The Bodyguard

“So,” I paused. “What’s going on?”

Completely ignoring what I said, she asked, “When can we catch him?”

“From how Joe explained it, it looks like we’ll have to wait for him to try and assault someone. That someone can be you, and then I’d come in from there. I’d use my super spidey skills.”

She giggled. “Oh so it seems like someone isn’t completely lifeless. You actually have a humor.” I said. Her face went flat again.

“I just never thought of Lucas as the bad guy.”

“Lucas. Is that his name?” She nodded her head. “Well, it’ll help if you give me some information. I doubt you told everything to the police being that you look like you’ve been crying real hard. When was the next time you were suppose to see Lucas?”

“Actually, it was in a few days. On my birthday, Lucas was gonna take me out.”

“Hm. Well, Lucas is going to take you out. He will try to kill you and I will stop him. Tell me, has he been acting funny lately?”

“What?” she said alarmed. “Seeing Lucas again was not in the plans! What if you can’t stop him?”

“I will. I’ll explain it to you at the park and I’ll tell Joe the next time I see him. We’re almost there anyway. Relax.”

Veronica wasn’t like any other girl. When I said, “Relax” she actually seemed less tense. We hadn’t said anymore words to each other. It went on like this for the rest of the walk.

* * *

When we got there, we sat at a bench away from all the children and parents. “Okay, so here’s the plan—“

I was cut off by a man jogging towards us. “Hi Veronica. Whose this?”

“Hello, Lucas. This is my friend, Tawn.”

Crap. Had he been following us? I specifically made sure we were seated away from the people. What was even worse was that he now had my name. He could find me in the phone book. My home was no longer safe. I should have told her about names. Whether or not I have a gun, he could break into my house and kill me in my sleep. Oh well, looks like I’ll be in a hotel for a while. He interrupted my thoughts saying, “Nice to meet you, Tawn.”

“Nice to meet you too. So what brings you here?”

“Oh. I had decided to take a jog in the park. Gotta get those endorphins moving.” He said with a grin.

“Great. Well, Veronica told me a lot about you. You’ll be taking her out for her birthday right?”

Veronica had her focus on the birds. She was watching them pick worms out of the grass.

“Yes—yes I will.” He glanced at his watch. “I’ll catch you later, Veronica. And it was a pleasure to meet you Tawn.”