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“You checkin’ out my bod?” he yelled back. “You want a good look? I’ll drop the towel.” By that time, the door was closed, and she was gone. She had a boyfriend, but she was still fun to tease.
He dressed and walked down the hallway to the big conference room. As he pushed through the door, he saw a man up on the big screen on a video chat with Chris.
Chris glanced over at him. “JD, this is my best operative, Grady Steele. I’m sure he’ll take good care of your daughter.”
Wait. What?Grady came to a stop, and his eyes shifted to Chris, giving him a questioning look.
“Grady, this is JD Wyatt of Wyatt Oil.”
Holy shit.The man was a legend in Texas.
“Fantastic,” JD growled in a gravelly voice. “I’ll go with your judgment on this. I just emailed you a list of all of her events and itinerary over the next month. I’m trusting you, Chris. She’s my baby.”
“She’ll have the best protection, sir. I saw the schedule. Noticed some kind of shindig this Saturday. Can that be removed from her schedule?”
“Not a chance. It’s a ball benefiting a charity very close to my wife’s heart. She runs it every year. Tinsley wouldn’t miss it.”
“Yes, sir. Mr. Steele will meet her plane.”
“Fine. I’ve got three bodyguards on staff now, but I’m not sure they can provide the elite service you can. Mr. Steele, they’ll take orders from you. Understand?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Thanks, Chris. Call me if you need me.”
The video ended.
Chris put a photo of Tinsley Wyatt up on the screen. “This is the high value target. Tinsley Wyatt. JD “Boone” Wyatt’s youngest child and only daughter. The Wyatt jet flies into Dallas tomorrow. You’ll meet the plane.”
Grady studied the photo and whistled.
“We don’t get involved with clients, Grady,” Chris reminded him.
“Got it.”
“Not that you’ll have a chance; she’s dating Palmer Pace, an ivy league lawyer with political aspirations. He’s set to announce his candidacy for Earl Blackman’s soon-to-be-vacant senate seat.”
“So, she’ll be a senator’s wife…” He couldn’t drag his eyes from her image.
“They aren’t engaged yet, but JD said there should be an announcement on that very soon. He’s pushing hard. I’m guessing he wants a friend in Washington who's got a sympathetic ear to the oil industry and to him in particular.”
“I guess having that connection also be your son-in-law is gravy.”
“I guess so. While you were in the showers, I did a little research. Seems Palmer Pace is the oldest of three sons. Daddy’s had political ambitions for him since the day he was born. From what I’ve dug up on him, Wyatt probably thinks Palmer will be easy to control.” Chris lifted his chin to Tinsley’s image. “If ever I smelled an arranged match, it’s these two.”
Grady folded his arms and leaned against the conference table. “Why do you say that? Maybe they love each other.”
“They’re hardly ever together. Tinsley spent the last month in Paris. Before that it was a trip to Singapore. Before that, Egypt. Before that, Tahiti.”
“So, the girl likes to travel.”
“Wouldn’t you take your significant other on those trips? She went alone. Just seems like they prefer their time spent apart. I think she’s dragging her feet and trying to avoid a proposal.”
“You don’t know that for sure.” Grady shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter to me, or affect what I do to protect her. So fill me in on the threats.”
“JD thinks his business dealings have put a target on her back. I asked him to name the possible threats. He gave me a few. Biggest threat seems to involve a land deal with mineral and drilling rights that left the seller with a bad taste. Thinks he got swindled. There was an incident at an oil rig. It looked like an accident, but JD thinks it might have been sabotage.”
“What else?”
