Protecting Lulu (Global Protection Agency)

by Jeffries, J. M.

  As he watched, carts rolled out from the backstage area filled with the audience gifts. He’d peered inside one of the gift and found a number of gift cards to various stores, a subscription to her magazine.

  “You know what tomorrow is.” She clapped her hands “It’s the Valentine’s Day show. And you know what that’s about. Romance, sex, relationships, sex, passion, sex, free stuff, sex, fashion and sex. Michael Buble will be here.” She did a little dance.

  The audience cheered as she moved down the row, Noah studied her.

  The ushers had opened the doors to the foyer and as each guest received their shopping bag full of free gifts, then went up the stairs and through the double doors. Ian stood at the doors smiling at each guest as he had done when they’d all entered. Noah had beefed up security when the audience had first started to gather, asking for IDs and having each person quickly investigated.

  Lulu’s purple dress shimmered under the lights. The hem landed just above her knees. What he wouldn’t give to run his hand up the inside of her thigh. The material caressed her soft curves like a lover. He liked how she flaunted her body. Classy and sexy. Gold bracelets slipped up and down her arm and when she leaned over a matching gold chain with a large heart swung over her cleavage. He tore his eyes away. Just watching her made him hard. She was totally, completely intoxicating and he wanted her. He wanted her so badly he vibrated with his need.

  “What next on your agenda?’ Noah asked as Aiden stopped next to him with E.J. in tow. E.J. looked good in a black pantsuit with a dark sweater that fitted her so perfectly he could barely see the bulge of her gun. Noah glanced at her feet worried that Lulu’s love of stilettos had rubbed off on her, but E.J. wore sensible low heeled shoes and relief flood him.

  “We have a working lunch with the editors of her magazine. She needs to look over the show’s guest list for next week. We have a meeting with the caterers for her charity event and then we have an unscheduled stop to make at Bergdorf’s to buy peasant shoes.”

  E.J. put her hand on Aiden’s arm. “Simmer down, Girlfriend.”

  “Yeah,” Noah said, “She’ll look good in casket if she keeps wearing those stilts.”

  “Whatever,” Aiden replied in a huff, disdain showing clearly on his face.

  Noah glanced over at Lulu. She was smiling and talking with the last couple of women from the audience. A crack sounded from overhead. Lulu glanced up, fear crossing her face.

  Noah raced toward her, grabbed her and carried her back. He tried to get the other woman, but she moved. A second later a large rod of lights crashed to the floor. Screams erupted. Glass shattered and flew everywhere. The woman clutched her arm, cried out in pain and blood immediately started seeping through her fingers. Noah looked down at Lulu and saw blood trickling down her cheek. He sat her down to assess her injuries.

  Lulu had a dazed expression on her face. E.J. went to the woman with blood on her arm and drew her away while asking if anyone else was hurt. Ian ran down the stairs flipping his phone open. The film crew clustered around Lulu and Noah. Ian pushed the crew away ordering them all to stand back.

  Aiden ran to Lulu. “Oh my God. Oh my God, Lulu,” Aiden cried as he knelt next to her. He fumbled with his cell phone and punched a key. “Dr. Burns, can you get down here right now? We have a woman hurt and Lulu is bleeding. Hurry, hurry, hurry.” He held Lulu’s hand. “Dr. Burns will be here in a minute,” he told Lulu as pocketed his phone.

  Lulu started to push herself up. “Stay still. Let me look first.” Noah ran his hands over her to make sure he hadn’t broken any bones from his tackle. Aiden pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and pressed it over the cut on her cheek. Noah couldn’t tell if the cut was deep or not due to all the blood welling out of it. The cut was long going from the corner of her nose almost to her eye. He felt a moment’s panic.

  Noah helped Lulu to her feet. She was deathly pale as she held the handkerchief to her face. She down on a chair and closed her eyes.

  A few seconds later, a slender man and a woman, entered the room. He held a large bag and the woman had a second bag looped over her shoulder. Ian stopped him asking for I.D.

  The woman with the bloody arm moaned.

  Aiden stood up. “That’s Dr. Burns and his nurse. Let them through.”

  “Check her first,” Lulu told Dr. Burns when he approached her.

  Dr. Burns went over to the woman, and when she took her hand away to show the doctor her wound, Noah saw a shard of glass sticking out of her arm. Blood dripped onto the floor and the woman grew paler by the second.

  “Let me take a look, ma’am,” the doctor said politely as he opened his bag. He dabbed gently at her arm. “Nothing we can’t handle here. Do you think you can walk? My office is just down the hall. Ms. Dunne will help you.”

  The woman nodded and the nurse helped her to her feet and started guiding her up the stairs

  Dr. Burns knelt down next to Lulu. “How are you doing?”

  “It’s just a cut,” Lulu responded.

  “That’s a lot of blood for a little cut,” Noah said.

  The doctor ignored Noah as he gently pulled the handkerchief away from her face. “It doesn’t look too serious.”

  “I’m going to call a plastic surgeon,” Aiden said, pulling his cell phone out.

  “Aiden,” Lulu said, “let Dr. Burns do his job. I doubt I’ll need a plastic surgeon.”

  “But Lulu, your face--”

  “Aiden,” Lulu said gently, “stop hovering. Call Maris and reschedule the editorial meeting for Friday. Have her take care of the caterers, she knows what I want.” Lulu leaned against Noah and he grasped her tightly, trying to hold in his fear.

  Ian was on his cell phone. E.J. had corralled the film crew to the middle of the stage and was talking to the director. She held a notebook in one hand and a pen in the other. Noah knew she was taking names and would be interviewing everyone once they’d all calmed down.

  “It’s not deep, Lulu.” Dr. Burns cleaned the cut on her face. He turned to Noah, “Bring her along. We’ll clean it up, slap a couple of butterfly Band-Aids on it and tomorrow all she’ll have is a small scab that should be easily covered with makeup.” He stood and headed to the doors.

  “I’m still calling a plastic surgeon,” Aiden insisted.

  “Aiden, Dr. Burns graduated at the top of his class. He knows what’s he’s doing.” Lulu pressed the bloody handkerchief to her face. Spots of blood showed on her dress.

  Noah slipped an arm around her and led her up the stairs to the door.

  “My livelihood depends on your face,” Aiden said, so visibly upset he wrung his hands with a panicked look on his face.

  “Do I need to have Dr. Burns give you something to calm you down?”

  He shook his head. “Lulu, you could have been killed.”

  “Mr. Callahan saved me.”

  “But—”

  Noah gripped her tighter.

  Aiden threw himself at Lulu. “I love you. I could have lost you today.”

  “I love you, too,” Lulu said patting him gently. “More than I love my shoes. I want you to get something from Dr. Burns and then you go on up to my office to wait for me. Just relax. Call Starbucks and have John send up some Cranberry Bliss Bars.”

  A tear slipped down Aiden’s cheek. “Lulu, I--”

  “Go up to legal and make sure everything is taken care of for Maria. And switch tomorrow’s show to Studio Two. I don’t care how much overtime the crew will need to make the change.”

  Aiden sprinted ahead of her. Noah supported her. “Is he going to be okay?”

  Lulu nodded. “As long as he’s occupied.”

  The harder she leaned the tighter his grip. He could feel her trembling and knew she was close to her own emotional breakdown.

  The clinic was a large rectangular room with curtain partitions. Each partition had a bed. He figured accidents happened all the time. He saw one bed already occupied by the woman who’d been injured. The nur
se was taking the woman’s vitals. Another bed held a man who looked to be asleep.

  Noah helped her into a private room that the nurse led him to. Dr. Burns said he’d be with her in a few minutes. Noah eased Lulu down on the bed and she sat looking pale and drained.

  “Would you close the door and lock it, please,” Lulu asked, her voice quivering.

  Noah did as she asked and when he turned back, he saw tears building in her eyes and then a huge sob erupted. Noah sat down next to her and pulled her into his arms.

  He breathed in the clean scent of her hair. She fit against him as though made for him. He stroked her back. “Everything is going to be okay,” he said gently.

  Her sobs continued. A part of him enjoyed the sensation of holding her. He never thought he’d ever find himself comforting a woman. He liked the way she clung to him, the way her hand gripped his, the way her perfume clung to her. He hadn’t held a woman like this since his sister Daisy skinned her knee. He didn’t feel the least bit uncomfortable and surprise flooded him. He wanted the moment to go on and on.

  The door handle jingled. Then pounding sounded. “Lulu, its Wilder. Let me in.”

  “Let him in.” Lulu’s head dropped back. “I don’t have to put on a happy face for my brother.”

  Noah opened the door and Wilder catapulted in. He righted himself. “Are you all right?” He sat down next to her bed.

  “I’m fine. If not for Mr. Callahan, I’d be…I don’t want to think about what I’d be.”

  Wilder pinned Noah with an angry glare. “What the hell is going on?”

  “The stalker is getting serious.” Noah ran a hand through his hair. He noticed wet spots on his the lapel of his jacket. His arms ached to hold Lulu. Her tears were almost too much for him to stomach. His need to comfort overtook him again, but he resisted the urge to sit down. Wilder didn’t need any competition right now.

  “I think you need to get away,” Wilder pleaded. “Take a holiday. Go to London for a few weeks. I’ll call the staff and have them get the house ready. Or go to our estate in France. Go to the Hamptons. Go somewhere. Be somewhere other than here.”

  “Go to the Hamptons in the winter time!” Lulu said. “I can’t leave. I have the charity ball, a movie premiere and a show to shoot. What about fashion week? My new line is too important to abandon my responsibilities. Would you leave? Too many people depend on us, Wilder.”

  “Someone isn’t trying to kill me.”

  “I’m not some scared little rabbit who turns tail when it sees a fox.”

  “The scared little rabbit lives for another day.”

  Anger filled Lulu’s face. She pushed her brother away. “Do you know how many people are being stalked in this country? Thousands. I have the ability and the means to fight back. I’m not just fighting for me, I’m fighting for all the other people in this world who are in the same position I am. When this is all over, I’m going to Washington D.C. to get the stalker laws changed. We are Benningtons and Benningtons do not run away. We had to once because we were children, we’re adults now. We’re not running away again.”

  Wilder leapt to his feet, his face a mask of anger and a haunting fear. The look in his eyes made Noah think Wilder was hurt by her last statement. “That will make a nice epitaph,” Wilder shouted at her. He stormed out, slamming the door so hard the wall shook.

  Wilder stormed out of the clinic and down the hall to the elevator. People got out of his way. He stepped into the elevator and went back to his office. Sylvia stood in front of his office door with his coat and hat. She handed them to him. “Go home.”

  “Excuse me,” he replied.

  “You’re done for the day. There isn’t anything I can’t delegate. Go home. You need some time away.”

  “Did Lulu call you?”

  She shook her head. “You need to ask?”

  He glared at her, but didn’t refuse. He took his hat and coat, and then hurried to the elevator. Once inside, he loosened his tie and stuffed it in his pocket. He slipped on his camel hair coat and positioned his hat. When the elevator doors opened to the foyer, he nodded at a few people and then stalked outside into the cold January air.

  He stood on the curb searching for a cab when he felt a hand slide around his elbow. He glanced down at E. J.

  “You need a drink.” She belted her gray coat and wound a pink scarf around her neck.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  “Until all this is sorted out, someone will be keeping you company. Today, I drew the short straw.”

  Wilder pulled the lapels of his coat. “What are you going to do? You’re about five nothing. All you’ll stop is a gust of wind.”

  A cab stopped and E. J. opened the door and shoved Wilder inside. She piled in after him. “I’m five foot three. Be nice. Don’t make me show you my skills.”

  “Are you going to pick my pocket?”

  She smiled as she handed his wallet. “You busted me.”

  He stared at the wallet in her tiny hand. He didn’t feel anything. “You took my wallet in less than ten seconds.”

  “Another five and I would have had your watch.” She leaned toward the shield that kept the driver separate from the back seat. “Flannigan’s Pub in the Village.”

  The driver took off.

  Wilder settled back against the seat. “Are you old enough to drink?”

  “You realize that if something happens, I’m supposed to take a bullet for you. You might try to be less insulting.”

  Wilder’s eyebrows rose. As bold as Sylvia could be, not even she talked to him like this.

  After ten minutes the cab let them off in front of a building painted brown with fake flowers nested in plastic pots. Inside a large bar ran the length of one wall. A large, burly man stood behind the bar watching them.

  “Two whiskeys, a diet Coke, and two burgers with the works,” E.J. said as she passed the bartender. She led Wilder to a shadowed booth in a dark corner. He took his coat and hat off before sliding onto the bench. E.J. did the same, unwinding her scarf from her neck, removing her hat and unbuttoning her coat. Underneath the coat she wore a red cardigan.

  A minute later the bartender set two shots of whiskey down on the table and the diet Coke in front of E.J. E.J. pushed the second shot over to Wilder and took a sip of her soda.

  “Can’t handle your liquor?” Wilder eyed her soda. He really didn’t trust anyone who didn’t drink.

  “I’m on duty.”

  “So…what does E.J. stand for?” He took a sip of the whiskey. The warmth flooded his body. For a moment, he forgot his anger at Lulu.

  “For E.J.,” she replied.

  “You’re good, but you’re lying to me.”

  She turned gave him an innocent look. “What do you think E.J. stands for? She continued to sip her soda while he downed the rest of the shot and slid his hand over to the second one.

  “Elizabeth Jane,” he said.

  “Nope.”

  “Eliza June.”

  “No.” Her blue eyes twinkled. “You’ll never guess.”

  “What would you give me if I did?”

  She reached into her pocket and handed him a dollar. “A dollar.”

  “Not worth my time.”

  “What would be worth your time?” She popped a shelled peanut into her mouth.

  “I’ll have to think about that.” He grinned at her.

  “Okay, you think and I’ll think and maybe we’ll come up with something.”

  A friendly silence fell between them. Wilder found himself studying her.

  She glanced up at him. “Do you want to talk about it or sit here and drink?”

  He wanted to brood, drink and generally be angry at Lulu. He appreciated E.J. giving him options. “Let’s just play it by ear.”

  Lulu’s words had stung even though he knew she was right. The weight of her words pulled him down. At the time, getting out of the house had been their only option. Only afterward had he been told that his mother ha
d put up quite a fight to give him and Lulu a chance to escape.

  The memory of their parent’s murders would always haunt him. He remembered the sound of the gunshots, his mother’s screams and his father’s cries of pain. Wilder himself had been shot in the leg as he’d scrambled out a window pushing Lulu ahead of him.

  He drank the second shot. The strong liquid burned the inside of his mouth and seared his throat. Lulu had pulled him into the lake. The water had been deadly cold, but had probably saved him from bleeding to death. The swim had been a nightmare but Lulu had tugged him along even as he fought her. He’d wanted to go back to get their parents, but she wouldn’t let him. He realized she had been beyond scared and not until they’d arrived at their grandparent’s boat dock did he realize how scared she’d been.

  The bartender brought their burgers along with another whiskey for Wilder and a second diet coke for E.J. She watched him thoughtfully.

  “Do you need to talk?” she asked.

  He gazed at her. “Are you the therapist bodyguard?”

  “No, but it seemed like something I should say, being a chick and all.”

  Suddenly he grinned at her. “You’re compassion astounds me.”

  She shrugged. “I’m good like that.”

  “I want to sit here and drink. I want to forget.”

  “We’re going to catch this guy.”

  “Thanks for the pep talk.” They could catch this guy, but he could still lose Lulu. Deep down he wasn’t sure he’d survive that.

  “Consider it part of the service,” she replied with a grin.

  He settled back against the vinyl seat, his mind drifting back. He closed his eyes remembering the deadly coldness of the lake and the way Lulu pulled him through the water. He was never sure how she got them both across the lake. Maybe it was a testament to her iron will. “Why does Callahan need a thief?”

  “Body guarding isn’t all we do. But then you already know that, Mr. Bennington.”

  Studying her for a second, he pictured her in a black cat suit leaping over a roof top. “Have you stolen anything interesting?” he asked, curiously.

  “A few things.”

  “Like what?”