Chapter 6
Then another message came through. Include a suit.
Casper blinked, reading the three words again. What the fuck? He looked at the suit in his closet, last worn at a Keeper’s wedding. Well, that won’t pack well in my duffel. Using the same Army roll method he used for his dress uniforms when in the military, he quickly finished the task.
The Montana air was crisp with the promise of an oncoming winter as Casper left the bunkhouse.
Cole and Timothy, neither carrying a bag, walked alongside him.
Several vehicles were already parked outside the main building.
Frazier was climbing from his pickup truck, a travel mug of coffee in one hand and a duffel bag slung over his shoulder.
Casper knew Frazier was heading to Canada and wondered if Logan needed to send him along as well.
"Morning, Mary," Casper said as they all filtered through the reception area where her wheelchair was positioned behind the desk.
"Good morning, gentlemen," she replied with her characteristic warm smile. "Logan's waiting for you in the main conference room. Coffee's fresh if you need it. And I brought in bagels.”
“Strawberry cream cheese?” Timothy asked.
She laughed and nodded. “Of course.”
"Bless you, Mary," Timothy muttered as Casper chuckled. Timothy was known for having a sweet tooth, dunking more cream and sugar into his coffee than any other Keeper.
As soon as they made their way through the security checkpoints to enter the main working space of the compound, they all made a beeline for the industrial-sized coffee maker that had become the compound's unofficial lifeline.
The conference room buzzed with quiet energy as the Keepers filed in.
Todd and Sadie were already seated at the long table, heads bent together over a tablet that displayed what looked like surveillance photos.
Dalton sat across from them, methodically cleaning his glasses while studying a printed report.
The organized chaos of a team preparing for a mission filled the space with focused tension.
Logan walked in and stood at the head of the table, his commanding presence immediately drawing everyone's attention as they settled into their seats. His expression was that of a leader who had a job to do and confidence in his people to do it well.
"Good morning," Logan began without preamble.
"We have a situation that needs immediate attention.
Yesterday evening, I received a call from Leo Parker, one of Carson Dyer's Keepers with LSI's West Coast branch.
They're down two Keepers due to a flu outbreak, and Leo's wife is about to give birth any day, so they couldn't handle this personally. "
Logan activated the wall-mounted screen, and a professional headshot appeared. The woman had pale blond hair and striking blue eyes that seemed to hold both strength and vulnerability.
"Willow Thorton," several of the Keepers muttered with various degrees of interest and surprise.
"Oh wow… she is so talented," Sadie said immediately, leaning forward with interest. "She won the Oscar for that amazing screenplay adaptation a few years back. Brilliant work."
"She was Rose on Riverside High," Todd added with a slight grin. "My sister was obsessed with that show when we were teenagers."
"Wait, that's Willow Thorton?" Dalton looked up from his report with surprise. "I thought she'd completely disappeared from Hollywood."
Casper glanced around the table, noting the recognition in everyone's faces.
He felt like he was missing something important, but pop culture had never been his strong suit.
Between military deployments and his preference for solitude, he'd managed to miss most of the entertainment world's major players.
"She's living in rural Nebraska now," Logan continued, his voice taking on the briefing tone they all recognized.
"About an hour outside of Omaha. For the past few weeks, she's been experiencing what she believes is increasing surveillance and inciting fear.
Someone watching her property, hang-up calls, the feeling of being followed. "
Logan clicked to the next slide, showing a timeline of incidents that had escalated over the past year since she'd moved to Nebraska.
"It started with gifts. Small boxes containing silk roses with romantic notes, supposedly from a fan.
Initially delivered through normal channels but recently left directly on her property. "
He paused, consulting his notes. "The content of the messages has also changed significantly.
Early gifts came with generic fan appreciation.
'From a devoted fan' or simple compliments.
But the recent notes have become much more personal and concerning.
Messages like 'Why did you leave?' and 'You are missed' suggest someone who feels abandoned by her move.
More troubling are notes saying 'I remember the real Rose' and 'I had to search for you,' which indicate someone who's remembering her teenage screen character and has actively tracked her to her current location. "
Casper felt his jaw tighten as Logan continued. The progression from general fan appreciation to personal abandonment issues and active searching behavior painted a clear picture of obsessive escalation.
Logan advanced to the next screen. "Then came the surveillance.
First, a white sedan following her to and from the grocery store, which she initially dismissed as a coincidence.
Weeks later, the same white sedan appeared at the post office when she was picking up mail.
Most recently, a dark SUV followed her from town.
The pattern shows someone who stays two to three cars back, maintaining visual contact without getting close enough to be identified. "
The room had grown more focused as Logan detailed the escalation. "Yesterday, the outdoor furniture on her porch had been repositioned, and she found fresh footprints beneath her office window along with a pile of rose petals. Someone has been on her property, close enough to look into her home."
"Any known threats?" Todd inquired, his expression growing more serious as he processed the systematic nature of the harassment.
"Not specifically, but she's got the usual collection of fan attention that comes with former child star status.
Her old show has found new life on streaming platforms, so there's renewed interest. There's also a blogger who tracks former child stars, and she mentioned some persistent fans from her teen days. "
Casper looked at the timeline more closely, noting how the incidents had progressed from anonymous gifts to direct property invasion. This wasn't random fan enthusiasm… this was organized stalking behavior that was clearly escalating toward a more dangerous endgame.
Casper studied the woman's photograph while listening to the familiar rhythm of threat assessment. She was undeniably beautiful, but there was something else in her expression. As he stared into her blue eyes, he sensed a depth that suggested she'd seen more of life than most people her age. Giving his head a shake, he wondered what bizarre rabbit hole he’d fallen down. Jesus, I’ve seen beautiful women before.
Yet he found it difficult to drag his gaze away.
"Initially, she's only asking for a security system," Logan continued, "but I want a full assessment of the situation. If someone is surveilling her, we need to know who and why. If the threat is escalating, we need to get ahead of it."
He turned his attention directly to Casper. "I'm assigning you as primary on this one."
Casper felt everyone's eyes on him and couldn't shake the feeling that he was the wrong choice for this assignment. "Any particular reason you chose me?" The question came out more bluntly than he'd intended, but Logan had always preferred straight talk to diplomatic dancing.
Logan seemed to read his thoughts. "Because you're exactly what she needs.
She moved to Nebraska specifically to get away from the Hollywood circus.
She's not looking for someone who'll recognize her, want selfies, or treat her like a celebrity.
She needs someone who can blend into the background, assess threats without drawing attention, and keep her safe without making her feel like she's living in a fishbowl. "
That made perfect sense, and Casper felt some of his uncertainty fade. He'd always been most effective working from the shadows, invisible until the moment action was required.
"What's the timeline?" he asked.
"You'll fly out this morning. Cole will take you down in the plane with Timothy, then Timothy will get pilot time coming home. Mary has a rental SUV waiting at the airfield. First priority is assessing her home and designing a system. Bert will get the order sent, and I’ll contact our closest security installers.
" Logan's expression grew more serious. "She's got a business trip to Los Angeles in a couple of days, and if someone is watching her, being in a major metropolitan area could escalate the threat significantly. "
"So I'll need to accompany her to LA," Casper said, already running through the logistics in his mind.
"Exactly. This isn't a standard bodyguard assignment where you're visible and intimidating.
You'll be working in the background, close enough to respond to threats but far enough back that she doesn't feel like she's lost her independence. When you get back to Nebraska, I’m asking you to stay a few more days to accompany her to an event in Kansas City that weekend. Once back from that, her new security system should be adequate for her safety, and you’ll leave.”
Logan handed him a tablet loaded with background information. "Everything we know is in there. Study it on the flight."
Casper scrolled through the first few images as Logan continued briefing the room about other assignments.
The progression was striking as he perused the photos of Willow as a cherubic child model with enormous blue eyes and golden ringlets, then as a fresh-faced teenager on what must have been the TV show everyone seemed to remember, and finally, recent photos that showed her as a stunning woman with an understated elegance that didn't rely on Hollywood glamour.
"Any questions?" Logan asked, his gaze sweeping the room.
"Rules of engagement?" Casper asked.
"Standard protocols. Priority one is her safety.
Priority two is identifying and neutralizing the threat.
Use whatever resources you need." Logan's expression hardened slightly.
"But remember, she chose to leave Hollywood behind for a quiet life.
She's not looking for drama or excitement.
From what Leo said, she's looking for peace. Your job is to make sure she gets it."
"Understood."
"Good. Cole, you'll want to get the bird prepped. Flight time to Nebraska is about two and a half hours." Logan's attention shifted to the room. "Everyone else, we've got the Mexico assignment prep to finish and Frazier's Canada job to coordinate. Let's get to work."
"Lucky bastard," Timothy said with a grin. "Getting to protect a gorgeous movie star."
"She's not exactly a movie star anymore," Casper replied, still scrolling through the background information on his tablet.
Sadie added, "From what I remember, she was always one of the good ones. I used to watch the show and loved reading the gossip rags when I was a teenager. She stayed out of trouble and treated people well. You could do a lot worse for a protection assignment."
Casper nodded absently, his attention caught by something in Willow Thorton's recent photos.
While many were taken of her professionally, one was taken recently when she was out with friends.
No makeup. Jeans and a sweatshirt. Hair in a ponytail.
And a heart-stopping smile on her face as she laughed at something one of her companions said.
It was that photograph that reached out and grabbed him.
“You ready?”
He jerked slightly, looking up to see Cole at the door.
Nodding, he slid his tablet into a leather case and fell into step beside Cole and Timothy as they headed to the equipment room.
There, Bert made sure he had what he might need, filling another duffel with a handgun, ammunition, night goggles, a body vest, and other items that Keepers always took on assignments.
As they walked toward the hangar where Cole and Timothy would prep the plane, Casper was genuinely curious about the woman he'd be protecting.
He had no idea what to expect when he met her, but he was determined to make sure she got to keep the peaceful life she'd built for herself in Nebraska.
He, more than many, appreciated the quiet serenity needed to keep the chaos of life at bay.