“Things were fine here. No perimeter breaches and no suspicious characters. Same with his company. No trouble. No fires to put out.”
“And no Jacob,” I said.
“Yep. No Jacob.”
“How the hell could he disappear into thin air?” I asked.
“It’s a question that’s been rattling around in my mind once I was able to deal with the fact you weren’t going to tell me where you and Derek went.”
“I had our location locked down,” I said. “The fewer people who knew, the safer he was.”
“I’m your second in command. You can let me know your locations.”
“Not this time, John, not unless it's necessary. You know this. You know why.”
“It was frustrating, that’s all. You didn’t check in often.”
“You’re lucky I checked in at all. We were in an area with sparse communication signals,” I said.
“At any rate, it was annoying. Had you needed backup or had something happened, more information than necessary would’ve needed to have been communicated. There were too many risks with that decision, especially since you went alone.”
“I understand your concerns, and I have logged them. Now, have we gotten anywhere with Jacob’s accounts?”
“No activity on his company card, and his other assets are frozen. The man can’t make a move, so it's doubtful he’ll do much. Plus, he’s got half the world looking for him right now. If he pops up anywhere, we’ll know about it.”
“I don’t get it. How does he pop up with a gun, try to shoot Derek, and then disappear off the face of the planet?”
“Derek?” he asked.
“Mr. Steele has a first name, yes.”
“So, you’re on a first name basis with our client,” he said.
“Doesn’t that usually happen when we take a long-term job like this?” I asked.
“It does. It’s just that when that happens, I can usually expect the man to try and make a move on you. Want me to give him a rundown of how this works?”
“Not necessary. If anything inappropriate comes up, I can handle it like I always do.”
“Well, tell ‘Derek’ it wasn’t like Jacob’s initial plan was to personally kill him, only to threaten him until he stepped down from his position.”
“Those letters didn’t speak that to me,” I said.
“The man could get into this house. If he wanted Mr. Steele dead, it would’ve happened. You know that. But with his previous security detail being as terrible as you said and Mr. Steele hiring us, it could’ve made the man desperate. Shooting him in his office could’ve been a last-ditch effort to get what he wanted.”
“That’s true, and it’s an angle I’ve been thinking about. But you know me. Prepare for every terrible scenario and everything else is a pleasant surprise.”
“You mean like the best friend none of us suspected?” he asked.
“Shut up. Your report’s done,” I said with a grin.
“Come on. You gotta joke about it a little bit.”
“Maybe when Derek’s life isn’t hanging in the balance any longer, and we’re done with this job, sure. But for now, you’re dismissed. Go check up on things at the company.”
“Sure thing, Sam.”
I watched John leave the premises before I went in search of Derek. Despite my insistence, he had me pick out a few outfits to bring home from the trip. The issue with that was, I’d only left with a toiletry bag, and being surrounded by trained security men meant they would notice if I came back with more luggage. So, Derek was tasked with getting our stuff in while I got John’s status report of how things had gone in our absence.