Double Lives

Chapter 2

Jay had received a call from Kim Ruzek the following morning, asking him to come over to the house. Being asked rather than ordered, although in reality it amounted to the same thing, had shown him that she might be in a less volatile mood than she had been the previous night at the casino. That was definitely a good thing.

It was just after noon when he arrived at the Ruzek house, which was possibly big enough to be called a mansion. He identified himself via the intercom outside the large metal gates, and they slowly slid open for him.

Kevin Atwater had the house's front door open when Jay parked up nearby and got out of his car. His Honda was a nice ride, but it still looked like it was disgracing the Ruzek residence by being parked outside it. Their fancy sports cars and SUVs were currently parked in a large detached garage with four doors.

"What's up, man?" Atwater said as the two men shook hands. They got along quite well, although they were almost never asked to work together. Atwater's job was to stay near Kim whenever possible, even to the extent of working as a secretary at her office at the casino.

"How are you?" Jay asked him.

"Doing good."

"What's the temperature like?" Jay asked. It was an informal code they used, referring to the mood Kim was in. The meanings of cool or hot were self explanatory.

"Fairly cool today. She's in the Oval Office." That was another humorous insider reference. Kim's home office had a desk with windows behind it that looked out onto the mansion's garden. Across the room from the desk there were two couches with a coffee table in between. The layout resembled the world famous office used by the President of the United States. True, Kim's office was rectangular not oval, but that hadn't stopped the unofficial name becoming established.

Jay nodded and proceeded through the house. Before he got to 'the Oval', he bumped into Adam Ruzek coming out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee in hand.

"Morning, Jay," the boss said cheerfully.

"Good morning, sir. I'm good. How are you?" Jay always addressed Ruzek as sir, not to kiss his ass, but to show the immense respect he had for the man. Adam had always treated him well, paid him very well, and had promised him that no matter what, Clementine would be taken care of for the rest of her life. That pledge meant the world to Jay.

"Pretty good. Not much time to chat, I've got calls to make. Kim's in her office. Have a good one."

"You too, sir."

They parted ways, and Jay completed the journey to the Oval, where he found the door open and Kim sitting at her desk.

"Jay. Come in, close the door, have a seat."

"Boss. How are you today?" he asked as he carried out the day's first instructions.

"I'm okay." She waited for him to sit down before continuing. "I should apologise for how I spoke to you last night. You caught me at a bad time, after that asshole mouthed off at me. Saying 'if she dies, so do you' wasn't right. You've always done your best for me, and you're appreciated."

Jay noted that she hadn't actually apologised. Too proud for that. But he nodded his acceptance of the apology that he hadn't actually received. "Thanks. I have done my best, and I will continue to. But don't mention last night, it's no problem. The important thing is you want me on protection duty for Erin. That's why I'm here, right?"

"That's right, you're protecting Erin starting today. I informed her last night. You're going to go to her house today and begin the assignment. Shouldn't be hard when she lives next door to you. I don't know if my previous cook died in a carjacking, or got taken out by someone making a play on me. So, until further notice when Erin goes out, you go with her. The lab, her dentist office, grocery shopping, whatever."