Protecting Lulu (Global Protection Agency) (27 page)

E.J.
looked uncomfortable. “The statute of limitations isn’t up on some of
my…escapades.”

“I’m
just dying to know if you stole something from anyone I know,” Lulu said.

“I
don’t know everybody you know,” E.J. said neatly side-stepping the question.

Lulu
leaned forward. “Wilder had a Monet stolen a few years ago.”

E.J.’s
face stayed neutrally bland. “I’ve lifted a few Monets in my time.”

Aiden
wriggled. “Oooo.”

“You’re
not playing the game right,” Lulu said.

“Art
theft is just so glamorous, so Cary Grant and Steve McQueen,” Aiden said with
fond memories of the two men.

“There’s
nothing glamorous about it,” E.J. said. “Sometimes it’s ten hours inside a
small box and not being able to move or make the slightest noise.”

“How
did you decide on art theft as a career path,” Aiden asked.

“I
sort of fell into it,” E.J. said in a non-committal tone. “We shouldn’t be
talking about me, but about how to find your stalker. I’m on company time
here.”

Lulu
shook a finger at E.J. “Don’t change the subject. I’m fascinated with you. You’re
an enigma wrapped around a mystery. Or is it a mystery wrapped around an enigma.”

“Haven’t
you ever shop-lifted anything, or stolen something just for the thrill?”

“No,”
Lulu said.

“Well,”
Aiden said shifting uncomfortably.

“Do
tell,” E.J. coaxed.

Aiden
hesitated. Did he want to reveal this about himself? “I stole my sister’s Barbie.
I wanted to make clothes for it. Once upon a time I thought I wanted to be a
designer. Making beautiful clothes is way harder than just picking them out.”

They
fell into silence and finally Lulu spoke her voice just above a hushed whisper.
“What happens if we don’t catch this person stalking me?”

“No
criminal is ever perfect, except me of course,” E.J. said. “This person will
eventually make a mistake and we’ll catch him. Or we’ll see something we didn’t
recognize as being relevant the first time. You have to trust Noah. He knows
what he’s doing.”

Lulu
stared at her wine. She twirled the crystal slightly, the wine coating the
inside like a silken waterfall. Aiden poured himself another glass.

“I
have been doing some research on stalkers,” Lulu said, “and usually they are
some obsessed fan who thinks he loves and wants to spend the rest of his life
with. Or they’re some ex-boyfriend who wants to have a moment of revenge. This
stalker is a terrorist. He hasn’t really done something to hurt me. Every
action has been more to frighten me. The car missed me. The studio lights
didn’t fall immediately giving Noah plenty of time to get me out of the way and
a lot of people knew I wasn’t home this weekend. Aiden’s tweets made it clear I
was gone for the whole weekend.”

“I
have to run all my tweets and Facebook stuff through Noah first. And he is so
picky about what I can say,” Aiden complained with a dramatic sigh.

“Then
whoever is trying to frighten me is plugged into Aiden’s social networks. Maybe
we can figure out who the stalker is by who follows Aiden on Twitter and
Facebook.”

“Noah
already thought of that,” Aiden said. “Not possible, you have so many followers
on Facebook and Twitter. It would be impossible to sift through all those
followers.”

“This
is way too much drama,” Aiden replied, rubbing his temples. How did someone
narrow down one stalker in a city of eight million? He was glad that wasn’t the
only one working on this problem.

Lulu
woke with the morning sun slanting across the bed. Aiden and E.J. were gone and
for a moment she debated on whether to get up or stay in bed. Getting up meant
taking on the world yet again and today Lulu simply felt like she wasn’t ready.
The memory of her wrecked bedroom still sent shudders through her and all night
her dreams had been violently disturbing. She felt so vulnerable and violated. In
some ways it was worse than the night her parents died. She’d been too young to
understand and later, too numb.

Finally
she threw the blankets off and headed to the bathroom. Next to the shower was a
bag of toiletries and on a hanger a flint colored Lulu Wear twist dress. A pair
of plum colored Brian Atwood pumps. She smiled as she started the water in the
shower, Aiden was always thinking about her. She didn’t know what she’d do
without him. Bless his little heart; Noah was going to be so mad at him.

The
dining room was bright and cheerful with the sun shining directly into the
windows facing the garden. At least the normal January gloom was gone for a bit
until the next winter storm hit. Noah and Ian sat at the table, empty plates at
their elbows. The delicious smells of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage
emanated from the sideboard and Lulu paused at each dish to enjoy the aroma
before finally pouring herself a cup of coffee. For some reason she had no real
appetite this morning despite the enticing aromas.

She
sat down across from them. Ian’s computer was open and he typed rapidly. Noah
balanced his iPad against his palm. Noah looked up as she sat down and she felt
a little tingle at the flash of desire in his eyes. “Where are going you
today?”

Noah
lifted his head. “Chasing all the details on Aiden’s police report.”

Lulu
sighed. “Thank you for being gentle with him.”

Noah
smiled at her. “He felt bad enough.”

Lulu
returned his smile. There was a delicious heat building in her stomach. This
man could play her like a fine instrument. “Anything interesting?”

He
shrugged. “Overworked cop. There were two shooting in his neighborhood within
hours of the report. Lately the police have been spread thin.”

Lulu
rolled her eyes. “Thank you Neil Barrett.

“Yeah
he’s doing a bang up job.” Noah took a sip of his coffee. “So tell us about
Marcia Bennington.”

Lulu
sighed. Where did she start? Marcia had been a thorn in her side all her life. “Marcia
was only eighteen when grandpa married her. He was thirty, looking for a wife
to mother my father, who was only four years old. The marriage barely lasted
two minutes, but it did produce my Uncle Hiram and we all know about Uncle
Hiram.” She didn’t add the adult baby part since Noah already knew that. She
glanced at Noah, “Does it make you uncomfortable learning about so many dirty
little secrets?”

Ian
grinned and leaned toward her slightly. “It makes Noah uncomfortable, but I
enjoy learning all that.”

Lulu
leaned toward Ian, “Me too.” She and Ian shared a laugh.

Noah
simply shook his head. “About Marcia,” he prompted.

“She’s
never remarried. Even after the divorce and Grandpa marrying Penny, Marcia
acted as though she were still married to him. She was always calling him and
asking him to arrange for something to be fixed or chatting about Uncle Hiram. Grandpa
was accommodating. Aunt Julia once told me that Grandpa always regretted
marrying Marcia, but she was pretty and vivacious and made up for...for things
elsewhere.” Like a lack of empathy, Lulu thought. “Grandpa thought she’d make a
good mother for my father.” Lulu looked down at her hands. Talking about Marcia
stirred up old memories of her grandfather. She remembered the way he held her
hand when he took her to the zoo in Central Park. She remembered how she’d
loved the monkeys and her could do the best monkey impersonations. She
remembered how sad she’d been when he’d died and left a huge hole in her life. A
hole made larger a year later when her parents were murdered.

Ian
stopped typing. “Yet you take care of her. She lives in an apartment, rent free
in a building you own and according to your financials, you give her a generous
allowance every month.”

“The
money is hers; it was left after Uncle Hiram died. Wilder and I just manage the
trust fund.” If they didn’t, she’d blow through it all in a year. Marcia had
unusually expensive tastes and in Lulu’s opinion little self-control. Even Lulu
knew the meaning of the word “budget”.

“This
woman is how old and she can’t manage her own money?” Noah stated in amazement.

Lulu
gave a dramatic sigh. She tried to think of the right words. “Marcia and the
word “budget” never appear in the same sentence.”

Noah
looked surprised.

Ian
took a sip of his coffee and set the cup down carefully. “Women of Marcia’s
social standing were taught to look pretty, arrange flowers, and know which
fork to use. They were sent to boarding school to learn manners. My mother was
raised the same way. When life conspires against them, the majority don’t know what
to do, or how to proceed with their lives.”

Lulu
thought Ian sounded sympathetic. Noah looked perplexed. He glanced at Lulu,
“How come you weren’t raised that way?”

“Number
one, my mother’s family came from a farming background. Her family may have
owned the winery but everyone worked in the business. My mother picked grapes,
pruned vines, and worked side by side with the people in the field. The Bennington’s
may have money, but we’ve never been above getting our hands dirty.”

“You’re
saying this woman needs to be handled with kid gloves,” Noah said as he
finished off his pancakes.

“That
would be appreciated,” Lulu responded.

“That’s
why I’m going,” Ian said with a grin. “I speak her language.”

“You
don’t seem to like her very much,” Noah said.

“She
pretended to love my father, but the minute Uncle Hiram was born, there was no
place in her life for another woman’s child.” Lulu tried not to sound condemning,
because when Marcia was young there were few opportunities for a woman. She
either married, or went to work at job that befitted her social status. “Also, she
disapproves of the fact that I work. The fact that, in her words, I ‘let myself
go’ and possibly because we always preferred Penny over her.” Marcia knew she’d
lost out to Penny as an influence in her Lulu’s after her parents died. “We’ve
never been unkind to her. It just seemed Marcia was more interested in what we
are, then who we are. She’s also resentful of the fact that we handle her money
and dole out a monthly allowance.”

“That’s
some interesting family dynamics,” Noah said.

“Not
really,” Ian replied. “Not among people like Marcia.”

Marcia
had a sense of entitlement that Julia didn’t allow Lulu and Wilder to feel. Lulu
appreciated the way Julia had raised them. There were times she had chaffed
under Julia’s domination, but in the end she’d earned every little bit of
freedom Julia would give her and be happy with it.

“When
was the last time you spoke with her?” Ian asked frowning.

Lulu
wondered what he was frowning at. “Just after the holidays. Penny flies up
every year from New Orleans and we all go out to Julia’s house. Marcia and
Penny don’t get along so we put them at opposite ends of the house and when
they’re together they remain in neutral corners, for which Wilder is eternally
grateful.” Lulu loved the family drama. She could watch Marcia and Penny dance
around each other for days, poking and prodding at each other. All she needed
was a comfortable chair and a cocktail and Lulu was good to go. One year she
was going to get her catfight no matter how much Wilder hated the dramatics. In
fact, as long as Marcia was in the house, he kept a suitcase in the hall closet
in case he had to make a hasty retreat. Wilder always felt out-numbered by the
four women.

Lulu
finished her coffee as Noah looked at Ian’s. “Do I really have to go,” Noah
asked. “You can handle Marcia.”

“This
is a learning experience,” Ian replied with a grin.

“Noah,”
Lulu said, “Don’t worry. Once she gets an idea of Ian’s pedigree, she won’t
even bother with you. She will be all over him. She is a snob of incredible
proportions.”

She
heard Noah sigh. “What I read about your grandfather, he sounded like a regular
guy. Why would he marry a woman like Marcia?”

“He
wanted a mother for his son, a woman with impeccable bloodlines and she was
considered one of the most beautiful women in New York in her day. Even now,
she’s still beautiful. She looked good on his arm.”

“But
your grandmother, Margaret DeVries had a degree in architecture,” Noah said. “From
what I read about her, she designed a number of buildings here in New York and
a few more in Newark. I don’t understand how your grandfather could be married
to a woman like Margaret and turn around and marry a woman like Marcia who had barely
graduated high school.”

She
didn’t really know the answer to his question. “I suspect my grandfather was
lonely and Marcia talked a good game.” At times Lulu regretted not being close
to Marcia, but Marcia was always so disapproving of everything.

Noah
pushed away from the table and stood.

Lulu
poured another cup of coffee. “I want to take a moment to apologize
beforehand.” She hoped Noah wouldn’t judge her because of her treatment of
Marcia.

“I’ve
seen combat before,” Noah said. “I spent five years in Afghanistan and Iraq
surrounded by the Taliban. They didn’t like me either and they had guns. I
don’t want to go, but what’s one little old lady going to do to me?”