Chapter 9

After carrying her luggage to the car, Lea sought out her parents. Her father sat in front of his overlarge TV, watching football, as was his usual Sunday afternoon decompression from work and life. Her mother sat in a chair adjacent to Roger Billingsly, searching through houses on her laptop, with casual interaction occasionally passing back and forth in the large salon between the married couple.

“Mom, dad, I’m going to Franco for a week. I’ll be back on Saturday or Sunday next week.” Bombshell dropped. Where was grandfather when I need him? The youngest Billingsly worried silently to herself.

TV muted, “What about school?” her father asked, concerned, yet not aggressively.

Both parents’ eyes tried to bore through their daughter’s skull in search of answers.

“Janie will be here tonight to pick it up and hand it in for me. I can miss one lab without it counting against my grade. The rest I can submit online.”

“Marge, what do you think?”

“A. Week. Am I allowed to meet this ‘Leo’ of yours?” Frost etched the windows of the 72-degree drawing room.

“You have. You didn’t even say anything when you did.” Lea nervously replied.

“When have I met this wonder boy of yours?”

“Today at brunch.”

Shaken, “Mr. Bach is this Leo?”

“Yes, Mother. Leopold Bach.”

“NO. Just. No. He will get you killed,” Margret half-panicked.

“I’ve been through this. He even hired the Pinkertons. I now have four bodyguards at all times.”

The finger of death pointed at Roger, “You knew about this and allowed that Monster to date my daughter?”

“How do you plan on stopping her?” Roger, all too calmly, responded.

“Lea, please think this over. Mr. Bach kills people. Even our own government hates him. Your life will be in constant danger. Every day of your life will be threatened by everyone!” Margret begged, shocking both her husband and her daughter.

Striding over to her mother, Lea knelt at her side. “Mother, I can also get hit by a drunk driver, shot going to school by someone with a grievance against redheads, get cancer, get caught in a Villain fight or a thousand other things in this crazy world of ours.”

Taking a deep breath, “One thing I do know is that I have nothing to fear from Leo. He will never hurt me.”

“I’m not afraid of him hurting you; it’s that the rest of the world will try and get to him by hurting you.”

“Mother, don’t forget, I am not exactly a helpless little girl anymore.”

“You will always be my baby. Just being near Mr. Bach is like skydiving into a tornado.”

“I know the risks, mother. Grandfather had ISI give me a full report. It was three hundred pages long.”

“Why must you risk your life?”

Taking a hold of her mother’s hand, “I think he is the one. I can only know for sure if I try.”

“Roger, talk to your daughter.”

“I’ve seen the arrangements that Bach had made. There are four teams of four that are in constant rotation around our daughter. Lea is too old to ground. Marge, we can’t live her life. We can only support her as best as we can.”

Lea could tell that her father agreed with his wife, but had no other alternatives. They could only hope that the security did its job and that she would be safe.

“Mother, don’t you think that father or grandpa would do everything possible to keep you safe? I expect them and Leo to do the same. Trust them. Please.”

“I’m against this. I expect a call twice a day. We will talk more of this when you return.”

Hugging her mother, “I promise.” Lea’s father received a follow up hug.

“When were you going to tell me?”

“I was just told Friday, I planned on giving them a week to come clean.”

“Friday...”

“Would you have not done the same?”

“It’s Bach and our daughter.” His wife flatly replied.

“If Lea had moved out to attend college, neither of us would have found about it for months or until they made the paper. We can only pray and hope for the best, or that she changes her mind soon.”

“She’d better change it.”

“I like your plane.” Lea commented aloud, while giving the inside a once over. “Your cubicles are even better than the President’s.” I raised an eyebrow, wondering how she would know.

Grinning, “They did a special on TV.”

“Hi, Julie.” Lea greeted the late arriving aide. Don and Susan, our secondary pilots, closed and secured the hatch, preparing for taxing.

Catching herself at the unexpected guest, my new aide replied with a concerned, “Hi, Lea.”

I hadn’t informed Julie that we were taking Lea with us on this trip. This should be an interesting flight, according to the searing gaze I received from her.

Lea chose the cubicle in front of me, swiveling it around to face me as the plane started rolling in position.

“How long are we going to be in New York?” Lea inquired, even though Lillian had sent her an itinerary.

“We will be leaving first thing Tuesday morning. Monday, the two of you need to go dress and accessory shopping. Rebecca got us tickets to the Montreal Opera, Hansel and Gretel, on Wednesday evening.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? I have dresses at home I could have brought with me.” My redheaded girlfriend complained. Julie was silent in her displeasure, yet I was sure my lack of warning would be remarked on later.

“My treat. You both have an appointment at 10:00 in YSL and one at 2:00 at Cartier. I have been assured that YSL invited someone called Blahnik for a shoe fitting. Rebecca made all of the arrangements. She is searching for a salon in Montreal for a Wednesday appointment, before dinner and the show.”

Julie blanched.

“Hansel and Gretel at the opera, sounds fun.” Turning her head, “Julie, are you okay?”

We weren’t supposed to leave our seats since we were still on the runway and I heard the engines revving. Our aircraft was probably next in line for takeoff.

“Bach, I can’t accept those. That’s too much.”

She was still an officer in the army, they did have limits on gifts and other nonsense. “It’s been cleared. Remember the clause in the contract that I sent over and Abernathy signed off on? The one that says that I can provide uniforms and outfits for special occasions? Guess what, this is a special occasion.”

I chuckled at her reaction.

“What is the problem?” Lea interjected as we smoothly lifted off.

“Military personnel are limited in the amount spent on gifts.” I explained.

“Julie, just think of it as being a diplomatic bodyguard. You don’t expect them to wear cheap suits to a formal occasion, do you? Do you think that any of those aides or bodyguards actually pay for their own clothes, do you?” Lea rightly asked.

“It’s still too much.”

“Do you want to go to Macy’s and pick out shoes and a dress in a fifty-dollar outfit? Everyone around you is going to be wearing outfits that are in the thousands of dollars range. How can you do your job if you are not properly attired?”