Protecting the Heiress. Martha Kennerson
company’s reputation in international security rivals no other. We’re honored to be your first official celebrity client,” he said with a slight nod and a curve of his lip.
“Then why didn’t you come to us in the first place? It’s not like you knew for sure we didn’t cater to celebrities at that time. There’s always an exception to every rule,” Farrah asked.
“Farrah!” Francine warned.
“It’s okay,” Tiffany defended, waving off Francine’s concern with a flip of her diamond-studded hand and a wide smile. “The other company came highly recommended from a reputable source,” she explained with a look at both Francine and Farrah.
“So why the change?” Farrah pressed.
“We thought it would be nice if there were more female agents around,” Mr. Morgan said before Tiffany could answer.
“Female agents...what are we missing?” Farrah continued to question.
Mr. Morgan looked at Tiffany, who was putting her phone into her Prada bag. Before he could say anything, Tiffany sat up in her chair, pushed a wayward strand of blond hair behind her ear and said, “I have a stalker.”
“Okay. Any firm can deal with that,” Farrah said with a small frown and a slight tilt of her head.
“He was a part of my security detail,” she added.
“We think he might have been a part of the security team,” Mr. Morgan corrected. He was clearly not convinced, and he gave Tiffany’s hand a small, condescending pat. “We don’t know for sure.”
“Why do you think that? I mean you’ve had the same team for two years, and they’re all good men,” she said, shaking her head. “We’ve checked them out.”
Tiffany stood, walked to the window and stared out at downtown Houston. The room was quiet for several moments before she spoke.
“I found notes and gifts in my bedroom...in my underwear drawer. Every time I get a new phone number, my stalker seems to get it,” Tiffany explained without facing the group. “The last straw was when I started receiving pictures of naked body parts in my personal email.” She looked over her shoulder at Francine. “The only people who had access to my home and private numbers, other than my family and a few close friends, were the members of my security team.”
“We’ll need a list of those names—both family and friends,” Francine said.
Tiffany turned and faced the group. “Why?” she asked, frowning.
“Because they’ll need to be checked out,” Farrah said. “All of them.”
“Did you report this to the police?” Francine asked as she reached for her cell phone. While she waited for a response, she texted Meeks: Conference room. Now. And bring Robert.
“No,” Mr. Morgan said, again looking at Tiffany as if taking direction from her as to how much he should share.
“Why the hell not?” Farrah asked through narrowed eyes.
“Farrah...” Francine said with a warning glance in her sister’s direction.
Tiffany returned to her chair and took a long sip of her water.
Before she could reply, Meeks and Robert walked through the door. “Bill Morgan, Tiffany Tanner, this is our chief operations officer, Meeks Montgomery, and head of our corporate security division and resident computer expert, Robert Gold. He helped develop the systems we’ll be installing in your home,” Francine introduced.
After handshakes all around, Meeks and Robert took seats at the conference table.
“I asked them to join us because in a case like this,” Francine said, looking around the table, “it’s best to not only get the police involved, but to make sure all parties involved in your security are fully aware of the situation.”
“What situation would that be exactly?” Meeks asked Francine with narrowed eyes.
Francine brought Meeks and Robert up to speed on the situation as they knew it, and as expected, Meeks took over the questioning.
“Stalkers aren’t to be played with,” he explained with a pointed look at Tiffany. “What makes you think it’s someone from your former security team?”
Tiffany took another sip of water and said, “I had an affair with a couple of guys on my security team.”
“A couple?” Robert asked, his eyes wide.
Both sisters glared at Robert. He shrugged and mouthed, “What?”
Mr. Morgan reached for Tiffany’s hand and gave it a supportive squeeze before saying, “Tiffany, you don’t have to—”
“Yes, she does,” Meeks said. “We need to know everything if you want us to be able to protect her.”
“It’s okay, Bill,” Tiffany said before removing her hand from his grip and taking another sip of her water. “I’m twenty-one years old, and I’ve been working in this industry for ten years. For the past four years I’ve had some exceptionally good luck, which required me to be even more selective with the people I associate with.”
“Exceptionally good luck?” Robert said sarcastically as he too flipped through his electronic tablet. “You’ve had three back-to-back blockbuster movies and gained access to a fifty-million-dollar trust fund. Yeah, I’d say that’s some exceptionally good luck.”
Tiffany smiled. “I’ve never wanted to be one of those childhood stars that ended up broke and in the gutter somewhere, and my family and Bill made sure that would never happen.”
Tiffany gave Bill a smile that clearly expressed gratitude, but his responding smile seemed to offer more than paternal love.
“Do you have any idea how hard it is to make friends? I mean, real friends?” she asked, her voice rising an octave. “Let alone trying to find a nice guy? Trust me, it’s not easy. So I find myself gravitating toward my security team.”
Tiffany got up and walked around the table and stared out the clear glass wall of windows that looked out over the city. She wrapped her arms around her body and slowly moved her hands up and down her arms. The room was at a comfortable temperature so Farrah recognized the gesture as a defense mechanism and asked, “Tiffany, would you like to take a break?”
Tiffany turned away from the windows and faced her. She wiped away a lone tear that had escaped her left eye and said, “No...I’m fine. What more do you need to know?”
“Is this really necessary?” Bill demanded as he made his way around the table to stand next to Tiffany, where he placed his arm around her.
“I’m afraid so,” Francine said before she continued to question Tiffany about her relationships with members of her former security team, her friends and her normal routine—all under Meeks’s heated scrutiny, which appeared to have made the air slowly evaporate from the room.
Another hour and several cups of coffee later, Tiffany had finally decided she’d had enough. “I’m exhausted, and I have an event tonight,” she said, gathering her things. “So if you need any more information, feel free to join me at the house.”
“I’ll accompany Ms. Tanner home and get the team in place,” Robert said as he too gathered his things to leave. “While I’m there, I’ll figure out what updates her current security system may need.”
Meeks nodded. “And we’ll have any necessary adjustments made first thing in the morning.”
“That’s great. Robert and Farrah and I will accompany you to your event this evening until we can assign someone to watch over you on a more permanent basis,” Francine explained to Tiffany.
Tiffany breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Thank you.”
Francine