by Cara Adams
Then he sat down on his bed as a new and even worse thought occurred to him. What about the woman they were supposed to protect? This Janet Young. Her brother was a thief and a bully. He got that. But what was she like? Just like her brother? A rich bitch who’d be rude and mean and a nightmare to work for? A slave driver who’d expect him to act as her personal servant twenty-four-seven as well as keep her safe? A brainless idiot who’d keep sticking her head into danger, constantly expecting him to protect her anyway?
“Ah, shit. This has all the makings of a giant clusterfuck!”
* * * *
Janet had left home an hour earlier than usual, intending to be at work long before anyone would expect her there. Besides, she needed to run over to the mall later to collect her bodyguards, so at least she’d get in a couple of billable hours’ work before she took off. It was only as she started her car, parked in her numbered parking space, that she thought a coward like her brother would be far more likely to loosen the lug nuts of her car and hope she killed herself when the wheels came off, than actually come out and do anything to her in person.
She drove slowly for the first few miles, checking the steering and brakes. This could be paranoia setting in or maybe it was wisdom. Either way, she’d get her new bodyguards to hire a couple of cars so she could switch them around. And she’d make certain they weren’t parked where her brother could damage them.
Just after nine she hurried out of her office and drove to Hanson Mall, parking on the fourth level as close to the entry to the professional suites as she could. At exactly nine thirty she entered the building and spoke to the young woman sitting at the reception desk. “I’m Janet Young. I have an appointment with Mr. Hanson and some bodyguards.”
“Just a moment, ma’am. I’ll have someone escort you to the conference room.”
Janet watched as the receptionist spoke quietly into her phone, and then walked back to the glass doors, looking out into the mall. There was a huge glass dome over the center of the mall, letting natural light shine down into the building. From here she couldn’t see much of the lowest level, but she could see how welcoming the streaks of sunlight looked, compared to many malls that seemed much darker and less friendly.
“That glass dome makes everything look light and welcoming. Who was the architect who designed this building?” she asked the receptionist.
“Mr. Hanson himself thought of the glass dome. The builders kept saying it would make the heating bills in winter too high, but Mr. Hanson insisted on having it anyway.”
“He’s a smart man in that case. It’s worth paying a bit extra on the utilities account to gain customer satisfaction.”
Just then the elevator door dinged and a tall, solid blond man in a security uniform stepped out.
“Ms. Young?”
Janet nodded to the receptionist and followed the guard into the elevator. She was only five foot four and he had to be at least six foot and solid with it. Her own shoulders were too broad for beauty. Kind people called her chunky. Her brother had always called her fat. But this man was exactly what she needed. If she stood behind him no one would see her. That was for sure.
She didn’t see what floor button he pressed and there were no lights in the elevator to display where they were going. That was unusual. But the door soon dinged open again and he held it for her saying, “This way, ma’am.”
She followed him along a corridor for a short distance and into a conference room. The first thing she noticed was an enormous man with black hair, wearing a bright white shirt that made his skin and hair look even darker. The man was a mountain. She’d asked for large and Cadfael Hanson had most definitely delivered on her request.
Cadfael waved her to a seat, at the conference table, and pushed a sheet of paper across the table to her. “Perhaps you should read this first,” he said.
Janet skimmed the sheet, then read it carefully and signed the bottom. It effectively said these men were working for her on a subcontract basis. She was good with that description.
“Shut the door please, Berian, and then you and Hal can be seated,” said Cadfael.
Her escort, Berian, left the seat next to her empty and sat at the one after that, and the other man, presumably Hal, sat on the far side of Berian.
“I’ve told the men what you’ve told me about the situation. Can you give us all a few more details about how your brother is likely to react. What sort of things he might do?” asked Cadfael.
“Like so many bullies, he’s also a coward. I’ve stayed away from him as much as possible since I left home ten years ago. But he was sneaky and manipulative. If I borrowed library books he’d hide them so I couldn’t read them or return them on time. A brand-new shirt I’d never worn mysteriously appeared in the garage, with the sleeve tangled around the wheels of the lawnmower and grease stains on it. I was just thinking this morning that he’d be the kind of person who would loosen the lug nuts on my car and hope I killed myself. But having said that, he was really furious about the court ordering him to table his financial papers. He might come right out and try to bash me. He’s done that before, too, but only when we were alone. Never around witnesses.”
“How old is he, and what does he look like?” asked Berian.
“He’s eighteen months older than me so he’ll be thirty in October. His hair is the same sort of brown as mine. He has gray eyes and he’s maybe five ten, five eleven tall and with a medium build. I don’t even know where he works anymore. He trained in town planning but tended to argue with people a lot and moved on from jobs fairly often.”
“What’s your job? I mean, I don’t need to know the ins and outs of it, just what will be expected of us to protect you around it.”
Janet thought Berian looked almost embarrassed to be questioning her. But he was doing better than the other man who hadn’t opened his mouth or moved a muscle yet. Maybe the dark man was just here to look pretty. He was certainly a mountain of muscle.
“I’m an auditor. I work for an accounting firm that sends teams of people to audit companies annually. I also do some forensic accounting. Locating money that’s gone missing. I’d love to get my hands on Malcolm’s paperwork but I don’t expect the court will let me. From your point of view, once I’m inside my own office you don’t need to worry about me. It’ll only be at home at night, and traveling around, and if I’m dealing with clients that I’ll be in danger. It’d be quite like Malcolm to convince someone else to try to hurt me.”
“Or plant electronic eavesdropping devices in your home, car, or office?” asked Cadfael.
“Fucking hell! I never thought of that. Most of the accounts I deal with are highly confidential. Yes, if Malcolm had tape recordings of me speaking about the details of someone’s financial business I’d lose my accreditation and never work again. Shit!”
Janet was shocked. This was why she needed these people. She should have thought of that herself. What if there were other things she hadn’t thought of yet that Malcolm could do to her. Fuck!
They talked some more but there wasn’t anything else they mentioned that startled her as much as the thought of eavesdropping devices. Finally the meeting was over. She shook Cadfael’s hand. “I’m indebted to you, Cadfael. Thank you for loaning me your men.”
“My pleasure. Keep her safe, Berian, Hal.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Yes, sir.” It was the first time she’d heard Hal speak and he had a deep, rumbly bass voice that was very sexy. But she didn’t have time to think about that now. There were a million things they needed to do.
She walked fast back to her car, a man close to her shoulder on either side so she felt almost overshadowed by them. When she got out her car key, Berian took it from her. “Wait a minute.”
Hal turned his back to her, spread his feet wider apart, and crossed his arms. It was clear he was guarding her from anyone who might attack them. Meanwhile Berian lay on the concrete and stuck his head under her car, kicked the tires, and sta
rted the engine. He then drove the car himself the length of the parking lot stomping on the brakes several times along the way, before pulling up beside them again.
Hal opened the door to the backseat and indicated for her to get in. Okay, it looked like she had a couple of chauffeurs as well as bodyguards. Fair enough.
Hal climbed into the passenger seat and Berian said, “All right, ma’am. Where to first?”
“The bank.” She gave him the address and then said, “I’ll be handing you both a lot of money. Once you take me back to work I want you to hire a couple of cars that will move fast enough but will blend in with the traffic. Then you can put this car in storage. There’s a self-storage company only a few blocks from my office. Then go buy gadgets to let me know if I’ve been bugged. After that you can bring me some lunch. I don’t expect I’ll be leaving my office until late tonight.”
“Yes, ma’am. What do you want for lunch and what time do you want us to deliver it to you?”
Excellent. It seemed they weren’t going to argue with her. That was good. And they were both big and tough looking. That was even better. Maybe this entire circus would all work out fine after all. With a bit of luck Malcolm would grow a brain, give up his ideas of stealing their father’s property, and life would return to normal in a few days.
Normal would be lovely. Ever since she’d gotten back from that interstate job her life had been one fucking crisis after another. Maybe hiring these men was a total waste of time, but if it meant Malcolm retreated into his cave and ignored her that would be awesome.
Chapter Two
Berian was pleased that the farm boy had kept his mouth shut and acted appropriately so far. Maybe this would work out okay after all. When they arrived at the bank he told Hal to wait with the car while he accompanied Janet into the building. Hal got out and leaned against the fender of the car until they returned, opening and closing the car door for Janet to climb in and out.
While he drove her to her office she handed a wad of money to Hal, who left it on his knees. It was certainly too much just to put in a wallet. Of course, the woman carried an enormous purse so it’d disappeared into there with no worries.
“Put it down the front of your pants for now,” he said to Hal.
The man stared at him then did as he’d said.
Once they were alone he’d be able to talk to the farm boy and find out if he was going to be useful or not. But while Hal was doing as he said, it was all good.
They both walked her into her office. She moved damn fast for a female. She was short, so it wasn’t the length of her stride, but she really kept the pace up. She didn’t break into a sweat so apparently it was her usual speed of walking.
Once in the office she went straight to her computer and said, “I’ll give you a picture of Malcolm. Just wait a moment.”
Only seconds later the printer whirred and she handed them a sheet with a picture of a round-faced man with thin, straggly brown hair, wearing a pale blue shirt and darker blue necktie. It appeared to be an official photograph, but instead of smile on his face it was more of a sneer, or even a smirk. Berian didn’t like him. The man gave off bad vibes. Of course life wasn’t that simple. Oftentimes good guys gave off bad vibes and bad guys seemed like the wholesome boy-next-door type. But in this case, Berian was prepared to believe Malcolm Young was a rotten egg.
He nodded to her. “Thank you, ma’am. We’ll return at one with your lunch and to update you on our progress.”
They left the building. He couldn’t help but notice the security was really lax. There was a security guard in the foyer on the first floor, but apart from that there didn’t seem to be any closed circuit monitors or anything. A smart-talking assailant would get past that guard and could wander around the building doing anything.
Once back in the car he said, “Right. We’ll divide up the money and carry half each. We’ll hire the cars from different companies. When we have one we’ll take this car and store it, then we’ll get another one from somewhere else. I suppose you do have a driver’s license.”
“Yes I do. I’ve always lived on the farm so I can drive pretty much anything mechanical, and stick-shift cars as well as automatics.”
“Great. That’s a help. Do you know anything about electronics?”
“About bugging machines in particular, no. But I took shop in school, so I’ve pulled apart all sorts of machinery, fixed it, and put it back together again. I should be able to use whatever is needed and to undo stuff to check for bugs without breaking anything.”
Berian was relieved. Maybe the hayseed wouldn’t be a complete waste of space after all.
“Can you shoot? Do you have a gun license?” he asked.
“Yes, and yes. But I need to tell you I’ve never shot at a person. We used to shoot at rodents sometimes on the farm. There was a rat plague when I was a teenager and we all got to be pretty good shots back then.”
Berian smiled. Perhaps having a farm boy for a colleague wouldn’t be a total loss after all. “Better and better. Okay, let’s go shopping for our new boss.”
The first car they hired was an almost new black SUV. It looked exactly like a million other black SUVs. He drove it to the storage place and Hal drove Janet’s car. He watched the farm boy in his rearview mirror a lot but the man seemed to have told the truth and drove smoothly and competently. Berian heaved a mental sigh of relief. So far so good.
Since he was paying a cash deposit, he took out the storage locker in his own name. That might also slow down Janet’s brother if he was trying to locate her vehicle. Then they drove to the other side of town and rented a white Ford. Again, it was almost new and looked like thousands of other vehicles. They left the Ford in the staff parking lot at Hanson Mall, and went shopping for electronic gadgets.
Berian was surprised when the helpful salesman assured him all he needed was a good near-range radio frequency detector.
“Start at the doorway and concentrate on vent grills, electrical outlets, switches, and light fittings. Make sure lights, ceiling cavities, wall surfaces, and the external areas of the property are checked as well. Remember that small battery-powered transmitters can be concealed in almost anything. With one of these, if you’ve been bugged you’ll get good loud feedback,” he said.
“Thank you. I expected it to be much more complicated than that.”
By the time they left the store Hal looked at his watch, a large, old-fashioned looking one, and said, “It’s after twelve.”
“Yes. I was thinking we’ll pick up the food at Hanson Mall. It’s not the closest mall but I know exactly where to go there.”
Hal climbed into the SUV with him, but when they were nearly at the mall he said, “My luggage is here. Would it be appropriate if you collected Ms. Young’s meal while I went and retrieved my things?”
“Actually that’s a good idea. I’ll park near my car and transfer my duffel bag over as well. Who knows what we might need to do this afternoon. What do you want for lunch?”
The other man’s voice was hesitant. “The place you have to go to for Ms. Young. Do they do steak sandwiches? If that’s too much trouble I’ll just have whatever you’re having.”
“It’s good. I wouldn’t mind a steak sandwich myself. Coffee or soda?”
“Coffee please.”
“Done.”
* * * *
Hal walked into the professional suites and waited at the desk. A different person was on duty from this morning and he hoped she’d know about his luggage.
When she looked up at him and smiled he automatically smiled back, but he was still a little nervous. “Uh, good afternoon, ma’am. I’m Hal Rowe from…er…the Simon…er…company. The lady on the desk this morning put my suitcase into storage for me.”
“That’s right she mentioned that. Who are you working for?”
Who am I working for? Oh, is this like a password or something?
“Uh, Berian…um…um, oh that’s right, Berian Davies is my superviso
r and we’re both seconded to work for Ms. Janet Young at the moment.”
“Good answer.” The woman smiled again and left the desk, heading into a nearby room. He hurried after her. His suitcase was very full. He hadn’t been sure exactly what to bring so had packed a lot of stuff. But it was a man who carried the luggage out of the room. He looked Hal up and down and then nodded.
“I’m sure you’ll fulfill Ms. Young’s requirements. Have a good day.”
Hal took the suitcase from him and bowed his head to this man, and to the woman. “Thank you. And thank you for storing this for me this morning.”
He carried the suitcase out to the car, which was parked one level higher than the entry to the professional suites. The luggage was heavy but it wasn’t all that far and he was used to carrying forty-pound bags of cattle feed. Although he was certain his luggage weighted a lot more than that.
He leaned against the fender of the SUV, watching all around himself. A few people came out of the mall and returned to their vehicles, and a few others arrived and went into the mall. This was the staff parking level and he wondered if they were humans or werewolves. He knew the staff at the mall was a mixture of both. That was new to him. Apart from school, he’d always lived with wolves. That’s what had tangled his tongue when he spoke to the receptionist. He couldn’t say words like pack in public. At least Ms. Young knew all about the wolves. If he made a mistake in front of her it wouldn’t matter so much. Unless someone had bugged her office. Then it might be a disaster. Hell. He really did need to guard his tongue and keep his mind on the ball.
Hal also worried about whatever tasks he might be given to do. So far all Berian had done was ask him a few questions. But there’d been no instructions. He’d sort of expected it to be almost like school, where his supervisor would give him a list of things to practice doing so when the time came he’d be practiced and proficient. Or maybe he could ask for some help like that. To be shown where he should stand when guarding the woman. Yeah. Maybe he’d ask.
