Chapter 2 – Carl
I was in the middle of my morning meeting with the team when Mike walked into my office. He stood at the door and our eyes met and instantly I knew that something was up.
“Okay, that’s it, folks. Back to work,” I said to my team, which was made up of big muscular men who I had trained in the art of security. I ran a high profile security firm and provided clients with the best-trained bodyguards that money could buy. Every morning, we met as a group to discuss strategies and plans and how best to tackle tricky situations.
Mike waited until all the men in my team had trickled out of the room before he approached my desk.
“Mike,” I tipped my head at my best friend, who breathed in deeply and crossed his arms over his wide chest. We had been friends since high school. We ran with the same crowd, had gotten ourselves in the same trouble until we both chose two different businesses to get involved in. Mike was the head of a biker club, while I was the head of a security firm. In a lot of ways, our work wasn’t very much different from the other.
“Hey, man, I didn’t mean to interrupt your meeting. I just needed to talk to you,” Mike said, and then I watched him turn around and go shut the door of my office.
“What’s up, Mike?” I asked, and when he came back to stand in front of me, I could see that his eyes were bloodshot and he looked nervous about something. I could always tell the difference when Mike was hungover or when there was something bothering him. This morning, my friend wasn’t hungover.
“Someone’s been threatening Virginia,” Mike said. At the mention of his daughter’s name, I felt my spine stiffen and I had to resist the urge to look away from my friend. I still hadn’t gotten over the guilt that wrecked me every day. The guilt of kissing my best friend’s daughter. No matter how drunk I was, it was not an excuse and I knew that if Mike ever found out, he would never forgive me for it.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked, following his every movement with my eyes as Mike started pacing the room.
“I mean that we’ve been receiving death threats, phone calls, packages, messages. Someone wants to get to Virginia and I have to start taking it seriously now,” Mike said and ran a hand through his thinning hair.
“Do you know who it is?” I asked. I could see that my friend was upset, and of course, he had every right to be. Virginia was the most precious part of his life.
“I would have done something about it by now if I knew!” he thundered and I saw the rage in his eyes. He rushed towards me apologetically and shook his head.
“Sorry, Carl, I’m sorry. As you can see, I’m fucking losing my mind!” he growled and clutched his head with both hands.
“Okay, Mike, you need to calm down. Tell me what I can do to help. Do you have any leads I can chase?” I asked, trying to catch his roaming gaze.
“There is something you can do for me, Carl. You are my most trusted friend. I can’t trust anyone else with this; we’re talking about my daughter’s life!” Mike sounded like a madman as he spoke. I could see that he was losing his mind with worry.
“Yes, okay. Tell me, Mike, what can I do?” I said and I watched as he slipped his hand into the pocket of his leather jacket and extracted two tickets which looked like they were for flights. I had my brows crossed as I stared at him.
“I want you to take her, and disappear for a few days. Just a week, give me some time to figure this shit out,” he said and stuck the tickets out towards me. I felt like someone had knocked the wind right out of my lungs. Mike wanted me to take his daughter, Virginia, the girl I had kissed on her eighteenth birthday and had tried so hard to avoid since then, and spend a week with her?
I took a step away from Mike, but he came closer to me.
“I know you have a business to run, Carl, and I know this is a big deal. But, you are the best fucking bodyguard that my daughter can have and you are my best friend,” Mike growled, and his face had darkened with both anger and fear.
I gulped and clenched my jaws. I would have done anything else that Mike asked me to do, anything but this.
How was I supposed to keep my hands off his beautiful daughter for a week if we were going to be locked up together?
“Mike . . . ” I began to say and I shook my head.
“Just a week, Carl, she will not be safe anywhere other than miles away from here and with you. I can’t put her at risk here,” Mike insisted.
We were glaring into each other’s eyes and I had no choice but to nod my head. I could understand what my friend was going through, and I knew that I couldn’t say no. It was what I would have expected from Mike if I was in his position. We were like brothers.
I took the tickets from him and stared at the print.
“Alaska?” I remarked and looked up at him in shock.
“I couldn’t think of a better place to hide out,” he replied and shrugged his shoulders. At least now he looked somewhat relieved.
“I’ll pick her up in two hours,” I said and stuffed the tickets into my jacket pocket. “Before that, I need to brief my boys on what to do while I’m away,” I said and Mike thumped my back in gratitude.