Private London (Private 4)

‘You are.’

‘For how long?’

‘Three years, Dan.’

I looked at him quizzically and took a sip of beer. Then nodded. ‘Long enough to get a degree, I guess?’

Jack Morgan nodded, pleased. ‘You catch on fast.’

‘Where’s she going to be studying?’

‘Chancellors.’

I nodded right back at him. One of the oldest, one of the best. I looked down at the documents. Money was clearly not a problem. Private didn’t come cheap – even if it was for just a hand-holding job on a flight over the Pond.

‘This isn’t just a hand-holding exercise, Dan.’

I fought the urge to react. ‘It’s not?’

‘She’s extremely valuable cargo. I need an eye on her the whole time she’s over there in England. Looked after discreetly.’

‘Hard to be discreet if she goes round like Madonna with a crew of bodyguards the whole time.’

‘Indeed. Less of a bodyguard, more of a companion. Let us know if she starts falling in with the wrong kind of crowd. Discreetly. Eyes and ears.’

‘So discreet even Hannah herself doesn’t know about it?’

‘Right again.’

‘When’s her course start?’

‘September.’

I took a sip of my lager. ‘I might need some strings pulling.’

‘Way ahead of you.’ Jack nodded at the briefcase. ‘I’ve spoken to the dean of admissions.’

‘What’s she going to be reading?’

‘Psychiatry.’

I nodded thoughtfully again. ‘That could work.’

‘She’s had some issues in the past that I can’t talk about. Maybe this will help her deal with that.’

‘And we make sure she has the space to do so.’

‘Her father is a major client of ours, Dan. Seven figures major. So she’s important to us.’

‘What does he do?’

Jack looked at me with a small quirk of a smile. ‘He pays the bills.’

‘Like you said. Need-to-know basis.’

‘You got it, bubba.’ He clicked his glass against mine and drained it. ‘Okay. Let’s go meet the million-dollar baby.’

Chapter 5