19
Vidar walked down the stairs, he didn’t want to leave. He knew he couldn’t go inside, but every instinct in him told him to stay and guard Charlie. The evening air was cool as he stepped outside, Malcom was waiting across the street, but Vidar walked around the block, just to make sure the detective wasn’t lurking nearby. Vidar shouldn’t have k*ssed her, he thought as he got back into the car.
“Home, Malcom,” he told his driver.
“Yes, sir.” Vidar took out his phone and called Caine.
“Vidar,” his long–time friend and the one in command of Vidar’s men answered.
“Put five of our best men on Charlie. One will keep watch over her apartment, the rest will keep watch over her,” Vidar said.
“It will be so.” Caine hung up and Vidar sent a message out to the Thursday club, he needed a call. He really shouldn’t have k*ssed her. But after watching that man claim her mouth, it had been down to either k*ss her and replace the man’s claim with his own, or kill him. Vidar had a feeling Charlie wouldn’t have liked the second option. It would have been satisfying to end the weak man’s life. But Vidar found even more satisfaction in claiming Charlie in front of him. The clean up would have been easier if he had killed him. Now he needed to move his plans forward.
Vidar sat down in his home office and used the computer only used for his other life. He logged onto the meeting site and into the meeting room. Most of them were already logged on and waiting for him. Only Millard was absent.
“Vidar, this better be good. I have other plans,” Henry said.
“I promise this will be worth you taking an hour away from whatever plans you have,” Vidar told him. They waited in silence until Millard logged on, five minutes late. Vidar frowned. The young man was like a disobedient teen, trying to provoke by breaking the rules, not realising he only made himself look like an idiot.
“We are all here, at last, talk Vidar,” Nasir said, sounding impatient.
“I am proclaiming an intent of laying claims to Charlie,” he told them. There was a silence and Vidar studied the faces on the screen. Jun was stoned faced as always. Henry, Nasir, and Adisa looked like they were trying not to smile, Millard looked pissed.
“What the f**k! What right do you have to make a proclamation?” Millard spat.
“Oh come on, Millard. You really had no idea this was coming?” Henry asked.
“Vidar has never asked a waitress to sit on his lap, not even maidens. He is the one that is always composed around them. It has been entertaining to watch him suffer,” Adisa said.
“He hasn’t so much as looked at her the latest Thursdays,” Millard objected.
“Millard, shut up. There are greater things in motion than your petty jealousy,” Jun said. “Vidar, are you telling us the first root of an imprint is in place?” he then asked.
“It is,” Vidar said, knowing well it was well past that.
“I will acknowledge your proclamation and respect it until the decision is made,” Nasir said. Henry, Jun and Adisa followed and made the same promise. Then everyone waited for Millard. He still looked pissed. But after huffing for a while, he folded and made the vow as well.
“Thank you, my friends,” Vidar said, and he meant it. Having their support was going to make the coming weeks easier.
“Were do you plan to go from here?” Nasir asked.
“I need to tell her everything. I can’t start something without telling her. I will arrange that when I see her on Thursday. But we have an issue,” he told them. They all perked up. “Charlie has a former suitor that isn’t taking her no as an answer. I have her under surveillance. I might need to take action,” he said. The others all nodded, even Millard. They all knew he wouldn’t hold back when it came to Charlie.
“We will have your back,” Jun said.
“Thank you,” Vidar said again. The call ended shortly after. He sat for a while, letting his calm exterior spread to his insides. They had acknowledged his right. He could relax, for now. He started making plans for what he would do next as he made his way out to the kitchen to make himself something to eat. It reminded him of Charlie’s growling stomach, and he smiled as he took out his phone.
V: Did you calm the beast?
The answer took barely a minute to arrive.
C: Yes, some crispy duck did the trick. Have you eaten?
V: I am making something right now.
He waited a minute as he didn’t know how to ask her what he wanted to know.
V: Do you feel okay?
C: I’m fine
V: You feel safe?
C: I know I should be nervous after what happened, but I’m not.
V: Good. You can relax, nothing will happen. I will see you on Thursday. Sleep tight lilla lo.
C: I will take your word for it. You too Vidar. Thank you for today.
Vidar looked at the last message and smiled. He flipped the omelette onto a plate and ate it, leaning against the counter. Thursday was four days away. There was no way he would be able to keep away from her that long. But he would be good. He would watch her from a distance and let her have some space. She had been through a lot in a short amount of time, and she was heading into something even more intense. He could give her some breathing room.
Monday morning Vidar sat in his office as usual, reading through his emails. His intercom buzzed. Lucas had told him numerous times it was old–fashioned and could be replaced with something more modern. But miss Julien, his secretary, liked it. So it stayed.
“Yes?” he answered.
“Mr Peniro is here. He says it’s urgent,” she told him.
“Let him through.” Lucas came walking into his office.
“Mr Grim, the security desk just called. The police are heading up to look at our system. I wanted to let you know,” he said.
“Thank you, Lucas. Keep an eye on them. Report to me if you see anything out of the ordinary or if you get a gut feeling something is off,” Vidar told him.
“Yes, sir,” Lucas agreed. Vidar expected him to leave, but he remained.
“Yes?”
“Is Charlie coming back?” Lucas asked. Vidar was actually surprised by the question.
“We need to keep her away from this investigation. Once it’s over, we will look into it,” Vidar said. Lucas nodded.
“I know she is the one who discovered the software the first time and I’m guessing this detective Herald was her contact person. I get why it’s a good idea to keep her away from all of it. But she is the best IT security person I have worked with, even better than most of the once I have run across on the dark web. We should try to keep her knowledge within the company,” Lucas said.
1
“I will do my best,” Vidar told him. Lucas seemed satisfied and walked out of the office. Vidar shook his head. He needed to make sure he handled things with Charlie in a good way.