unusual that I've got to believe it means something."
Mike was getting excited so I said, "Dial it back a notch, buddy. Gonna need the whole story."
"Right, right." Mike took in a deep breath before continuing. "So anyway, Premier has been providing the security for Hayes since, well, ever. So you’d think they’d go with them to cover this one guy, right?"
I nodded but remained silent.
"Well, turns out they did, but the client put a kibosh on that. Doug over at Premier clued me in. He says they've assigned four different guys to this particular client and not one has lasted more than a week. Guy says he doesn't need protection."
Mike and I practically rolled our eyes at the exact same time. I was already getting a bad feeling in my gut. But I held my tongue. I owed Mike that much.
"So Hayes calls me up personally… I guess maybe Doug planted a bug in his ear. Anyway, Hayes calls me up last week and asks if I've got someone who can handle this guy. And me thinking God himself has called me up stupidly says of course without even thinking it through. Hayes hands me off to his assistant who gives me a few details about this exec, but that's it. Like I said, he's an up and comer in the company and rumor has it Hayes is grooming him to take over."
While I didn't know much about Clifton Hayes beyond what I'd seen in the papers, I did know that the man, in addition to having a shit ton of money, was also very single and had been for his entire adult life. No wife, no kids. There was various extended family, but the media consistently compared Hayes to the late J. Paul Getty. The man had a reputation for being a genius when it came to making money, but lacked any sense of morality and had no interest in sharing his money with anyone. In short, he was just another rich son of a bitch who had enough money to last ten lifetimes but still wanted more. Anybody he was grooming to take over his business would likely share the same values as him.
The pit in my stomach began to grow wider and wider. There was no question about where this was going. Mike must've sensed my unease because he quickly continued.
"But that's not all," Mike said. He actually scooted his chair forward and leaned across the desk before dropping his voice to barely audible levels. "Doug says the relationship between old man Hayes and his protégé isn't just professional."
The news surprised me. There’d never been any hint that Hayes might be gay. In fact, it’d been the opposite. In his younger days, the man had been a notorious womanizer. But he wouldn’t be the first guy to overcompensate to hide his true nature. An ugly truth hit me.
"Jesus fucking Christ, Mike, please tell me you aren't asking me to babysit this guy just because he and I might have something in common," I muttered. The fact that I was gay, something that Mike had known from the time we’d first met, had never been an issue between us and it had never played a role in my job, but I couldn't imagine why else he was bringing this to me.
"God, no, Nik. But thanks for thinking so little of me, you dick." He frowned and I immediately felt bad because I was letting events from the past creep into the present.
"Then why?"
"Because I’ve already assigned two of our guys to him and he's pulled the same shit with them that he did with the Premier guys."
That caught my attention. Despite the fact that Smithfield Security didn't have the prettiest paint on its walls or the newest training equipment, it had one thing that most other places didn't. It had quality men working for it. Men who had been the best in their fields. Men that I'd picked myself. Yeah, Mike had signed off on each and every one, but he hadn't questioned any of my selections. Some of the team members were a little rough around the edges and needed some polish, but they were all good, hardworking men I’d trust with my own life or that of my family's. One of my next goals as soon as Mike had the budget for it was to start rounding out the team with equally qualified women. Too many organizations dismissed women as being too weak or softhearted to