Expect the Unexpected

Chapter Two

    It was late, later than Vincent would like to be out but he had gotten an urgent text message from an old friend of his. There hadn’t been many details but he knew his friend wouldn’t just message him to meet for nothing. Reaching out on the bar he slid his phone close to him and unlocked the screen to peer down at the last message that had been sent to him.

‘I’m sorry to bug you so late but listen I am in your area and was wondering if we could talk. I have a job offer for you and it’s really serious. Can we meet at Charlies Bar & Grill ASAP?’

    Of course, Vincent had accepted the meeting and was now sitting there, waiting for his friend while wondering what could be so important. The guy was an agent so it wasn’t like his life was ever in any danger and god forbid if he wanted him to watch over some snotty brat he’d really give his friend an earful. Letting out a long breath he looked up to the bartender who approached him, giving the man a slight nod, “one old fashion and one moscow mule.” Leaning back into his seat the man let his bright blue eyes slide across the bar and stopped at a television that had on the news. A shooting? His eyebrows drew together as he leaned in and read the captions before shaking his head.

    “f**k,” running a hand through his black hair that was combed back then ran both hands over his shaved sides as he lowered his head. Shaking his head back and forth, he already knew what this favor was going to be and who about.

    “Thanks for meeting with me, how have you been?” Marcus’s voice cut in, causing the larger man to lean back in his seat to glance over to Marcus. Vincent raised a dark brow before he shook his head.

    “Let’s cut to the chase Marcus and skip catching up. I am guessing that has to do with your favor?” As he said ‘that’ he pointed in the direction of the television before shaking his head. “Dude just let the police handle it, I am sure they will catch the shooter in no time.” As he said this their drinks were placed down before them and Vincent reached for the old fashioned and pulled it close before pushing the other drink towards Marcus.

    The older gentleman accepted the drink and took a sip before he spoke up, “Vincent that girl is my god-daughter, her parents were good friends of mine much like your father was a close friend of mine.”

    A laugh came from Vincent as he just about spat his drink out, looking over to the other man he had a surprised look in his eyes, “who in god's name made you a god parent and why haven’t I heard of this before?”

    The older man gave a casual shrug as he looked away and brought the glass close to his lips, “because back in school you were a playboy and trouble maker. The first comment remains to stand, why else wouldn’t I introduce you to her? She’s like my daughter,” with that he took a sip of his drink after insulting Vincent who laughed and smacked his hand on the table.

    “Well I be damned you do have fatherly instincts! Anyway, back to the topic, my answer is still no Marcus. For one she is a star which means drama and bratty attitude, second the cops will take care of this easily and finally I don’t do the guarding anymore. I simply just run the business and make sure my men are taken care of.” Taking a few sips of his drink he placed it back down before leaning back and lacing his fingers together as he placed them behind his head.

    Marcus smacked down the glass and shot a glare at the stubborn man beside him, “too f*****g bad. I am calling in my favor, you know, the one I got after covering your ass back when you were in high school.” The man smirked as he saw realization smack Vincent on the face. “Yeah let’s not forget I lied to my friend, your father, for the sake of you not losing your chance to get into the military because of some crazy party. I’ve held onto that card and I’m using it now.”

    “Of all the damn thing’s you could ask of me; money, a f*****g house, a trip anywhere you like but you are asking me to babysit?” Vincent shook his head in disbelief before letting out a frustrated sigh.

    “I don’t care if they find the guy within the next twenty-four hours, I want her to be watched at all times until he is found. I want you there at her side at all times, at the same hotel as her and I want the threat taken care of if he dares show his face again.” Marcus had a firm tone which made Vincent groan as he knew the man wasn’t going to budge and he did owe him one. 

    Tossing the rest of his drink back he smacked it down on the table as his face scrunched up, “fine. I’ll pack up tonight and be at the hotel tomorrow morning. I will be calling the shots though. Tomorrow only the three of us will sit down and discuss things, hopefully the cops will have the man in cuffs by then.” Vincent muttered the last part which made the other man punch him in the arm.

    “Quit your bitching Vinny,” pinching the man’s cheek made the larger one growl and smack the hand away. Marcus just chuckled as he finished off his own drink and slid the empty glass away. “Thank you, I’ll text you the hotel’s address. I better head back now.” Reaching out Marcus held his hand out to Vincent who took it in a firm hold and gave it a small shake before releasing it.

    Once Marcus left the bar Vincent sat there for a moment and cursed as he pulled out his cell phone, “definitely not my luck tonight.” Pulling up the internet the large man began to look up his client so he’d have an idea of what she looks like, the type of music she plays and anything that may give him an idea of her personality.

    His thumb slid over the screen as he scrolled through various pages, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth as he couldn’t find any true flaws on the female. There would always be rumors about stars but with this girl he was not finding anything solid. There were many charity events she attended, small concerts for small towns, she even had it where last year's tour gave a share of it’s money to veterans while this year she was donating money to Save the Children! The female seriously had to have some dirt on her, especially if she was so giving; nobody was ever actually good.

    With a huff he cleared the pages off of his phone and slipped it into his pocket before he pulled out his wallet. Pulling out a bill he placed it beside his empty cup and then stood from his seat. Tomorrow he would just have to see how this girl was himself and figure out how bad this situation really is. “Please arrest the guy,” Vincent grumbled as he slipped out of the bar.

    “I thought I told you no decisions without me.” The amount of grumpiness in Clarissa’s tone couldn’t even be measured as she sat at the small table in her hotel room, elbows propped on the hard surface with her hands fiddling with her plastic spoon and a Styrofoam bowl filled with cereal between her elbows. Those green eyes of her’s followed Marcus who was pacing at the door with his face glued to the screen of his phone.

    “Technically this is false, you said no final decisions till today, you didn’t specify that you were the one to make the final choice.” Lifting his head from his phone, he looked over to the young woman and oh boy if looks could kill! Clearing his throat he lowered his phone as he let out a long breath. “Listen, this is for the best, okay? God forbid if your parents were still alive and I didn’t put a bodyguard on you I would be six feet in the ground right now. I made a promise to them and to you to always keep your protection as my top priority.” At this point he was using a firm fatherly tone that made Clarissa just sink in her seat with a frown.

    It was hard to argue with the man when he was just trying to look out for her, still she didn’t like the idea of having someone hovering over her constantly and not even knowing them. “It’s probably a good thing you never had a child of your own, you’d probably be worse than you are now.” Giving a small tease, Clarissa let out a slow breath and looked down to her honey nut Cheerios before pushing them across the table and dropping the spoon into the bowl. She was trying to eat but her appetite wasn’t there yet. The events of the day before were still clear in her mind and every time she took a bite she felt it threaten to come back up.

    Standing up from the table Clarissa ran her hands over her knee length black leggings and adjusted the long bright green thin sweater that covered past her ass. It wasn’t like she was really going anywhere for the day so she wanted to be in some comfortable clothes, even her hair was braided in a sloppy manner as it hung over her shoulder.

    Grabbing the remote off the table, she faced the television and held it out only for it to be snatched out of her hand and Marcus giving her the look. “No more television and also no phone for now, god-forbid you probably were stressing yourself all night looking at every news article and theories on social media!” Shaking his head he tossed the remote on the bed before glancing at his phone to see that it was a little past nine in the morning. “Vincent should be here any minute, put on some real pants please.”

    Tilting her head to the side, an eyebrow shot up before she glanced down at herself. “If this guy is going to be around me for awhile he minus well get used to my lazy days.” Even as she said this though she walked over to the dresser, opening up the second drawer and pulling out a pair of jean shorts which she simply slid over the top of her leggings. “There, pants.” Letting out a small yawn, Clarissa plopped down at the edge of the bed and picked up a folder that was there. Opening it up she saw all her concerts, the dates and places neatly organized. “I thought I said I was still going through with my tour, so why is everything printed out and tucked in a folder?” As she asked this she folded over the sheet to look at the one behind it that had her hotel’s listed and room numbers.

    “We will discuss that when he...oh he’s here.” Marcus heard a firm knock on the door which made him turn away from Clarissa, his hand reaching for the door and pushing it open without a second thought.

    A black muzzle was pointed past Marcus’s shoulder, a long muscular arm stretched out and hand gripping the gun with ease. “Bam, dead. Marcus if you had looked into the peephole you would have seen I had my gun drawn, don’t always think whoever is at the door is friendly.” Vincent’s tone was firm as his gaze cut the older man before flickering over to where his gun was pointed. 

    The look of shock and horror on Clarissa’s face was clear but when the man lowered his gun to stick it back into his hip holster she let out a long breath, listening to how the man spoke to Marcus. It seemed Marcus didn’t appreciate the introduction as he glared at the much taller and intimidating man.

    “Damn it Vincent that wasn’t necessary!”

    “Obviously it was, lesson number one, check before answering a door.” With that, Vincent stepped inside of the room and closed the door behind him with a loud bang. Looking over to Marcus for a moment, he raised an eyebrow as though waiting for an argument but when none came he let his cold stare move over to the young woman who sat at the bed with her hand gripping a folder tightly. Maybe drawing his gun out after seeing someone get shot before her wasn’t the smartest idea but lessons had to be taught.

    Clarissa’s grip on the folder loosened as she took a deep breath, mentally shaking herself from the shock as she placed it back down on the bed and stood up. Carefully she approached the much larger man, her eyes carefully reading the dangerous man before her. Reaching out, she held her hand out in front of him, “hello I’m Clarissa.”

    Looking down at the small hand the man let out a sigh and reached out to take her hand in a firm hold, giving it a small shake before releasing it. “Vincent, hopefully though you won’t have to be a client for long.” His tone was casual and he heard his friend clearing his throat behind him, “what? I am being honest! Want me to say, I look forward to watching your back while you have a killer looking for you? I think we’d rather the person be found sooner rather than later!”

    At first Clarissa’s eyebrows shot up from the rude comment but when he further explained why he worded it the way he did it actually made sense. “True, thank you for coming here, I hope you're as good as Marcus’s claims you to be.” Speaking softly she moved away from the larger man and over to the table where she took a seat once again.

    A snort came from Vincent as he turned to look at Marcus then over to the star with a smirk on his lips, “believe me I am. It’s just a matter of how well my client’s actually listen to me. I can’t protect someone who refuses to take my advice and go against my every rule, so as long as you do listen this shouldn’t be an issue. In your situation I’d say hold off on your concerts until you the person is caught.”

    “Seems you’ve got to work harder then because I am not going to do that, my mind is already made up and if Marcus is making you say that…” Her gaze slid to her god-father who held his hands up.

    “No I didn’t so don’t blame me for what he says, he doesn’t listen to anyone but himself,” glancing to Vincent he saw an irritated look on his face.

    “I am standing right here,” shaking his head he strolled over to the bed to snatch up the folder, “this the information I asked for?” Seeing Marcus nod his head allowed Vincent to flip open the folder and look over the dates for a moment. 

    Seeing the dates made him shake his head, pushing the paper forward he took a glance at the second sheet and rolled his eyes, he would swear the girl was setting herself up for death. “Seriously? Every little detail was this easy to gather so what makes you think a stalker can’t gather all this information as well?” Walking over to the table he tossed the folder in front of Clarissa before shaking his head. “You are going to have to make some sacrifices princess,” turning his attention to Marcus, he shook his head once again. “I figured you would know better than anyone to be careful.”

    “It’s not like we knew a stalker was going to come along, if I knew that I would have reserved hotel rooms a week before.” Marcus shot back before they both heard Clarissa clearing her throat.

    The young woman had her hands clenched together and her lips pressed firmly into a thin line as she looked between them both before eyeing Vincent, “first off don’t call me princess, that was rude and uncalled for. Second, let’s not argue and go over things.” Her voice held a bit of irritation but for the most part she just looked tired. It was hard trying to keep herself together in front of other people.

    “Agreed,” taking a seat, Vincent reached across the table to pull the folder towards him and open it back up. “Marcus got any highlighters and pens?” 

    Walking over to the door Marcus picked up a bag he had dropped there when he had come in. Making his way to the bed, he stopped in front of it and plopped the bag on top; reaching inside of the bag Marcus pulled out a small pencil holder and tossed it over to Vincent.

    The man caught the pencil holder and placed it down beside him, opening it up and pulling out a green highlighter and a black sharpie. Uncapping the black sharpie the man let his gaze flicker up to the star with an eyebrow raised. “So either I can start scratching out concerts myself or you can pick which one’s to cancel yourself.” 

    “Excuse me, what?” Clarissa had a shocked expression on her face as she looked over to Marcus who refused to even make eye contact with her. Shaking her head back and forth, she looked back over to the man who was currently trying to dictate her life! “I said I was doing my concerts.”

    “And you will, but to do so involves sacrifice. You will need to mess with your schedule and cancel shows. If someone is actually after you then they could be waiting at your next show and setting up a trap. Canceling will throw the killer off, will have to guess which show you will actually be appearing to. There is still a high chance they will eventually wind up at a show but for now this can throw the person off and make them rethink their next plan of action.” Placing the tip of the highlighter down on the paper, he drew lazy circles as he held onto those bright green eyes of her’s.

    Looking down at the folder, the young woman bit down on her lower lip as she thought over his words carefully before getting upset. The guy made a valid point, honestly everything he said so far made a lot of sense, she just hated to have to let so many people down. Any time a concert had to be cancelled when she was going to see someone she’d be disappointed but the fans, well most of the fans, should understand it’s for her safety. So with a frustrated sigh Clarissa gave a slight nod of her head as she held her hand out, “I’ll do it.”

    Vincent stared at her for a moment, his bright blue eyes looking carefully before he plucked the sheet out of the folder and slid it over to her before he pulled out the hotel's sheet and held it out. “Marcus you may want to call and cancel every single hotel reservation.”

    “Why not wait till after she crosses out the concerts she won’t be attending and just cancel the reservations that I need to but keep the one’s where she’ll be having her concerts?” Confusion was written on the older man’s face.

    A groan came from the beast of a man as he ran a hand over his face before he glanced over to him. “It wouldn’t take a rocket scientist to get the information of where the star Clarissa is staying. We will be cancelling every reservation and once she has her concerts picked I will be doing research of hotels in those areas and put them under my name as well as pay for them myself. Let’s just hope we hear back from an officer at the end of the day before we set anything into stone.”

    “Do you need us to transfer the money into your account first?” Clarissa asked as she looked up from her current task and tilted her head to the side.

    An amused smirk was caught on Vincent’s face as he turned to look away, “no. I probably have more money than you sweetheart and the only check I’ll be accepting is what I charge after all this.”

    Parting her lips, she was about to ask a question but thought better of it. They didn’t know one another and she felt like it wasn’t her place to ask any personal questions. Plus, the guy seemed like a bit of a jerk so she didn’t need a reason for him to be any ruder to her. So with a shake of her head she looked back down to the paper, “I won’t argue with how you want to go about this. It makes sense to me,” glancing to Marcus she could see her god-father glaring at the sheet. The idea of having to call every hotel to cancel probably seemed annoying to him but she knew he would agree with everything and would do so.

    “Now that we are all on the same boat, we can go into further details of what I have planned after we hear a report for an officer on the situation.” Giving a small sigh, Vincent leaned back into the chair as he pulled out his cell phone, looking up random things and scrolling around on the internet. “So who is the current suspect?” He figured he’d strike up some conversation on the topic to figure out what all he may be dealing with.

    Sitting across from the man, Clarissa shifted uncomfortably in her seat as her gaze dropped to the table. Just thinking about explaining to a guy like Vincent about how it’s her ex sounded miserable, she could already imagine the kind of reaction a person like him would have. Taking a deep breath, she released it slowly and looked down at her hands, screw it, “my ex boyfriend is the suspect. I honestly don’t think he did it but the cops are still looking into it right now.”

    There it was, the judgmental expression. Vincent’s eyebrows were knitted together as he stared from the young woman then to his friend before shaking his head. “Good grief, seriously? This is all so ridiculous,” Vincent grumbled the words under his breath and the reaction resulted in a firm smack upside his head from Marcus.

    “Someone is dead Vincent, so no, it’s not ridiculous and I’d like for you to be a bit more respectful.” The tone in the older man was annoyed, he was at the edge of his patience with Vincent at this point.

    “Excuse me,” Clarissa suddenly stood up, her head turning away from the men as she felt frustrated and hurt. The guy was just obnoxiously rude and wasn’t being careful with what he said. So she made her way straight to the bathroom where she pulled the door shut behind her a little harder than she meant to and pressed her back against it. She was doing her best to come off okay and calm, but that brute was not helping in any way. Lifting her hands to her face, she closed her eyes and took a couple deep breaths to calm herself down only for the opposite to happen. Vivid images appeared behind her eyelids, the image of Lawrence’s body falling in front of her and the shot of the gun ringing in her ears. It made her body tremble, she had been useless, unable to save someone in front of her. Not only that but she was the reason for his death, it was her fault.

    Tears pricked the back of her eyes before they found their way to the surface, the shock of the events from the night before finally slamming into her and catching up. Moving over to the sink she turned on the water, full blast, and placed her hands on the edges of the sink as her head lowered. Silent sobs wracked her body, tears slid down her cheeks as she struggled to keep herself together. A tornado of emotions came next; fear, sadness and anger, so much anger. 

    Pushing her hands under the running water she cupped them and filled them up before lowering her head and splashing the cold water onto her face. She knew crying wouldn’t solve anything, being angry wasn’t going to help; no she just had to push through this and hope for the best. So after about five minutes of washing her face off and drying it a little too roughly she finally left the shelter of the bathroom with a red face from drying it too roughly.

    In the bedroom was now two more people, Officers Logan and Terry, both having strained expressions; already she knew she was about to get some bad news. Taking a deep breath, she forced a smile at the two men but ignored the two who had been bickering moments before.

    Standing off to the side, Vincent had his arms crossed as his gaze moved over to Clarissa for a moment; it wasn’t hard to tell the girl had been crying. A part of him felt a bit guilty, as though he may have pushed her to that point but he had just been speaking the truth, just bluntly. Sighing, he shook his head and looked to Marcus who was on the opposite side of the room at this point. After Clarissa had retreated to the bathroom the two of them had been whispering harshly over how it was most likely the ex and the situation would be handled swiftly; at least that’s what he had been hoping but when the officers came in and refused to talk to Clarissa came out, he already knew thing’s weren’t going to be as black and white as he had hoped it to be.

    “Miss Holden, I’m sorry that we come here with some bad news, you may want to take a seat.” Officer Logan spoke in a careful tone.

    The violinist stood there for a long moment, her gaze moving from Marcus and then the seat. Slowly she made her way over to it and took a seat, crossing one leg over the other before placing her hands over her knee to grip. “What’s going on? Did something happen?” Clarissa struggled to keep her voice straight, instead it wavered a little it felt as though a cold hand was wrapped around her heart. Moments ago her body had been hot from the emotions she had been feeling but now she was left feeling cold.

    “Ma’am, we went to Clayton Lathorne’s home this morning, nobody answered the door and a neighbor had come out to inform us that Mister Lathorne hadn’t been home in about a month. So we went ahead and entered his home, there were no signs of forced entry or anything.What we found odd though was a few guns seem to be missing and there was an empty ammo box under his bed. We had a list of his registered guns and that is how we noticed a few were missing. We currently have a warrant out for his arrest, so hopefully someone will see him and call him in.” Falling silent, the officers gave Clarissa a moment to absorb what they were telling her. “It’s looking very possible that he is the killer miss; a month missing gives a person plenty of time to look over where your concert was held and set up a plan. Chances are he is lying low. There’s many possibilities but this is all we can do for now.” 

    A curse came from Vincent as he looked down to his feet; could this guy be caught soon or was he good at covering his tracks? “Was there any video footage of the crowd during the concert last night? What about prints?” Looking between both men, he saw them exchange a look where he already got his answer, “seriously, are you about to tell me there’s nothing?”

    Officer Terry let out an annoyed breath, “no. Right now we are waiting for a file on the guy to come in from his previous Commanding Officer, try to get an idea of who Clayton is exactly.” At this Vincent balled his hands up into two tight fists, a small curse coming from his lips as he looked to his official client.

    “Military? What exactly did he do?” At this point the man was practically grinding his teeth and it made Clarissa cringe under his harsh gaze.

    Taking a deep breath she looked away and shrugged, “he didn’t talk much about it. I know he’s a good shot from the few times we went to the gun range together. I wasn’t the type to push someone about stuff like that. It was before I dated him.” 

    Shaking his head he looked over to the cops and began to pull out his wallet where he had some business cards stashed. “Whatever you find, send them to my email or call me, I am her hired bodyguard until this is taken care of.” Once one of the officers took the card he looked back over to Marcus, “start cancelling those hotels, Clarissa start doing your task.” It was time to get the ball running.