Guarding Red Riding Hood

by Rita Hestand

  She nodded and turned away from him.

  Daniel shut up then and they watched TV for a while in the living room as Gabby cleaned the dishes.

  After a total silence from her, he glanced at her. "I appreciate your apology. But remember, anything you do to jeopardize this could mean your life. And that's not som joke, I'm making up."

  Tony looked at her now. "He means that. And he's right."

  She sighed heavily and glared at Daniel….

  Chapter Five

  Daniel hadn't meant to be so rough on her about the phone, but he had to make her understand that this was no game. She certainly wasn't the first witness who didn't take him seriously, and wouldn't be the last, he knew. In fact, it was the roughest part of his job, convincing the witnesses just how much danger they were in. Television sure didn't help.

  He had to forget that she had the most beautiful body he'd ever seen, and conduct himself in a business manner too. She was after all, just another victim of circumstance. She was an innocent, so it would seem.

  The fact that she was a Senator's daughter was enough to spell even more trouble for Dan. If they got wind of that, it could get a lot worse. He didn't want to frightened her any more than he already had.

  Tony understood better than she did the dangers, he'd lived with danger and Daniel respected that fact.

  For all general purposes the lady meant well, but calling a boyfriend she had been seeing only casually, didn't fit. Obviously this guy meant something to her, why else would she call him, when he told her not to?

  Good, Daniel smiled to himself. A lot easier to keep your hands off a pretty girl if she was already involved with someone. So, with that in mind he relaxed a bit. Not that the sight of her hadn't sent his libido into overdrive. But he was smart enough to know not to get involved with the pretty little school teacher.

  He'd seen naked women before. Maybe not as pretty as her, but he'd been around.

  For one thing, she might be lying though, although Tony seemed to back her up on her story.

  He tried to relax. He had been so tense when he realized what she had done. He felt his shoulders bunching now. Innocent people were more dangerous than the kind that knew the ropes, like Tony. Even though he was a kid, he'd been through enough to know exactly how dangerous things could get.

  The irony was, if they all cooperated there might not be any problems. People didn't always understand it.

  He thought about his own life for a change. He'd been dating Pamela for a couple months and she was a sexy little number his brother Ray had introduced him to. Blond hair, blue eyes, a real babe. Strange when he thought about it though, he didn't date girls very long. Not in his line of work, not many could put up with his weird schedules long enough to form any permanent kind of relationship. But in reality Pamela wasn't going to last either. He already knew that too. When he settled down, which would probably be a few years from now, he wanted a girl that would stay at home, have his children and be there for him when he came home late and dishelved. Besides, he wasn't sure that kind of girl existed. Every girl he dated complained about his hours. Relationships hadn't lasted, so sex was on his mind a lot when he dated.

  Ray had been right, cops and firefighters had the hardest time finding a decent girl to settle down with. And there were benefits to being a bachelor, he could have a great date and go home without them. So far he hadn't found a girl worth settling down for. And he wasn't looking for one either, he told himself.

  He thought about Tony. The poor kid had seen some hard knocks in his life and he really wished he could help him somehow.

  His mind flew to this place. Very few people knew about this place, so for a while they should be safe. He knew better than to contact his boss yet. Sometimes, sitting and waiting was the hardest part of his job. Just someone to talk to that understood the strains of his job would be good. But where did you find someone like that?

  He sincerely wished that Harry would never put him on this kind of detail again. Maybe a person could get too much of this. It was certainly time for a change.

  Witnesses complained all the time. No one totally understood what it took to do this kind of work.

  Tony came in and sat down on the couch with him.

  Daniel glanced at him. He was dark haired and dark eyed too, kind of thin, and dressed in jeans and t-shirts most of the time. "So, how long you been a cop?" Tony asked as Daniel turned a movie on.

  "About eight years now."

  "That's a long time. You been undercover for how long?"

  "Five years."

  "You like it?" Tony asked.

  "Sometimes," Daniel admitted. "I don't like the hours I put in, but the work isn't that bad. AT least not all the time." He shot a glance down the hallway. "Just got to stay on your toes all the time. Kind of think ahead of yourself, if you know what I mean."

  "Do you get overtime?" Tony asked.

  "No…no overtime. Unfortunately, I'm salaried."

  "That sucks. Why did you take uncover work?"

  "Well, it consists of taking care of people, making sure they are safe. My original job was working active undercover work. This is called inactive. Mainly because if everyone does what they are supposed to, there is little trouble."

  "What does that mean, active?" Tony snarled his nose up as though he didn't get it.

  "It's like spying on the bad guys, collecting evidence and getting ready to nail someone. That's what I was doing before I got this detail. But this is sort of different and I'm one of the few that will take this kind of assignment because of my classification."

  "What does that mean exactly."

  "Well, in order to protect someone important, you have to have a security clearance for the job. That means you are trusted by the government to do so. I have a high security clearance that makes me automatically eligible for this kind of work. And my boss loves to hand me this kind of assignment, whether I want it or not."

  "Is she someone important? Because I know I’m not." Tony chuckled.

  "Her father is a Senator, but Tony, you are very important too. At least to me."

  Tony glanced at him. "How's that?"

  Daniel stared into his young questioning face, "Because you are a human being."

  Tony stared for a moment, then slowly nodded his understanding. He didn't say anything, but Daniel could tell that statement impressed him.

  After a long silence, he looked over at him, "Thanks."

  "You know; I don't mind this kind of work. But, most of the time I'm closer to the action than this. I was disappointed at first, because I'd been on this case a while. But now that I've gotten to know you, I like it."

  "Yeah, this is kind of dull. I'd rather be a regular cop that arrests people, if I was a cop." Tony said off-handedly.

  "Ever think about becoming a cop?" He asked him.

  "Yeah, I have. A lot."

  "Really, well, I say go for it." Daniel encouraged.

  "Yeah well, my dad wouldn't say that." Tony chuckled.

  "No, I guess he wouldn't. But I can think of a lot of reasons that's it's a good thing." Daniel told him.

  "Yeah, like what?"

  "You'd have a retirement. Insurance. When I do this kind of work, I might get a little vacation out of it, when it's over. You wouldn't have to go to college. You could feel proud of your job and what you were doing." Daniel mused. "I mean they have training units too, you can apply for them and get promotions, or even a different kind of work. Some people like to work in the office. Some like to be detectives, a little more sophisticated than it used to be. But it's a respectable job, and most people look up to you."

  "Right now, in the neighborhood I live in, just growing up is an accomplishment." Tony admitted.

  "That's another thing, if you've lived in a rough neighborhood, some officers like to patrol that same neighborhood because they know all the people and want to help them."

  "Man you should be a recruiter for cops." Tony laughed.

  Dan
iel laughed. "Are you good at sports?"

  "I like basketball."

  "Do you play at your school?"

  "Not yet. Maybe when I go into middle school."

  "Good, sports are always good." Daniel encouraged. "You don't have any brothers or sisters?"

  "No…well, yeah, when my Ma took off she took my little sister with her. She was only three then."

  "How long's it been since you've seen her?"

  "Three years."

  "I guess you miss your Mom, huh?"

  "No, not really. She didn't want nothing to do with me. Said boys were too hard for a woman on her own to take care of. So I told her to leave me there."

  "Are you close to your dad?"

  "No, neither one of them." Tony sighed. "It's not that I don't want to be. It just never happened. I guess that sounds funny, huh? Mom remarried pretty quick, and I don't like her husband too much. He only has time for her, not me or my sister. He's also always talking about doing the right thing. It's almost as though he's a preacher, and he brags about how he does the right thing all the time. Because he was taught to, by his parents. I get a lecture every time I'm around him. Mom loves him, and she thinks he's so much better than dad."

  "Your Mom remarried, I can see where that might be hard.?"

  "Yeah, took my sister with her. Now she's got three kids, he drinks and they have problems of their own. I don't like going over there. At home, my dad, I hardly see him, but when I do, he's usually pretty rough with me too. I'm just waiting for the day I can get out of there and then figure out what I want to do with my life. I've decided I don't want to be like either one of them. I want to amount to something. You know? Do some good in this world."

  "Then maybe calling the CPS might have been the right thing to do."

  Tony shook his head again, "Are you kidding me. I been through that too. They took me away once, and the couple was just cashing the checks, they didn't pay any attention to me whatsoever. It doesn't work. I'm on my own most of the time anyway. That's why I'd rather stay with my dad."

  Daniel didn't feel much better about Tony's home life. The kid needed a decent family. But where were those decent families? How could you tell by a simple application if people were decent or not? Obviously the system didn't always work.

  When Gabby didn't come out, Daniel asked Tony, "Is she in her room?"

  "Yeah, she's watching TV."

  He nodded.

  "Well, what say we BBQ tonight on the grill?"

  "Sounds good to me." Tony nodded. "We gonna do it outside?"

  "I think it will be safe right now. There are no neighbors around here, and it's early in the game. They haven't found us yet. We'll know when they do."

  "How?" Tony asked.

  "If they think they have found us, they'll try to get us to come out of the house. To identify us. Pick up the mail, the paper, answer the door. Once they are sure, they'll be coming in. We aren't there yet. Right now, we are safe. I don't know how long that will last though. I don't know how much they've found out."

  Tony nodded. "You're a little more cautious than the other cop. The one they killed."

  "Yeah, you have to be, if you want to stay alive."

  He found a basketball game on and let Tony watch that as he went to check on Gabby.

  He saw the door was cracked open, so he pushed it open and saw her lying across the bed on her stomach. His eyes went over her thoroughly, stopping at the interesting points without being observed. Removing himself as a man from the situation, he realized it was important to keep focused.

  "Everything alright in here?" He asked as she turned to look at him.

  "Fine except I’m bored out of my mind."

  "Do you ever play poker?" He asked.

  She turned to stare at him. "Yeah, actually I do. Why?"

  "Thought we might all sit down and play, what do you think?"

  "Alright, I'm game." She said and came toward him. He moved, but got a whiff of her perfume and smiled. He could enjoy perfume.

  Before long they were gathered around the kitchen table playing poker using poker chips to bet with.

  "Do we have to turn this in for real money!" Tony laughed.

  "No, seriously, I don't want to take all your money." Daniel laughed too.

  An hour later, Tony had a stash of chips. "Wish we'd have played for money. I'd be rich." He laughed.

  Chapter Six

  After a week of hiding out, Daniel began to get edgy, and Gabby was certainly out of sorts a lot. Dan expected it. Women were always unhappy in this position. Tony endured it as he was used to just hanging out. Daniel envied him some. The kid was in better shape than them.

  Daniel realized to keep them happy for any length of time he would have to find ways to entertain them. But he hadn't preplanned for this exactly. He was glad they had bought a lot of games. They would help.

  He remembered at home there were puzzles, and arts and crafts from his sister's huge stash of stuff and board games. He wished he had some of those craft things, her and Tony could probably get into that.

  Laying low meant laying low, not traveling. Still, they were getting very bored, not being able to go outside, or go anywhere or use a phone. He quickly realized that people had to have gadgets now days to be happy.

  He secretly wished he hadn't smashed Tony's phone, because he thought Tony would obey his rules about calling anyone. Still if it was bugged, they'd be in trouble he reasoned he'd done the right thing. And it probably was bugged by Joe himself. He would be able to keep tabs on anything Tony might get into that way. But Gabby was another issue. He wondered if she missed her boyfriend so bad she was antsy about him. With women he couldn't be sure. They liked to shop, talk to their friends and go out to eat a lot. She couldn't do any of those things. He wondered if she had any pets that needed her attention.

  He was antsy in that he couldn't talk to his boss. He wondered how things were going down, and if there was a time frame for all of this. A week with the same people, with nothing to do, could drive a person pretty crazy.

  He'd managed to keep his distance from Gabby and he figured that was wise considering things. She still wasn't in the best humor with him. He didn't want to explore why he needed to keep his distance, he instinctively knew and yet in his mind it wasn't up for discussion.

  He liked to talk to the kid. Tony was a hip kid and he could carry on a conversation that kept Daniel amused to some extent.

  But the doldrums hit when Gabby came out of her room one day, got an individual can of juice and started to make a sandwich before she went back to her room.

  "How long is this going to last?" She asked with obvious frustration. He noted her fingers drumming against the counter as she paused to ask. She avoided looking at him a lot, he noticed.

  "It could be three weeks, or longer. I haven't had any word myself."

  "Doesn't your cell phone ever ring?" She asked curiously as she saw it laying on the counter.

  "No, I keep it off when I'm working like this. I don't usually carry it with me when I'm doing this kind of work. I have another phone for work though, not the one you are looking at." He told her.

  "They haven't called at all?" She asked, shoving her hands in her back jeans pockets. "Does that mean that nothing has happened so far?

  "No, there won't be any communications until things are set to go." He informed her. "I know it's pretty boring here, but it won't be much longer, I'm sure. I guess I don't have to tell you that you have to sort of resign yourself to boredom. But we have most the conveniences of home here. You just can't go out to shop, or call friends and invite them over. But you can file your nails, watch tv, take long baths, read books. I saw you picked a few out."

  "I've read three of them already."

  "You have?" He asked astonished.

  "I'm a quick reader."

  "Should have gotten more books then."

  "What's the longest case you've had like this?" She asked relaxing just a tad now.

 
"A month…no wait, three months, but that was a very different case."

  She turned from the refrigerator to him, slamming the mustard down on the counter hard. A dollup hit his hand. He rinsed it off, without a word.

  He stared at the mustard then her. "Three months?" She repeated.

  "It won't be that long for this case. I don't think. They've pretty well gotten all they need on him to make an arrest, unless they want his boss, which might end up taking more time." Daniel explained. "If there is a lot of activity going on, they might want to grab his bosses if they can, too."

  She turned back to the refrigerator and pulled out some bologna, lettuce and tomatoes. She reached in the cupboard for some chips.

  "Want to make all of us some sandwiches?" He asked with a smile.

  "Sure why not, nothing else to do around here." She exhaled audibly.

  "Well, I can make my own, if you don't want to." He insisted.

  "I wouldn't dream of it." She answered sarcastically.

  It was the way she went about building each sandwich that had him staring at her.

  "I like Mayonnaise," Tony hollered from the living room.

  She bit her lip in frustration. "Sure."

  "I never asked but did you have some big plans or something going on?" Daniel looked at her questioningly.

  She barely glanced at him and then tossed her words at him, "You know you are almost as annoying as Joe Beaton."

  "Really, that bad huh?" He almost chuckled.

  Her saw her lips pucker, and tremble. She turned her anger on him now, her brows nearly meeting in the middle. Then she turned away. She finished making the sandwiches and put them on the table, then walked off.

  "Aren't you eating?" He asked as she walked down the hall.

  "I'm not hungry." She said and slammed the door to her room.

  Tony glanced at him, raised his brow and snickered, "She's mad, isn't she?"

  "Looks that way. I guess I better go talk to her."

  "I wouldn't do that right now, give her time to cool off." Tony advised as he went to the table and grabbed a sandwich. "She's been pretty cool up until now. I watched my dad make that mistake too many times."