Page 28 of Degrees of Control
“Give me a minute while I change,” Chase says, raising his eyebrows at my look of inquiry.
“Chase, I’m going to pull in another team while you get ready and I want to make sure you both have GPS synced before you leave. I just need a few minutes,” Jay says, but avoids looking in my direction.
I eye Chase warily. “Are you planning to guard me yourself?” I ask.
“I think the security teams have that under control, but I am going to jog with you. I had an early conference call with Sid and haven’t had a chance to get a workout in,” he says.
“You’ve never gone running with me before,” I counter.
“First time for everything, Baby,” he says as he heads upstairs.
My parents come into the kitchen while I am waiting for Chase. She is wearing a long baby blue silky robe tied at the waist and pours a cup of coffee for herself and Carlos. “How did you sleep, Honey?” she asks.
“I slept fine, but the bed is so high I almost fell out of it when I got up to go to the bathroom,” I say.
Carlos laughs out loud— a deep belly laugh, and my mom scowls at him. I’ve never heard my dad laugh like that and his eyes light up with his amusement.
“What’s so funny about me almost hitting the floor?” I ask, placing my hands on my hips in mock annoyance.
“Your mom fell in love with that bed when we were younger and in a moment of stupidity, I bought the damn thing,” he says, smiling at my mom’s look of sheer disapproval.
“Well, if you had used the steps that came with it there wouldn’t have been a problem now would there?” she asks, smiling at him sweetly.
“She was upset when she learned I put it into the guest room and bought a different one for our room after she left,” he says, looking down at her. I look away, embarrassed at the raw and carnal gaze that passes between them.
“Well personally, I think you should put the damn bed back into your room and get one for the guest room that I don’t keep falling out of,” I say. He laughs out loud again and Mom scowls at me playfully. Chase comes bounding down the stairs in his running pants and hoodie, just as Jay places a GPS band on my arm. “It’s been synced with the security system, so we should be all set. Well, as long as someone doesn’t take it off,” he says while adjusting it.
I can’t help but smile as I recall the time I put the device on a park bench and him and his security team ended up following a skateboarder through the city when I needed time alone and wanted to give security the slip.
“Thanks, Jay. I promise I won’t take it off. It was a stupid thing to do and I won’t put you through that again,” I say to reassure him.
His eyes light up with a smile. “Don’t even worry about it, Kate. The team had you in our sights and we knew as soon as it started moving in the opposite direction that you were trying to give us the slip,” he says.
“I guess I’ll have to get a little more creative next time,” I say, secretly pleased with Jay’s look of shock.
Chase takes my hand and tries to hide his look of amusement at our bantering as we go outside. “Do you run with music?” I ask, as I put one of my earbuds in.
“No, Baby, it messes up my rhythm. I usually run while I’m going over stocks or just get in sync with my own breathing. I tend to pace myself to the music instead of my breathing, otherwise. Go ahead and listen to your music,” he says.
“I’ve heard that from other joggers, but have never been able to run without tunes,” I say, selecting my playlist and hitting shuffle. His stride is longer than my own and it takes me a few minutes to settle into my pace as we venture off. The grounds are surrounded by impressive tall green pine trees which embellish its perimeter and the lawn boasts of towering maples, all in a variety of red, green, yellow and orange color. The property is well cared for with manicured hedges along the walkways and several burning bushes scattered throughout the yard. I am finally getting into sync with my own breathing at this pace when Pink’s Raise Your Glass comes on. I am abruptly pulled out of my reverie by a hard brisk tap on my shoulder. Chase captures my hand and turns us around; his pace has quickened. I look up and see a large helicopter and then two, hovering above us. In a matter of moments, we are blanketed with security men, all carrying large rifles. Chase has a steady grasp on my hand and pulls me forward. It is a struggle to keep up with his stride as we run toward the house, but the security guards have us enclosed, leaving me no choice but to keep up until we are inside the house and he has closed the door shut behind us.
I take my headphones out in the foyer.“When will our life be normal? Alfreita will stop at nothing,” I say, still shaking and out of breath.
“Nothing you say is untrue, Katarina, but I need to confer with your father right now,” Chase says.
“I’ll be upstairs,” I say, turning to climb the stairs to our suite and shedding my clothes on the way to the shower. The warm water is relaxing, raining over me until the chill of the brisk air and fear finally subsides. I take my time getting ready and finally decide to go in search of Chase.
I stop dead in my tracks, mid staircase at the commotion. “How the fuck did they get that close, Carlos?” Chase says. I cringe at the angry, ominous tone contemplating whether to go into the study or head back up the stairs.
“I’ve got my best people looking into it. They’ll have answers soon,” Carlos says.
“They couldn’t have missed them. Jay realized they were flying too low for normal aerial movement and brought the helicopters and snipers out. Who knows what could have happened if he hadn’t. We handled it your way Carlos, but going forward Jay runs intel—with teams I can trust.”
“Chase, think about the implications.”
“If Interpol wants to come after me, so be it,” Chase says.
“Son, you’re talking with your heart and not your head. You don’t want to give them any more reason to suspect you at this point,” Carlos says.
