Gregor sat in his home office with Kris, Yuri, and Dmitri, going over the plans for the anticipated assault.
Judging by the way Kris and Yuri were staring at him, his last instruction had been unexpected to say the least.
“Sorry, I’m sure I didn’t hear you correctly.” Kris laughed, pretending to shake water from his ears. “Because, I thought you just said that you didn’t want any of the security team put at risk.”
Gregor smiled pleasantly, ignoring the sarcasm in Kris’s tone.
“You heard me correctly Kris, as you well know.” He replied, picking a piece of cotton from his suit pants, and rolling it between his fingers. “If and when Lucky Vega attacks, I want the whole security team pulled back to the cover of the house. I don’t want anyone left outside.”
“What the hell is the point of having them all inside?” Yuri threw up his hands. “They’re your protection detail. It’s their job to protect you!”
“Yes, but I won’t be outside, will I?” Gregor pointed out reasonably. “So why should they be?”
“They’ll be protecting you and the house. That’s what you pay them very handsomely for.” Kris explained patiently. “If you didn’t want them to do that, why did you hire them?”
“I hired them to stop people getting too close to me at functions, or from trespassing at the house.” Gregor explained. “Maybe even stop the odd burglar or two.”
“That’s right.” Yuri nodded. “But they always knew they’d be called upon to protect you from potential assassins. Maybe some lunatic with a gun or a knife, up close. And they signed on for that.”
“Yes, but that was when the possibility was extremely remote.” Gregor tried to stay patient, as though he was talking to his kids when they were younger. A lot younger!
“Look…” He sighed. “I never actually thought I’d ever be in danger, not of the sort we’re talking about now, so, I didn’t ever consider the level of danger my security team could be in either. Now I’ve had to re-evaluate, I’m not prepared to have people put their lives on the line to save my life. I’m not worth it.”
Kris and Yuri stared at him like he was crazy.
“Of course, you’re worth it.” Yuri insisted. “Why else do you think we’d be here.”
“Yuri, I’m a business man, for God’s sake!” Gregor ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “I haven’t invented the cure for cancer, nor will I ever! I AM NOT IMPORTANT! I’m certainly no more important than any of my security team.”
“You run a multi-billion-dollar company, employing tens of thousands of people across the globe, so forgive me if I think you’re slightly important.” Kris scoffed. “Half the people who work for you can’t balance their own checking accounts. What would they do without you at the helm?”
“Kris, my business would suffer a minor blip if I died today, and then it would go on, almost as though I’d never lived. Each strand has been set up to function without me, with an excellent board of directors who can keep things going until either Sophia or Serge are old enough and willing to step up.” Gregor rubbed his neck. Arguing with his friends was stressful. “Beyond that, I’m just another guy, and whether or not you agree with me, I refuse to let my men die, just so I can be safe. We’ll all be in the house together, and if it comes to a gunfight, I’ll stand shoulder to shoulder with you all. I do know how to shoot, you know.”
“If we fall back to the house, and we’re under attack, we’ll only stand and fight for so long anyway.” Kris pointed out. “As soon as it appears likely that we’ll be outnumbered, or come under severe threat, we’ll move into the basement, and continue the fight remotely.”
“Right, and when we do that, I want to make sure all the men are in the basement with us.”
Kris looked at Yuri and shrugged.
“I give up.” He sighed. “He’s obviously lost his marbles, and until we can find them all, there’s no talking sense to him.”
Yuri watched his brother get up and leave the room, and looked back at Gregor, shaking his head.
“I know what you’re doing.” He smiled sadly. “You don’t want people to think you believed your life more important than the next guy’s. You don’t want people to think badly about you, and you don’t want to have to live with the guilt if someone died so you could live.”
Gregor sat forward and leaned his arms on his thighs.
“Yuri, it’s one thing to stand side by side with a man and fight with him. If he dies, and you live, it’s just the luck of the draw.” Gregor explained. “But to have a man stand in front of you and take a bullet? To pay a man to die to save you? That just doesn’t sit right with me. I can’t do it.”
Yuri sighed.
“Ok, have it your way.” He headed for the door. “Although, God only knows what the men will think when I give them their new instructions!”
Gregor smiled with relief as the door clicked shut, and he flopped back into his chair, amazed that the argument hadn’t lasted longer.
He’d known Kris and Yuri wouldn’t be happy with his decision, but after several days mulling it over, he’d known he had to do something rather than spend another sleepless night worrying about the men on guard duty.
“Will there be anything else, sir?” He’d almost forgotten Dmitri was there.
Damn, he should’ve thought of this sooner. He shouldn’t have anybody at the house who wasn’t essential to holding off an attack.
“Yes, I think it’s time you made yourself scarce.” He smiled at his assistant.
“Of course, Mr Diminov. Just call if you need me.” Dmitri turned to leave the office, thinking he had simply been dismissed for the moment.
“No, Dmitri. I meant that I think you should leave the house and go and stay in town somewhere, until all of this is over.” Gregor explained. “You should work out of the main offices or take a few days off until I can get back to normal.”
Dmitri nodded.
“Thank you, Mr Diminov, but I’m fine as I am.” He smiled. “I’m quite happy to take a few days off, if that’s what you would prefer, but I’m quite fond of the mattress on my bed, and I prefer to sleep on it rather than go to a hotel and risk problems with my discs and my sciatica.”
Gregor stared at Dmitri in surprise. Had the man not understood the conversation he’d just heard them having?
“No, Dmitri, that’s not what I meant…” He began.
“With respect, Mr Diminov, I know exactly what you meant. And as I said, there are reasons why I would prefer to stay at the house.” Dmitri smiled at him. “Besides, you’re not the only one trained to use a gun.”
Before Gregor could splutter out another argument, Dmitri picked up the tea-tray and headed for the door.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll be working on accommodating the security team within the confines of the house.”
With a quiet click, the door shut behind his assistant and Gregor was left sitting in stunned silence.
His assistant had just refused to follow his command, and in such a way that Gregor still had an urge to thank him!
The phone ringing had him jumping.
“Tuck? Everything Ok?”
“Yes, everything’s fine.” Tuck’s voice was calming. “I’ve got Hannah and JT here with me, and we just wanted to update you, and ask a few questions.”
“Sure, whatever you need.” Gregor pushed the speaker button, sat back, and set the phone on the table next to him.
“Hi Gregor.” Hannah’s voice sounded so young. “I’ve been working through some ideas we’ve been throwing around here, and we’ve got our friends the Feds asking all the local security companies to identify any empty properties nearby that Lucky and her men could be hiding in.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” He nodded. “Unfortunately, I don’t have any close neighbours, and have no idea who lives in the adjoining properties to know if they’re away or not.”
“Don’t worry about it. That’s what the Feds are for.” Hannah snorted a laugh. “Anyway, I was wondering whether you had any aerial shots of your property. It might help us if we can see the layout of the perimeter walls. We could advise you if we notice any weaknesses.”
“I think I had some taken for the contractor who lay my running track.” Gregor remembered. “Possibly even before and after shots. Do you want me to email them across to you?”
“That would be great. Thanks.” Hannah agreed.
“Do you have the security locked down at your end?” Tuck asked. “It’s been four days, and I was just wondering how you were managing with shift changes.”
“I’ve got plenty of guys to alternate.” Gregor confirmed. “Although, I’ve probably just pissed most of them off. I’ve issued an instruction that if we do come under attack, I want all my men to fall back to the house and defend from inside.”
“Is there a reason for that?” Tuck asked, and Gregor could hear the confusion in his voice.
“Yes. I don’t want anyone getting killed just so I can be safe.” He explained. “We can defend the house together, and hopefully give the police time to get here before they break through our defences. If it gets too dangerous, we can go down into the basement, and still fire on any unfriendlies from relative safety.”
“You have a remote firing system?” Hannah asked. “Neat!”
“I think that’s what I have.” Gregor wasn’t entirely sure. “It’s something that Yuri and Kris set up a while ago, and from the explanation they gave me at the time, I think that’s what they were talking about. It almost makes me wish I paid more attention now.”
“I see.” Tuck obviously didn’t. “Well, as long as your team knows what they’re doing, I’m sure it will be fine.”
“They do.” Gregor said confidently. “Is everyone there fine?”
He cringed. They all must know exactly who he was talking about.
“Everyone here is doing just fine.” Hannah chuckled. “They’re all having an early swim before breakfast.”
“Sounds like fun.” Gregor knew Hannah was telling him exactly what he wanted to know. “Well, I’ll get that email across to you now, and if you need anything else, just let me know.”
Gregor disconnected the call.
He pulled his laptop closer to find the pictures for Hannah.
How long did a swim and breakfast take? Maybe he’d take a swim of his own and find out.