“Connor has pulled out all the stops. His family, and by extension that includes you, will be safe. Genna is taking the boys back home to Colorado tonight, with a veritable host of bodyguards for their protection. A few years ago Genna was… endangered by a disturbed individual, and it frightened all of us to the core. But I digress.
“We at The State Department are making you a priority. Not just because of the connections to my family, the conflict diamond issue is a touchy one at the moment, and our relations with Moscow are somewhat precarious.”
“Moscow? I thought blood diamonds were an African thing,” Fiona said.
“The diamonds themselves are African, but the dealers are often, but not exclusively, Russian, I’m afraid. The man Rensselaer shot is Russian, the man whose photos you sent in, McBride, is Russian. Barnard was directly back from Russia before he went to Paris, I believe.” Fiona nodded. “Your job, my dear, is to do exactly as my agents tell you, and to stay safe. We can’t have you getting involved in this, these people are not to be trifled with. I will not hesitate to send you to a safe house should I deem it necessary.” Fiona’s mouth fell open. Alasdair patted her knee. “Let them do what they do best, my dear.” He stood, and so did everyone else. “And no more feeding the birds.” He winked at her.
“Tate,” he put his hand out and shook it. “Take care of her. Fiona, be safe.” He kissed her on the cheek and walked to the door where his driver stood waiting quietly. Alasdair said a few quiet words to Liam, bobbed his head and walked out.
Fiona sat back down and finished her beer. Alasdair had her completely believing he was just a sweet old man, only to discover he was the “man behind the curtain.” She snapped out of her reverie to see Liam and Tate silently communicating with each other.
“What?” Fiona said after watching them.
“What did he do to you, Fifi?” At first she thought Liam was talking about Tate, but then she realized he was talking about Dean. She looked from Liam to Tate and made a face. “He didn’t say a word to me, I’m looking at your face and asking, what did that bastard do?”
“He got abusive toward the end of our relationship. He had needs, apparently, that I couldn’t satisfy, so I kicked him out and called off the wedding. He bought the tickets to Paris to make it up to me, but I wouldn’t go. He went without me.”
“How abusive?” Liam clenched his jaw and made fists with his hands, wishing he had Dean Barnard back from the dead for five minutes.
“Liam, please don’t make me go over it again. It’s over and I’m fine, but I’m going upstairs until the food comes. Thank you for your concern, but I’m fine, really,” she touched his cheek and walked upstairs. He looked at Tate who was smiling.
“Lally’s a stalker,” he said gleefully and jogged up the stairs after Fiona.
Chapter Eight
Edgar and the new bodyguard from the State Department walked Fiona from the car to her office Monday morning. When Edgar showed up at her house that morning Fiona gave him a disbelieving look.
“What are you doing here?” She asked him.
“Tate asked me to come,” Edgar explained simply.
“How thoughtful of him,” she dripped sarcasm. “I’m fine, I have the State Department now; you can get back to Piper.” Edgar looked at her without expression.
“Security’s stepped up for everyone, Fiona, I’m here to see you safely to work, and then I’m going to see him safely to New York.”
“When does he go to New York?” With everything else, she had forgotten about the New York thing, but that didn’t explain why he left without a word to her before the sun was up.
“11:55.” That answered that.
“Edgar, please don’t say anything to Tess…” Edgar held up his hand to stop her.
“I wouldn’t, aside from it being none of my business, I’ve also signed an NDA.”
“A what?”
“Confidentiality agreement, my lips are sealed. Mind telling me what my lips are sealed about?”
“Oh, thanks, I just feel a little foolish,” she looked down at her hands and willed herself not to cry. “Tate left without a word while I slept. I guess we’re done.” She had merely been a warm body for the long weekend.
“I’m sorry, Fiona, he has a reputation for doing that. If you ask me, he’s the fool,” Edgar said with a surprisingly sweet smile.
“Edgar, your NDA!”
“That’s not a secret, Fiona. You ready to go?”
At the door to Fiona’s building on campus a pretty young woman trotted up to her.
“Hi Fiona, did you get my email?” She asked. They all turned as one to assess the threat and the young woman hesitated, looking at the two large men with Fiona, taking particular care with Edgar.
“Hi Cynthia, no, I haven’t checked my mail in days, sorry. What’s up?” Fiona had clearly lost her mind over the weekend, cavorting with rock stars; she needed to refocus. Cynthia looked at Martinez and Edgar. “Let’s go to my office,” Fiona said and they continued down the hall.
Fiona had been clenching her fist around her key, and when she reached down to unlock the office door, she saw it was ajar. Edgar and the agent, Martinez, pushed her out of the way and drew their weapons.
“Clear,” Martinez said after a few seconds and Fiona walked past Edgar to stand in the doorway of her office. Every book was off the shelf, papers from the filing cabinet were dumped on the floor, and anything that could be broken was.
“Oh my God,” Cynthia said.
Edgar was already on the phone to the police, and Martinez was herding them out of the office.
“Don’t touch anything.” Fiona realized it was the first time she’d heard him speak. She nodded dumbly, looking over his shoulder at the wreck.
David Hollander walked by slowly and stopped short when he saw Fiona.
“My God, Fiona, are you all right? You’ve gone completely white.” He tried to get close, but Martinez barred his way.
“Step back, sir,” Martinez said authoritatively.
David looked at Martinez with hostility, but Martinez didn’t budge.
“I’m mad as hell, but fine,” she said.
“Why don’t you use my office?” David said seeing the wreckage of her office.
“You’re so sweet, but Dr. Assam has already volunteered, we were just headed down there.” Cynthia said. “Bye.”
“Oh, well, that’s good, he’s got a big table in there. I’m glad you’re okay. This is from getting involved with rock stars, you know,” he said with one last glare at the silent Martinez and continued walking away, looking back at Fiona twice.
“You big liar,” Fiona said quietly to Cynthia who laughed.
“Assam will totally let you use his office, and Hollander creeps me out, he’s been crushing on you forever. So… rock stars?”
“Long story,” Fiona said trying to nip it in the bud.
Martinez stood at parade rest at the door of her office while the rest of them walked down the hall to Dr. Assam’s office.
“Wait,” Cynthia looked at her phone for the time. “I almost forgot! I emailed you to remind you I can’t teach this week, I’ve got jury duty. I’ll keep you posted, but I have to go now. Check your email!”
“Yes, of course, thanks, Cynthia.” Cynthia waved and ran down the hall the way she came.
Dr. Assam’s door was open, and he stood with his back to the room as he looked out his large window. Fiona knocked and he turned and smiled at the sight of her.
“Dr. Brooks, come in, come in,” he gestured to her. “How was your holiday?” Fiona laughed cynically.
“It was very interesting. I’m sorry to bother you, Dr. Assam, but my office was broken into sometime over the long weekend.” His smile faded quickly.
“Oh my! Anything of value taken?” He gestured to the couch for her to sit and walked to his phone.
“That’s hard to say. It’s a mess, but I don’t think so, and the police have already been notified, I think they
’re on their way. I’m terribly sorry about this.” He waved the thought away with his hand.
“I cannot believe it is your fault. Let me make you some tea,” he said, knowing the panacea for everything.
“Thank you. I’m afraid it’s more than just my office, however. I seem to be embroiled in something,” she said and explained as much as she could without mentioning the diamonds or the rock stars.
Assam sipped his tea and contemplated her problem.
“You will, of course, use my office while yours is nonfunctioning, I will clear my desk of my things,” she smiled at him.
“You will, of course, do no such thing. I would be delighted to use that table, but I won’t take your desk. I only ask for that because David Hollander has already offered to share his office, and Cynthia, my TA, told him I was moving in here.”
“I see. Is he still a problem?” Assam knew, as did everyone in the department, of David’s inappropriate attentions over the years. Fiona waved it away.
“In light of everything else, he’s small potatoes,” she said and he laughed a rich throaty laugh.
Edgar knocked on the door. Assam and Fiona stood, and Fiona had an awkward moment wondering how to introduce Edgar. Edgar extended his hand and introduced himself, keeping it simple.
“Dr. Assam, I’m Edgar Beasley, part of Dr. Brooks’ temporary security detail while we figure out what’s going on. She has some very powerful and protective friends. May I take her away from you for a moment?”
“Yes, of course, I have a class, my office is yours,” he nodded to Fiona and she smiled at him.
“Thank you very much, Dr. Assam,” Fiona said. He smiled, took his briefcase and left the office.
“He likes you.”
“I like him. I also happen to be very fond of his wife,” Edgar grinned. “Don’t be such a yenta.” Edgar laughed at that.
“Nobody’s called me that before. I’m leaving you with Martinez, I’ll liaise with the local cops and campus police and have them fingerprint your office before I head to New York. Don’t be scared.”
“I’m more angry than scared, Edgar, but thanks,” she smiled wanly at him.
“Can I kick his ass for you?”
“God no, please Edgar, just forget it. I’m angry at myself, not him. Well, I’m angry at him, too. I was just trying to be happy for the time I had with him… never mind.” What was she doing talking to Edgar about Tate, she was worse off than she thought. “And Edgar, thanks for everything. I don’t know if I’ll ever see you again.” She put her hand in his. “You’ve been so wonderful.”
“I’ll be around, Fiona. Tess and Alasdair are crazy about you, and I’m crazy about Piper, so, we’ll see each other again.” He winked at her, squeezed her hand and walked out of the office as Martinez came in. He looked at the egresses and stationed himself near the door.
Fiona got to work, finishing her papers and then she led Martinez to class after taping a sign stating she could be found during office hours in Dr. Assam’s office.
Her first class went without a hitch, despite the upheaval of recent events. Her second class, later in the day was not as smooth. She had a much better rapport with the students in that class, as all but one had taken a class with her before. They heard about her office having been broken into, and someone had spilled the beans about the rock star. She was bombarded with questions from everyone but Tess, who sat arms folded across her chest trying to become invisible.
When Fiona came into the classroom, the first person she saw was Sam. She smiled and greeted him warmly.
“But why are you here? I thought you had been reassigned,” she asked and he stepped aside and she saw Tess slumped in her chair, fiddling with her pen in agitation.
“He was assigned to torment me,” Tess said and Sam rolled his eyes.
“Not torment, Tess, but to keep you safe. I’ve got one, too,” Fiona said, but people started coming into the classroom and she shut up and moved to the front of the room where she put her computer down and opened it.
“Hey, Dr. Brooks,” a student greeted her with a huge grin and went to sit next to Tess. Fiona vaguely noticed Sam’s body tense and she wished she could tell him that Matt was not a threat, but she was glad he was keeping his guard up.
“Hi Matt, how was your break?”
“Great, but not as good as yours. Tate Dylan? Really?” He said and Fiona’s eyes went round, then she laughed.
“How on earth did you hear about that?” She asked him. He shrugged and grinned and turned to look at Tess who was looking miserable. He pointed at Fiona with his thumb as if to say “Get a load of her.” Tess put her head in her hands.
“Dr. Hollander mentioned it to his class,” he smirked. “He said you two were mighty friendly.”
“Dr. Hollander said that?” She said. Why would David do that? The next students who came in all said similar things, and when the time came to start, Fiona had trouble getting her class quiet.
“Tell us how you met him.” Someone called out.
“What’s he like?” Another asked. “And what’s he doing here in DC?”
“Visiting Dr. Brooks, duh!”
“Did you make beautiful music together?”
“Listen, I am in a precarious position of authority here, and although I am quite fond of each of you, it won’t stop me from kicking your butts if I have to.” Her students laughed. “Look guys, I don’t want to discuss my personal life with my class. I’m sure you would want the same thing in my shoes.”
“Are you kidding?” A student named Casey said from the second row. “I’d want to tell everyone if I was doing, I mean dating Tate Dylan.” Everyone laughed but Tess, Sam and Fiona. In her distress she noticed Tess looking at Sam and quickly looking away again. She must not like him, and Fiona wondered why.
“It would be extremely inappropriate, and it’s not going to happen. So, I have emailed your papers back to you with grades affixed. Good job for the most part.”
“Is he as good a kisser as they say?” There were some giggles.
“A week from today is the next big exam until your final project,” she tried to rein it in a little.
“Professor Hollander must be heartbroken.” The classroom erupted into laughter.
“Oh please,” she said angrily. “Don’t be unkind.” That stopped their laughter, and she breathed and got back to work.
She wanted to tell her class everything, how his lips seared a path along her skin, how it felt when he moved inside of her, how she came an unprecedented five times the first time they’d made love. How he made her laugh in the most frightening time of her life, and made her feel secure when people were trying to kidnap her in order to torture her for information that she didn’t have. How he slipped away like a thief in the middle of the night. She tried not to think of that, she didn’t want to cry in front of her students. Instead she did a quick review of the diminished seventh chord.
At the end of her last class she went to Assam’s office, packed up her things, washed her tea cup and was getting ready to start cleaning up her office with Martinez, when Tess knocked on Assam’s door.
“Come in, Tess,” Fiona said and Tess went to her and flopped on the sofa. “Bad day?”
“Awful. I want to apologize for ever introducing you to Tate. That behavior in class today is exactly why I don’t tell anyone about my connection with the band, and I’m really sorry.”
“Tess, don’t waste a second regretting that you introduced us, I’m really glad you did. You wouldn’t rather not know them, either.”
“No, I love them all, but they’re my family. It’s going to be like that all the time for you now,” Tess said.
“Your mom seems to deal with it well,” Fiona said. “Tess, Tate and I went out for a long weekend, things will settle down when people realize that the inevitable happened and he left me for a six foot blonde, or whatever.”
“He’s just gone to New York, he’ll be back.” Fiona shook her head.
/> “I don’t think he’s planning on coming back, Tess, he’s gone for good.”
“What? But he was so…engrossed. God, I’m so sorry. Now you must really hate me,” Tess said miserably. She hoped that her friend hadn’t lost her heart to him if he had left for good.
“Look, it’s been a long few months for me since Dean was killed. Thank you for siccing Tate on me, it was very well received. Please don’t second guess yourself.”
“You knew?” Fiona smiled.
“Forbidden fruit, how could he resist? And for my part, he was exactly what I needed.”
“Just so you know, that first night he told me he was already smitten when he first saw you lying on the pavement, my elaborate plan was superfluous.” Fiona laughed.
“So, why don’t you like Sam?” Fiona asked.
“He’s impossible. He’s a bully, and he’s a tyrant. He tries to intimidate me all the time.”
“And he’s gorgeous?” Fiona asked.
“Oh my God he’s so beautiful, I can barely stand it,” she whispered and then quickly glanced at the door to make sure it was closed, the man was eerily silent. Fiona laughed and Tess looked at her and laughed, too. “We’re a pair, aren’t we?”
“Yes, we are.”
“I don’t really like having security. I guess I should be used to it by now, though. There’s always been somebody hanging around ever since Connor came into our lives. Did you know that when I moved out of the dorms into my own place, my grandfather arranged,” she made quotation marks in the air. “More like vetted, for a roommate for me. She’s great, quiet and neat, but she’s not as much a roommate as she is a bodyguard.” She chuckled. “My family is a little over the top when it comes to personal protection, and there are good reasons to be nervous, but I’m not sure I can take much more of being joined at the hip to that man.”
Bassist Instinct (The Rocker Series #2) Page 18