A Guarded Heart

A bodyguard gig for a celebrity on a tropical island...there are worse ways to make a living.

As wholesome Dr. Kate in the hottest soap on daytime television, Lauren Douglas is promoted to her audience as a role model for young women. The strict morality clause in her contract is not the only reason she stays closeted. Her dad is a powerful right-wing politician, and a gay daughter won’t help his political aspirations.

Just as she is about to renew her contract, Lauren is publicly outed by an unfaithful former lover with a grudge. The story is all over the media, embarrassing her father and enraging a fan who loses his mind and shoots her.

All of which sounds like spoiled-people problems to FBI Special Agent Pat Roussel, whose hunt for the Kiddy Pageant Killer has consumed every waking moment for three years. Suffering from burnout, Pat is taking a few months’ break, working in private security. The last thing she expects is to find herself babysitting a celebrity who has been banished to a desert island by her father, while the cops hunt down the guy who wants to kill her. It’s a dirty job.