The Bodyguard (21)

“I thought it might be better coming from his own famously handsome mouth.”

“Well, it wasn’t better. It was worse. I was totally unprepared. I have never walked out of a client’s house like that.”

“That’s on you.”

“No, it’s on you. You didn’t warn me.”

He kept his voice reasonable. “I didn’t warn you because it’s not nearly as big a deal as you’re acting like it is. His threat level is mild. He’s been off the radar. The press doesn’t know he’s here. The money’s good. This is the definition of easy.”

“You be his girlfriend then!” I said.

Glenn flared his nostrils.

“Or anybody else here.”

Kelly’s hand shot up. “I volunteer as tribute.”

“Perfect. Send Kelly!” I said. “Or send Taylor.”

“You’re the best I’ve got,” Glenn said. “And it’s gonna be a tricky one.”

“You just said it was ‘the definition of easy.’”

“It’s both! It’s easy and tricky! And I need a top person. And that’s you.”

“Don’t flatter me,” I said.

Glenn leaned in closer. “Look,” he said. “He’s estranged from his family. He’ll barely see them. So what if you have to do a little bit of covering when they’re nearby. From the looks of things, that shouldn’t be too often.”

“Glenn. His family’s the whole reason he’s here.”

But Glenn shook his head. “From what we’ve gathered, his relationship with his older brother is completely nonexistent.”

“What about the parents?”

“That’s less clear. Either way, he doesn’t spend much time with any of them.”

I didn’t know how else to protest. “Everything about this feels wrong.”

Glenn kept his eyes on me. “You’ve been incognito before.”

“To the outside world. Not to the client.”

“The family’s not the client. Jack Stapleton’s the client.”

“Same thing,” I said.

“You won’t be bored anymore, that’s for sure,” Glenn said.

“Hello?” Kelly said, waving to the room. “I said I’ll do it. I’m volunteering. You don’t even have to pay me. I’ll pay you.”

“It’s unethical,” I said, turning to her.

But Kelly flung her arm toward the photo of Jack Stapleton still lingering on the whiteboard. “Who cares?”

Was it unethical? Ethics were a little hard to gauge in this business. The thing about private security was, it had exploded in recent years—partly because the world was more dangerous for rich people and partly because those same people were more paranoid. Agents came from all backgrounds with different kinds of training—ex-military, ex-police, even ex-firefighters, like Doghouse. Most agents freelanced. Nothing was standardized. It was like the Wild West, really—with people doing anything they thought they could get away with. It meant more freedom, but also more risk—and a lot more shenanigans.

Ultimately, we were only accountable to the clients. We had to keep them happy, and for the most part, we did whatever they asked. I once had a client ask me to cover his $7,000 bar bill. I once went skydiving with a Belgian princess. I once spent a night keeping an eye on a client’s panther.

Was this Jack Stapleton thing that much weirder?

You served at the pleasure of the client, is what I’m saying. At least, if you wanted to get paid.

It’s likely everybody in that conference room saw the situation clearly except for me. If Jack Stapleton wanted a pretend girlfriend, he got a pretend girlfriend. And if I wanted to work for Jack Stapleton, then that’s what I had to be.

“The point is,” Glenn went on, “it’s such a great opportunity for you.”

“And it’s money for you.”

“It’s money for all of us.”

I was still shaking my head. “We can’t do a proper job under these parameters.”

“It’ll be harder, yes.” Glenn conceded. “But keep in mind: His threat level is almost white.”

I gave him a look. “It’s yellow.”

Kelly jumped in. “But a very light yellow. Almost like a lemon sorbet.”

Glenn pointed at Kelly. “Stop naming cutesy shades of threat levels.”

Glenn wasn’t taking me seriously. So I said, “I think you’ve got dollar signs in your eyes.”

It was a test. To see how he’d react.

I told you I could read faces, right? By the way his jaw tightened, I could read that Glenn was insulted. That’s when I started to cave.

He genuinely thought we could handle this.

“Do you think I’m just going to throw us all into the fire?” Glenn said. “Everybody’s reputation’s riding on this—especially mine. I’m saying it’s doable. I’m saying there are strategies for making it work.”

I sighed. “Like what, exactly?”

“A remote backup team, for one. Cutting-edge surveillance tech. Placing you as the eyes and ears on the inside with full twenty-four-hour backup teams on the outside.”