before I turned in my resignation. I left her safe and with good people before I bowed out.”

“You sound as if you feel guilty.”

She made a face. “It was like kicking a puppy when I told her that I was leaving. As I said, she’s insecure, and she felt safe with me. She still calls me sometimes when she needs to talk, or she gets into trouble.”

“But you felt you couldn’t stay with her?”

“Everyone has to grow up sometime. I’d made enough money to open my own P.I. office. It was time I moved on with my life.”

“And you have,” Kendra said. “No regrets?”

“Of course there were regrets. Delilah offered me a million dollars a year to stay on. I like money.”

“And you wanted to make certain she was safe,” Kendra said softly. “I’ve noticed that you have that instinct.”

“It’s over.” She looked out at the lights. “Time passes. People come and go. But I guess I was brought up to believe that when I did go, it wasn’t a bad idea to make sure no one was worse off than when I came.”

“That’s a good philosophy.”