Chapter 2
“Damn,” Nick Bardou muttered, as he entered his condominium and grabbed his trilling cellphone from the foyer table. He never left it when he did his morning beach run, but he did this morning. He hit accept on the keypad and said, “Bardou.”
“What took you so long?” Kenneally’s gruff voice asked.
“I went jogging and forgot my phone,” he explained, easing off his shoes.
“That’s unlike you,” Kenneally said.
“I know. What’s up?” Nick asked as he made his way to the kitchen for a bottle of water. “How’s Louisiana and married life?”
“Both are great.”
“Good to hear. I’d hate to hear you were regretting moving south,” Nick said.
“Let me get through my first Louisiana summer before we rule that out,” Kenneally said with a chuckle. “I suspect it’s going to be hotter than South Carolina ever thought of being.”
“That’s right, you did grow up down there, but nothing can compare with Miami weather,” Nick said.
“Speaking of Miami. I have a case for you if you are not otherwise tied up with a JAG case,” Kenneally said.
“My docket is clear. I haven’t been tapped to fill in for anyone in a while,” Nick said. “What do you need me to do?”
“I need you to check in on a young woman who’s in the hospital over at Mount Sinai Medical Center,” Kenneally explained. “Hank Patterson received a call from a Miami detective buddy of his, Curt Simons, and asked us to take this one since Hank knew I had a man in the city.”
“Does Hank know everything about the Wolf Agency and your personnel?” Nick asked.
“Pretty much,” Kenneally said. “Plus, he has Swede on his payroll and that hacker can get any information he wants at his fingertips.”
Nick chuckled going into his home office and opening up his laptop. “That’s the truth. Can you tell me anything about the young woman?”
“I’ve already sent her file. It should be in your inbox,” Kenneally said. “Her name is Jillian Grant. She’s a nanny, and she’s had two mugging attempts in the past few weeks. Today she was a victim of a near fatal hit and run as she left Miami PD. Detective Simons saw the whole thing.”
“You’re kidding?” Nick said. “Someone must really want this woman dead.”
“That’s what Simon’s believes, and he’s smart enough to know he can’t keep her alive, much less safe. That’s why he’s called in Brotherhood Protectors.”
“I’ll shower and get over there pronto,” Nick said. “I’ll keep you posted.”
“Pack a bag, because you’ll be moving in with her at the gated community where she lives and cares for Nathan McGinty’s son,” Kenneally said.
“McGinty. Why does that name sound familiar?” Nick asked as he began packing up his computer equipment.
“Because McGinty is one of the guys in the photograph with me that hung in my office,” Kenneally explained. “He served with me and Hank back in the day.”
“Damn,” Nick said. “Talk about these guys going after that wrong person, they don’t know what bad choice they made when they picked Miss Grant to mess with.”
“That’s right, but according to Simons she has no idea why anyone wants to hurt her, and he doesn’t either, so it’ll be up to you to do that while keeping her and McGinty’s eight-year-old son Travis safe.”
“Got it,” Nick said, slipping his laptop and accessories into his backpack. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep the McGinty household protected like it was my own.”
“That’s why I called you, I have no doubt,” Kenneally said. “I’ll be in touch.”
Nick ended the call. Slung his backpack over his shoulder and headed to his bedroom to pack his clothes in his duffle before taking a shower.
He made quick time pulling pants, tops, shorts, undergarments from his closet and chest of drawers until he was certain he had enough items to last him two weeks which he hoped the assignment wouldn’t go longer.
And if it did he could do laundry. Then he headed for the shower where he gathered his toiletry bag and tossed it in.
The last items were his shoes. Two pairs from his closet and then his running shoes downstairs.
Satisfied he had everything he’d needed; he did a quick security check of his place that nothing was plugged in or on that shouldn’t have before he walked outside into the Miami heat and deposited his duffle and backpack in the back of his Land Rover.
Time was of essence, and he didn’t want to give whoever had tried to kill Jillian Grant a moment more than was necessary to think they’d gotten away with their attack before he shut them down.
Jillian opened her eyes to find herself in the hospital again.
Her left arm was in a cast and her left calf to below the ankle in an air compression support device.
Her lips felt swollen and so did most of her face.
She slowly turned her head and found Detective Simons working at the food tray table mumbling to himself as he filled out some papers.
“They didn’t kill me,” she said.
Simons head came up and he dropped his pen in surprise. “No, but they sure tried. Miss Grant, you may not know who’s out to get you, but they surely want you dead. I’m certain of it now more than before.”
“Did you see who was driving the car?” she asked, her eyes wide and swollen lips trembling.
“Unfortunately, I was too far away.” Simons shook his head, looking defeated. “But I’ve got our tech guys pulling surveillance footage from around the station in hopes the cameras got a good shot of the driver and the license plate.”
“That’s something at least,” she said, closing her eyes and laying her head back on the pillow.
“You need protection until we know you are safe,” Simons said.
“My case load is too heavy for me to look in on a mugging or a hit a run victim like you with the obvious care you need. That’s why I’ve called in someone who can do.
A Navy buddy of mine, Hank Patterson runs an agency that offers surveillance and bodyguard protection.
It’s called Brotherhood Protectors. He’s sending a man who will stay with you and keep you and Travis safe until whoever is behind these attacks is caught.
I’ve already been in touch with Mr. McGinty and he’s on board. ”
Her eyes flashed open. “You called Mr. McGinty on his honeymoon?” Jillian said. “But there was no need.”
“Under the circumstances I saw there was no choice,” Simons argued.
“He was very worried about your safety, and he was glad to know that I’d been in contact with Brotherhood Protectors.
He was about to give them a call himself until I mentioned they were already on their way. He has a similar connection.”
“He does?” Jillian said.
“He told me to tell you he’d give you a call later today to check in on you,” Simons said.
“Did you happen to mention the two muggings?” Jillian asked.
“I did and while he appreciates you not wanting to upset him right before his wedding, he’s more than a bit pissed you didn’t tell him. Obviously since the second mugging just happened yesterday, you didn’t with him gone,” Simons said. “All he wants is for your safety now.”
“But do you really think I need someone to protect me?” she asked.
“Yes, until we can figure out what is going on. These attacks have escalated from a simple mugging to mowing you down in the street within a day,” Simons said. “And in front of a police station. That takes some kind of brass to do that.”
“But you don’t know the two are connected,” she protested.
“Maybe not, but are you really willing to put your life, or Travis’ on the line to take the chance?”
“No,” she relented. It was one thing for someone to come after her, but if they hurt one hair on Travis’ head in the process, she’d never forgive herself.
“Good because he should be here soon,” Simons said. “Mr. McGinty said he can stay in the main house, so I don’t want to hear any problems come up over it.”
“As if,” she said.
“Excellent.” Simons pulled out his phone and looked at it. “Shit.” He shoved it back in his pocket and began packing his things in a binder. “I hate to leave before he gets here, but I’ve got to go. There’s been a child abduction at the zoo.”
“What?” Jillian about came off the bed, but her injuries prevented her success, instead her sudden movement set off the monitor alarms. “Travis is there with his day camp.”
“Hold up.” Simons crossed the room to shut the offense alarm off, but a nurse darted in, pushing him out of the way. She punched the monitor’s buttons, and the blaring stopped.
“What caused it to go off?” she asked.
“Miss Grant tried to get up,” he explained.
“And why did she do that?” the nurse asked, giving her a tierce look.
“I told her there had been an abduction at the zoo where the child she cares for is on a field trip,” the detective explained. “She fears for his safety.”
“Oh,” the nurse said, her ire turning to understanding. “Still, she can’t do anything about it in her condition. She can’t walk on that leg just yet. Stay put or I’ll have to enforce restraints, young lady. Is that clear?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jillian said through gritted teeth.
“I’ll be back to check on you in a few,” she said before leaving the room.
Simons shook his head. “Just because I got this notification doesn’t mean it’s Travis or his fieldtrip, regardless of what you fear.”
“But what if this was all just a ploy to get me out of the way so it would be easier to get at Travis?” she said finally feeling as if the last days events finally made sense to her even if the detective wasn’t on the same page.
She’d lived in Miami all her life and not once had she been mugged until this year and within weeks it had happened twice.
Simons looked at her for a long moment. “Do you really think someone would go to these lengths just to snatch a child? When there are many children at the zoo every day?”
“Yes,” she insisted, her voice rising in volume with her increasing anger. “People are that batshit crazy.”