The Protector Page 9

  Jack had followed me into the room and stood behind me as I once again took it all in. He didn’t say a word as he walked past me and put the mattress back on the bed frame. My side tables had been overturned and he put those upright as well. Within a few minutes, it was beginning to look like a normal bedroom again. Eventually, he put his hand on his shoulder, “I’ll go downstairs and start your living room.” I heard his footsteps as he turned and walked down the stairs. It was overwhelming to see everything lying all over my floor. I grabbed my laundry basket and began throwing all of my intimates in there. Someone who wasn’t me had touched them and I felt the sudden urge to wash them in the hottest water I could. I quickly made the bed and looked around. Although it was not how I had left it almost a week ago, it was better than it was a few minutes prior.

  By the time I made it downstairs, Jack had everything in the living room almost put back together. Things weren’t where they originally were, but he didn’t do that bad of a job. I went straight to my laundry room to start a load of laundry. I avoided my office all together, as I knew this was going to be the worst of all the rooms. I reached the laundry room and heard the doorbell ring. I dropped the basket immediately and walked into the living room.

  Jack stood at the front door and looked back at me. “It’s a woman,” he mouthed.

  A pit grew in my stomach as I realized it was probably Stacy. I had been remiss in my duties as her friend and had not called her like I promised when we landed. It was an honest mistake, with all the activity and the fact my mind was going in twenty different directions. But her timing was awful. I turned to look at the clock that was still on my mantle, thankfully unharmed, I had been home an hour and a half cleaning up and still had not called. I knew from experience this was not going to be a fun conversation. If Stacy could she would have a GPS unit on all her friends. That was just her. She had to know where we were at all times. Normally I ignored it. Today, it was annoying. Jack stood there silently waiting for me to do something or say something.

  “I can’t just push her away Jack. She’s persistent,” I said with hesitation in my voice. I wasn’t sure how he was going to react to her. As I studied his face, he didn’t seem too concerned.

  “Fine, let her in.” the lack of concern in his voice confirmed what I had thought. Apparently he wasn’t worried about the crazy, demanding woman outside.

  I hesitated as I walked to open the door. “How am I going to explain you,” I asked racking my brain for any and every excuse I could to explain his presence. The doorbell rang again.

  “We’ll figure it out,” he said without hesitation. He turned and walked into my office. “I’ll be in here and will leave it up to you.” A smile crossed his face as he walked backwards into the room that was clearly completely destroyed. Jack closed the glass door to the office and left me alone to deal with my friend.

  “Great,” I mumbled to myself and opened the door.

  Stacy came barreling in the door, full throttle. Her dark almost black hair was pushed back behind her ears. Her hair was shorter than mine, but completely fashion forward. She wore clothes that looked like they came directly off the runway in Paris and she carried only the best purses money could buy. Today she was in jeans and heels and some long sleeve lace tunic that did little to cover her surgically enhanced breasts; a birthday present from her husband Ted.

  “You didn’t call me! I was worried and you know what that does to me!” Stacy barked as she walked right past me. “Ted said you should have been home yesterday. Where were you? You didn’t answer your phone!” Stacy finally stopped talking long enough to look around my home. Although Jack had put most everything back someplace, my home was still a disaster. “What the hell? Someone have a party and not invite me?”

  I could only shake my head. I loved this woman like a sister but she was the most self-centered bitch I knew. Nothing ever satisfied her and often times I wondered why Ted had stayed with her so long. Our only thought, the sex must have been good. Stacy was persistent to say the least and she refused to be ignored. As a matter of fact the ringtone for her on my cell phone was some wild, hard core song, full of ranting and screaming about not being ignored. It suited her perfectly.

  Stacy looked around in dismay as she took it all in. “Alison what happened here?”

  I took a deep breath and threw my hands up in the air. I wasn’t going to lie to her but I wasn’t going to tell her the whole truth either. “Break in.”

  “Alison. While you were gone? The alarm company never called. We had no idea!” Her voice quickly became high pitched as she walked over to the couch. “We would have come over for you and cleaned it up. Did you call the police?”

  I followed and took a seat on the arm of the couch. “Nothing was taken.”

  “You still have to call the police Alison. What if they stole your identity? You so did not need this right now with Tom and everything.”

  “Don’t worry about it Stacy. I don’t keep a lot of personal paperwork here. Most of it is on cd rom in a safe at my parents.”

  She shook her he bad, “I forgot, wish I was as organized as you. How’s your office?”

  I looked at the double doors that led to the office. Jack was in there and he was being quiet. “Haven’t looked yet.”

  “Well, let’s look and I will help you clean it up. Grab a bottle of wine girl.” I watched in horror as Stacy got up and walked straight to the white double doors and opened them. A blood curdling scream came out of her mouth as she saw Jack bent over picking up papers. I thought for sure she was going to trip in those high heels as she turned around and looked at me horrified.

  “Stacy! Stop.”

  Jack stood in the doorway with a huge grin on his face. He didn’t move or try to calm the screaming woman down.

  “Alison, call the,” she didn’t finish her sentence as she turned and looked at Jack and then back at me. She finally closed her mouth and the scream that had filled the room disappeared. She took a deep breath in and threw her body against the door jam of the office door. Her eyes were filled with shock and if I had thought about it for just moment I would have been in shock myself – Stacy was speechless.

  “Stacy,” I walked over to her and put my hand on my friend. “Are you ok?”

  “Who is that? I come over here to check on you because I hadn’t heard anything from you. You tell me there was a break in and I walk into your office and see a man I don’t know.” Her voice was high pitched and frantic. “What is going on Alison?”

  I sat there speechless. I really didn’t know what to say to her. I didn’t know how to explain this man who was in my office trying to clean up a disastrous mess. My mouth opened but nothing came out. Stacy stood there looking at me waiting for an answer to her question. Jack stood behind her, still with a grin on his face, wondering what explanation I was going to come up with.

  “Alison?” I still didn’t answer her. She pulled herself from the door jam and crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked Jack. “Well who are you?”

  “Jack Bailey,” he responded in a thick Irish accent “Pleasure to meet a friend of Alison’s”. My eyes grew wide as he stuck out his hand for Stacy. Stacy looked back at me and then back at Jack. I was surprised he had used his real name. But then again, I really had no idea if Jack really was his first name.

  Stacy took hold of his hand and shook it. “Stacy Garcia. Nice to meet you, I think.” Stacy turned to look at me and I knew it was coming. Some embarrassing statement that would cause me to turn 50 shades of red. I wasn’t sure how much more embarrassment I could take. Stacy was known for her candid outbursts. “Wow, you go to Israel and come home with an Irish man, and gorgeous one at that.” She wore a devious grin on her face as she looked back and forth between Jack and I.

  I sat there again speechless. I still didn’t know what to say. I looked at Jack and hoped he would continue his charade.

  “I’m afraid I am the lucky one. We met in Israel at the conference and I n
eeded to come out here on business anyway, Alison was kind enough to offer me a place to stay.” Jack walked past Stacy, whose eyes had grown big with surprise.

  He took a seat on the couch and watched the nonverbal communication between my friend and I. I could see all the questions that had popped into her mind and watched as her eyes grew in surprise. I knew once we were alone, and I wasn’t going to let that happen, the barrage of questions would start. The interrogation I feared in DC would have been nothing compared to what could come from Stacy. At the present all I could do was shrug.

  Stacy took a few steps forward, her heels clicking on my wood floor. Her eyes were still big with astonishment as she walked past me. As she did she mouthed the word, Eric and I was sure horror crossed my face as I realized this was going to be even harder to explain, as I was supposed to be involved in a long distance relationship with a cop up in Oregon. My head suddenly began to pound as I looked around anxiously for the picture of Eric and I on the fireplace. It was in the same location it was when I had left and there was no way Jack could have known where to put it if it had been knocked down. I breathed a sigh of relief and made a mental note to put it somewhere else.

  Stacy took a seat on the loveseat and smiled at Jack. “How long are you staying Jack?”

  “Not sure. I have some research to do at the labs and then I am sure I will head home to Ireland after that.”

  “Research at the labs?”

  “I work for a private investment company. I am here doing research on a project.” His lie was seamless. I would have believed him if I didn’t know any different.

  “Oh,” was all Stacy managed to say to him. She turned her attention to me. “Tom’s funeral is tomorrow. Will you go with Ted and I?”

  Reality was sobering as Stacy reminded me of the death of my boss and friend. “Yeah, I will go with you. It’s not really something I want to tackle alone.” I looked over at Jack. He saw the sadness in my eyes and I saw the concern in his. I wondered if he would want to go to the funeral. He did know Tom. “Jack? Would you like to go with us?”

  Shock registered across Stacy’s face. She looked confused and almost angry at the fact I had asked this stranger. “No offense Jack, but Alison this is not a date?”

  I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I didn’t look at Stacy as I knew I couldn’t let her know that there was more than what I was about to tell her. “Jack knew Tom. Every time Tom went overseas, Jack was usually there for his company. “

  “Oh, sorry.” Stacy’s face grew wide in embarrassment.

  Jack got up from where he stood. “Thank you. He was a highly intelligent man. I learned a lot from him over the few years I knew him. If you ladies will excuse me I have a phone call to make.” Jack turned to face me, “Do you mind if I go upstairs to make my call?”

  I nodded my head and smiled. Stacy watched as Jack climbed the stairs and disappeared. After he left she looked at me with pure confusion. I knew the questions would be coming and frankly I wasn’t ready to answer any of them. For the first time in our five years as friends, I didn’t want to fill her in on anything or ask her advice for anything. I knew I wouldn’t be able to answer her truthfully, nor would I be able to tell her anything. But I did have to face the music.

  “What the hell are you thinking Alison?” Concern and anger washed over my friend’s face. “You barely know this guy. Don’t tell me you slept with him.”

  Horror washed over my body as my friend suggested what I had thought was impossible. “Stacy!” I cried out.

  “Well? Do you know anything about this guy? Did he really know Tom?”

  I understood and appreciated her concern. It did look kind of suspicious to come home with some guy, I barely knew. I didn’t know how to explain it to her.

  “Stacy, you worry too much. Jack is a nice guy. And there is nothing going on between us. He is a colleague from Ireland and that is it. He’s a gentleman.”

  “A very good looking gentleman Alison.” All the concern left her face as she grew excited about the man who was now upstairs talking on the phone. “Oh and that accent. Wow. Ok I think I am in love!”

  “Stacy! You know you are nuts. One minute you are mad at me for bringing home some strange man and the next you are commenting on how hot he is. You are giving me whiplash!”

  “Don’t Stacy me? If you don’t see it then you are blind lady. He’s hot!”

  “You’re married,” I half yelled half whispered back to her. My townhome wasn’t that big and I was pretty sure our conversation carried upstairs and Jack could hear every little bit of it.

  My friend looked at me in disgust. “Your point Alison? I am married, I love my husband dearly. I just merely think the man upstairs is good looking. Kind of dreamy and mysterious if you ask me. He reminds me a double 007 type of guy. Like he should be working for MI-6 or the CIA.”

  I had to stifle back a laugh as the words came out of her mouth. Little did she know how right on her observation of him was.

  “What is Eric going to say about this?” Suddenly, the smile that was on my face disappeared.

  “Eric?” I repeated his name not sure what to think. I hadn’t really thought about what he would say because I had no plans to tell him some strange guy was staying with me. I looked at Stacy and hesitated before I responded.

  “Does it matter?”

  “I don’t know you tell me.” Curiosity filled her eyes as I knew what she was bantering back and forth in that brain of her. She really didn’t care for the guy and reminded me often, more often than I cared for, that I didn’t belong with someone like him.

  “He’s up in Oregon, I don’t have a ring on my finger nor am I married to him. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Anyway, what do you care? You can’t stand the man.”

  “True!” She thought for a moment before she continued. “I don’t think he is right for you. But I also know you and I don’t want you doing something stupid that’s all.”

  “I am an adult Stacy.” I left her mind to wander. I knew there was nothing going on between the man upstairs and I. He was doing his job, protecting me and once his job was done we would both go on with our lives.

  “I know,” she replied quietly. The smirk on her face did not disappear. “I’m just saying, watch yourself. His Irish charm could land you in a situation you don’t want to be in.”

  Our conversation shifted gears after that as we talked about Tom. I was curious if she had ever noticed anything strange about him. I tried to frame it in a manner that kept our conversation light. She didn’t catch on. Jack came back downstairs about ten minutes later and went back into my office to clean up.

  It was getting late and I began to yawn hoping desperately Stacy would take the hint and after a while she did.

  “Will I see you tomorrow,” she asked getting up and grabbing her purse from the coffee table.

  “Of course.” Nothing was going to stop me from going to my friend and colleague’s funeral. Not even Jack.

  “Good night and be careful? Do you still have the baseball bat under your bed?’ I knew what she was alluding to but I ignored her. And she only grinned.

  “Goodnight Stacy,” I said shutting the door in her face. I heard her heels click and the door to her car slam shut. I locked the door and turned to find Jack standing incredibly close to me.

  “Your office is tidy, as is your bedroom,” He said quietly without the accent.

  “Thank you.” I walked around him and took a seat back on the couch. I brought my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. I wanted desperately to turn on some music or have some noise in the house. But I didn’t. Jack stood by the door and stared at me. I ignored it at first but after a few minutes, I couldn’t understand his intense gaze at me.

  “What?” I finally asked in frustration. “You’re staring at me? Why?”

  “Amazed that is all,” he responded with a smirk on his face.

  “Amazed at what?” There was confusion in my voice.
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  The corner of his mouth lifted in a half smile. “You handled that well. Most people in your situation would have caved and said something to their friends.” His eyes almost sparkled as he said this. I didn’t quite understand why but he continued to stare at me.

  “You find that amazing? That I can play along with it? I don’t have a choice do I? I don’t want to put her and Ted in any danger. So I have no choice but to go along with the story. And by the way, where the hell did you get such a perfect Irish accent?” I had hoped turning the tables on him and asking him a question about his acting abilities would get him to alter his gaze on me. But it didn’t.

  He continued to stare at me with this intense look in his eyes. “Not important. Are you hungry?”

  I realized that neither one of us had eaten since Mrs. Walker’s breakfast earlier in the morning. And I hadn’t even finished the toast she had set in front of me. Suddenly I was famished. “Yes. But I am afraid I don’t have much here. I kind of let the food supply dwindle when I knew I was leaving out of town.”

  I rose from the couch and headed over to the kitchen knowing full well, there wasn’t much of anything in my fridge or pantry. I did manage to find a loaf of bread and cheese, which was better than the Oriental Noodle packages that I knew were sitting somewhere in the back of my pantry. I had eaten so much of the stuff when I was in college, the thought now made me ill.

  We dined on grilled cheese sandwiches and beer that night. We made small talk. Jack asked me a few questions about my life and my childhood, and every time I asked something about him. He would quickly change the subject. It was frustrating and an hour later I had had enough.

  I pushed myself off my couch, where we had eaten and walked to put my dish into the sink. “The guest room is ready. The sheets are clean and it’s a fairly comfortable bed.” He had carried my luggage upstairs earlier in the evening but he had left his duffel bag downstairs by the bottom step, out of the way.