The Gamble, page 11
“What?”
“Sophie will be in London this week for her tour. She’s playing at Wembley. It’s a really big deal.”
I didn’t say anything. This is why you don’t get involved with people who are friends with your friends.
I finally just nodded. Wembley was a massive concert, and I had been working on making sure the London assholes didn’t screw her security up.
We got to the front of the line. “What do you want, Claire?”
“I’ll just take a coffee,” she told the barista.
I held up two fingers and handed the barista cash. “Keep the change.”
The barista handed us two cups. We went over to the canisters and started to pump the hot liquid into our cups. I kept mine black, and Claire put a packet of sugar in hers. I looked around the crowded room to find a table. Two people got up, and I quickly went over and grabbed the table. Claire followed, and we sat down.
“I’ve missed you.” Claire smiled at me.
I smiled back. “I’ve missed you, too.”
“I’m worried about you.” She stared at me.
“I’m fine.”
“Are you?”
I nodded and took a sip of my coffee.
Claire looked at me like she didn’t believe me. “Phil, what happened between you and Sophie?”
I sighed. “Have you seen her?”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t ask her?”
“Yes, of course, but I want to know what your side of it is.”
“What did she tell you?”
“She said you two had a disagreement and that she thought you were pretty upset with her. She was upset about it. I told her to talk and work it out with you, but she said it wasn’t something that could be fixed?” Claire looked at me, upset.
My jaw clenched, and my leg bobbed under the table. “Well, if that’s what she said, then it’s not going to be fixed.”
Claire put her hand on mine. “Phil, what was it about?”
I looked up at the ceiling, then back at Claire. “I let myself cross the casual line, but she won’t let herself cross it. So it’s over. It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have crossed it. Once it’s crossed, there isn’t a way to go back.”
“I see. I’m sorry.”
I smiled at Claire. “It’s okay. Life goes on.”
Claire started to say something and stopped.
“What is it, Claire?”
“I know you said she wouldn’t cross the line, but I know she has feelings for you, Phil. She’s been really upset.”
I raised my eyebrow at her. “Yes, I know she does. And that’s the problem. She lied to me, and I knew she lied to me. I called her out and told her she was lying, and she still just lied to me about it. She wants to pretend that we’re something less than we are. I can’t anymore.”
Claire took a minute to process what I was saying and gave me another sad smile. “You two just seemed really good together. I wish you could work it out.”
I started laughing. “I guess I surprised you from the first night I met Sophie, huh?”
Claire laughed. “Yeah, I thought you would go more for redheads.”
I jerked my head at her. “Why redheads?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I always think of wild women as redheads—like Meg. I thought that would be your type.”
I laughed. Once again, the revelation of what the girls really thought about me was totally different than how I interpreted all their comments.
“Well, I have nothing against redheads…or blondes…or brunettes…or any other color of hair.” I winked at Claire.
She laughed and stood up. “All right, I need to get to the courthouse. Thanks for the coffee.”
I stood up just as my phone rang. I rolled my eyes. “Just in time for me to take this call from London.”
She laughed and hugged me. “You have fun with that one. But Phil, don’t stay away from us. I’ve missed you.”
I smiled at her. “I’ve missed you too, Claire. I won’t, I promise.”
She smiled and left.
I answered the phone. “Hey, Andrew.”
“Phil, you sitting down?”
My stomach dropped. “What now?”
“We’ve been hacked again.”
I sat back down. “Is this a joke?”
“No. Not one of our bodyguards has clearance for international.”
I put my hand on my face. “Andrew, when is this hack going to get fixed?”
“That’s the bigger issue. Our IT guys are saying that this is way more complex than the initial one. They’re anticipating two weeks.”
I stood up. “Two weeks?” Several tables looked over at me. I started walking out the door.
“Yes. Two weeks.”
“Then we need to get more people on it. Put the entire team on it,” I told him.
Andrew was quiet. I waited.
“Phil, we already have the entire team on it. It’s that bad.”
My gut dropped. This was a nightmare.
“We have several clients in the air right now who will be landing in countries the guards won’t be able to get off in,” Andrew said.
My stomach started flipping so much I broke out in a sweat. Sophie had a late-night flight and should be landing soon. I knew because I’d worked on her security all weekend.
“Andrew, you need to instruct the agents not to let the clients off the planes. The planes need to return to the original countries with the clients.”
“I’ve already done that, but several clients have gotten off flights already.”
I stopped walking. “Which clients?” I hissed.
“Sulfter, Kincaid, Ruthford, and Ensign.”
Nausea rippled through me. “Was security assigned to them?”
“The first two. The second two we’re working on.”
“Where are Ruthford and Ensign?”
“Ruthford is at his hotel, and Ensign is on her way to hers.”
“With zero security?”
Andrew quietly replied, “That’s right.”
“Oh my God. You call Ruthford and tell him he stays in his room and opens the door for no one till our guards get sorted. He doesn’t drink or eat anything. I’ll get ahold of Ensign. And you better get guards sorted, pronto.” I hung up.
I dialed Sophie. Her phone went to voicemail.
I texted her. “Go directly to your room and do not open the door for anyone until you hear from me. You have no security.”
I called Tom and hopped in a cab. “Teterboro,” I told the cabbie.
“Morning, Phil,” Tom answered.
“Tom, get a flight plan sorted ASAP. There’s a new hack. Sophie’s landed in London, and those idiots don’t have her covered. She got off a plane with zero security.”
“You’re joking.”
“No.”
“I’ll meet you at Teterboro.”
“Get there soon.” I hung up and tried calling Sophie again. I got her voicemail.
I texted her again. “Please text me back you got this.”
I called Ethan.
“Phil, what’s up?”
“Ethan, have you heard from Sophie?”
“Not since yesterday when she was at our house. Why? What’s going on?” Ethan sounded worried.
“She landed, and there’s no security on her. Her phone is going to voicemail, and I texted her. If you hear from her, can you make sure she calls me?”
“Yes, of course. What else can I do?”
“I don’t know. Tom and I are headed over to Teterboro and flying over there. If for any reason my phone stops working in the air, make sure you tell her to go directly to her room and not to let anyone in. Tell her not to drink or eat anything.”
“Okay. Let me know if you hear from her first.”
“Will do.” I hung up.
My heart was pounding in my throat. I called Andrew.
“Phil.”
“I need all the details on Ensign’s flight, hotel, schedule, and contacts emailed to me.”
“That’s going to be a problem.”
“Why is that?”
“The hacker erased all our data.”
I slammed the phone against the back of the cabbie window.
The cab driver started to scream at me.
“I’m sorry,” I told him. I needed to calm down. The last thing I needed was to be kicked out of the cab.
I texted Ethan. “Do you know where she’s staying?”
“No. Let me see if Claire or any of the girls know.”
I texted Isaac, her bodyguard. “Do you have a copy of Sophie’s schedule and details?”
I didn’t get a message back. The text said, Delivered.
The cabbie pulled into Teterboro as Tom was pulling in. The jet was sitting on the runway. We quickly got into the jet, and Cindy was waiting.
“We’ve got a ten-minute wait before we can take off.” Cindy smiled at us.
“Fuck!” I screamed.
Cindy jumped back.
“Phil, you’re gonna need to calm down,” Tom said.
I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Cindy.”
“No problem.” She gave me a sympathetic smile.
“Let’s go in the back, Phil,” Tom told me.
We went into the back. I pulled out my laptop and was thankful when I saw I had saved all of Sophie’s details in her file.
I called Andrew.
“Hey, Phil.”
“I need you to personally go over to the Four Seasons and make sure that you stay with Carlotta Ensign until I arrive.”
“I’m trying to sort her security right now.”
“Do it from your goddamn phone and start running,” I screamed at him.
“Phil.” Tom held out his hand.
I threw him my phone.
“Andrew, this is Tom Marko.” Tom ran his hand through his hair, and his leg started to twitch. “Yes, I realize that there are issues, but Carlotta Ensign is not only a top client, but a very close personal friend. I highly suggest you not only personally make sure she’s okay, but get this security issue sorted immediately. If anything happens to her, you’re going to be held responsible. Do I make myself clear?”
The jet started to move.
“I expect a call once you’re with Carlotta.” He hung up.
My phone started to ring. Tom tossed it back to me. I looked at the screen.
“Isaac.”
“Sorry Phil, we’re just getting out of detainment.”
“You got detained?”
“Yes. We didn’t know we weren’t cleared to go.”
“Andrew or someone else on the team didn’t notify you?”
“No. We got off the plane and cleared Sophie to get into her car that was waiting on the runway. I was checking out the second car for the rest of the security team, and the authorities came out and told us to get back. The car took off.”
My gut dropped. “With Sophie in it?”
“Yes. The second car started leaving because the authorities told them to move off the runway, so I don’t think it was malicious, but she doesn’t have security on her.”
I let out a breath. “We’re aware.”
“There’s another issue.”
My mouth went dry. “What?”
“We had bad turbulence, and her phone went flying and cracked. It wasn’t working.”
“You’re kidding me?”
“No, sir.”
I let out another big sigh. “Thanks, Isaac.” I hung up and looked at Tom. “Sophie’s phone is broken. She has no way for us to notify her.”
He shook his head. Then his eyes lit up. He picked up his phone.
“Andrew, it’s Tom Marko again.”
I started drumming my fingers on my thigh.
“I need you to get the cell number for Carlotta Ensign’s driver to me, pronto. Text it, please.” He hung up.
A few minutes went by, and Tom got a text. He hit FaceTime on the number. The phone rang, and the driver picked up.
“Hello?” An older gentleman with gray hair picked up.
“Hi, David. I don’t know if you know who I am—”
“Tom Marko! I’m a huge fan. So’s the wife!”
Tom laughed. “Thank you, sir. Do you happen to have Carlotta Ensign with you?”
“Yes sir, she’s in the back.”
“Great. I have a big dilemma, and I need you to help me out. Would you be willing to do that?”
“Yes, sir. What can I do for you?”
“It seems that Carlotta has broken her phone and I need to speak with her. She also has no bodyguards at the moment due to a mix-up, and we’re trying to sort that, but I need you to help us out with that as well. Would you be so kind as to go the extra mile for us today?” Tom smiled at him.
“Yes sir, I can do that.”
“Great. Could you put Carlotta on the phone?”
“Sure, Mr. Marko.”
“Please, call me Tom.”
“Sure, Tom.”
The driver put down the window and told Sophie to grab the phone.
“Tom?”
A surge of relief flew through me upon hearing her voice, and I had to blink back tears.
“Hey, Soph. We’ve got a situation that isn’t good. There’s another breach, and Isaac and Rich got detained.”
“So who’s guarding me?”
“That’s the problem. Stay calm, but right now you have no guards.”
“What? Tom, is this a joke?” I could hear the fear in her voice, and my heart cracked. As much as I wanted to not feel anything for her, I just couldn’t.
Tom shook his head. “Unfortunately not.”
Her voice was shaky. “Tom, I’ve received several new death threats in the last two days alone. They’re coming in from all over... It’s... It’s gone up several levels... It’s...the worst it’s ever been. I’ve been threatened that if I perform at Wembley, they’ll kill me. I can’t be without security. And I can’t cancel Wembley…it’s a huge deal. You need to sort this out, Tom.”
I jerked my head at Tom. We hadn’t received any notification about any new threats. And more nausea coursed through me… She sounded really scared. Sophie never let anyone see how scared she was about threats, and always tried to act like it wasn’t a big deal.
“Phil and I are flying over—”
“Phil’s with you?”
My pulse went up another notch.
“Yes, he’s right here.” Tom turned the phone toward me so she could see me.
She gave me a tiny smile. “Hey,” she said softly.
“Hey, Petal.” I didn’t know why I said it; it just came out. I realized it the moment it came out.
She smiled at me.
“Sorry, Sophie.”
She frowned.
Tom shot me a glance. He took the phone and put it back on his face. “Sophie, it’s going to be a few hours till we get there. We’re going to need you to work with David. Isaac called and said your phone is broken?”
“Yes. Turbulence broke it.” She laughed softly.
God, I love her laugh.
“Okay. David has been kind enough to let you use his phone, but we need to think of where he should take you. I don’t think the hotel is a good idea.”
“She can’t go there. She’ll get mobbed, and the hackers know her schedule,” I told Tom.
He looked at me and nodded.
“Tom, tell David to go to the private airport. He can drive around till then or sit there, whichever he sees fit.”
“Good idea. Sophie, can you put David back on?”
“So what’s the plan, Tom?” David asked.
Tom explained to him what he needed him to do. I looked at my watch. Three hours and thirty minutes until we landed.
I leaned back and closed my eyes. I was going to have to keep reminding myself that this was business. I needed to make sure she was safe, and that was it.
9
Sophie
* * *
David seemed like a very kind man. He reminded me of my grandfather, except he had an English accent.
We had been waiting on the tarmac for hours. I felt so comfortable with David that I told him my real name.
I needed to use the bathroom, but I couldn’t get out of the car.
“David, can I use your phone for a minute?”
“Sure.” He handed me the phone.
I redialed Tom’s phone. Phil’s face appeared on the screen.
Ugh. I miss him so much.
“Hey.” He was worried about me. I could see the stress on his face.
“Hey.”
He was also trying his hardest to not get personal with me. I could see and hear it. Since his Petal slip-up, he had kept things all business.
“How far are you?” I put my hand on the side of the phone. I wanted to stroke his face.
“About three minutes until we land.”
“Okay. I need to use the bathroom when you land. Will that be all right?”
He softly laughed. “Yes. No problem.”
I loved his laugh. It was deep and sexy, and just made me feel happy.
Happy. I hadn’t felt anything happy since I’d last seen him.
I closed my eyes, then opened them. “Are you doing okay?” I shouldn’t have asked him that—it wasn’t fair—but I couldn’t help it.
He hesitated. “Just sorting security, so when we land we’re covered.”
My heart fell further. I wasn’t talking about business. “Okay. Thank you.”
“No thanks needed. This should have never happened.”
“But you came. Thank you.”
“It’s my job.”
Ouch. I looked away and blinked back tears. “Okay, see you when you land.” I hung up before he could see the tear drip down my face.
I wiped my tears away as they were landing and handed the phone back to David.
“Wow, that’s quite the jet!” David said.
“Yes, it’s the nicest one I’ve ever been on. Tom owns it.”
“He seems like a really nice guy. That Phil guy seems nice, too.”
“They both are. You are, too. Thank you again. You’ve been quite the hero today.”
David laughed. “This is the most exciting day I’ve had in a long time. You’re absolutely lovely, and the missus isn’t going to believe it when I tell her about my day.”
I smiled at him. “How long have you been married?”
