Chapter Sixteen Protective Detail
After a year with Sloane Consulting and Security Services, Cole was called into Tommy's office with Thorn and Nissa.
He was expecting to hear that Tommy and Nissa had found another operative for the consulting side of things, since right now it was just him and Nissa, and occasionally Thorn, taking on jobs.
The consulting division was still finding its footing, so it wasn't too busy yet - the longest he'd been away at any one time was two weeks, and there could be up to a month of research and prep time depending on the target.
After years of six- to nine-month deployments, going away for only a week or two every few months felt almost luxurious, and he was really enjoying how his job differed day to day.
Sometimes he was researching, planning and executing an op, others he was helping train security guards or bodyguards, he'd even taken on a couple of protective detail jobs when Thorn needed someone highly trained and situationally aware for high-profile clients, which would result in a nice little bonus in addition to his paycheck.
Tommy had kept his word, giving them both signing and relocation bonuses. When the money had been deposited into their account, Cole had actually called Tommy and asked if he meant to give both him and Lana the relocation bonus.
“What do you mean?” The confusion was clear in Tommy's voice and Cole swallowed, figuring Tommy would tell him one of the payments was a mistake, but wanting to be honest.
“Both Lana and I got the relocation money, the same amount was deposited into our account twice.”
“Yeah, and?”
Now it was Cole's turn to be confused. Surely Tommy knew they would be moving and looking for somewhere to live together. “You're really giving both of us a relocation bonus?”
“I wasn't aware that being married meant you were one person.” Tommy's amusement came over the line clearly and Cole felt his face heat up, but before he could explain his thought process, Tommy chuckled. “Don't worry, my accounting department doesn't make mistakes.”
“If I was just hiring you, it’d be one relocation bonus adjusted to take Lana into account. But since I’m hiring both of you - two employees, two employee numbers, two relocation bonuses. The only difference is you each got the single-person rate instead of a couple or family.”
Between all the bonuses they received for joining Sloane Consulting and the check from Cole’s first op - which legitimately made him weak in the knees - they only needed to stay in the dorm Tommy provided for a month before finding a house that was perfect for them.
It was a gabled Victorian on Marlborough Road in Ditmas Park, with a wide porch, lilac bushes along the fence, and a huge oak tree out front.
Within four months of moving to New York the previous summer, they were living in their dream house, and well on their way to being completely debt free, something they never would have achieved if they stayed in Kentucky.
He walked into Tommy's office to find Nissa perched cross-legged on the end of Tommy's desk, looking faintly annoyed and Thorn sitting in an armchair, his legs stretched out in front of him, arms folded, looking exasperated. Tommy looked up and smiled broadly.
“Cole! Perfect, take a seat.” He gestured to the chair in front of the desk and when Cole was seated, he turned and pointed a remote at the whiteboard screen behind him, bringing up the picture of a pretty girl who he had said hello to a few times in passing when she came to visit Thorn on the Security Services training floor.
“Isn't that your…” Cole waved his hand in a circle, looking at Thorn and Nissa for help. “Sis…ter?” he guessed. “Evie, right?”
“Sort of.” Tommy nodded, frowning slightly. “You guys have met?”
“Sort of?” Cole was really not sure what was happening and the way Nissa and Thorn kept sharing looks wasn't helping. “Said hi to her a couple of times in passing. Why?”
“Right, sorry. You would have seen her around the tower, it's fine.” He ran a hand through his hair and blew out a breath, looking disappointed. “Anyway, yes, this is, for lack of a better term, my sister, Evie Stanley.”
“Lack of a better term?” He looked at the picture for a moment and then back to Tommy. They were clearly related. Evie looked like a younger, softer version of him. “What else would you call her?”
“Very old family friend.” Tommy smiled at the picture with so much love and affection in his expression that Cole looked at Nissa and raised his eyebrow. She shook her head minutely and gave him a subtle hand movement that told him not to question things.
“Riight.” Cole nodded, still not understanding what was going on, but hoping Thorn or Nissa would explain things later. “Okay, what about her?”
“Evie is Oscar Stanley's daughter.” Thorn said gruffly.
Cole blinked. “As in the Oscar Stanley who hired Thorn to kidnap and kill you?”
“Yep.” Tommy nodded. “She's nothing like her father.” He paused, looking thoughtful for a second. “Or her mother.” He shook his head and smiled again. “Anyway, at some point during her father's trial, public sentiment turned against her.”
“Didn't she testify against him?” Cole interrupted, leaning forward in his seat and grabbing a candy from the bowl on the desk.
“Yes, she did.” Thorn shifted down in his seat and rested his head on the back, staring up at the ceiling. “But that does not seem to matter.”
“She's been getting hate mail almost daily since the trial, but there is one group who is getting kinda specific.” Tommy picked up a stack of letters and passed them over to Cole. “And it's starting to worry me.”
“Like how specific?” Cole pulled a letter from the pile, unfolded it and began to scan it. “Is she aware that someone is potentially following her?” He frowned, slowing down when he read times, dates and locations.
“No. She is not.” Cole looked up from the letter and saw that Thorn was giving Tommy the stink eye.
“I told you, Thorn.” Nissa sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. “I checked into it; it's a group of college students who were upset that Evie got chosen for the AI internship here last year and is using the trial and public backlash to harass her in the hopes she wouldn't apply again.”
“But she did, and she got it again.” Thorn pointed out, his voice and tone were even and calm, but Cole could see the tension in the big man's shoulders and neck. “So, they could escalate.”
“Exactly.” Tommy pointed his finger at Thorn. “And before you say anything,” he swung his finger over to Cole. “I had nothing to do with her getting chosen. All identifying information is removed by the COO of Sloane Tech and the choice is made by the heads of each department.”
Cole held up his hands, palms out. “Never crossed my mind that you would play favourites.” This whole thing was proof of that. Nissa clearly thought whatever Tommy was about to ask was a waste of time, while Thorn didn’t think it went far enough. “So, what do you need from me?”
“I don't want Evie to know she's potentially being targeted.” Tommy dropped down into his chair, scrubbing his hands over his face.
“She has enough on her plate. But I do want her to be protected.
Just watch over her from afar. She spends most of her free time with me and Nissa or Thorn and I synced her calendar to my phone and put a tracker on hers the last time she was over, so I'll be able to provide you with where she is, where she'll be and when she’ll be there.”
“She will not be happy when it comes out you have someone following her.” Thorn shook his head, his eyes not leaving the ceiling.
“Well, she won't let me assign her a bodyguard, and she's received death threats.” Tommy shrugged and opened his laptop. “You good with this, Cole?”
“Yeah, sure, I don't have anything else right now, send me what I need to know.” Cole stood up, glancing over at Thorn. “Thorn? You got time to fill in whatever gaps I might find?”
“Yes.” Thorn nodded and gripped the arms of the chair, pulling himself to his feet. “Let us go.”
**********
Cole led the way to his office and opened the door, gesturing for Thorn to go in first. He followed, shutting it behind them.
Thorn sat down at the small round table Cole preferred to use over a desk, looking around idly as Cole sat at his usual spot and opened his laptop, pulling up the email and files Tommy sent him and reading through them.
“According to this, she lives with her mother near the Columbia campus, has a car, and if she’s not in class, she’s either home studying or here.
She’s also about to start her internship in the Artificial Intelligence and Research Division…
” Cole let out a low whistle as he read she was interning in what the scientists and engineers in that division called The Forge.
“She’s going to the prototype and innovation labs? ”
A small, proud smile crossed Thorn’s normally stoic face.
“Yes, she is studying computer science through Columbia’s Intelligent Systems Track with research credits in Affective Computing and Human-AI Interaction.
Last year, she began conceptual work on what she calls Project Helix and now she’s building the prototype.
I don’t understand the details of it, but she got the idea from the Iron Man movie. ”
Cole grinned as he made the connection. “She’s trying to build JARVIS.”
“I believe so.” Thorn inclined his head.
“And Tommy may not have any direct influence on the decision of giving her the internship, but the department heads all knew it was her when they read the proposal and knew Tommy would have rained down hell if they let her go somewhere else. He wants her prototype developed here, under the Sloane Brand.”
“Obviously.” Cole snorted and shook his head. “If she can pull it off, it would be an incredible advancement in AI development that will make her and the company behind it incredibly wealthy.” He ran his hand through his hair and decided to ask the question that had been on his mind.
“What is her relationship with Tommy?” He watched as Thorn’s jaw clenched slightly and realized what it sounded like. “No, I don’t think he’s secretly sleeping with her, but she has to be his cousin, or something fairly closely related to him.”
“Officially, and as far as either of them knows, they’re not related.
” Thorn relaxed slightly but rubbed the back of his neck, still looking uncomfortable.
“Evie’s mother and Tommy’s mother were best friends, and his parents were Evie’s godparents.
However, it is my opinion, and Nissa agrees with me, that Tommy’s father had an affair or a one-night stand with Evie’s mother.
Both Tommy and Evie look identical to Henry Sloane.
I’d even say Evie looks more like him than Tommy does. ”
“And neither one of them has noticed how much they resemble one another?” Cole furrowed his brow, that seemed like something two very intelligent people like Tommy and Evie would have noticed.
“I believe they are too close to the matter to see it or are subconsciously avoiding acknowledging it because they don’t want to accept that their parents did something like that.” Thorn explained with a shrug. “Either way, it’s not our business or place to bring it up.”
“Fair enough.” Cole nodded and returned to his notes.
Thorn was right, it was none of his business, but he appreciated the clarification.
“Anyway, I’m still wondering when Tommy wants me to watch her.
She seems to be with people or in places that make it hard for someone to hurt her.
I can be invisible, but eventually campus security will notice someone hanging around and start asking questions. ”
Thorn sighed, leaned forward, put his elbows on his knees, and folded his hands. “When she is in the Tower, she is fine. Tommy has made it very clear: anyone harassing her will be fired immediately. But when she is not here, she is often alone.”
“Her mother is only in her mid-fifties but is fragile and not physically able to stop an intruder. Evie has basic self-defence, but that is not enough against someone determined. She lives in a secure building with an alarm, so she is mostly vulnerable when she is travelling or running errands.”
“Which is why Tommy is giving me access to her schedule and the tracker.” Cole nodded. He would have to be at her building when she left, follow her to the destination, determine if she was safe, then either continue shadowing or break contact until she moved again. “Easy enough.”