“Good, after we win tonight, what do you say I blow off Icehouse and come play that role, because tomorrow, I’m gonna be sleeping with four men, and missing your little purrs and the way you find me in the dark.” Now I sigh. “I like that more than you know.”
“No blowing off Icehouse, but yeah, that sounds good.”
I sit on my bed and wait for the call, after receiving the message to expect it at one o’clock.
I look at her dot and see she’s at The Bridgeview, and remind myself we’re taking this slow, and that she’s safe.
Then my phone rings, I answer.
“This is The Legacy Ward division,” the man says calm and controlled. “You reached out regarding third-party private security.”
“Yes.”
“Before we talk services,” he says, “I need to ask how you were referred.”
“Dean Costello.”
“Understood,” he says. “And what is your relationship to the individual you’re inquiring about?”
“None that gives me authority,” I answer. “That’s why I’m calling.”
A pause and then, “We don’t initiate protection without consent. And we don’t act on fear alone. So, help me understand what you’re asking for.”
“Distance,” I say. “Assessment with quiet options. I don’t want someone breathing down her neck. I don’t want visibility. I want her to know that it existsifshe wants it.”
“And if she doesn’t?” he asks.
“Then nothing happens.”
That earns me a breath on the other end. Approval, maybe?
“You’re aware that we’ll never approach her without disclosure. And we won’t accept third-party directives.”
“Yes.”
“And that your role would end the moment she says no.”
“Yes.”
Another pause and then, “Kilovac, the reason we ask these questions isn’t because we think you’re a problem. It’s because the only thing worse than no protection is protection used as control.”
“I agree,” I say.
“What’s driving the concern?” he asks.
“Visibility,” I answer. “Money, family dynamics, corporate exposure. People who don’t hear boundaries, unless someone else enforces them, like I had to last night.”
“That’s not paranoia,” he says.
“Exactly.
“Her name and the location?”
“Sofie Fairfax, New York City.”
“As in Fairfax Media?” he asks.
“Yes.”
