their best behavior."
"I'll take your word for it," laughed
Edward. "That is one reason for being a point guard for her, I don't have to worry about organizing all that.
I let you handle that and I just make sure no one hands her a set of roses that
ticks!"
"Yeah, but you have to deal with the diva."
"How bad can she be?"
Trevor laughed, "Very!"
The next morning, Edward found himself on the way to meet
Tatiana for the first time. She was going to be heading out to a simple
interview downtown. Their first big event wasn't for several weeks, but
Edward's first job was to figure out how to be her shadow without getting in
her way. He smiled as he waved his pass in front of the security door at
the front of the massive hotel. He knew that Jake was already
across the street and twelve stories up watching the whole place with a high
power rifle beside him. Across the street were four armed and armored
Shukurae ready to shadow them when they left the building. It was day
one, but it felt like old times. The joy of working with people you had
known for a year.
Edward passed through the hotel security screening portal
without setting off even a simple "beep." He approached
the elevator and pressed the call button as a service attendant came out to
meet him.
"That is a private elevator, sir."
"I should hope so," Edward flashed his ID,
"Edward Silverglade of Tatiana's new security detail."
"Shouldn't you have a sidearm to declare?"
Edward flashed an evil grin as the doors started to close,
"No, I'm fine. Thank you."
The attendant did not actually check his face to the
photo. Bad form. That was going to have to
change. The private elevator could not be seen by the second sniper across
the street. They were going to need a covert camera to help fill the
gap. Sloppy.
Edward stepped out to the atrium of the penthouse to only
mild bedlam. No furniture or plants were being thrown. No
signs of the level of insanity that Trevor had teased him about. It was
all quite calm. Well calm for a war zone. There were three
attendants screaming at each other while the local hotel security stood by the
door and ignored them the best he could. Edward flashed his ID to
the rent-a-cop. Hey! He actually checked the picture. That
was a start. Edward quickly surveyed the three and their high
octane conversation. He could place all three as employees based on his
earlier briefing. Gillian was who he was looking for, Tatiana's 'handler'
as it were. She kept the appointment books and was the administrative
brains behind the operation. She wasn't among these three so he pressed
on to the door to the penthouse proper.
"You can't go in there," one of them suddenly
barked in his direction.
He flashed another toothy grin, "False." He
swept his pass across the door lock and it opened with a click. He
quickly stepped into the apartment and closed the door briskly behind
him. It was a lovely place. Large and elegant
without being gaudy. At least someone had taste. The main
room was occupied by Tatiana pacing back and forth while Gillian ran down the
day's schedule. Edward slipped into the shadows of a corner of the
room and let his fur shift in hue to match the walls. He hadn't been
observed at all. Perfect. Not that he was to be a spy, but his goal
was to interfere as little as possible and not being noticed fit the bill quite
well.
Edward stood there and watched the two. Gillian was
probably in her mid to late thirties, sharply dressed and very professional in
her manner and organization, that was obvious. Tatiana was eighteen according to the files and had been in the music
business since she was fifteen. She looked dazed and frazzled, much like
someone that had just awakened. She showed none of the tell-tale signs of
substance abuse, that was good. Just too little sleep. She was a striking girl.
Very! She had a beautiful orange coat