Chapter 60

Synopsis of Story to This Point (story continues further down the page). Elsa Conner and billionaire Mark Worthington meet at a party, only he hides his true worth and identity from her in fear this nice girl might be another gold digger trying to get into his wealth. They date, but when the truth is discovered Elsa breaks up with him in anger over his lack of trust in her. In love, he grovels his way back into her good graces only she sets a condition of reestablishing the relationship as the equal involvement of her sister Cindy. The trio falls deeper in love. There are some awkward moments where Elsa and Cindy work out how they’ll date their new boyfriend and whether to be exclusive. To test their relationship, they meet and enjoy a sexual evening with Tom on a weekend vacation. Later, Mark’s cute new secretary Melanie gets added to the relationship. After holding off to assert their independence, Elsa and Cindy move in with Mark; Melanie soon joins them in living in Mark’s posh condo. They all learn more about the ever-present bodyguards and security guards around Mark managed by stoic Lucas.

Chapter 60: Tanner Strikes Again. Bullets Fly. A Shooting

Mark

I took Melanie and Izzy to dinner to express my appreciation for their hard work and dedication to their office jobs. They were happy just to have the attention, and I liked being seen in public with two pretty young ladies on my arm.

The timing seemed right. Brita was of course off on her honeymoon with Nils in Madagascar. Sheila had gone off to her condo to meditate and do personal things. KC had to work at her gallery, and Elsa and Cindy were at jet school in Florida.

We had our glasses of wine and were sharing a shrimp cocktail when a strange thing happened – a shocking thing.

A waiter came bustling in from some of the restaurant’s sidewalk tables, walked straight to our table, and then pointed sequentially at the three of us. It was Myron Tanner dressed like a waiter, even with a napkin over his arm. He said to the three of us, “I’m not finished with you by far. Watch your every step. One of them might go boom!” On that note he turned and hustled into the kitchen.

The three of us immediately went into shock. None of us had seen Tanner in person, and certainly not three feet away from us. Before any of us could react he was gone.

None of the other diners and even our own security team paid too much attention to the situation. It all looked normal, a waiter checking on his patrons at one of his assigned tables. I flagged Hal Babcock, Izzy’s guard, frantically waving him to the table. He bounded across the restaurant to our side.

“Yes, sir.”

“The waiter that was just here was not a waiter. That was Myron Tanner, our nemesis, and a person you should be on the lookout for. He issued a vague threat. We are going to leave in a few seconds and go elsewhere for dinner. I can’t trust the food here right now. Please warn the management that we were threatened and that the food is suspect.”

The two girls and I finished our wine until we got a signal that the car was ready, and then we gracefully exited and piled into the limousine under heavy security. We were whisked away with the two war wagons surrounding the car. Dinner was at another nice restaurant a few miles away, but we were unsettled and the mood wasn’t the same.

I met with Lucas when we returned from dinner after we dropped off Izzy at her apartment. He’d already doubled up on security again, but I told him it was shutting the barn door after the horse had run. Izzy had three guards on her detail.

Lucas and I went over and over the sentences Tanner had said, trying to think about what they might mean. First, was ‘I’m not finished with you yet.’ I thought that was self-explanatory; we were due to get more trouble from him in the future.

‘Watch your every step, ‘ could be a broad warning or a specific statement. When did we ‘step’ where we were vulnerable to attack or perhaps falling into some kind of trap? The only place that seemed predictable was my office or The Meadows. The condo and my office were under constant lock down, and under 24/7 security with multiple guards.

Tanner seemed to couple that with has last statement, ‘One of them might go boom.’ One of our steps? It sounded like a mine – step on a mine and go boom. Lucas agreed that the threat was probably real, and it did sound as though explosives were involved – something that went boom.

Lucas called The Meadows building site and put them on alert. Lucas warned them not to move around the area until we could sweep for mines. In the predawn hours, Lucas blocked the entrance road to the arriving crews as he had the area swept for explosives. The police bomb squad cooperated and assisted, along with the private crew Lucas brought in.

Two weapons were found. An IED or improvised explosive device was found halfway into the property along the main road. It could have killed someone, but if it had been triggered by a car or truck, it might do some damage to the vehicle but possibly not hurt the occupants. A second bomb was found in the dirt parking area where the crews parked their cars. That had a chemical fuse on it and probably would have exploded that afternoon while the crews were working, again damaging cars, but possibly no people. On the other hands, either device could have been deadly.

The bomb squad and security team went over every inch of the property after those discoveries. They also brought in bomb sniffing dogs. Lucas had the site shut down from five a.m. until after lunch when the police released it as clean.

I tried to make light of the explosives with the girls, but that proved to be impossible. They were concerned and resolved to be especially cautious when outside the condo.

Needless to say, the work crews weren’t too thrilled with the idea of working in a hazardous environment. To mollify them, Lucas sped up the completion of the perimeter security system. We’d have cameras and virtual sentries over every inch of the perimeter, and a good portion of the property by week’s end. A security trailer was upgraded as the temporary guard station. Lucas now had a platoon of security people prowling The Meadows around the clock, plus we got our own bomb sniffing dogs and watchdogs.

The stone façade on the house was completed in mid-April. By then, the rough wiring, plumbing, security, intercom, telcomm, and HVAC were still underway but nearing completion. Wallboarding hadn’t started, and finish carpentry looked like a distant wish. That would be slow.

Greg came out one Saturday accompanied by an elegant lady named Alice Grace – our interior decorator. I found them when I came by the construction site on the way home from a flight lesson. I snorted in laughter, since Ms. Grace was dressed to the nines in expensive clothing, and wearing what I think were Ferragamos shoes. That was all fine, except we were at a construction site that was muddy from the spring rains, and dirty from the type of work still underway. She blew off the inappropriate dress with a short laugh and slogged into the house, trying to stay on the gravel walkway or planks bridging some of the mud puddles.

Alice got a walk through of the house and took pictures of everything from every angle. She was especially interested in the light in each room, and carried a compass with her and made notes throughout the home. I stayed out of her way as Greg led her around. I knew we’d see her later.

Late that afternoon, Alice Grace met us at my condo. Greg and Sean arrived a couple of moments later coming from their offices. Alice was still dressed to impress and looked beautiful. I did notice that she’d changed her shoes. I hoped she hadn’t ruined the others and she assured me that they were all right.

All five girls were there too, a point that nearly rendered Alice speechless as she took in our relationship. Izzy showed up a few minutes later, letting herself in, and then giving me a big hello kiss. My apparent relationships with the six women seemed to boggle Alice’s mind, especially since we all looked so homey and domestic in our surroundings.

Alice had come to interview Mr. and Mrs. Mark Worthington – at least that’s what she’d assumed. There seemed to be five or six in the misses’ category. She also hadn’t taken in at the site that morning that I was ‘The’ Mark Worthington who was engaging her, as in the billionaire. She guffawed and apologized profusely for failing to understand the various cues that morning when she was focused on the house and property. I waved away her concern; she was cute and pretty; I told her it was of no consequence and to relax.

I gave Alice a tour of the condo, since the girls and I liked the look and feel of the place and wanted to carry over at least some of that to the house – dramatic use of black marbles and steel, bright splashes of color in fabric and art, and stark and unexpected effects in various bedrooms. KC’s paintings were highlighted. The erotic nude photographs from Brite Reber over the fireplace were left unexplained but made their own statements.