Caleb: Campbell Agency, #3

By Clara Kendrick

This is the third book in the Campbell Agency series, with over 50,000 words of romantic suspense.

 

Juliette Campbell has made a lot of bad choices in her life, but she's determined to get things right this time. She's got a job and a new place to live—the guesthouse on the property of one of her brother's best friends, Caleb Robinson. When the opportunity arises for Juliette to help Caleb on one of his cases, she jumps at the chance, longing to feel useful and productive. As the case develops, not only does she regain some of her confidence, but she discovers that Caleb could be the inspiration she's always needed.

 

Caleb Robinson has been charged with looking after his best friend's sister while she works to recover from a difficult past. The problem is, he's falling for her fast. But when his health gets in the way, he'll doubt whether or not he's right for the woman who has already overcome so much. Only her persistence and a case that helps him realize what's most important in life can help him get past his doubts and accept love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clara Kendrick
• Release date: Nov 15, 2017
• ISBN: 9798224540051

Clara Kendrick

Discover the captivating world of Clara Kendrick's romantic suspense. With her masterful storytelling and skillful blend of intrigue, romance, and passion, Kendrick draws readers in and keeps them hooked until the very end. Get ready to be swept away by her thrilling and steamy tales of love and suspense. Signup and follow at: Books2read.com/ClaraKendrick Facebook.com/AuthorClaraKendrick

Book preview

PROLOGUE

Vince Ward sat in his bedroom, legs crossed, fingers steepled beneath his chin. There was a faint smile on his face and his eyes were alight with interest. In front of him there was a screen—the only one he ever used. He avoided cell phones and computers and anything else that could make him traceable. But this projector screen hooked up to the camera inside Nora and Bridget’s joint room was his little guilty pleasure.

His room was large and spacious, but sparsely decorated. When he had moved himself, the two women, and his personal bodyguard to their new location—a house just outside of the New Orleans metropolitan area—he hadn’t taken the time to pretty the place up for any of them. The move had to happen fast, and as speed was often the enemy of efficiency, he had abandoned his usual habit of surrounding himself with the finer things in life to avoid any unnecessary distraction. The house he had found was perfect, because from the outside, it looked small and insignificant. But the underground basement was spacious, with multiple rooms that he and his companions could live in without ever having to be seen by the outside world.

It was perfect, given that the Campbell agency had all but declared war on him after learning that he had taken Bridget.

Poor Alex Campbell wasn’t sleeping very well anymore. The thought made him even happier than the knowledge that Gwen Grange was miserable with guilt, blaming herself for getting her friends involved in this quagmire to begin with.

There was a lot to be happy about. He had successfully thrown Alex Campbell off his sent, leaving evidence that he had taken the two women up north, into the New England area. Alex had immediately set off to pursue Ward, having left the agency and his sister in the hands of Caleb, one of his comrades-in-arms. Little did Alex know that Ward was hardly very far away at all and had plans to continue to toy with the men who had messed up his retirement. It would be amusing to see how long it would take for Alex to figure out that he’d been duped.

And he wondered how long it would take for Nora and Bridget to realize that he was monitoring them. He gave a low chuckle as Bridget motioned for Nora to get up and help her try to pry open the creaky window at the far side of their shared room. Ward knew Nora was far too beaten down after years of captivity. She would never attempt escape—not now. Not after sacrificing for so long.

Bridget, on the other hand, was bound and determined to get away from him, and he enjoyed watching her escapades, knowing that he had taken every precaution required to keep her exactly where he wanted her. It would be a long—but entertaining and satisfying process—breaking Bridget down. But he would do it. She would become his compliant servant, just as Nora had, and it would only be further proof that he, Vince Ward, had the kind of power over people that no one else could possess.

He alone had the power to break will, to take life, to destroy love. It was his only skill set and he reveled in it. What other choice was there? He could blame himself, like his mother had, but then he’d just be a miserable little man in a mental health facility like the one she’d locked him up in for three years. Just when he should have been finding himself in the crowded high school halls with his friends, he was locked away. All because he liked to watch the moment life left the eyes of some small creature.

Ward stood, moving closer to the camera, his nerves raw. Thoughts of his past—particularly of his mother—always ruined his good mood. He focused on Bridget, noting the soft wave of her hair and the faint sheen of perspiration on her forehead as she tried to escape.

He watched her until he could forget about his misunderstood past, his ungrateful mother, and the bitterness born from being placed in a world that was obviously not ready for man of his tastes and power.

He watched her until he grew calm again, the murderous rage that lived inside of him once more under his control—a power to be dealt only when he deemed it time.

CHAPTER ONE

CALEB

Caleb jerked awake at the sound of his phone ringing. His right hand, which had been propping up his dozing head, slammed down onto the open textbook in front of him, guiltily covering the content in a knee-jerk reaction. His other hand moved to the phone on his desk and he answered it clumsily.

Campbell Search and Rescue Detective Agency. What can I do for you?

Groaning at the answer, he hung up the phone and let his head fall down onto the still-open textbook. Telemarketers. How had the evolutionary process not weeded them out yet?

For a moment, he allowed his heavy head to simply rest upon the book, hoping that somehow the philosophical information inside of it would simply seep into his head, making tomorrow morning’s 8:00 am exam a breeze instead of the heavy weight on his shoulders that it currently was. He loved his coursework—despite his fellow private detectives’ ribbing—and wanted to do well on the exam, but between running the agency in Alex’s absence and caring for Juliette, Alex’s sister, the past month had been grueling.

The other guys helped of course. Jason had mostly recovered from the beating he’d taken from Ward’s men and was back in the office, though Gwen was always hovering nearby to keep him safe. Mark pulled his weight as always, and Spencer helped out as much as he could from afar. He had traveled up to Connecticut with Alex to hunt Vince Ward, the man who had ruined Gwen’s life by framing her father for murders he had committed, tormented them all in retaliation, then taken Bridget, Alex’s girlfriend, hostage in payment for leaving them all alone.

Since Ward had vanished, their lives had been quieter, albeit just as busy, but Caleb couldn’t shake the idea that the other shoe was about to drop. All the evidence pointed to Ward being far away in New England, but Caleb wouldn’t be surprised if Ward suddenly walked through the agency’s front door. The man was unpredictable and too smart for his own good. Despite the fact that Caleb and his friends were all highly-trained ex-military men, Ward was an adversary they couldn’t quite wrap their heads around.

Sighing, Caleb stood up and stretched, checking his watch. It was almost 5:00, and he should be leaving soon to pick Juliette up from work. She had gotten a job at a local pet store now that she had been clean for a month. It was only her third day, but he knew she was absolutely loving spending time with the animals. And it was a good distraction from her own issues—like the abusive boyfriend she was still afraid of and her guilt over being the person who had distracted Alex from watching over Bridget the night she disappeared.

Caleb scratched Bacon’s head as he passed by him, smiling fondly at the animal who looked up at him and blinked twice. He’d named the dog after Francis Bacon, one of his favorite philosophers and the inventor of inductive reasoning. Caleb found Bacon’s suggestion that general principles could be discovered by looking at specific details very applicable to detective’s work, in which a person had to look at an array of evidence and draw a conclusion about guilt that may or may not be true, however accurate all the evidence was. He also really liked bacon, so it was a perfect fit all around.

Bacon, the dog, however, was unaware of the significance of his name, and out of all the dogs at Campbell’s Search and Rescue Detective Agency, he was the least sharp. Caleb loved him anyway and would never hear a word against him, even when Bacon managed to lose his favorite toy in the house every single day. When it mattered, the dog always came through.

Sorry to wake you, Caleb said, amused at the slight rebuke in Bacon’s eyes as he blinked up at him. Don’t forget, you are at work you know.

The dog stared at him, and Caleb wondered if he was pointing out the fact that Caleb himself had just been asleep at his desk.

Okay, you got me, Caleb admitted, chuckling and offering his dog a treat—a bacon-flavored bone that the other guys insisted was a form of cannibalism for a dog named Bacon. We’re all a little tired around here. He scratched the dog’s head again, brushing off a twig left over from their early-morning excursion into a nearby national park, where two middle-school age children had hidden themselves and a stash of money taken from the school’s most recent fundraiser. The female preteen was the daughter of the principal, who did not, under any circumstances, want to involve the police in his child’s criminal activity, so Bacon had saved the day by sniffing out the two runaways as they hunkered down in one of the oversized trees, waiting for dark.

Hey, man. Jason popped his head in the door, leaning on the crutch he still used to get around after taking a severe beating a month prior. He’d suffered internal bleeding and a broken leg, but luckily nothing more serious. You about to head out?

In just a minute, yeah, Caleb nodded, walking over to his friend and clapping him on the shoulder. How are you doing?

Good, good. Jason walked into the room and kicked the door shut with his good foot, prompting Caleb to raise an eyebrow.

What’s up?

Jason tossed the crutch aside and hobbled over to the chair in front of Caleb’s desk, taking a heavy seat. He gestured for Caleb to sit down too, so he did, looking at his friend curiously and waiting for whatever Jason was obviously going to reveal.

Look, Jason said after a moment of silence. I’ve been thinking.

Caleb already knew what his friend was about to say, but hid his smile. To someone who didn’t know Jason, he looked fearsome and intimidating. He had black Irish heritage that produced dark, wavy hair and piercing blue eyes. Beyond that, his frame was large, tall, and imposing—a stark contrast to Caleb’s muscled but leaner frame. There was no doubt that Jason looked like the warrior he had been in the military and still was to this day, but Caleb—and all the other men at the agency—knew Jason was a gentle giant, especially when it came to his girlfriend, Gwen.

When Caleb just waited, Jason cleared his throat and continued. Thinking about Gwen, specifically.

Yes ... Caleb prompted when yet another silence followed Jason’s words.

I know we’ve only been together for a few months ...

Three. Three months.

Right, three months, Jason agreed, running a hand through his almost-shoulder-length hair. And I know there’s a lot going on with all of us. Just because Ward has left the area doesn’t mean we’ve let our guards down. And Alex ... He closed his eyes and shook his head, undoubtedly imagining what it would be like to be in Alex’s shoes, with the woman he loved held captive by a man who thought nothing of murder.

Caleb dragged a hand over his own chestnut hair, his heart going out to their friend and de facto leader too. I know.

But ... Jason sighed, and Caleb saw a bit of a smile on his lips. In spite of all the reasons I shouldn’t ...

You’re going to ask Gwen to marry you, Caleb finished for him, unable to keep from smiling too. Congratulations, man.

You don’t think I’m insane?

Oh, I know you’re insane, Caleb said immediately, chuckling. I mean, you’re off your rocker to marry a girl you literally found wandering around a swamp three months ago, who is related to an accused assassin, and whose personal history brought the actual assassin into all of our lives, leading to assaults, fires, and kidnappings. It sounded ludicrous when he summed it all up like that. But ... he followed, before Jason could get defensive. Love is insane. And this girl ...she’s not just some girl. She’s Gwen, and she makes you happy, and I’ve never seen two people better suited or more meant for each other. So you should do it.

Jason’s grin lit up his face. Yeah?

Yeah. Caleb called Bacon over, rubbing his dog’s head fondly. Absolutely. If I was in love with a woman like you’re in love with Gwen, I wouldn’t be worrying about timelines or social convention. I’d be staking my claim.

That’s very caveman of you, Jason smirked.

Caleb rolled his eyes, knowing that the men loved to make fun of his so-called enlightened ways, brought about by his liberal arts philosophy degree. You know what I mean. I’d be declaring myself, if you like that better. After all we saw overseas, and everything that’s happened since we’ve been back here as civilians, one thing we should all know for sure is that we’re not guaranteed tomorrow or next week or next year. Life can change in an instant, so use the instant you’re experiencing right now to do what’s most important to you. Ask her.

I’m going to. Jason grinned again, his blue eyes dancing with anticipation. Not in this instant, but soon. I want it to be special. I just don’t want Alex to feel like I’m being insensitive ...given that Bridget ...

Alex wants you to be happy, Caleb reminded him. And whether or not you and Gwen get married has nothing to do with how we get Bridget back.

But Gwen would want Bridget at the wedding.

Caleb nodded, knowing how close the two women were. Probably. But women need time to plan a wedding, and Alex is going to find Bridget any day now.

The two men looked at each other, knowing that Caleb’s optimism wasn’t entirely based on fact. While Alex’s skills were unparalleled, it had been a month with no word from Bridget and no sign of Ward. They both took a deep breath, the deep connection they felt with Alex after years of serving side-by-side overseas causing them both to ache for him.

Just ask her, Caleb said, finally bringing them back to the topic at hand. If she wants to wait for Bridget to tie the knot, then fine. At least you’ll know that she’s going to be your wife.

Jason nodded and got to his feet, waving off Caleb’s offer of help. "I will. Thanks, man. Look, I’m here at the office with Mark tonight. Try to take the whole night off, okay? If we get a call, we’ll check in with you, but don’t call us.