1
Barbecue plans
@NYTopNews:SENATOR MORGAN MISSING? Senator has not been seen in public since latest death threats.
@BrkingNewsNY: Another Morgan Death Threat Issued.
@NYRumors: Is Senator Morgan in hiding? Our reporter is on the scene of his Albany office with more!
Rusty sighed.
The news was already picking up on the death threats targeting New York State Senator Wesley Morgan, and Rusty worried the coverage would jeopardize his ability to provide proper protective services to the Senator and his family through the Redmond Guardian Service.
Luckily, the threats specifically targeting Senator Morgan’s daughter Lila, had been kept under wraps so far. Rusty took a swig from his beer, and scanned the news feed on his phone, eager to see the Morgan story fall out of the headlines. Nutjobs and killers loved to be in the headlines and attention only amplified their ambitions. The more attention they got, the more it fueled their obsessions. So, it was important to be tactical with the way they were handled. Rusty understood discreet protective services were more likely to be effective, and when it came to being discreet, he was a professional and the best. That’s why his business kept growing.
Rusty pressed hamburger patties onto the grates of the grill, as friends and colleagues at his company The Redmond Guardian Service, set the table and tossed footballs on the roof of their office building (and his home) in New York City. His girlfriend Kaylin, had told him he needed to relax and enjoy the barbecue, and not think about work tonight. But with threats escalating against Senator Morgan, there wasn’t time to take it easy. Kaylin couldn’t take the night off when she was on call as a trauma surgeon, and private security was essentially the same thing. You were active until the threat was neutralized. The team of bodyguards he’d carefully assembled for his private security firm over the past year and a half, were already known as the best in the city. But this latest assignment would really put one of his newest guys – Sawyer – to the test.
Rusty eyed Sawyer from across the rooftop.
Sawyer was not your run-of-the-mill bodyguard. He could easily pass for a guy working in the entertainment industry, with a face which would make any movie poster look good. His demeanor did not in any way show he was a bodyguard.
Sawyer had a charming smile with movie-star worthy teeth, which permanently graced his face and brightened the mood of anyone close enough to notice it. His brown hair was still cut in a military high and tight, and his wide face had a clean-shaven chin, which still showed evidence of just where the clipper had worked on that spot. Sawyer’s deep sea-blue eyes could penetrate your very soul. And his gait was elegant as he threw the football, calculating its trajectory with precision. It was obvious he was an athlete, and he wasn’t afraid to show it.
Sawyer had just moved to New York after Rusty invited him to join the team. Rusty knew that Sawyer saw him as a big brother figure, with a relationship forged from being together in combat. Rusty was the backbone to Sawyer’s visibility, and together, they made a great team.
Sawyer tossed the football over to Colt, another security guard and Rusty’s former army buddy. He made a show of diving for the ball as Colt tossed it back; he was always showboating. Hiring Sawyer had been a gamble; he was good at combat and intimidating anyone who crossed his path. But discretion was not one of his stronger suits. Sawyer had never been one who kept secrets, and he loved to show off. But to his credit: Sawyer also knew how to set boundaries. He would absolutely lay down his life for anyone he was guarding, and he had a few close calls, more than once. Sawyer had more than a few injuries and scars to remind him of those times.
With a shout, Sawyer dropped to the ground and did one-armed pushups, before hopping up and goading Colt into the challenge. “Let’s see if you can beat that, man!”
Rusty chuckled, despite himself. He knew his newest recruit could keep the Senator’s daughter safe, even if it meant laying down his own life for her. But could he – orthey- keep the story out of the news? That would be the real test - publicly at least. Privately, Rusty was also concerned if Sawyer would end up hitting on Lila. As good as he was at his job, Sawyer sometimes didn’t hesitate to blend the line between the personal and the professional – arguing it made him better at his job. He was a bit of a playboy, and Lila was just the kind of girl that he might go for –curvy, with long red hair. Lila was a resident in internal medicine at Brooklyn United, where Kaylin also worked as a trauma surgeon in the ER. Having already met her, Rusty hoped she would not be impressed by any of Sawyer’s antics. But Sawyer always did love a challenge.
Rusty mused it over again – maybe he should put someone else on Lila’s detail? But he couldn’t spare Colt; the man had just come off a protective detail and needed a few days off. Bryce, the youngest member of the team and a total computer wizard, was down in Mississippi on a special assignment. It would have to be Sawyer.
“You want in on this, boss?” Sawyer called, interrupting Rusty’s thoughts.
Sawyer was now at the cooler, while Colt was leaning against the table, looking a little winded.
“By the way – you really need to up this guy’s PT (physical training), boss. He couldn’t even beat me at push-ups.” Sawyer gestured at Colt with his thumb, before taking a beer from the cooler and flexing with an exaggerated grin. So far, Sawyer hadn’t met his match at pushups, and he always took great pride in this fact.
“Don’t listen to him,” Colt complained. He took a bag of chips from Natalie, his bemused-looking fiancé, and poured them into a bowl on the table. “This one interrupted me.” He nodded at Natalie, who gave his arm a playful smack.
“We’re not your mothers,” Natalie chided. She handed Colt a box of forks to set out on the table. “Get over here, Sawyer,” she called, waving cups in the air as Kaylin handed her an overflowing glass of white wine.
“You can have him in just a minute,” Rusty waved, reaching over to pat Sawyer on the back. “I have to go over something with you.”
Kaylin swept behind Rusty, replacing his empty beer can with a cold one. “No work talk, hon. Remember, it’s a social gathering.”
She kissed him on the cheek, then looked at Sawyer. “Hold him to it.”
This was the thing about Rusty - he was generally fixated on work. The likelihood of him falling for a client seemed like it would be rare. But fate had found a different path for him – Kaylin had been a former client. The flutter he’d felt when he first met her, turned into genuine love. Since then, there had been no going back. Although, he was a staunch workaholic, he never allowed work to get in the way of spending time with her. Kaylin also made time in her busy schedule to spend with him, and they both had an understanding of what made their relationship work.
Sawyer grinned. “Rusty doesn’t know hownotto work.”
“Hey now,” Rusty objected, waiting until Kaylin crossed the rooftop terrace, back to the picnic table where Natalie was sitting.
“You couldn’t tell a lie if your life depended on it,” Sawyer replied.
“That’s different, and I can if it’s someone else’s life I’m protecting.”
