Jack Murphy entered the luxurious office and walked to the receptionist's desk. The lovely young girl behind the desk smiled brightly and asked, "How may I help you Sir?"
Jack looked at a paper in his hand, "I am Jack Murphy and I have an appointment to see L.B. Ryan at 10:00."
"Please be seated Mr. Murphy."
He saw a seating arraignment off to one side and picked an upright chair and sat without even glancing at the array of magazines on the table before him. He watched the receptionist perform her duties. He could see that she was very competent and efficient in her tasks. He couldn't hear what she was saying, but whatever she said was crisp and short.
Jack looked at his watch; it read 9:58 when a door to the right opened and a very attractive young lady walked over to him. "Mr. Murphy, please come with me, Sir." She turned and walked toward the door. Jack smiled to himself, L.B. Ryan sure had a good eye for women, the one he was following was beautiful and a delight to observe as she strode ahead of him. The girl opened a large door and motioned him in. She smiled and pointed to a chair in front of a large desk. She left and he observed the desk. This was a functional desk with dual computer monitors and several phones. Papers and folders were carefully arraigned in several rows. One folder sat directly in front of the empty chair behind the desk. There were no framed photos on the desk. He noticed several mounted fish adorning the walls. All were salt water fish and looked to be large specimens of several verities of game fish. L.B. was evidently a sportsman.
The door to the left of the desk opened and an absolutely stunning and gorgeous woman entered and smiled. "Good morning Mr. Murphy, I am Laura Ryan; I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long."
Jack jumped to his feet, "No Ma'am, not at all."
She grinned, "I suppose you are curious about what you are doing here?"
"Yes, Ma'am I am very curious." He couldn't take his eyes off of this vision of beauty. She was tall with long blond hair and looked like a runway model showing the very latest in business attire.
"Perhaps you remember Commander Tom Ryan. He is my brother."
"Yes, of course I remember him. He was in command of the Seal Team I was assigned to when I resigned my commission."
"Right, I called Tom a few weeks ago and told him what I was looking for, a good man, young, single, attractive, intelligent, with good manners and still a tough man to act as my bodyguard. He also had to be capable of acting as my chief of Security and be able to handle cars, boats and aircraft, and above all be a super bodyguard. He laughed at me and said I was looking for 'Superman'. Then he said he knew a man who fit the description perfectly if I could find you. He gave me what he knew about you and my people found you for me."
"Ma'am, I really appreciate your brother's confidence in me, but I am not really looking for work right now. I just got out of the Navy after six years and I just want to kick back and relax, go fishing and travel a bit. See some new places."
"Jack, if that is what you want this job will be perfect for you. You will be my fishing partner, and I dearly love to fish. I am a fly fishing addict. Let me get my present chief of security to brief you. Incidentally, he said I would never find a man to fill all of my requirements." She pressed a button and said, "Send Frank in please."
An older man entered and looked at Jack, his eyes popped wide open, "Jack Murphy!" He looked at Laura, "Damn girl, you did find the perfect guy. I never thought he would be available, I thought he was a career Navy man." Frank extended his hand and Jack grinned and they shook hands then embraced each other.
Jack smiled, "Frank, you old reprobate, I thought you had retired and were just sittin' and rockin'."
"Well, this is a great job but I am not able to fulfill all of this sweet lady's needs. She is the best boss in the world and she really does need you. Her business requires she go to some really rough places. She also needs a bodyguard that looks like a boy friend and can fit right in when she goes to elegant parties and other functions and be to able to converse with high class people. You are perfect for the job; it won't be work for you. It'll be a long vacation."
Jack looked at Laura, "Ma'am have you ever fished the flats around the Keys west of Key West, Man Key, Mule Key or Woman Key, for tarpon or permit?"
The smile on Laura's face grew to a grin, "Oh! No I haven't fished them, are they good?"
"Ma'am, they are spectacular. You need to try them, I know some top guides who can put us on fish."
"Do you ever fish with flies?"
"Yes. That is my weapon of choice. My best fish on the fly is a 210 pound tarpon."
"Holy Cow! I have been wanting a 100 pounder so bad! You must be damned good."
"Ma'am, any fish you catch on the fly has a big dose of luck involved in it."
"Mr. Murphy, my name is Laura, OK?"
"Only if my name is Jack."
"Deal! Will you take the job?"
"Yes, I would always wonder about it if I didn't take it."
"You didn't even ask about the money."
Jack grinned, "You mean I get paid too!"
"Yes, Jack, will $100,000 to start be OK?"
"Plus expenses?"
"Of course."
"Fine, what do I do now?"
"Frank will get you checked in with the HR people, then brief you on the security assets we have in place. You will live in a company owned apartment next door to me. Frank will have someone check you out on my cars, boats and planes. I'll give you a week to get up to speed. I want a progress report from you every day over lunch. Right?"
"Yes, Ma.. .Laura."
Laura smiled as Jack left with Frank. She pressed a button and said, "See if you can get my brother on the phone, please."
A few minutes later her intercom buzzed and a voice said, "Commander Ryan is on line 3."
Laura picked up the phone, "Hi Tom, you were right, he is perfect. I think I am falling for him already. You were right about the fishing, I think that is what sealed the deal. How can I ever thank you Tom. I believe you have found me a husband who is exactly what I have always dreamed of. It is up to me to land him now. I love you Tom."
"You know I love you too, Sis, good luck. He is the finest man I have ever met."
"I have to agree with you. He smiles at me and I tingle all over."
They said their goodbyes and Laura hung up, swiveled her chair around and looked out the window. She pictured Jack in her mind, she knew he was very intelligent, she had to play this cool or she could run him off. She pressed the intercom again, "Please contact Mr. Murphy, he is with Frank, tell them I unexpectedly have to go to New York for a week and I am leaving in a few minutes. Tell Mr. Murphy I will let him know when I am available again."
Jack spent the week learning the in and outs of the business. Laura had inherited the business from her father. It was an import/export operation with millions of dollars changing hands. Laura was actually the sole owner of the business and did not have a need to have hands on control of every aspect of the business. She was the chief negotiator and dealt with the principals in any deal. In some cases with certain countries or cultures large sums of cash changed hands, often referred to as 'baksheesh', sometimes she received the payment, other times she paid the cash to sweeten the deal.
Her best protection was that no one knew exactly when or where the exchange was to be made. She had her own small jet and could appear suddenly with no advanced notice, she would usually depart the meeting place in another way. Sometimes by car or boat, to another airfield, where her plane would land and depart within minutes. The people she dealt with would be notified of the place the meeting would take place and a time frame of a week. There had been several attempted hijackings of the meetings by they were foiled by good intelligence. The exchange of monies electronically left a trail that was unhealthy for some customers.
Frank would handle the intelligence aspects while Jack would be Laura's constant companion. This was her idea and how it would be handled was largely up to Jack. Jack was given a company credit card and told to improve his wardrobe to include expensive suits, sports clothes, and everything a wealthy young man would wear. He also purchased everything he needed in the way of arms and ammo. He spent some time on a shooting range perfecting drawing a concealed weapon and hitting multiple targets. He was already very good, he had his clothes retailored to conceal his weapons. Physically he toned up his already very fit body.
A week later, Jack was instructed to meet Laura at her apartment next door at 7:00 PM. He put on gray slacks and a white turtle neck sweater, boat shoes, and a blue blazer. He rang the bell at 6:57 PM. There was a short delay before a black maid opened the door. "Mr. Murphy I presume!" She said.
Jack smiled, "Absolutely correct! Is Miss Laura in please?"
"Yes Sir, she is expecting you, please follow me to the family room." Jack followed her and the maid showed him to the family room. It was a large room with a spectacular view of the city below. The maid disappeared so he walked to the window and looked out across the city.