Seals and Bounty: The Bodyguard

Mari

I can't believe he just saw me sucking my thumb. I am so embarrassed. The worse part is he even caught on that I am embarrassed. But his response was very unexpected. He literally just said that I was not the first little he has met. I couldn't even think of what to say and luckily he walked out the room before I needed too. I am just going to let it go for now. I don't have the mindset right now to really put any thought into it.

I got up and took at quick shower and got ready to go downstairs for breakfast. It was really too early in the morning, but she wanted to find out if the police had any leads on her attacker. She couldn't afford to stay out of work more than a day or two. They had some benefits and PTO, but she didn't want to use what little time she had available to take for this.

As she was walking down the stairs, she heard Wyatt and Officer Rodriquez talking. Rodriquez was telling Wyatt that his replacement would be here in an hour and that they still had no leads yet. They had looked for DNA and fingerprints on the flowers and her clothes, and they were waiting on all the results to come back. While he was outside last night, there was no activity. However, starting today, there would be an officer outside the house and at least two inside. One inside would be on the phone tab and the other for protection. This would go on until he was caught. However, it would all be undercover. The officer in the car would be parked across the street, unmarked. Everyone would come and leave in that car, so that they were not showing so many cars in the neighborhood. He suggested that Wyatt also put his car in the garage.

"The garage is a mess. I use it for storage. I will have to clean it out," she said as she made it into the kitchen.

"I can start cleaning it out after breakfast," Wyatt responded.

"I can help too," Officer Rodriquez stated.

"Thank you both. I can do it though. It is my mess," I responded.

"No, you need to stay in the house. The less you are outside the better it is for us to protect you. We can hand things in to you from the inside garage door and you can direct from inside there if you like," Rodriquez said.

"Okay," I replied, "What about me going back to work. Can I go back tonight?"

"Now that is out of the question," Wyatt said in an almost angry tone.

"Wyatt, no disrespect, but you can't make that call. Officer Rodriquez, when can I go back to work?" I asked.

Officer Rodriquez replied, "Wyatt is right. Right now that is out of the question. We have a better chance of catching the guy and protecting you from here. You going back to work, makes it hard to protect you. However, if we don't catch him soon, we may have to let you go back in an attempt to see if he tries again."

I could see the anger on Wyatt's face as he heard the last part of that statement.

"Use her as bait? Really? Are you serious?" Wyatt asked.

"We may have to let her go back to her routine. If he sees that she is being protected in her home, he will not come here. If we are not having any luck on prints or DNA, then we will not have any other choice. If she stays out a day or two, he will think that is normal. We will all protect her, Wyatt. I understand you are being careful and your desire to protect her, but we can't just protect her and not catch the guy," Rodriquez said.

"I agree, and you are correct, her safety is my biggest priority," Wyatt replied.

"Look guys, I am not going to let this man scare me into hiding the rest of my life and force me not to live it. I will do whatever you tell me to, but not going back to work is not an option," I replied.

From this point, we finished our food, and cleared out the garage. Wyatt moved his car in there, mine stayed in the driveway like always. Officer Rodriquez left after introducing us to his relief, Officer Williams who will be stationed inside, Officer Bryant who will be on the phone tap, and Officer West who will be stationed outside in his car.

From this point, they ordered in food for lunch and they sat around watching TV and talking about the case. I was going crazy and decided to go to my room to watch TV there. About thirty minutes later the phone rings and everyone goes into action.

I run down into the living room to take the call. I look at everyone not knowing what exactly to do.

"Just answer the phone like normal," Officer Bryant stated.

I look at the number and realized it was just Kari, one of the other dancers at the casino.

"It's fine guys, it's just Kari. We work together," I said. Thank God for caller ID. I told her that I was okay and then went back to my room.

At 6:30 p.m. Wyatt knocks on my door that dinner was ready and the change over was happening downstairs. I told him I would be down in a minute. When I got downstairs, Officer Rodriquez was back, along with Officer Chandler on the wire tap, and Officer Jones in his car. They all explained that the six of them were the permanent detail.

Officer Jones took a plate to his car with him while Officer Rodriquez, Officer Chandler, Wyatt, and I ate dinner. After dinner, they settled in for the night and I went to get ready for bed. I couldn't wait until tomorrow. Hopefully they will all be in agreement to let me go back to work. It was crazy the way Wyatt was acting about her, like he really wanted to take care of her, more than just the security guard of the casino.