Dangerously Damnaged Goods

The Call

Conner Kincayde: I told Kathy not to worry about it, I would take care of everything. Kathy stood in front of me with worry written all over her face. Kathy had told me about the past events of how Bobby and her had met. How it was no mere coincidence. Bobby had followed her to gain information on the case she was working on. Very few people knew the case was ongoing. The few people that knew were those who were involved in the case and one other that had caught wind of the case and that was Bobby himself. I myself didn't know what the case was truly open for, but as Kathy spoke about the few things she knew, everything started to fall into place. Kathy had informed me that Bobby himself was in on taking portions of the companies company's money and that he had stolen stock from some of our high end customers accounts. The only thing she couldn't make sense of is how he did it alone, but I knew exactly how he did it and that he was not alone. After reassuring Kathy that she and her daughter would be fine, I explained my plan to Kathy. We made some accommodations for her and Emma. After she told me how bad it is at home and how she had caught Bobby watching Emma like a predator watching its prey. I told her I'd make arrangements for Emma to stay in a hotel. The more I thought about Bobby doing something to harm the beautiful Emma, the more I wanted her closer to me. I made some arrangements for Emma to stay in the hotel room down the hall from my own sweet. My phone rang and I looked at the caller ID, Micheal. He had taken Emma back to her apartment to grab her and her mother's lunch. I quickly answered. This is Connor, what's up?, I ask. Carter, we ran into a problem. While Emma was at the apartment, someone else was there, Micheal said. Whoever it was, locked Emma in the bathroom using a board wedging it between the door knob on the floor. They trashed the apartment. When I went up to check on Emma, the apartment door was wide open, Micheal continued. Is Emma alright? Was she hurt? Did the guy hurt her? I asked angrily. s**t i'm letting my feelings show a little more than I should. It's a good thing I made the arrangements when I did,I thought to myself. How far out are you? When will you be here?I asked him. We are about twenty-five minutes away sir, Micheal says. Good, come straight to my office when you get here, I said before hanging up. I informed my men up front to wait at the entrance of the office for Emma and Michael to arrive. I let Kathy know what had happened and she burst into tears with worry. She wanted to continue to go home to the apartment tonight. She was afraid that whoever it was could have known about that flash drive; only a few people knew she had tried to continue working on the case in secret. I believe the person that broke into their home knew more than she thought. Either Bobby sent someone to their home or it was Valorie herself. Kathy thought Bobby would do something to hurt Emma, which made me wonder if it was Bobby himself at the apartment, but whoever was at the apartment didn't do any harm to Emma. When they return to the office I am going to talk to Emma and Micheal more to get more details on what had happened. In the meantime, I am going to make a call. I called some of my men that were following Bobby and Valorie today, letting them know I needed an immediate update on both of their locations. My phone rang again and one of my men was on the other end of the line. Sir, I'm calling to give you an update. Valorie still hadn't left the hotel and Bobby returned to the hotel thirty-five minutes ago,he said. Sir, I'd also like to report that Bobby had left just hours ago and was seen leaving his apartment from the back alley about forty-five minutes ago, he continued to say. Alright, thanks for the updates. Stay on them. Let me know if anything else happens, I said before ending the phone call. I leaned back in my office chair and thought about the time frame and the distance between the hotel and the apartment. The hotel is only twenty minutes away taking the short route and Micheal said they were about twenty minutes away. If Bobby left his apartment forty-five minutes ago and arrived back at the motel thirty-five minutes ago he could have taken the long route to the hotel and stopped anywhere in between. It takes about thirty to forty minutes to get to the apartment from the office in midday traffic. That only means it had to have been Bobby at the apartment. The only thing I can't figure out is why did he destroy the house? Why did he lock Emma in the bathroom? Why did he not make himself known and just say he was on lunch given the time of day? Bobby must know that we were watching him or maybe he was just trying to scare Emma. I'll have to investigate more. For now, I think it's best if we act as if nothing happened and Kathy tells Bobby that Emma is at a friend's house. Then I wondered if Emma had any friends given that she had been held up in the apartment and Bobby leaving chores to fill her and Kathy's day. The longer I sat thinking and going over things in my head, the longer it seemed time dragged by. While we all waited for Micheal and Emma to arrive back at the office, I sat with Kathy and told her the information my men had just given me. I didn't tell her that Bobby had been with Valorie at the motel. Neither did I tell her all my thoughts on how Bobby could have been at the apartment. She was already worried that Bobby might try something on Emma. I did not want to provoke Kathy, I needed her to be on top of her game to pull off this plan. I explained to her that I had a team of men following Bobby, to see if we could figure out who he was working with. If he is working with anyone at all. Although I knew Bobby was with Valorie, I didn't want to tell Kathy that, not knowing if she could continue to submit to Bobby after knowing the truth. Before I said anymore, Kathy cut me off. Mr.Kincaid, I don't put it past Bobby to have been at the apartment. I'm not sure why he was there or why he destroyed the apartment, but with the time it takes to get to the apartment and the time he arrived at that motel, he could have easily taken the long route and stopped anywhere in between. Kathy spits out, surprising me with her fast wits of thoughts. This woman was not stupid in the slightest bit. Yes, that was my thought as well, but I didn't want you to fear for Emmas' safety, I say. Though I think its best that Emma settles into the room I booked for her tonight, I continue to tell her. I will have around the clock security on the floor. I will stay down the hall in another room if anything happens or if you need anything, I'll call you and Emma will have her own phone. I say reassuring her. Emma could have a friend to stay the night in the hotel room with her if it makes her comfortable. It also would be more convincing to Bobby to see the two together, I say.

Kathy: After informing Carter of everything, I started to go find Emma and sit down and have lunch, when Carter ran out into the hall and called me back to his office as he waved several of his men inside as well. My first thought was that he had somehow thought I lied and was now going to investigate me or worse, but as I approached him and his men, I heard him telling them to wait at the front entrance of the office. He told them to keep their eyes open and watch their surroundings and make sure no one followed Emma and the driver back to the office, as well as telling them to be sure to escort Emma into the building. I looked at Carter with a raised eyebrow. I'll explain everything in just a moment, he says. After the men left and took their positions up front, Carter had explained Emma had forgotten our lunch at home. When she and his driver went to the apartment to get it, Emma was locked in the bathroom by someone and our house was ransacked. The driver had left for only twenty minutes and didn't go far. When he returned, he didn't see Emma waiting outside. After a few minutes, he went up to the apartment to check on her. When he got to our apartment, the door was wide open and he heard Emma beating on the bathroom door. He said someone had wedged the door shut, locking Emma in the bathroom. Carter said it was best to start coming up with a plan on figuring out what steps to take next and i couldn't agree more. He had told me he had men following Bobby today and he was at a hotel probably scheming someone else no doubt, or meeting up with someone. What really got my attention was Carter said Bobby was seen leaving the apartment just ten to fifteen minutes before arriving back at the hotel. That is not a coincidence. Bobby would have been there at the time of the incident. I told Connor of my suspicion and he had the same thoughts as I did. I just didn't understand what he was looking for or why he wrecked the place. My first thought was that he just wanted to scare Emma, but I know that if that was the case he would have done worse. Which is the only reason that leaves me to believe it could have been anyone else in the apartment. I put my thoughts aside for a moment and listened to Carter's plan. I wanted Emma to stay somewhere else tonight, so it came as a relief when Connor said Emma could settle into a room at a hotel. He said he would be in the room just down the hall from her and he would double the security on their floor. I knew Connor was a trustworthy man and smart as well, but I also knew my daughter was very beautiful and young. I have watched Conner and the way he looks at Emma. He had a spark in his eyes and that night they first met the way he gently wiped the blood from her nose, the way his tone of voice turned soft when he spoke to her. I already knew Carter was smitten by Emma. I just hope Emma is smart enough to take her time in whatever she decides to do and not rush into something that may not work out. Emma will be eight-teen in just three weeks and it's time she started to live a little before getting out on her own. I accepted Connors' statement, but when he mentioned Emma bringing a friend along, I felt bad knowing Emma had been so lonely all this time. Connor, I'll be honest, Emma doesn't have friends, let alone a boyfriend. She talks to very few people and those that she considers friends won't come around because their parents don't want them around Bobby and I. After the news came out about Bobby being involved in laundering your father's money and selling client information and me being fired and accused of being an accomplice, all of Emma's friends stopped coming around. Emma's first boyfriend broke up with her when the news and rumors broke out. He told her he couldn't be seen with her anymore and told her he didn't want to know someone like her. Emma grew to ignore all the nasty things people would say. Eventually, they left her alone but she never tried to kinder any friendships, I tell Connor. I felt sorry as soon as the words fell out of my mouth, I felt like I was betraying my own daughters' trust. I quickly corrected myself. Emma is a good girl and I'm sure she has friends but none that would be able to come stay with her. Bobby never let her have friends over and always made sure she was too busy to live the life a teenager should, I say. Well, maybe Emma can think of this as a vacation, a little girl's time to herself to do as she pleases, or maybe I could see if Monica would want to go stay with her for awhile and help her settle in, Connor suggests. I think that would be great, I say. What do we need to do as far as getting Emma's things from the apartment, I ask. I'll have Monica ride with you and you can pack her small bag with just the things she would need for school. As far as clothes, Monica can take Emma to get some new clothes if Emma is alright with that and, if not, we will figure something out, he said. Sounds okay to me. We just need to be sure to do this before Bobby returns to the apartment, I say. If we hurry and gather her things and the flashdrive while he is gone and do a quick sweep of the apartment, then Bobby won't suspect a thing, I tell him. I will have a few of my guys and Monica go to the apartment and start packing Emma a bag. I'll need you to tell Monica what to grab for Emma and where the flash drive is, Connor says as he calls two of his men and Monica into the room. Monica and the men rush out the door when they get their orders and I give Monica a list of things to grab for Emma and instructions on where to find the flashdrive. Connor then called the men he had to tail Bobby all day and made sure Bobby was still at the hotel. Once confirmed, he said to notify him if Bobby leaves at anytime. After Connor got off the phone, I told him that once Emma and Micheal got back we would need to call Bobby so he wouldn't think we were onto him. Right we need to stick to the regular plan. We don't want to spook him, Connor says. We both agreed to call Bobby as soon as Emma got back and fill him in. Connor was going to have a friend from the police department go check out the apartment before we call Bobby and after Monica and the two men were on their way back to the office. After, Emma calms down, I will explain everything to her. After work I would return to the apartment and tell Bobby I had Emma go stay with a friend from school where it'd be safer. I am going to give Bobby doubt that Connor knows anything.