Bodyguard (Den of Thieves, #2) (2 page)

Playtime was over for Cat. Bo didn’t mind the shift, he was curious to see what Jake had going and eager to get started

“You guys remember Stan Brookshire from the homicide department? Well he contacted me yesterday with an offer I couldn't refuse.” Jake looked at his watch; “Stan should be here in a few minutes so I'll leave it for him to explain it to you.”

“Alright you've heard the man guys, get your paper and crayons and let's get organized to make sure we do this right,” Paul ordered clapping his hands.

Bo continued to sit there, staring at Paul. Paul was a good guy but he was a Fed through and through. They had a goofy, almost cheerleader stout way of rallying the troops and it tended to get on his nerves sometimes. That and the fact that Bo was never one to take notes for anything so every inch of this time was committed to memory as it was related to him.

Paul passed Bo on the way to his own desk. 

“That’s right, you don't need to take notes.” Paul smiled and patted him on the shoulder as he went by.

Bo continued to watch the others preparing themselves. A quick glance at the clock showed it was about five minutes to eight; he hoped that Stan would not be late like he had been in the past or it would be a long day.

“Wait, has anyone seen Sebastian?” Jake said, scanning the room before his eyes landed on Sebastian's empty desk.

“Nope. I don't think he’s in yet,” Rudy replied without looking up from his computer screen.

Jake muttered something under his breath and returned to what he had been doing.

Sebastian better hurry up or he had better have a really good explanation if he gets any later
, Bo thought, looking at the clock again.

*****

S
tan was almost half an hour later than he said he would be. It wasn't as late as Stan had been in the past but it was just enough to send Jake into a foul mood again. To make it even worse, Sebastian still had not shown up.

“Sorry I'm late,” Stan started as he and his partner Jane entered. Bo could hear the rain hitting the pavement as the door opened and both were shaking off the raindrops. Gracie cringed as they did so; she liked a neat and orderly office. Bo remembered one time in particular when some of them had come in from a pretty messy assignment and had tracked in a whole pile of mud and Gracie had almost had a heart attack in the middle of the office. Gracie was biting her tongue right now but thankfully staying quiet.

“I believe all of you have met my partner, Jane, “

Most of them had.

“Alright then, let's get down to business.” Stan brushed his unkempt black hair off his forehead.

“Jake here tells us you have an interesting assignment for us,” Paul said, motioning for Jane to follow him to the conference table in the middle of the room.

“I do – I mean, I'm not sure that it’s what you would call interesting but it certainly is one of the more important cases I have come across.” He dropped the file in the middle of the conference table as everyone gathered around.

Stan opened the file; Bo could see a picture of a beautiful woman on the top of the stack of papers. Her dark eyes contrasted with her coffee colored skin. Her eyes held his gaze even from the photograph.

“Who is she?” Paul asked picking up the picture to have a better look before passing it around to everyone.

“She’s Olivia Woods, the County prosecutor and a damn good one at that,” Jane piped up.

“What's the deal with her?” Cat asked, peering at the picture closely before passing it to Bo. Olivia's eyes continued to stare back at him and he forced himself to look away. He studied the rest of her, from her perfectly coiffed hair to her neat black suit and white blouse, not a single hair seemed to be out of place on the woman.

“She missing or a convict or something?” he asked, taking the picture from Jane. “Funny but no. She was shot last week,” Stan said, retrieving the picture. “What does that have to do with us?” Cat crossed her arms as she spoke.

“You want us to find the son of a bitch who did it?” Paul assumed, clearly angry that the crime had been committed. Being a Fed, he was eminently protective of other branches and the attorneys that persecuted the criminals and saw to justice for the victims.

“Actually, I have something else in mind for you,” Stan countered, looking around the table at the others.

Everyone waited for Stan to elaborate.

“What we need you to do is protect her until we can find out who attacked her,” Jane explained.

No one said anything but looked around at each other.

“With all due respect, Stan, I understand that this is an important case, but we do not provide protective services; we are in the recovery business,” Paul piped up first.

“Paul’s right; we don't do protective services or anything even remotely close to that.” Cat looked almost offended at the idea.

“Come on, guys,” Jake said. “Let's hear what Stan and Jane have to say before we jump to any conclusions about the job.”

Bo’s mind raced. He did not want anything to do with protecting anyone, let alone a woman. What the hell was Jake thinking, taking on an assignment like this?

“I don’t know what—” Paul started and then stopped short when Jake raised his hand.

“Stan, go on.”  Jake nodded at Stan.

“Anyway, as I was saying. We need you to keep an eye on this woman for us.”

“’We’ being who?” Cat asked, eyeing Stan suspiciously.

“Me and Jane.” Stan motioned towards Jane as he spoke.

“You and Jane. Does that mean what I think that means?” Paul looked between Jake and Stan.

Bo could feel the tension rising in the room.

“Yes. It means that this is not something that the LCPD is asking for but rather something that Jane and I are asking for. A favor, if you will.”

“Great, just great. Now we're doing favors.” Cat threw her hands up in the air as she turned away from the table.

“Easy, Cat,” Jake warned.

“Seriously, Jake, no offense meant Detective Brookshire, but when did we start doing favors?”

“Since we have to.” Jake's temper was visibly rising as Cat shook her head and walked into the next room.

“I apologize, Stan.”

“No need.” Stan held up his hand to silence Jake. “I get it. It's not something you do on a regular basis and that's why everyone is grumpy.”

“’Grumpy’ isn't quite the word I'd use for Cat,” Rudy said, shaking his head.

“Well whatever we call it, we are taking the case.” Jake leaned on the edge of the conference table.

“Know what, I get that you all have some things to discuss, so we will leave you to it.” Then he turned and Jane followed.

“I'll call you,” Jake promised, walking Stan and Jane of the door.

J
ake followed the two detectives out of the room.

“Well, this is interesting,” Rudy remarked, as soon as the door closed behind the trio.

“You can say that again,” Cat agreed, joining the group. “Glad to see you coming back to the table, Cat,” Paul welcomed, picking up the file and leafing through it.

“I'm only coming back because I want to talk to you guys about this and hopefully talk some sense into you.”

“Great, now it's nonsense.” Paul rolled his eyes. “Bo, you haven't said much this whole time - what do you think about the assignment? Is it really that bad?”

Bo didn’t respond. He was trying to remain non-committal but he wasn't entirely on board with the assignment; it wasn't his ideal situation.

“See, even Bo thinks this assignment is a crock,” Cat waved her hands in the air.

“Bo?” Paul raised his eyebrows, waiting.

“I'm not entirely sure that we, as a company, should start branching out into protective detail. We could be sitting setting ourselves up for some tough calls down the road that we might not want to make. Money is always going to be tight.”

“See?” Cat waved her hand again before turning away.

“I didn't finish,” he started again, pausing to wait until everyone was paying attention before continuing. “Given the scenario of the case and that the person asking is someone who not only provides us with a steady stream of revenue but also someone who has been there for us on a regular to back us up, I think we should take this case on if only to keep our relationship with the detectives strong.”

“That is logical,” Rudy agreed as Jake walked back into the room trailed, by a very disheveled looking Sebastian.

“Good of you to join us, Sebastian.” Paul shook his head.

“Late night with Daria again?” chuckled Cat.

“Don't. Okay?” Sebastian grumbled

“Guys, leave the man be.” Jake called everyone back to the table. “I brought Sebastian up to speed on where we are with this thing.”

“So, it's settled then?” Cat crossed her arms clearly unimpressed.

“Yes, we are taking the case. And yes, everyone is going to help out as much as is needed.”

“So who gets to play babysitter?” Sebastian piped up, putting down the picture of Olivia he had picked up a moment before.

“It sure isn't going to be me,” Cat mumbled

“No Cat, it's not going to be you. Bo,” Jake drew a breath, “is going to handle the client’s safety. The rest of us will be there to support him and Stan’s investigation in any way necessary.”

Bo started to protest, “Why me?”

“Your military background makes you ideal for the job,” Jake said, making notes on a sheet of paper from the file.

“But Jake, wouldn't Sebastian be better? His people skills are far better than mine.” He had a feeling that he was fighting a losing battle.

He didn't want to be in charge of protecting anything or anyone.

“If we needed someone to seduce someone else, Sebastian would fit that bill. We need the best protection; you fit that bill.”

“But Cat also fits that bill. She's got just as much skill as I—”

“Bo, that's enough. You're going to be the one who takes protective detail for Olivia Woods and that is final.”

Cat snickered and Bo felt his irritation rise.

“Leave it alone, Cat,” Bo growled and idly picked at the file on the table.

“I'll be cleaning and oiling gear if you need me,” Cat smiled sweetly. “Good luck babysitting.”

Bo glared at her as she left the room. As much as he appreciated her humor, it didn't always feel great to be on the receiving end of it.

“Alright, alright. Get your gear together, Bo and head over to the hospital,” Jake ordered, handing Bo the slip of paper he had copied things on to. “Here is the room number.”

“Thanks,” he mumbled stuffing the paper in his pocket without looking at it.

*****

O
livia closed her eyes and rested her head back on the pillow. The pain coming and going in waves was emanating from her shoulder.

The painkillers they had given her earlier were starting to wear off, but as much as it was starting to hurt again, she didn't enjoy the funky feeling in her mind.

She needed to have all her faculties if she was going to figure out who was behind this.

Opening her eyes, she stared at the ceiling trying to fight back the tears. There was any number of people who could have wanted her dead. It was her job to prosecute any number of the negative elements that called Lake City their home. Any number them could want her dead. Finding out exactly who did this was going to take an extremely long amount of time and a lot of resources. Leaving whomever was behind it, time to come back and finish the job.

Tears built up in the corners of her eyes before making their way down her cheeks.

The door opened suddenly, snapping her out of it. She hurriedly wiped the tears away before the curtains around her bed parted and two people stepped in.

“Good afternoon. Olivia Woods?” The dark haired man started, reaching out his hand. “I'm Detective Stan Brookshire and this here is my partner, Detective Jane Trinity.”

"Detectives." She nodded then winced; the movement had caused the pain to radiate from her shoulder.

“Don't move, Miss Woods, we wouldn't want you to hurt yourself on account of us.”

The woman, Jane, smiled warmly at her and she pulled out her notepad and pen.

“I know you two.” Their faces were familiar but the lingering fog in her head was making it hard to focus.

“Yes, Miss Woods, we have probably met at some point in our careers.” Detective Brookshire shuffled uncomfortably, “We need to go over a few things together.”

Olivia nodded, her mind still trying to make the connection of how she knew them. It was frustrating to know that her mind wasn't up to the usual. She never forgot a face but the meds were clouding her mind.

“Miss Woods?” Detective Trinity was looking at her intensely.

“I'm sorry, my mind was wandering a little bit.” She tried to smile but it felt fake. “What was the question?”

“We are trying to think of a list of people that would want to hurt you or want you dead,” Detective Brookshire repeated the question.

“To be quite honest, Detective, I was asking myself the same question as you were walking into my room.”

“Did you come up with any names?” The man moved forward to the edge of his seat, listening.

“Detectives, I am Crown prosecutor. There is a list a mile long of people who would love to do me harm.”

“Anyone that stands out as a prime suspect?”

“Not particularly.”

“Has anyone made any threats against you or your office recently?” The detective Trinity asked, without looking up from the note she was making.

“You have to speak with my clerks, they would know better than I would.”

“Do they handle your incoming mail?” he asked.

“Yes, most of it. The only time I would hear about something of that nature would be if there was an imminent threat to my safety.” She sighed. “But I will tell you from what I understand there are any number of lunatics that have had their objections to my existence.”

“Any particular reason that stands out?” The man smiled at her description of the situation.

“Because I dress too nicely, my house is too tidy. Because I put Big Brother, Little Sister, Mom. Daughter, Son, Father in jail. Because I drank my latte this morning from a disposable cup,” she laughed quietly.