Protecting Lulu (Global Protection Agency)

by Jeffries, J. M.

  “I’d ask you to join us,” Aiden said, “but Hello Kitty doesn’t come in a big man’s size.”

  Noah tried not to shudder. Lulu burst out laughing. When he turned to look at her, he saw a reflective look in her eyes that sent heat spiraling through him. He wished this case was over so he could pull her into his arms and kiss her until she surrendered. E.J. watched him, her face telling him nothing.

  “Thanks for the invite,” Noah said, “but I’ll pass. Maybe some other time.” He stepped out of the bedroom into the hall to find half his men leaning against the walls watching the door.

  “What’s going on in there?” Gideon asked his eyes alight with curiosity.

  “You really don’t want to know.”

  Dante said, “But we do.”

  “It’s a slumber party and the only way you can get in is to own a pair of Hello Kitty pajamas,” Noah replied wondering where he could find a pair in his size, though the only time he’d wear it was if Lulu was in there alone. “Break it up, guys. Don’t you have work to do?”

  Dante simply grinned as he sauntered off down the hallway.

  “I’ll guard the door,” Gideon said.

  “Not tonight,” Noah replied. “E.J. has everything in hand. Get some sleep, you’re up tomorrow.”

  Noah opened the door to his bedroom and went inside to sit on the bed. The sight of Lulu in her cute pink pajamas sent fire roaring through him. He didn’t think there was enough cold water in the house to get him through the night.

  With Noah gone, Aiden felt he could breathe again. That man was so intimidating. He filled a room and seemed to suck all the energy out of it.

  E.J. flung a leg over the arm of the chair she sat in. “When this assignment is over, we’re having an official slumber party with cocktails I can drink.”

  Aiden took another sip of his wine. He studied Lulu. She leaned against the headboard and looked relaxed, but her one foot twitched in agitation. This whole scenario was wearing on her. She had more people in the house than normal and even though she loved the spotlight, this home was her haven.

  “What do we do now?” Aiden asked E.J. but looked at Lulu. Lulu gazed back at him, her face calm and relaxed.

  Lulu gave a dramatic sigh. “I’m tired of talking about being stalked. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

  “I want to know all about you, Ginger.” Aiden leaned forward.

  She looked startled. “My story is boring.”

  “You have a story, sweetie.” Lulu shook her finger. “You’ve talked about your life and said absolutely nothing.”

  E.J. simply laughed. “There’s really nothing to tell,”

  “Right,” Aiden said with a grin not believing one word of her statement. “Come on, tantalize us with a tidbit.”

  E.J. looked uncomfortable. “The statute of limitations isn’t up on some of my…escapades.”

  “I’m just dying to know if you stole something from anyone I know,” Lulu said.

  “I don’t know everybody you know,” E.J. said neatly side-stepping the question.

  Lulu leaned forward. “Wilder had a Monet stolen a few years ago.”

  E.J.’s face stayed neutrally bland. “I’ve lifted a few Monets in my time.”

  Aiden wriggled. “Oooo.”

  “You’re not playing the game right,” Lulu said.

  “Art theft is just so glamorous, so Cary Grant and Steve McQueen,” Aiden said with fond memories of the two men.

  “There’s nothing glamorous about it,” E.J. said. “Sometimes it’s ten hours inside a small box and not being able to move or make the slightest noise.”

  “How did you decide on art theft as a career path,” Aiden asked.

  “I sort of fell into it,” E.J. said in a non-committal tone. “We shouldn’t be talking about me, but about how to find your stalker. I’m on company time here.”

  Lulu shook a finger at E.J. “Don’t change the subject. I’m fascinated with you. You’re an enigma wrapped around a mystery. Or is it a mystery wrapped around an enigma.”

  “Haven’t you ever shop-lifted anything, or stolen something just for the thrill?”

  “No,” Lulu said.

  “Well,” Aiden said shifting uncomfortably.

  “Do tell,” E.J. coaxed.

  Aiden hesitated. Did he want to reveal this about himself? “I stole my sister’s Barbie. I wanted to make clothes for it. Once upon a time I thought I wanted to be a designer. Making beautiful clothes is way harder than just picking them out.”

  They fell into silence and finally Lulu spoke her voice just above a hushed whisper. “What happens if we don’t catch this person stalking me?”

  “No criminal is ever perfect, except me of course,” E.J. said. “This person will eventually make a mistake and we’ll catch him. Or we’ll see something we didn’t recognize as being relevant the first time. You have to trust Noah. He knows what he’s doing.”

  Lulu stared at her wine. She twirled the crystal slightly, the wine coating the inside like a silken waterfall. Aiden poured himself another glass.

  “I have been doing some research on stalkers,” Lulu said, “and usually they are some obsessed fan who thinks he loves and wants to spend the rest of his life with. Or they’re some ex-boyfriend who wants to have a moment of revenge. This stalker is a terrorist. He hasn’t really done something to hurt me. Every action has been more to frighten me. The car missed me. The studio lights didn’t fall immediately giving Noah plenty of time to get me out of the way and a lot of people knew I wasn’t home this weekend. Aiden’s tweets made it clear I was gone for the whole weekend.”

  “I have to run all my tweets and Facebook stuff through Noah first. And he is so picky about what I can say,” Aiden complained with a dramatic sigh.

  “Then whoever is trying to frighten me is plugged into Aiden’s social networks. Maybe we can figure out who the stalker is by who follows Aiden on Twitter and Facebook.”

  “Noah already thought of that,” Aiden said. “Not possible, you have so many followers on Facebook and Twitter. It would be impossible to sift through all those followers.”

  “This is way too much drama,” Aiden replied, rubbing his temples. How did someone narrow down one stalker in a city of eight million? He was glad that wasn’t the only one working on this problem.

  Lulu woke with the morning sun slanting across the bed. Aiden and E.J. were gone and for a moment she debated on whether to get up or stay in bed. Getting up meant taking on the world yet again and today Lulu simply felt like she wasn’t ready. The memory of her wrecked bedroom still sent shudders through her and all night her dreams had been violently disturbing. She felt so vulnerable and violated. In some ways it was worse than the night her parents died. She’d been too young to understand and later, too numb.

  Finally she threw the blankets off and headed to the bathroom. Next to the shower was a bag of toiletries and on a hanger a flint colored Lulu Wear twist dress. A pair of plum colored Brian Atwood pumps. She smiled as she started the water in the shower, Aiden was always thinking about her. She didn’t know what she’d do without him. Bless his little heart; Noah was going to be so mad at him.

  The dining room was bright and cheerful with the sun shining directly into the windows facing the garden. At least the normal January gloom was gone for a bit until the next winter storm hit. Noah and Ian sat at the table, empty plates at their elbows. The delicious smells of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage emanated from the sideboard and Lulu paused at each dish to enjoy the aroma before finally pouring herself a cup of coffee. For some reason she had no real appetite this morning despite the enticing aromas.

  She sat down across from them. Ian’s computer was open and he typed rapidly. Noah balanced his iPad against his palm. Noah looked up as she sat down and she felt a little tingle at the flash of desire in his eyes. “Where are going you today?”

  Noah lifted his head. “Chasing all the details on Aiden’s police report.”

  L
ulu sighed. “Thank you for being gentle with him.”

  Noah smiled at her. “He felt bad enough.”

  Lulu returned his smile. There was a delicious heat building in her stomach. This man could play her like a fine instrument. “Anything interesting?”

  He shrugged. “Overworked cop. There were two shooting in his neighborhood within hours of the report. Lately the police have been spread thin.”

  Lulu rolled her eyes. “Thank you Neil Barrett.

  “Yeah he’s doing a bang up job.” Noah took a sip of his coffee. “So tell us about Marcia Bennington.”

  Lulu sighed. Where did she start? Marcia had been a thorn in her side all her life. “Marcia was only eighteen when grandpa married her. He was thirty, looking for a wife to mother my father, who was only four years old. The marriage barely lasted two minutes, but it did produce my Uncle Hiram and we all know about Uncle Hiram.” She didn’t add the adult baby part since Noah already knew that. She glanced at Noah, “Does it make you uncomfortable learning about so many dirty little secrets?”

  Ian grinned and leaned toward her slightly. “It makes Noah uncomfortable, but I enjoy learning all that.”

  Lulu leaned toward Ian, “Me too.” She and Ian shared a laugh.

  Noah simply shook his head. “About Marcia,” he prompted.

  “She’s never remarried. Even after the divorce and Grandpa marrying Penny, Marcia acted as though she were still married to him. She was always calling him and asking him to arrange for something to be fixed or chatting about Uncle Hiram. Grandpa was accommodating. Aunt Julia once told me that Grandpa always regretted marrying Marcia, but she was pretty and vivacious and made up for...for things elsewhere.” Like a lack of empathy, Lulu thought. “Grandpa thought she’d make a good mother for my father.” Lulu looked down at her hands. Talking about Marcia stirred up old memories of her grandfather. She remembered the way he held her hand when he took her to the zoo in Central Park. She remembered how she’d loved the monkeys and her could do the best monkey impersonations. She remembered how sad she’d been when he’d died and left a huge hole in her life. A hole made larger a year later when her parents were murdered.

  Ian stopped typing. “Yet you take care of her. She lives in an apartment, rent free in a building you own and according to your financials, you give her a generous allowance every month.”

  “The money is hers; it was left after Uncle Hiram died. Wilder and I just manage the trust fund.” If they didn’t, she’d blow through it all in a year. Marcia had unusually expensive tastes and in Lulu’s opinion little self-control. Even Lulu knew the meaning of the word “budget”.

  “This woman is how old and she can’t manage her own money?” Noah stated in amazement.

  Lulu gave a dramatic sigh. She tried to think of the right words. “Marcia and the word “budget” never appear in the same sentence.”

  Noah looked surprised.

  Ian took a sip of his coffee and set the cup down carefully. “Women of Marcia’s social standing were taught to look pretty, arrange flowers, and know which fork to use. They were sent to boarding school to learn manners. My mother was raised the same way. When life conspires against them, the majority don’t know what to do, or how to proceed with their lives.”

  Lulu thought Ian sounded sympathetic. Noah looked perplexed. He glanced at Lulu, “How come you weren’t raised that way?”

  “Number one, my mother’s family came from a farming background. Her family may have owned the winery but everyone worked in the business. My mother picked grapes, pruned vines, and worked side by side with the people in the field. The Bennington’s may have money, but we’ve never been above getting our hands dirty.”

  “You’re saying this woman needs to be handled with kid gloves,” Noah said as he finished off his pancakes.

  “That would be appreciated,” Lulu responded.

  “That’s why I’m going,” Ian said with a grin. “I speak her language.”

  “You don’t seem to like her very much,” Noah said.

  “She pretended to love my father, but the minute Uncle Hiram was born, there was no place in her life for another woman’s child.” Lulu tried not to sound condemning, because when Marcia was young there were few opportunities for a woman. She either married, or went to work at job that befitted her social status. “Also, she disapproves of the fact that I work. The fact that, in her words, I ‘let myself go’ and possibly because we always preferred Penny over her.” Marcia knew she’d lost out to Penny as an influence in her Lulu’s after her parents died. “We’ve never been unkind to her. It just seemed Marcia was more interested in what we are, then who we are. She’s also resentful of the fact that we handle her money and dole out a monthly allowance.”

  “That’s some interesting family dynamics,” Noah said.

  “Not really,” Ian replied. “Not among people like Marcia.”

  Marcia had a sense of entitlement that Julia didn’t allow Lulu and Wilder to feel. Lulu appreciated the way Julia had raised them. There were times she had chaffed under Julia’s domination, but in the end she’d earned every little bit of freedom Julia would give her and be happy with it.

  “When was the last time you spoke with her?” Ian asked frowning.

  Lulu wondered what he was frowning at. “Just after the holidays. Penny flies up every year from New Orleans and we all go out to Julia’s house. Marcia and Penny don’t get along so we put them at opposite ends of the house and when they’re together they remain in neutral corners, for which Wilder is eternally grateful.” Lulu loved the family drama. She could watch Marcia and Penny dance around each other for days, poking and prodding at each other. All she needed was a comfortable chair and a cocktail and Lulu was good to go. One year she was going to get her catfight no matter how much Wilder hated the dramatics. In fact, as long as Marcia was in the house, he kept a suitcase in the hall closet in case he had to make a hasty retreat. Wilder always felt out-numbered by the four women.

  Lulu finished her coffee as Noah looked at Ian’s. “Do I really have to go,” Noah asked. “You can handle Marcia.”

  “This is a learning experience,” Ian replied with a grin.

  “Noah,” Lulu said, “Don’t worry. Once she gets an idea of Ian’s pedigree, she won’t even bother with you. She will be all over him. She is a snob of incredible proportions.”

  She heard Noah sigh. “What I read about your grandfather, he sounded like a regular guy. Why would he marry a woman like Marcia?”

  “He wanted a mother for his son, a woman with impeccable bloodlines and she was considered one of the most beautiful women in New York in her day. Even now, she’s still beautiful. She looked good on his arm.”

  “But your grandmother, Margaret DeVries had a degree in architecture,” Noah said. “From what I read about her, she designed a number of buildings here in New York and a few more in Newark. I don’t understand how your grandfather could be married to a woman like Margaret and turn around and marry a woman like Marcia who had barely graduated high school.”

  She didn’t really know the answer to his question. “I suspect my grandfather was lonely and Marcia talked a good game.” At times Lulu regretted not being close to Marcia, but Marcia was always so disapproving of everything.

  Noah pushed away from the table and stood.

  Lulu poured another cup of coffee. “I want to take a moment to apologize beforehand.” She hoped Noah wouldn’t judge her because of her treatment of Marcia.

  “I’ve seen combat before,” Noah said. “I spent five years in Afghanistan and Iraq surrounded by the Taliban. They didn’t like me either and they had guns. I don’t want to go, but what’s one little old lady going to do to me?”

  “I’m trying to be diplomatic about Marcia.”

  “Say what’s on your mind,” Noah coaxed.

  “I don’t like her and I feel guilty that I don’t like her,” Lulu burst out. She clapped her hand over her mouth. She’d never said that to anyone, even Wi
lder or Julia. She’d always put a positive spin on everything and Noah always seemed capable of goading her into revealing her deep dark secrets. She wasn’t sure how to feel about the power he seemed to have over her.

  Marcia Bennington lived in an apartment overlooking Central Park. Noah found a parking spot a block away. He and Ian walked back to the building.

  “Do you have any idea what you just did to Lulu?” Ian asked as they pushed through a crowd waiting for the bus.

  “What do you mean?” Noah side-stepped a young woman walking a bunch of dogs.

  “You have a lot of power over her. You forced Lulu to be uncomfortably honest with you.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.” Maybe keeping things on a professional level wasn’t the easiest thing to do, but it was the smartest. Especially when all he wanted to do was to pull her into his arms and soothe her.

  “Nice,” Ian said looking up as they approached the polished brass door.

  The doorman, wearing a name tag stenciled Norman on it, asked them their names. When they told him, he gave them a sympathetic look.

  “Miss Lulu informed me you would be coming over,” Norman said in a cultured accent not too far from Ian’s very proper British accent.

  Ian nodded gracefully, but Noah was taken aback. “She did?”

  “She wanted me to remind you to be very careful with Mrs. Bennington.”

  “Consider us reminded,” Ian said. “You don’t seem to like her much either.”

  Norman looked a little uneasy. “She’s an evil witch even Satan doesn’t like her. If not for Miss Lulu, I’d be out of here in a second. She pays me extremely well, and trusts me, I deserve it, putting up with that old witch.” In a broad Bronx accent, he said, “Before ya leave, check your balls. She’d have them on a platter if she could.”

  Not good, Noah thought as Ian punched the button for the elevator. “I feel like a gladiator about to die for someone’s amusement.”