Chapter 2
If he hadn’t been listening to his gut instinct that time, Chase Lincoln would have never figured out there was something wrong, and rising superstar Veronica Langley would’ve been in terrible danger.
He had recently opened up a new branch of Delta Security and needed work, so he asked a friend to hook him up. Thankfully, Arclight Hollywood was looking for somebody to provide the security detail for the upcoming premiere, and Chase landed the job.
He had everything set down to the wire—he had his team help out and arrange the blockades for the fans, assigned each person to an exit, memorized the list of people who would be coming to the event, plus their personal staff, the employees in the theater, and reviewed the timetable of the premiere.
And that was how he noticed something was wrong.
He kept an eye on the people who entered the cinema, and noticed Veronica was missing. He asked around about her whereabouts and one of his men told him that her PA had left to go get some coffee. Strange behavior, considering she was supposed to be ‘assisting’ Veronica, but he let it slide since he had more important things to check on.
Further probing led him to know that one of Arclight’s employees did not inform him of additional people added to the list. He practically scared the bejesus out of the employee as he admitted they bribed him to get in and they claimed to be for a YouTube celebrity gossip show and needed to interview Veronica.
He put two and two together and ordered his men to look everywhere in the cinema. They managed to find Veronica, bound and gagged, and rescued her safely into their custody.
He called the police, gave them his account of what transpired, and Veronica’s handler, Henry Stevenson was all thanks and praises.
He was a short, stout man with very little neck, and his hair was receding a bit from his forehead. The second to the last button of his white shirt was about to pop due to his protruding belly, and the buckles on his belt looked worn and thin. He spoke with a British accent and his brown mustache twitched whenever he stopped speaking. He had a very warm and fatherly personality though. Chase was able to relax while they talked.
Henry placed his hand on his forehead with a sigh and a shake of his head, the color on his face coming back from the redness from before when Chase watched him rip Veronica’s personal assistant to shreds. Chase knew the girl probably deserved it, but shouting at her in public was probably too much. Still, it wasn’t in his place to get involved, so he stayed back.
“To tell you the truth, my good man, we have been getting a lot of threats and suspicious fan mail for Veronica lately,” Henry admitted. “At first, we just kept dismissing it as one of those ludicrous attempts by fanatics, but after this failed kidnapping attempt--,” he sighed once more, his eyes downcast and exhausted.
“Well, have you narrowed down the suspects?” Chase asked, and Henry shook his head.
“Sasha and I have been trying to narrow it down, but it’s taking a while to sort everything out. For now, I think the best course of action would be to focus on Veronica’s safety,” Henry said, and Chase nodded in agreement.
“Yeah, I think so too,” Chase murmured. “If you don’t mind me asking, em…,” Chase trailed off, scratching his head nervously. He thought he really needed to work on his sales pitch. “Can I ask you what your plans are for that?”
Henry smiled at him, clapping Chase’s back with his meaty hand. “My boy, I believe I have, and that is actually one of the things I wanted to talk to you about.”
***
Chase was floored by Henry’s offer. He had not expected the old man to trust the security of one of his precious stars to his very inexperienced hands. He was new to the game, and since he had done a good job at providing security back at Arclight, Henry was offering his company the job.
Henry had wanted Chase to be Veronica’s bodyguard personally, but Chase turned it down, with the excuse he already had his hands full running the company. Chase didn’t think he could pull off protecting someone as high profile as Veronica Langley, not with the skills he possessed at the moment, and certainly not with the degree of danger she seemed to be at risk of.
He was struggling now. He wanted to accept the offer, but at the moment, none of his men had the proper abilities to protect her. He needed someone with the right skill set, who was equal parts protective yet deadly. But who?
He was startled out of his thoughts by his phone ringing, wondering who could possibly be calling him at 2 in the morning. Regardless, he picked up the call, and after a few moments of speaking, his eyes lit up as he found a solution to his problem.
“Hey man, listen. If you’re really looking for a job…”