Owned (5 page)

“So you’re not selling the ranch?”

“No, Sir. I plan on updating and expanding it. Gramp would have been very disappointed if I sold it.”

“Isn’t that going to be hard with owning a business in Chicago?” he asked me, giving me another once-over.

“I have a partner that handles the day-to-day, and the business side. I handle the client and hiring side. I have the experience and knowledge, but you could say my partner, Jamie, has the business mind.”

“Partner? Are the rumors true?” He didn’t show any inflection of emotion in his voice. I wanted to sigh. Years and years of people assuming I was a lesbian because I was in the military and could hold my own in a fight got tiring.

“Nope, I’m not gay. She is my business partner and my best friend. We were roommates in college and if you don’t believe I’m not a lesbian, if you meet her, you’ll know she isn’t.” I gave him a smile, trying to keep the conversation light.

“Well it doesn’t bother me any if people are gay, but I’m not a fan of rumors. If I hear them, I like to get the answer from the source.”

“I appreciate that, and let me set another rumor straight that I’m sure you heard. I am not a merc,” I said, changing the tone to serious. Merc was a shortened name for mercenary.

“Glad to hear that, your grandpa said the same, but you’re right, I have heard that rumor,” he replied and I could see the relief on his face.

“I’m also not some madam, and my employees aren’t hookers,” I added firmly. “They are bodyguards, that’s it. My company, Secure Settings, does freelance security. Some of the women handle higher-end security systems and tech stuff. Others are straightlaced bodyguards with military training.”

“What made you come up with this?” Sheriff Swick asked, genuinely interested.

“I saw a lot of security details when I was in the military, and they always screamed bodyguard. A lot of them couldn’t blend to their surroundings to save their asses. Sometimes when a person needs protecting, you don’t want the whole world to know that. Let’s be honest, most people, mostly men, don’t take women in that role seriously. It gives women an advantage, to be automatically dismissed as an adversary.

“We work for clients that don’t want to publicize that need bodyguards or extra guards. Seventy percent of our clientele are female Hollywood types, and my gals can go in where normal bodyguards can’t. Dressing rooms, women’s restrooms, spas, you get the picture, and most of the time, the media shows them as a friend to the actress or whomever the client is. Sometimes we put our people in as household staff, maids, housekeepers, that sort of thing for wealthy clients or political types.”

“Smart, very smart. I’ve also heard you have a male side company?” he asked, keeping the tone casual.

“My, my, you’ve done your homework. Most don’t know that Global Protection is a subsidiary of Secure Settings. And I’d like to keep it that way, Sheriff,” I said, eying him over.

“I can’t say I understand why, but I keep my mouth shut.”

“There are two reasons. One, after I set up my company and it was becoming successful, my friend wanted to set up a similar shop. I didn’t want it to be public knowledge that I was the financial assistance behind that, it might undermine his credibility. Two, Secure Settings’ whole ideology is that women can do security details as well as men. Now you and I both know, as true as that may be, most people don’t believe in that mentality.

“There are a lot of men who don’t believe that women could protect them, but some are okay with additional female backup. Most of those clients have my gals set up as pretend girlfriends or just the type of women who follow around rich men. Global Protection handles more straight bodyguard clients, who want it known that they have bodyguards. They also handle some security details of precious cargo and some government contracts.

“Now when I say ‘precious cargo,’ let me be clear. We don’t protect anything illegal, or have clients that engage in illegal activities. I won’t allow it, neither will my partner or my friend who’s the owner of Global Protection. I want you to believe that. We didn’t spend years of our lives defending this country, trying to help make it a better place, to turn around and add to crime when we got out.”

“I appreciate your frankness and I do believe you,” he said, smiling. “For one, your grandpa would have kicked your ass from here to the East Coast if you engaged in anything like that.”

“Yes, he would have,” I snickered. “I don’t know if he ever told you this, but my dad was a Chicago policeman before he died. I grew up believing in the law, even if it wasn’t perfect. In between assignments, it’s also in my employees’ contracts that they are to donate so much time a year to protect people who can’t afford us.”

“What kind of people?” Sheriff Swick asked suspiciously.

“Nothing like I’m sure you’re thinking,” I answered, smirking. “I’m talking about abused women. Women who need to hide from their husbands or boyfriends. We work closely with a few women’s shelters. At times we protect them until we can get everything in order legally for them to change their names or disappear.

“Everything is aboveboard, and it’s all legal, believe me. My lawyers bitch at me on a regular basis about all the paperwork. It takes a lot to make someone disappear when you’re not the FBI or Federal Marshal Service.”

“I can imagine. It’s nice that you donate your time and resources that way. You should be very proud.”

“I’m taking a big leap of trust telling you that, no one knows besides a few heads of the women’s shelters and the IRS. We keep that part incredibly secret. If it became common knowledge we did that, all of my employees could become targets. Most of the time, I’m the only one who knows where the person or persons have been relocated.”

“I understand completely, and no one will ever find out from me. If you ever need help or decided to bring a woman to the ranch to protect, you just let me know. There’s nothing lower on this earth than a man who abuses a woman or child that they say they love,” he replied, and from the anger on his face I could see he was very,
very
serious about it.

“I appreciate that, Sheriff, I really do,” I said gently, letting him know I understood exactly how much he meant what he said.

“Well, Kate, again, I appreciate you telling me all of this and we’re on the level with each other.”

“I respect law enforcement and ex-military, but more importantly, I don’t have anything to hide. You came through for me today, and I know you did it for Gramp. Just the same, I appreciate it,” I told him.

As soon as I mentioned Gramp, a wave of grief hit me again. He was really gone. Talking about my company and the work I did distracted me for a few minutes. It was easy to do when I loved my work. But reality came swimming back to the surface and I sighed.

“You’ll get through this, Kate,” he said gently, putting his hand over mine.

“Thanks, Sheriff.” I fought the urge to quickly take my hand back. I’d never been good with people touching me more than a handshake, especially people I didn’t know.

“If there’s anything you need, you let me know, okay? I know it took a lot for you to trust me and I won’t abuse it. I loved your grandpa like an older brother, and you brought such joy to his life. He was very proud of you, Kate, he really was,” he told me, smiling kindly.

“Thank you, that means a lot to me.” I took back my hand and started to stand. “Actually, I need a contractor if you know of anyone you trust?”

“Sure, Sam Monroe is the guy you’ll want. He’s good too. He sticks to his estimates closely, and completion times, I think you’ll like him. Sam doesn’t beat around the bush much either. You mind me asking what you’re needing him for?”

“Not at all. I’ve been trying to talk Gramp into some renovations for years, but he never wanted me to bother. Said he had no problem living simply, and I didn’t need something else on my mind. Now that I’m going to be living at the ranch, the house needs some major updating, and I’m sure the bunkhouse does too.”

“A woman after my own heart,” he said, laughing, “You have good sense and priorities. If only I was fifteen years younger.”

“Fifteen, huh? How old do you think I am?” I asked with a fake frown.

“Well, you look about twenty-five. But given you were in the military four years after college, and you said you had your business three. I’d guess thirty?”

“Close, twenty-seven. I graduated high school a couple years early. I liked how you stated your reasons for guessing my age, very politically correct of you.”

“After forty-five years on this planet, you pick up a thing or two,” he chuckled. “One of which is to be very careful when discussing a woman’s age.”

“Wise, very wise, Sheriff,” I replied, smiling. “Let me know when the autopsy comes through, would ya? Oh and give Sam Monroe my number if you don’t mind? I’d feel more comfortable trusting a contractor I don’t know if he got the job of the Sheriff’s recommendation.”

“Not a problem,” he said, taking an extra of my business cards to pass along. “If you need anything, don’t be afraid to call. Here’s my cell number.” He wrote it on the back of one of his cards and I stuck it in my pocket when he handed it to me. I gave him a smile and a nod as I headed out of his office.

I was feeling a little better heading back to the ranch. I accomplished a lot of the shit jobs that come with planning a funeral out of the way. Also Sheriff Swick and I seemed to be starting a good, respectful acquaintance, maybe even a friendship. His sincere affection for Gramp even touched my stone heart.

It wasn’t really made of stone, but after all the loss I had in my life, it was easy to understand why I couldn’t let people in. I only had two friends, Jamie and Nate, and even them I couldn’t let in much. My cell phone ringing snapped me back out of my thoughts.

“Hello?”

“Kate, it’s Nick. You need to head back to the ranch, some things happened,” he said and I could hear the anger in his voice.

“Already on the way, ETA five minutes. Meet me outside?” ETA meant
estimated time of arrival
. Some of the acronyms I learned in the military never really left my vocabulary.

“Yeah, hurry,” he said, hanging up.

Shit, what’s wrong now?
I pressed a little more firmly on the gas. He was standing outside waiting for me when I pulled up a few minutes later.

“What happened?” I asked as I hopped out of the car.

“Someone cut about three blocks’ worth of fencing on the west side of the property. About a third of the cattle got out before Bill made his rounds and radioed it in,” Nick explained.

“Fuck me!”

“No thanks, you’re not my type,” he chuckled.

“How many—wait?
What
? Oh, that wasn’t an offer, Nick, it’s an expression.” His response threw me for a loop for a moment there. “How many cattle is that? They all have their locators in, right?”

A few years ago I had talked Gramp into at least one technological advance… Placing GPS locators in all the cattle and horses in case something like this ever happened. When we were dealing with eight hundred acres of land, about six hundred cattle, and almost a hundred horses, we needed to know where they all were. The horses had been my idea after Gram had passed.

The economy wasn’t as stable after 9/11, and it made sense to acquire other ways of potential income. Also it gave Gramp a new project to keep him busy after the loss of my gram when I wasn’t here to help.

“About two hundred cattle, and yes, they all have their locators in. Bill and some of the hands are getting the rest of the cattle in for the night, while the others head out to round up the other ones. I already called the neighboring ranches to tell them what happened and apologized if we have to go on their land.”

“Smart thinking,” I replied.
I think I know who the next foreman will be
. “I’ll call the Sheriff to report it. Go on and head out and help where you can, and I’ll hold down the fort.”

“Will do, Kate,” he said, turning to leave.

“Actually, are the horses in for the night? I want to make sure they’re okay, but also, if we get any volunteers out here to help, we’ll need extra horses ready.”

“Good call. I’ll see to it right away.” He jogged off then, determination in his steps.

Smart guy, takes charge but doesn’t have a problem listening to anyone else.
I dragged out my cell phone to call the Sheriff, hoping he didn’t think I was going to become a potential stalker.

“Kate? I didn’t expect to hear from you this soon,” he answered, his voice wary.

“I didn’t expect it either, and no offense, I wish I didn’t have to talk to you. Nick called after I left your office and told me to get my ass back to the ranch. Seems someone cut about three blocks of fence on the west side and a couple hundred cattle got loose. One or two sections of fence could be an accident, or wear and tear. But that much fence it has to be deliberate,” I grumbled.

“You got your boys rounding them up?”

“Nick said some of the guys are getting the rest in for the night and the others are starting to track the others. We’ve got GPS in each of them, but tracking down that many will take a while.”

“Want help?” he asked.