Executive Protection(36)

She cried out in pain, the force of his grip on her hair stinging her scalp.

“I’m tired of you talking back to me. You’re going to learn how to do what I say, and when. Do you hear me?”

Dear God, the man was certifiably insane! “Get your hands off me!”

His jaw clenched and his eyes flared with uncontrollable rage.


“Is everything okay?” an old woman’s voice interrupted.

Cam turned his head and Lucy saw the elderly woman in a long floral dress with an old-fashioned white purse hooked over her elbow. The smartphone in her hand hinted to a little twenty-first century spunk.

“Is this man bothering you, honey?” she asked Lucy.

Obviously he was with his meaty hand clenching her hair. The old woman must have known it.

Cam let go of her hair and stood.

“Do I need to call the police?” the old woman asked in her frail voice, her thumb poised over the phone that she must have prepared with the numbers 9-1-1.

With limited options, Cam looked down at Lucy. “We’ll be seeing each other real soon.”

She refrained from replying with a threat of her own and he strode away.

Nearly slumping with relief, Lucy got out of her car, a tremble running through her body. The old woman approached.

Lucy put her hand on top of the open door. “Thank you so much.”

“Should I call the police, honey? That man should be reported.”

“No. He won’t bother me again.” Uncertainty shrouded that claim. We’ll be seeing each other real soon....

“All right, if you’re sure. If it were me, I’d report it.”

“I already did.” To Thad.

The old woman turned to her big, long Lincoln town car. “Young men these days.” She shook her curly, short, gray-haired head. “Aren’t what they used to be.” She looked at Lucy as she opened her car door. “I pity you.”

Lucy smiled. “There are a few good ones left.”

When Thad’s face came to mind, her smile slowly faded.

* * *

After Thad left the station, he drove to find Cam. He wasn’t at work, so he drove to his residence and waited. Now he saw him arrive and park in the driveway. Not long after that, another car appeared, this one parking in the street.

Thad recognized Jaden when the driver got out and wasn’t surprised. He and Cam were working together.

He waited for almost a half hour before Jaden left the house. He seemed agitated. So agitated that he didn’t notice Thad in his car. He also didn’t notice him following.

A few minutes later, Thad parked in the street two doors down from Jaden’s place of residence, an average neighborhood of thirty-year-old homes. Jaden didn’t make it inside. What must be his wife opened the door and started yelling at him. Thad rolled his windows down. He heard her shouting from here, but couldn’t discern what she said.

He shouted something back and she began beating on his chest. This time Thad could hear what she yelled.

“Stay the hell away from me!”

He took hold of her wrists to stop her from hitting him but didn’t hurt her. When she pulled back, he let her go and stood on the front porch step, the front door open.

Then his wife reappeared with a suitcase that she hefted out the door. Jaden stepped out of the way of the tumbling luggage. It rolled off the steps and onto the lawn.

The Secret Service agent was having problems at home. How complicated were they? Was this a typical failing marriage or was more going on?

Jaden’s wife slammed the front door shut. Jaden stood there for a while as though undecided over what to do. Then he lifted the suitcase and took it to his car.

* * *

That evening, Thad waited in the guesthouse, made available to the security team for whatever needs they had during their work. There were two other agents in the kitchen, no doubt wondering why he was waiting for Jaden.

Finally Jaden arrived, fifteen minutes late. He saw Thad and stopped.

“I need to talk to you,” Thad said, standing from the living room chair.

“If this is about that window...”

“It isn’t. Let’s go into the parlor.” Thad went to the small room off the entry and living room and waited just inside for Jaden to pass him.

Closing the double doors, seeing the two agents watching from the kitchen table, he faced Jaden, who stood in front of a two-chair sitting area.

“Having trouble at home?” Thad asked.

The caught look and lengthy hesitation revealed enough. “I don’t have to talk to you about that.”

No, but he’d have to talk to someone about it soon. Divorce was reportable when you had a security clearance. “I saw you with Cam Harmon today.”

Anxiety flickered in Jaden’s eyes before he masked it.

“I was going to go have a word with him when I saw you drive up,” Thad said. “Imagine my surprise.”

“So I know Cam. Big deal.” He walked to the window that overlooked the front yard of the guesthouse.

“How did you meet him?”

Jaden didn’t answer, only continued to peer through the window, the sun setting and casting shadows.

“Have the two of you been friends long?” Thad persisted.

Again, Jaden refused to respond, but turned to face him.

“Maybe you just met, like right after my mother was shot?”