Chapter 16: Security

The Circle Security Committee sat around the board room table. The members included: Dale Harnett of Harnett Security, Dave Prentiss, Rose Prentiss, Lt. James Hotch of the Circle and Sarasota Sheriff’s Department, Owen Bennett, and Julie Prentiss-Bennett. Dale had also invited Lucas Donovan – the head of security for Worthington Industries and for billionaire Mark Worthington.

Dale turned the meeting over to Dave and he called the meeting to order. “Ladies and gentlemen, I may be paranoid, but I think we have a vague threat that one of the past members of this committee may have visited upon us. The purpose is to discuss that possibility and what response we should mount, if any. Henceforth, there are to be no minutes or record of this and subsequent meetings or discussions. Also, our secretary will purge all past minutes, especially those that showed who was in attendance at any meeting.

Julie spoke quietly. “Already done.”

“Dev Connor ceased to exist as of about four weeks ago. He was doing some top-secret government work that we think inflicted serious economic and supply chain damage on two of the world’s largest drug cartels. He was wounded, and may have passed away by now, but he also may have left a trail behind of family and friends – that’s us – that the cartel may want to wreak vengeance on.

“Some of you know his wives and family were vacated from here three weeks ago. We have no idea where they went or what new life has been arranged for them. I think that might have mitigated the threat to any of us, but not eliminated it. Thus, I asked Dale to call this meeting without a lot of fanfare. I urge you all not to discuss what goes on here today or in the future. That’s all I have – a weak, ill-at-ease feeling about a threat.”

Lucas spoke in his deep, resonating voice. “If this were happening in Worthington Industries or in Mark’s clan, you could bet we’d be having the same meeting and we would be taking the threat seriously, even though there’s not a credible, specific threat. I urge you to treat the threat as both possible AND probable.”

Julie asked, “So, what do we do?”

Lucas said, “Dave gave me his concern over the phone a day or two ago, so I’ve had time to think about this. You are fortunate, because you have a closed and gated community. If somebody shows up here that doesn’t belong, they stand out like a pink elephant on a pogo stick. Further, because of the threats that happened with that minister from Ohio you geared up your perimeter surveillance pretty well. There are still some things I think you should do.”

“Such as,” Dave asked as he leaned forward.

“Rethink your security. Teach them how to patrol and surveil so that both of them can’t be taken out at the same time. Give them night vision equipment. For a few months, I’d want to triple the number of teams on an around the clock basis, especially at night. I’d also put all your video feeds through an artificial intelligence system that calls out and responds to anything unusual happening – anything. That system should do it automatically and call forth the demons from hell to respond in force when it discerns a problem that’s not properly responded to.

“I’d like to see more people armed and trained to respond to an armed threat coming onto Circle property. I would start or restart in some cases the firearms training some of you have gone through. Deke from our clan can help with that. That also means hardening the guardhouse, and I think it means shutting down the rear entrance to your property – blocking it and ensuring video surveillance for people coming on foot.

“I think you need to adopt the attitude that you are mad as hell at this threat – and I mean everyone in the Circle. Put this place on alert. Scare the shit out of everyone so they’re looking over their shoulders. If you go to Israel, that’s how people think. Every person they don’t know is a potential terrorist. Get that mindset here. You want people to instantly report anything suspicious. Accordingly, you need a response center.

“Since Christian Grey Road is your main access thoroughfare, I’d put up some other barriers along that road. I’m not sure what I mean, but maybe there’s a surveillance point just off of the main highway that qualifies any vehicles turning onto the road. AI can help with that. They’re announced as they enter; their license plates are read, interpreted, and reported if they don’t belong to a neighbor or one of you. If something unidentified arrives, that gives you about two minutes to position your resources to respond. You’re not caught flat-footed.”

Owen spoke, “I will cover all costs associated with these and any other measures we come up with.”

Jim Hotch said, “We need a direct line to the Sheriff’s Department about this that bypasses 9-1-1 and doesn’t require power to our landlines. Our electric supply is vulnerable. Include us in your respond strategy. Also, anybody that attacks will plan an exit after they do their mischief. We need to block that exit, even set up a way to capture the perpetrators of whatever scheme they enact.”

Rose muttered, “We set up a trap with bait?”

Rose had a great track record with the committee from when the Circle had mortar rounds dropping on it from a God-inspired delusional minister. Because of her, the case had been cracked.

‘What would you do?”

“I’d set up the home where Dev, Wendy, and Sharon lived like they did in the crazy house in the movie Home Alone. Remember he had tape recordings, a video, and cut-out people walking around in the house to scare away the thieves.”

Dale said, “That would mean the students should move out.”

Dave quickly said, “I can take three of them in my house.”

Owen said, “I can take the other three.”

Dale said, “That solves that. I like that idea, Rose. I’d add in that we put covert security on that house, perhaps staked out in the adjacent homes.

Dave noted, “We need a whole set of security communications equipment and a protocol for using it.”

Lucas nodded, “I can help you with that.”

Dale asked, “How do we alert the whole Circle to a speculative threat?”

Lucas said, “I can help you with that, too.”

The emergency meeting of all Circle members and pledges had been called for the next Monday evening immediately after dinner. The Circle 101 class was cancelled. The meeting started with the statement, “We have reason to believe that...” From there on, the meeting got more serious.

Dave suggested to the pledges that they might want to wait a few months and then restart their interest in the Circle. No one moved. He suggested that some of the people in the townhouses or along Perimeter Drive might want to leave for other quarters until it was felt the threat was reduced. No one moved.

Out of the meeting, only one additional action was derived from the Q&A, specifically to triple the guard on the classrooms for the home schooling classes. University classes did opt to return to their regular rooms on campus.

The next day, a dozen people associated with Dale and Lucas’ security efforts started working on beefing up the surveillance systems and communication systems for the Circle. A dozen people from two security companies started to install communications and surveillance equipment. The full-time staff was also added and trained in new patrol and surveillance techniques.

The following weekend, a bus transported twenty-seven Circle members and pledges to the firing range the Sheriff’s department used off Laurel Road. There were six instructors there who each worked with a small team of people about the weapons they were given, and then on their firing prowess. The group spent sixteen hours over the Saturday and Sunday, and knew they’d be back again the following week. The security committee was of course part of the group. Dave noted that Rose seemed to love firing a semi-automatic AR-15; moreover, she proved deadly with the rifle.

During the following week, Lucas went over communications protocols and codes with the enlarged security committee. A central security office was established that would run in parallel with the guardhouse. They practiced and also learned the details of the new radios and surveillance systems. Three people were staffed on just monitoring the surveillance cameras, as augmented by the new artificial intelligence analysis algorithms. Remote cameras were placed along Christian Grey Drive.

The students who’d moved into the old Connor home, moved out to new quarters. The house was rigged to look and sound occupied from an hour before sunset to dawn. The adjacent neighbors – Ty and Dori, and Adam and Jill Timms moved to the far sides of their homes away from the ‘bait’ house. Surveillance night vision equipment was placed in the homes and those positions fortified with sand bags to withstand a firefight if needed. That equipment also communicated to the central reporting station.

Dave called and asked for a meeting with the mysterious man that he and Wendy had met in Wendy and Dev’s home after returning from Houston – Morris Merman. He left a message for the man on the phone number he had for him, asking for a callback.

Instead of a callback, Dave had a surprise visitor as EneRG. Marshall Merman entered Dave’s office shortly after Dave and Jenny got there having ridden in on his motorcycle. He shut the door and said, “You called?”

“Several of us are very worried about a reprisal that may come not on the past Connor family, but on their friends. We have taken steps to improve our security and response teams, but we need one more thing that I think you can provide.”

“What’s that?”

“Advance notice if you think the cartel is mounting any kind of a reprisal effort.”

“You have it. Anything else?”

“A little back-up wouldn’t hurt.”

“You have it.”

“Thanks.”

Marshall Merman rose after the one-minute meeting and walked out of Dave’s office and subsequently disappeared into the morning stream of arriving cars.

“Thank you for inviting us to join you all again,” Colin said, as he sipped a glass of wine and sat with Dave and several others at one of the dinner tables. Unlike some of the other weekend nights on the patio where pre-recorded music played, the jazz quintet formed by some of the Circle members were playing during the Friday cocktail hour. Occasionally, Zoey would get up and sing a song, often a torchy love song.

To enhance the performance, Zoey wore sexy red spike heels, a red pencil skirt with a hem barely below her nether region, and a diaphanous cover that allowed her pretty breasts to show through when she turned in just the right light. She was sex on a stick.

Every number the six-person combo did received great applause and encouragement to do another. Alan seemed to be the leader of the group in that he’d announce each song, or tell the composer or who played the lead.

Beth was very excited about the group as well as the group dinner. “These people are really good. I bet if they did a demo disk, we could get them some press and recognition. Do any of them want to go into the music business?”

Dave speculated, “You’d have to ask them. Most of them have good jobs. I think this started as a hobby; except I agree with you that their skill levels transcend what an amateur group would sound like. The topic of a demo disk was raised with them.”

Beth continued, “You have that recording studio. I know how to work mixers and stuff like that. Would you let me work with them to record a few numbers and see what might happen for them?”

“Sure. If I’m not around to let you in, ask Millie. She has keys to everywhere in the core as well as most of our homes. Maybe her boyfriend Stu could help. I thought they were going to do a demo and give it to Ashley Steerman’s husband, Kyle Hanks. He’s her agent. I never heard anything further.”

As the next number came to an end, Beth ran up to Alan and had a brief chat with him. There was lots of nodding, and then she came back and sat. “We’re talking briefly after dinner together so we find a time to talk more. I think this is really exciting. I want Zoey to join us, too.”

Alan was a hunk according to many of the Circle women. Dave wondered if music was Beth’s only motivation.

In the past week, Beth, Colin, Amy, and Noah had come back on Sunday afternoon to chat with people, and then Tuesday evening also with Seth and Ariana, and here it was Friday again. Dave wondered whether they’d gone off target from their original goal. Dave suddenly felt like Beth was making up excuses to keep coming back to the Circle. He thought maybe he’d ask her a little later.

After Bobbie came out and rang the dinner chimes, Zoey and the quintet got a standing round of applause from everyone on the patio. That was a lot, because there were well over a hundred people there.

Beth sidled up to Dave during dinner, turning the flirt level up to ten. She batted her eyes at him, and often touched his arm or body during the conversations. She often was inside his personal space, too. Sometimes, he almost laughed because her moves were so obvious. She was on the make.