Standing There (Love in the Park 1)

Prologue

Roman

I look at the file in my hand. It’s of the criminal, Stewart Guest. His most recent crime is stalking with the attempt to harm a minor, but he has a laundry list of arrests that span almost his entire life. He’s forty and a fucking total basket case that in my opinion shouldn’t be let out, but he got out on a technicality.

A knock on my office door startles me, and I shut the file. “Come in.” Normally, I’m not this jumpy, but looking at this fucker’s record and the case itself has me on edge. I never wanted to take a client’s case more. This girl is in serious danger.

My assistant comes in with a smile on her face. She looks at me and can clearly read my agitation on my face. Doesn’t move far from the door, almost skittish. I’m rarely ever irritated. “Mr. Moore is here to see you. I can tell him you’re not available if you’d like.”

“Thank you, Laurie, but I’m fine. His case is very important. Please, send him in.” Moore’s the one who needs help from this guy. He sent me all the information this morning. I stand up and walk around my desk to greet the man, shaking his hand and pointing to the chair.

“Hello, Mr. Moore, please, come have a seat.” He’s tall, about three inches taller than my six foot one. His shoulders are broad, so much so I should offer him a job here because his ass could work on my team. He’s much larger than me. It’s not that I’m small by any means, but my muscle is lean and athletic.

“Thank you. I won’t be long. I need to get back to Lindsay.” He seems agitated. After seeing this guy’s record, I can’t blame him, but we are the best of the best. When I took over for my father, then made significant innovations, the company boomed. I have a huge staff of sixty, and my team travels all over to clients. Most are security for special events. Rarely they handle private details for some clients. It happens when people like Mr. Moore pay enough money.

“I’ve already sent someone to her school to look after her. They’ll follow her home. She has only a week left, correct?”

“Yes, she’s graduating in two weeks, but classes end this week. The damn bastard forced her to miss almost two years of school, so, unfortunately, she’s already nineteen. She doesn’t want to walk across the stage or anything, but they will do it for all the summer groups. It’s a combination of four schools in the district, so it’s about forty late graduates. I want your team to be in full force. I don’t trust this fucker. Money isn’t an object. I wish I could put a bullet in his head and end it all that way, but I’m not prepared to spend twenty in prison.”

“Yeah, it would be nice if he met his end without you playing a part. Like the fucker gets hit by a car or something.” I could make it happen, I thought.

“That’s a sound idea,” he says, rubbing his chin contemplating the possibility.

Shit, I may have set the wheels in motion. I can’t let that go down because it’ll come back to me. We did our business as clean as possible. Some of our men have killed in times of need and inquiries always go in our favor with the authorities because our job sometimes necessitates it. “Well, I was just wishful thinking. It’s against the law even though his record is worthy of it. How is your sister handling it knowing he’s out?”

He hangs his head in shame, and I don’t even need him to say what he’s going to say. “She doesn’t know. I don’t want to freak her out. She’s supposed to be going to college shortly after the graduation, but I’m afraid to let her leave.”

“Why haven’t you signed her up for online classes?” That would be the smart thing to do. College campuses make easy fucking targets with their expansive lands and classes spread out over large quads. The schools my sisters go to have miles of buildings.

He releases a heavyhearted sigh then explains, “Because she doesn’t want to do them. Hell, I don’t think she even wants to go to college, but she wants to be free from the fear. None of us can forget the trauma she went through.”

“I’m sorry. I read the case file.”

“She’s fortunate that my neighbor heard her. We moved from there because there was no way in hell I was bringing her back to the pain. First, the loss of our parents followed by the attack by someone who had been there for us when they died.” A nagging suspicion in me wonders if the stalker may have been the reason their parents died. I think it’s a coincidence, but you never know. I’ll have to take a look. Asking him when he’s already anxious seems a bit of a dick move. Instead, I return my focus to the mission on hand.