Chapter 26 – The Bodyguard
Lynn was back at her desk Monday morning getting ready to start in on the stack of deadbeat dad files when Dave called her to his office. Before he could start telling her about her new assignment, Lynn broke in and told him all about her experience with the intruder at the cabin. She was talking so fast and excitedly that Dave couldn’t even stop her to ask questions. When she finally ran down he scolded her for not calling him to go with her to the cabin. “Now tell me again how you found out about the bomb just in time to keep from blowing yourself up”
Lynn didn’t want to tell him about Jack – he would have her committed – so she said, “I heard a voice in my head, sort of a sixth sense, warning me not to get in the car. And when I left the garage I heard the sound of an engine climbing the hill to Jack’s property, so I ran back up to my truck and disappeared into the woods.”
“Did this other vehicle follow you into the woods?”
“Not very far. I lost her.”
“And how do you know it was a woman?”
“Like I told you, I could tell it was a woman from the security video in the cabin. She moved like a cat . . . a graceful feline.”
“Did you find any evidence that might help us identify her?”
“No, she was very careful to put everything back in its place. . . . No, wait. I found Jack’s photo of me – the one he usually keeps on his desk. It had a message written on the picture frame glass. It said “You’re next, bitch.”
“Did you bring it back with you?”
“Yes, but it’s in pieces. I dropped it and broke the glass.”
“Well, get that over to our lab to see if they can find anything on it. I’ll send someone up to remove the bomb.”
“Okay. Now why did you call me up here, Dave? Is it about that new assignment?”
“Yes it is. I’ve thought it over and decided you’re ready for it. Next week the CEO of an Italian pharmaceutical company, de Luca Farmaceutico, is coming to Wilmington, Delaware for a week-long conference. He’ll have his wife and 16-year-old daughter with him, along with his personal bodyguards.”
“Why the bodyguards?”
“Most people with his wealth and power keep a staff of bodyguards to protect them and their families. In this case the CEO, Antonio de Luca, has received some threats lately from an environmental watch-dog group who claim that De Luca Pharmaceuticals is polluting the Po River from its plant in Turin. He wants a personal bodyguard for his daughter – but one who doesn’t look like a bodyguard – who will stay by her side 24 hours a day.”
“I thought you said he already had some bodyguards?”
“Yes, but they’re men who can’t follow her into restrooms or stay with her in her bedroom. That’s why I want a woman for this job.”
“Would I be armed?”
“Yes, you’ll need a concealed sidearm with you at all times. But I don’t expect that you will have to use it.”
“I have my Glock 15, but that’s too bulky to conceal.”
“You haven’t seen our weapons arsenal yet, have you. Let’s go down to the basement and find a weapon you can hide easily.”
When Dave opened the door to the weapons room and turned on the lights Lynn’s eyes lit up at the number and variety of CSIC’s weapons. “You and Jack must think alike. He has a lot of the same weapons underneath the pickup bed.” As her eyes scanned the room she focused on one section that held small pistols on a metal rack. She went over and examined some of them before pulling a Glock 26 – the “Baby Glock” nine millimeter – from the shelf. She checked to be sure it wasn’t loaded, then hefted it and took aim at an imaginary target. “The trigger pull on this one is a little stiff, Dave. I’d have to be careful not to move it off target when I fire it. Otherwise, it’s a good weapon.”
“I’ve noticed that myself, but with the size of my hand I don’t have much trouble with that. Glock makes another one just like that but with a more powerful 40 caliber cartridge, but that would be even harder to control. Try that Ruger LC9 down on the bottom shelf. That little beauty is less than an inch thick. You could probably hide it in your bra.”
“Trust me – there’s no room left in there,” Lynn said with a grin. She took it off the shelf and dry fired it a few times. “I really like this one. What kind of holster do you have for it?”
“We have a slimline holster that clamps onto your belt in the small of your back. With a loose fitting shirt or jacket it would be nearly invisible. I’ll have our weapons technician clean it and deliver the gun and holster to your office later today. Tomorrow we’ll schedule some time in our shooting room for you so you can get used to drawing and firing it.”
“You have a shooting room here in the building? I’ve haven’t heard any shooting.”
“It’s down here in the basement in a soundproof room. State-of-the-art, with a video projector that can create any scenario we choose onto the target wall for you to react to, and then shows where your shots hit.”
“Terrific. I’ll be down here first thing in the morning.”
“Let’s go back upstairs to my office and tell you the rest of the details about your assignment. While we’re up there Donna will give you a company credit card so you can go out and buy whatever clothes you need to conceal the gun and to fit in at the Hotel du Pont. . . . Oh, and you will need to get a concealed carry permit. You can stop by City Hall while you’re out shopping for clothes and fill out an application. Tell them you’re working for me so they’ll expedite it.” Dave started up the stairs then remembered one more thing. “Tell Donna that you’ll need one of our special cell phones.”
“What’s special about it?”
“It can only communicate with other phones on our network using a one or two buttons that connect directly with me or one of the support staff. It’s very thin and flexible so you can wear it anywhere on your body as long as it touches skin.”
“Why does it have to be against my skin?”
“Because when it rings, it delivers a mild electric shock to let you know you have a call. No bells, no buzz; just a tingle. It also has a GPS that will tell us your location, and a panic button that tells us you need help immediately. One of my other investigators will stay within a mile or two of wherever you are, so you’ll get a quick response when you need it.”
“It sounds like you’ve thought of everything, Dave.”
Lynn was feeling a rush of excitement as the limousine pulled into the Hotel du Pont underground parking garage in Wilmington. This assignment is definitely not going to be boring – not with a 16 year-old girl in my charge. And this hotel is an elegant luxury hotel built back when luxury actual meant something. The car pulled into a reserved parking space and the chauffer got out to open her door. He was built like an NFL lineman – tall and broad-shouldered with the bulge of muscles showing beneath his clothes. He was also the silent type – Lynn tried to start a conversation with him several time during the drive from Philadelphia, but she was the only one talking.
The chauffer/bodyguard retrieved her luggage from the trunk and spoke his first words to her. “Follow me, Mrs. Preston. There is a private elevator to take us to the top floor penthouse.” She saw the elevator was operated by another bodyguard, who was built pretty much like the chauffer.
She stepped off the elevator into the large living room of a penthouse suite, and was confronted by yet another bodyguard who gave her a full body pat-down. He found the gun but not the phone, which she had planted underneath the back strap of her bra. Score one for Dave she thought.
He inspected the Ruger firearm, weighed it in his hand, and said “Good choice. I’ll return it to you once you are officially on-duty.”
“I’m not on duty now?”
“No, Mr. de Luca has the final decision. Come. I’ll introduce you.”
This bodyguard is definitely more friendly than the others, she thought. Maybe he’s a personal assistant/bodyguard.
“Mr. de Luca, may I in
troduce Mrs. Lynn Preston of Cramer Security and Investigations Company. Mr. Cramer believes that she will make an excellent personal bodyguard for Gabriella.” De Luca looked her up and down, then walked around her. When he was back in front of her he made a sudden move to strike her in the throat. Lynn’s reflexes responded before she had time to think by grabbing his wrist and twisting it backwards. Fortunately, her conscious mind took over just before she broke his wrist. She stepped back and said “I apologize for my reaction, sir. I should have assessed your attack before I responded. Your eyes would have told me that you weren’t serious.”
“No, no! Don’t apologize. That’s exactly the reaction I was looking for. You are very good and very quick. You will make an excellent bodyguard for my daughter. Come, let me introduce you.”
De Luca led Lynn into an adjoining suite where Gabriella was sitting on the couch reading. “Dear, this is Lynn Preston. She will be your shadow for the rest of our stay in America.” Lynn stepped up to her and reached out to shake the girl’s hand. She looked up at Lynn briefly, then returned to her reading without a word. The father looked embarrassed at his daughter’s rudeness but didn’t try to correct her behavior.
“Well then . . . I’ll leave you two alone to get acquainted. Mrs. Preston, your bedroom is the one on the right, Gabriella’s is on the left.”
“I’ll be sleeping out here on the couch where I can intercept unauthorized people before they reach her.” De Luca nodded his head in approval and left the room.
Lynn looked back at Gabriella and started to say something, then changed her mind. She thought this is like getting close to a new pet. You just go about your business and let them approach you a little at a time. Eventually they get comfortable in your presence and accept you. So Lynn went into her bedroom to change into something more comfortable and unpack her suitcase. As she was putting on a loose-fitting shirt to conceal the Ruger in her back holster she looked up and saw Gabriella standing in the doorway.
“Do you carry that gun with you all the time?”
“When I’m on an assignment like this I do.”
“Are you any good with it?”
“Yes I am. I can put six bullets into a three inch circle from fifty feet away in five seconds. Have you ever used a gun, Gabriella?”
“No . . . and I’m Gabbi. . . . with an ‘i’. Only my parents call me by my full name.” With that she turned around and went back to the couch to read some more. Lynn waited a couple of minutes, then got a pad and pencil and sat in a chair across from Gabbi making notes about her plans to start a getting-even business. After a few minutes Gabbi asked, “What are you writing? Are those the rules I have to follow when we’re together?”
“No, I don’t need to write the rules down for you because there are only two. I will stick with you 24 hours a day, and you will never be more than twenty-five feet away from me.”
“What happens if I want to go shopping . . . alone?”
“There is no alone. I’ll go with you wherever you want to go.”
“What if I sneak out on my own?”
“If you ever stray more than twenty-five feet from me, I’ll handcuff you to my wrist.”
“You won’t be able to catch me. I’m a fast runner.”
“I’m faster . . . but don’t make me prove it. Now, do you have any plans for today?”
“I usually go for a walk after lunch, but father’s bodyguards always go with me, so you won’t be needed.”
“Have you forgotten rule number one so quickly. I will be at your side at all times.”
“But if you’re beside me on my walk you’ll will ruin my fun.”
“What fun?”
“I flirt with boys I see. I smile and wink at them, and sometimes they stop to chat with me. But they will think you’re my mother and stay away.”
“Good. Close encounters in a strange city are dangerous. The smiling and winking are okay, but I’ll cut off anyone coming toward you.”
“Party pooper.”
The rest of the day went by without any problems. Gabbi was giving Lynn the silent treatment, but that’s standard behavior for sulking teenagers. Lynn remembered when her granddaughter went through that phase. That thought brought up some painful memories of Selena’s murder, but Lynn pushed them away. At bedtime Gabbi went into her room and closed the door, but Lynn told her the door would have to stay open. Her reply was, “But what about my privacy?”
“You can have all the privacy you want when you get back to Italy,” Lynn retorted.
Lynn stayed up until midnight developing an action plan for starting Revenge, Inc.
Call Rick and Harriet to see about running the business out of their country home.
Pass the state and federal private investigator exams.
Hire a lawyer to draw up the incorporation and licensing papers.
Talk to Dave about my plans. Offer to take on selected cases for CSIC as a consultant.
Open a business bank account and get liability insurance.
Find clients who need my services – recovery and revenge for wrongs done to them. (How do I do this? I can’t really advertise – I want to keep a low profile. Word of mouth from satisfied clients? Search for cases on the Internet news sites?)
Make a list of necessary office equipment – (FAX, copier, desks and chairs, internet servers, computers.)
When she was satisfied with this initial list she saved it to the hard drive. “I’ll call Harriet and Rick first thing in the morning to get the ball rolling” she mumbled to herself. She closed her laptop, got some sheets and a pillow from her bedroom and made up the couch for sleeping. She put her gun underneath the pillow as she snuggled into the soft cushions she said softly, “I love you and miss you, Jack.” She thought she heard him reply with Me too, sweetheart.
Lynn was up and active by 5 a.m. the next day, running through her duties and action items in her head. She went into the kitchen and brewed coffee using the Keurig machine on the counter. The hotel had provided a dozen or so coffee varieties, but she went with her favorite, Maxwell House Bold. It gave her the initial jolt of energy she needed to get on with the day.
She looked for something to eat in the mini fridge, but found nothing but wine and liquor shooters. She wasn’t sure what the breakfast arrangements were here, but she was hungry. The personal assistant/bodyguard must have heard her stirring because he entered Gabbi’s suite through the connecting doorway.
“Good morning, Mrs. Preston. I brought you some coffee, but I see you already have some.”
“Thanks for the thought . . . what should I call you?”
“Michael will do, ma’am. Here is a breakfast menu. Let me know what you would like and I’ll have it sent up.”
“Thank you Michael.”
After she ate her Eggs Benedict, ham, and Danish pastry, Lynn figured that Harriet would be awake so she pulled out her cell phone and dialed the number. She got a recording that said “Harriet Goodman here. Please leave a name and number and maybe I’ll get back to you . . . or not.” Lynn smiled at the characteristic Harriet humor in the answer message and replied with her own humorous response, in her best Ernestine voice:
“Hello, and welcome to the mental health hotline.”
If you are obsessive-compulsive, press 1 repeatedly.
If you are co-dependent, ask someone to press 2 for you.
If you have multiple personalities, press 3, 4, 5, and 6.
If you are paranoid, we know who you are and what you want. Stay on the line so we can trace your call.
If you are delusional, press 7 and your call will be transferred to the mother ship.
If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a small voice will tell you which number to press.
If you have low self-esteem, please hang up. All operators are too busy to talk to you.”
“No, seriously Harriet. This is Lynn. Call me. I have a proposition for you.” Lynn was about to hang up when she heard Harriet’s laugh coming throu
gh the earpiece.
“Are you there, Harriet?”
“Yes, but let me get over my laughing fit..” After a couple of deep breaths she composed herself and said, “Alright, I’m listening for your proposition. Does it involve selling ourselves on the street?”
“You can if you want to, but what I have in mind is more fun than that.” Lynn spent the next ten minutes explaining her ideas for Revenge Inc. to Harriet. When she was finished Harriet said, “I can’t think of a better cause to use our collective talents for. We’re not enjoying our so-called retirement much. We need something worthwhile to do, and this sounds like it.”
“I’ll send you some more ideas and action items as I think of them.”
“Rick came in half way through your proposition, Lynn, but he’s nodding his head. It sounds great and we would love for you to move to The Farm and run the business from here. Let us talk it over and get back to you later today. Rick can help out with the business setup and administrative details.”
“Terrific! When do you think we can get started?”
Rick spoke up at this point. “It will take a month or so to get it all set up, Lynn. I’ll check on everything today and give you a more definitive answer this evening.”
“I’ll be waiting for your call. Bye, guys.”
As Lynn got up from the bar stool to get more coffee she noticed Gabbi standing in the doorway. Lynn said, as cheerfully as she could, “Good morning Gabbi. Did you sleep well?”
“I wouldn’t know – I was asleep. . . . What was that phone conversation about?”
Lynn was about to say “It was personal” and then caught herself. If I open up to her, that might improve our relationship. So she told Gabbi the essentials of her idea for Revenge, Inc.
“Wow, that’s cool Mrs. Preston. There are lots of people out there who need that kind of help.”
“If we’re going to be friends, you can call me Lynn.”
“Thanks. Is there a Mr. Preston? What does he do for a living.”
Again Lynn thought about giving her a phony answer, but went back into her relationship-building mode and told her the truth. “Jack was an Agent with the Federal Remediation Agency until he retired two years ago, after his wife of thirty-two years died of cancer. He and I knew each other in high school and I rediscovered him on the internet. We were married almost a year . . . but I lost him three months ago . He was . . . he was murdered.” Tears came to Lynn’s eyes at the thought and Gabbi responded by coming to sit beside her. “I’m so sorry, Lynn. It was dumb for me to ask that question.”
“It’s Okay, I can handle it now. I was in a deep depression after his death – I didn’t want to go on. But he talked me into moving forward.”
“He talked to you? I thought he was dead.”
“Don’t think I’m crazy, but he talks to me in my sleep now and then to help me through the grief.”
“Really! His spirit communicates with you?”
“That’s what it seems like. But a psychiatrist would probably have a different theory.”
Gabbi put her arm around Lynn and gave her a long hug. Girls and women are big on empathy. “I’m sorry I’ve been giving you a hard time, Lynn. I was really reacting to my father’s attempts to control me. He doesn’t realize that I’m already a woman – a young woman. I can take care of myself.”
Lynn knew better than to correct her thinking – that would destroy the closeness they had just developed. Lynn decided to draw her even closer. It would be helpful in an emergency.
“I had a granddaughter your age, Gabbi. Her name was Selena. We spent a lot of time together at my home in Telluride, Colorado.”
“From what I hear, that’s ski heaven. I’ve skied the Italian Alps a few times, but I would love to spend some time skiing in the Rocky Mountains. How old is she?
“She’s . . . gone. She was murdered with Jack. They were shot and my home was burned down around them.”
“Oh you poor woman! You have suffered so much, Lynn.”
“Losing Selena makes me super cautious with regard to your safety. I may seem a little paranoid to you, but I hope you can understand why.”
“I do, Lynn. And I promise not to give you a hard time about anything anymore. I’ll obey you like a well-trained dog.” That caused another tear or two about O’Malley, but Lynn held it back. “Thank you, Gabbi.”
“Mrs. Preston . . . I mean Lynn. I have never been shopping in an American department store. Do you think you could take me this afternoon, instead of our walk?”
“Sure, if your mother says you can. Let’s go ask her.”
Gloria Durant, her brother Carlos, and two other men sat in her Chevy passenger van in the Hotel du Pont parking garage for the for the third day in a row. Carlos commented, “de Luca’s daughter has to be getting restless in that hotel room after all this time. Maybe her father won’t let her go out.”
“Then we will go back to Italy and do the job there.”
“How we gonna afford that?” one of the men in the back seat asked.
Gloria gave him a hard look. “I’ll figure out a way if it comes to that. Maybe I can sell your organs on the black market.”
The man briefly looked frightened, then smiled as he realized she was kidding. Wasn’t she?
“Just keep your eyes on the exit door until we spot de Luca’s daughter getting into the limo. Then buckle up, because I’m not going to lose them.”
Gabbi’s mother had no objection to the shopping trip as long as the chauffer/bodyguard accompanied them, so after lunch their limo pulled into the parking garage to pick them up. The chauffer looked at her in the rear view mirror and asked “Where would you like to go, Mrs. Preston?”
Gabriella interjected, “Make it someplace nice, Lynn. Something memorable with the latest clothing and styles.”
“How does Neiman Marcus sound? It’s pretty much top of the line in department . . .”
“I know about Neiman Marcus. My mother used to come to New York City a couple of times a year to shop there. I would love to go there.”
“Neiman Marcus in Philadelphia, Mr. . . What do I call you?”
“Leonardo, ma’am”
She watched as he selected their destination on the limo’s GPS system and a map popped up on the screen. “It will be about 55 minutes on I-95, ma’am. There seems to be some delays on that route. I can get us there in under 40 minutes if I take Route 291 along the river.”
“Let’s do that. It’s more scenic anyway.”
Leonardo punched their destination into the GPS as he left the hotel parking garage. It diverted his attention long enough that he didn’t see the van that followed them out. Normally he kept a constant check on all the traffic around him, but this mistake would be costly.
A short time later the limo was out of the city driving through the forested land near the river when he noticed a van coming up fast behind him. Leonardo slowed a little and hugged the right shoulder to let the speeder pass. When it was beside the limo the van veered right into the front fender and forced the limo off the road. Leonardo tried his best to regain control but the Van kept pushing him to the right until the limo went over an embankment headed for the trees. Lynn had responded to the hit by the other car by pulling Gabriella’s face down onto her lap and holding her as tight as she could. Then came the collision with a massive oak tree.