by Scott, D. D.
Audrey reached for Damian’s hands, unable to stop her own from shaking, even after nestled into the protective confines of his now damp palms.
With Jules and Roxy then barreling through Damian’s front door, Audrey’s circle of trust was complete.
So how’s come she felt so alone?
Or maybe the real question was shouldn’t she make a run for it now to save all the people she loved so much?
“Get rid of that wild look in your eyes, Audie,” Roxy said, marching across the room and scooping her into her arms. “We’re here for you. And there ain’t nobody that’s gettin’ within arm’s reach of you. Right, Damian?”
Damian saw the surefire grit in Roxy’s eyes, and he quickly joined the ferociously protective sparks igniting and firing from them.
He may not agree with Roxy’s in-your-face ways in a lot of situations, but he was right with her on this one.
There was nobody getting to the woman he was crazy in love with, nor their baby.
God, though, he hoped their determination was enough.
But dammit, he was gonna do everything humanly possible to make sure it was.
And wait ‘til the Feds knew it wasn’t just Audrey they were protecting…or should he now start calling her Alexandra?
No. She’d always be Audrey to him. He’d fallen in love with Audrey. Not the Alexandra she used to be. And the Alexandra she was to him in nothing except the pictures on TV and gossip rags.
“So what do we do now?” He looked up to Roman and Zoey, who were standing side-by-side, watching them.
“Well…for starters, we’re going to need more back-up. I’ve called in additional agents and will be hiring another private security team as well,” Roman said as easy as if he’d ordered take-out.
“Jules and I also have Cody and Zayne on their way. That’ll help too, right?” Roxy asked, her determination to fight for whatever control she could firmly in place.
“I’m glad for that,” Damian said, and he truly was.
He needed his guys here. He was tough. But he was in way over his abilities. Forget sanity. He’d done lost that when Audrey told him they were expecting. And forget macho too. ‘Cause macho wasn’t gonna get the crap from Audrey’s past off their television screen and outta the papers and magazines.
Before he could even think about finding his senses or extra guts, he heard Cody and Zayne come into the house, with –oh shit — The Mom Squad — right behind ‘em.
“Oh boy,” Audrey said, her voice barely a whisper, although Damian was glad to see the slight uplift of the corner of her mouth.
At least with The Mom Squad in the house, none of their senses of humor would be lost.
Damian watched as Cody’s Gramma Lucy, Zayne’s mom Kat and Roxy’s mom Lily filed past the couch and headed straight for the U. S. Marshals. And not to be left out, the new Music City Aphrodisiac Queen, Jules’ Aunt Tulip, came in next, a basket of she and Cody’s Aphrodisiac-themed produce slung across her arms. The Mom Squad was back. And Audrey was right, Damian thought. Oh boy.
Seeing Tulip take a large pickle then an avocado out of her basket and approach Roman, Damian didn’t think he could take the heat of watching the guy who was supposedly their chief of security succumb to Tulip’s shenanigans.
Taking Tulip’s pickle, if for no other reason, Damian figured, than to shut her up, Roman handed it to Zoey who then had this incredulous ‘what the hell do you want me to do with it’ look.
Clearing his throat, as if Tulip’s vegetables had no effect on him at all, Roman asked everyone to be seated so they could go over new ground rules and protocol changes.
Damian wasn’t sure what to expect. But so far, there wasn’t much he liked about the U. S. Marshal’s Witness Protection Program. And he got the distinct feeling, after hearing Roman’s reaction to Audrey’s HSQ antics, there was a ton more he wasn’t going to like.
Damian still hadn’t been able to move past the fact that other people — people he didn’t know very well, most not at all — were in charge of seeing to it that the love of his life made it to testify against her father. And to think that now these people would also need to protect his unborn child about made him sick at his stomach.
With his best friends Cody and Zayne now standing guard behind his couch, Damian could relax a bit. And God knew The Mom Squad was probably better coverage than any federal agency.
So he supposed they should just get on with it, he reasoned.
The next round of trials may be twelve months away, but in nine months, he’d have an even higher priority reason to make sure his family was taken care of.
Roman cleared his throat again. Not something that eased the pressure Damian felt closing in on them.
“Now that Audrey’s cover identity has been blown, we should expect and prepare for an onslaught of media attention to continue and amplify at any moment,” Roman stated without the slightest emotion interrupting his ice cool façade.
Maybe that’s what bothered Damian the most. He never got a sense that these guys “felt” anything. They were like heavily armed robots, moving through a series of well-choreographed realities.
Damian had been raised to feel life. Bask in its joys and adventures. And never be afraid to show that emotion. ‘Course he didn’t really express himself like that much, but he still was comfortable with it and more than acknowledged his feelings, especially when it involved the people he cared about most. The people surrounding him now…in his home. Plus, the little one, who was perhaps sleeping, inside Audrey’s tummy.
But he reckoned the marshals’ hard-edges are what helped keep them alive as well as the people like his Audrey — that they were there to protect. And since it was clear Audrey didn’t seem to realize the seriousness of her situation, or at least respect that seriousness, Damian was about to take over that necessity.
He suddenly had a whole new respect for Roman & Company, and was about to make sure Audrey did too.
“Let’s start with the basics,” Zoey offered next, easing a bit of the tension in her easy manner and sweet voice.
“From now on, when you’re home, your windows should all be curtains and/or shades drawn or blinds closed,” Zoey said softly but quite matter of factly.
“But…”
“No buts, Audrey. We will be following these instructions,” Damian said then squeezed her knee for added emphasis.
He knew she thrived on natural light, but she was just going to have to do without it for now.
“In addition, beyond Special Agent Witherspoon’s directive, I want you to also stay away from the windows, and never, I repeat, never, on the rare occasions you’ll be in the public, are you to sit by windows. Got it?”
Roman’s gaze didn’t leave either one of them for a long, ratcheted-up moment.
And although Damian bristled a bit at the rigid, non-forgiving seriousness in Roman’s face, then couldn’t help but notice the bulging veins in his neck, he was glad to note his tough, take no excuses demeanor. Nothing else would get through to Audrey.
“From now on, Zoey and I will coordinate all of your transportation needs. And I mean, all of them. I don’t care if you want ice cream. We’ll decide how, when, and for that matter, if you’ll get it.”
Roman started pacing the floor again, his expensive shoes stepping on Damian’s nerves, wearing them a bit thin, as well as his hardwood floors.
“I may have already mentioned, but I will be choosing, then assigning, new personnel who will guard you and Damian twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week. In addition, I’ll need to talk to you, Damian, about additional security measures around your home.”
“What about Audrey’s home?” Damian asked, not understanding why Roman would focus on his home and not hers.
“Zoey?” Roman motioned for Zoey to speak, stepping out of her way and resuming his casing of the great room, stopping and peering out each window he came to.
“Marshal Bellesconi and I have discussed this and we feel it would be bes
t if Audrey moves in here permanently,” Zoey began.
“But…”
“No buts, Audrey. You’re done making decisions,” Damian said, pulling her head to rest on his shoulder, glad to burden the weight for her.
“I agree,” Roxy jumped-in which earned her a ‘who the hell cares what you think’ look from Roman as well as a few of his posse patrol.
“Well…I do agree. So there,” Roxy said, without so much as a hint that she gave a shit what any of ‘em thought.
And this time, Damian was glad to hear her opinion. Audrey needed it. And she needed the protection Damian and these goons could offer here in his home. And anyone vouching for that idea was right-on in his book.
“How much cash do you have at your disposal?” Zoey asked, resuming her role in filling them in on their new game plan.
“We’ve got more than enough,” Damian said.
Well at least they did before they found out they were pregnant. He hoped they had enough. He was sure the security systems wouldn’t be cheap…’course maybe the Feds picked that up. Even if they didn’t, Damian had a large savings. And he certainly had no qualms about draining it, if necessary, to make a safe future for his soon-to-be wife and their baby.
“Good,” Zoey continued. “We’ll send a few agents with you tonight to withdraw a bit. And we’d like you to always have a bag packed with a change of clothes and overnight necessities. There may arise occasions where we’ll need to move you quickly to a safe house.”
Damian listened to all their instructions, glad to see Jules take out her planner and begin to write things down. He’d never remember all this.
“Neither of you should use IDs that can be traced or any type of bank accounts. So after the ATM withdrawal tonight, we’ll go with you tomorrow to take out a larger withdrawal to get you through the next few months. Got it?” Zoey continued.
Damian could only nod his head…knowing he’d be up all night doing internet research as to how much having a baby costs.
“We’ll also be switching all of your phones to throwaways so they can’t be traced,” Zoey said.
“Also, we’ll want to start varying the cars you drive as well as switch-up your look every few days using wigs, color, sunglasses and clothing styles,” she continued. “And you know I got your back on that one. And so will Roxy.”
“You betchya,” Roxy said, almost before Zoey could finish her statement.
“And Cody and I will take care of all your food needs, right Baby?” Jules offered, linking one arm through Cody’s while gently tapping his thigh.
“Sure thing,” Cody said, taking Jules’ hint for his acknowledgement, but with a sincerity Damian knew he could count on and one that didn’t need encouraged.
“We’ll also want you to begin travelling separately,” Roman cut-in. “It won’t take long for the media to learn who the man is behind the woman they’re after as well as all of the rest of you too.”
Perhaps the stress of learning he was about to be on the run, hiding along with Audrey, was heightening his reactions, but hearing all this was doing a real number on Damian, sending his nerves into some kind of twisted overdrive.
How the hell could they keep up this charade with a baby on the way?
He had no idea, but he was about to find out. For all of their safety, everything had to be out in the open. No more secrets.
He looked over at Audrey, who must have been thinking the same thing, as she nodded her head in agreement and tightened her grip around his hands.
“So how does all this work now that we’re pregnant too?” Damian said, as scared shitless as he was relieved to get this little tidbit out in the open.
He thought the air was awkward before…while they were all just listening to the agents give their directives. But now, a heavy wall descended upon them and every face in the room.
Chapter Six
Oh Audrey had read the memos. Every damn one of them.
Or in her case, memoirs. She was borderline obsessed with the memoirs written by women with childhoods similar to hers — oh hell, she was beyond borderline. Try all-out, totally infatuated by these types of books.
Take the fabulous Tori Spelling’s sTORI TELLING for instance. Tori began her memoir with the line “When you’re a kid, you don’t worry what anyone thinks.”
But when you’re a McCall kid, like Audrey was, you did worry, and you worried a lot.
You worried about what anyone and everyone thought and what they thought they knew, as well as what they didn’t know.
Not all kids grow-up in a high baroque style penthouse on Manhattan’s Upper East Side with yachts to vacation on larger than most kids’ homes.
And Audrey was sure no kid she knew had all this because her father handled other people’s money to the tune of around sixty-five billion dollars plus.
Other people, including not just America’s wealthiest families, but most of Europe’s royal families as well, along with many Russian mafia dynasties and international drug cartel familial labyrinths and rings.
As if that wasn’t stressful enough, now imagine what her life became after it was common knowledge and nightly news fodder that not only had her father conned these people out of their money, he then lost it…all of it.
After her father had been brought down six months ago, the details of Audrey’s life were forever to be considered public property. Not only that, but because her father — and Audrey thought her mother too and perhaps her brothers as well — had cost very dangerous people their property, both in real estate and financial assets, she was also now a hunted woman.
Even those people who were once her family’s closest friends and who weren’t part of the mafia families and drug cartels, people who were actually wonderful, hardworking and honest, even they, had turned dark and dangerous, once they’d lost everything on account of her father’s schemes.
The idea of bringing a baby into this mess made Audrey sicker than the pregnancy itself ever could.
Her brother’s wife — who was the only other one completely innocent, just like her — had had to change her name as well as her children’s names to help them live a somewhat safe and normal life. And even that didn’t secure their personal safety as they went about their everyday activities. Her sister-in-law had told her horror stories of trying to drive the family cross-over thru the lines of paparazzi vehicles camping out along the streets leading to and from their home.
Taking on her new assumed name and moving to Music City, Audrey had thought she’d escaped all that.
But hearing motors running and car doors slamming in Damian’s driveway brought her firmly into her new reality.
She massaged her tummy, letting her body and mind attempt to restore some sense of balance and strength with each circle her hands drew across the portal of she and Damian’s unborn child.
Would they ever be able to break free from the McCall legacy?
How many times — and for how much longer — would she have to re-live and run again from her past? And how many others would struggle or run with her?
Suddenly, feeling Damian’s warm skin brush hers, as they sat side-by-side on the couch trying to process their handlers’ new plans to protect them, Audrey knew just what she had to do to beat the odds.
The only way she’d survived since the bone cold day she’d turned her father into the FBI was by relying on (1) her wicked sense of self-deprecating humor, (2) her canny ability to always succeed once being told there was no way possible she could, and (3) her ability to brand and market anything…including herself and her new identity.
Always determined to do things perfectly — especially after her father’s arrest — so no one could find anything bad to say or think about her, she’d turned her ability to market a product into survival of the fittest by marketing her new self.
Maybe their handlers would have she and Damian’s backs, and their baby’s and extended family’s too, but it was going to be up to her to put their best face f
orward. And by that, she meant their best game face. That, she knew how to do and do damn well.
“Whatchya thinkin’, Baby?” Damian pulled her towards him, and cuddled her into his chest, holding her between his fabulously warm and construction-strong arms.
“I’m working on a plan to protect all of us and our baby too,” she answered him with more confidence and determination than she’d felt in a long time.
“Uh, I hate to break it to ya, Ball Breaker, but we got a whole bunch of big muscled goons working on that already,” Damian said then harrumphed, but not in the easy relaxed way Audrey was used to, rather with a chest that refused to un-tighten and lighten-up.
“Well, our goons may know the physical part of the job, but I can beat ‘em in the brains and promo ho skill-sets required,” Audrey said, hugging Damian in her arms this time, relieved to feel his muscles give a bit under her touch.
“Honey, it’s your Promo Ho skill-set and your refusal to give that up that kinda got us to this point,” Damian said tucking her flyaway bob behind her ears before putting his hands around her face then pulling her to look into his stormy-sea eyes.
“Perhaps. Kind of. Maybe. But not really,” she said, wondering how much she should tell him about her new approach to all this.
Refusing to cower to his concerns, although they were well-justified, if not simply misguided, Audrey held his intense look with her own very serious stare.
Funny how even in this kind of moment, she couldn’t keep her humorous, mischievous side at bay. That was just her. And more than ever before, she was so thankful for that.
Hopefully her pregnancy hormones wouldn’t rob her of that benefit. If she lost her sense to laugh at all this, she was screwed and so was their baby. It couldn’t be good for the kid to be feeling her stress.
Damian preferred to go at life by working hard and following the rules. Not Audrey. She liked to appear as if she were following the rules, all the while finding ways to live around them just a tad. And if that didn’t work, she just made up her own within the rough confines of what was borderline acceptable. In other words, it could be argued, effectively, that she was following the rules, even though she actually wasn’t per se.