“Like he took verses and mixed them all up, using them to say what he wants to say.”
“Exactly. The first letters talked a lot about sin and doing the right thing. I thought they were just some loon’s commentary on politics in general, but over time they got darker. More insistent. But it wasn’t until they referenced the priest’s son in the last one that everything fell into place, and we became convinced they were all about you and some transgression they believe you have committed.” He said it casually enough, but his eyes bore into me, and I could tell he was wondering what I had done to gain this person's ire.
“I haven’t committed any transgression. We’ve been too busy on the campaign trail to even sleep, much less transgress,” I insisted.
“Of course you haven’t, you're a good boy, I know that. I’m just trying to figure out what this person thinks you’ve done.”
“Well, I haven’t done anything.” I crossed my arms over my chest protectively, like that would keep all my secrets locked inside.
“We need to take this seriously. So far, it hasn’t been anything more than letters, but we need to get ahead of it,” Fredrick insisted. “I can’t guard your father and you both, so we’re going to have to bring someone in from the outside to cover you. I’ve contacted Hart Security. They’re going to provide you with a bodyguard starting tomorrow.”
“A bodyguard. Is that really necessary? I don’t ever go anywhere except with you guys.”
“Yes, it’s necessary. Fredrick has one job…to keep me safe. I’ve made a lot of enemies of those hippie tree-hugging liberals. I can’t have Fredrick worrying about you and giving those nut jobs an opening to get to me. No, best you have your own security until we figure this out.”
Roman
I sat at my desk and stared at the stack of resumes in front of me. There had to be a better way of finding employees. It was so easy to make yourself look good on paper, but all the qualifications in the world didn’t make you a good fit for Hart Security Services. I couldn’t tell if a person had the right presence from looking at a piece of paper, but it wasn’t possible for me to meet all the applicants in person. I worried we might be passing up the right person because they didn’t look the best in their resume.
My brother, Ryan, stuck his head around the corner. When he saw I was alone, he came in and sat down in a chair. “You know, staring at those resumes isn’t getting us any new hires, and we’re running short-handed right now.”
“I know—”
“And you pulling Rand out of the field and putting him on surveillance duty didn’t help,” he interrupted.
I stopped and took a deep breath. I hated it when people interrupted me, and my big brother was one of the few I’d let get away with it. “We’re trying to build a business here. He can’t keep acting like this is some summer job where he can fuck off and act like a kid.”
“So maybe you should stop treating him like one,” a voice said from the doorway. I looked up, and our stepfather, Conrad Hart, stood there.
“Hey, Dad,” Ryan said, then he motioned to the other chair. “Have a seat.”
“No, I can’t stay. I had some business downtown this morning, and I stopped by to see if you boys wanted to grab lunch later.”
“Sure,” I said.
“At De Grazzios?” Ryan asked hopefully.
“Where else?” he asked with a grin. “I’ll text you when I head that way.”
I smiled as I watched him go. Conrad Hart wasn’t just a good man—he was the best. But he had no idea about Rand’s latest stunt.
“You know,” Ryan said with a sigh. “Dad is probably right. We’ve always babied Rand. I mean seriously, he’s a third owner in the business, and you basically grounded him for what happened at the vineyard.”
“Well, what else was I supposed to do? He was caught in the vineyard with his pants around his ankles and the client’s daughter riding him like—”
“I know,” he said, putting up his hands to indicate I should stop. “I heard all about it from her father. Now, hand me that stack of resumes.”
“No, I’ll get through them. I know we need to hire a couple of people.”
He motioned with his hand for me to hand them over. “Nope, combing through these resumes is now my