The Art of the Trap
Amber woke up early—baker's hours now ingrained deep into her bones. She lied in bed for twenty minutes not really sure what to do—nervous energy buzzing through her like annoying flies eager to walk across her skin.
She sighed. She refused to be gripped by fear or confusion. She threw on some yoga pants and a sports bra and went to find her current personal bodyguard—that wasn't difficult since he was standing right outside her door. He looked at her clothes and understood what was in store immediately.
He pressed his finger to one ear and spoke. "The French baker's boss is going for a jog."
Amber cocked her head at the codename but shrugged. She wasn't being stopped, so she headed out. She and her bodyguard were stretching when two more bodyguards rode up on one of the mansion's carts—the passenger was holding a rifle. Amber raised an eyebrow but finished her stretches like nothing happened.
As she jogged around the estate she felt an odd cleansing sensation—as if she had allowed some unknown smothering emotion to collect and solidify within herself for years, but now it was dislodged and leaving her system.
The estate looked so different to her now. It was more than just land her grandfather bought her; the house was more than something her father built her. These things were part of her Lance identity, her legacy, and she had taken them for granted.
Why had she needed to give a part of herself away? Was she secretly wanting a reason to return or wanting to force Dan to remember or think of her?
She had been a fool. The pair jogged a wide tract around the estate twice, the cart never leaving their sides.
She jogged up the beautiful black marble and iron staircase renewed and focused.
Even after she showered and redressed, the sun had just barely begun to rise. She looked to the bracelet and pen—she had decided to understand them as much as possible. They had both been given to her without any explanation and she refused to ask.
The pen was actually a rather expensive gold fountain pen. She turned it over in her hand and made sure she did not press the top of it. It was heavy, the metal smooth and cold in her hand. She frowned and put it with her computer—it would now be her favorite pen and good luck charm in her work endeavors.
The bracelet was also expensive—a white gold two-carat tennis bracelet of beautiful flawless princess cut diamonds. The clasp was a complicated intricate thing made of white gold and an obsidian black metal that shined like dense liquid.
Squeezing the clasp alerted everyone on her security detail at once. They would not only be alerted to her location, it would be pinged out in real time until it was reset. Also, the clasp became "broken" once triggered, and could not be reopened unless the bracelet's system was reset.
Amber put the luxurious thing on and went down to do what calmed her nerves—bake.
A few hours later the breakfast room and lower kitchens smelled of fruit and savory muffins, croissants, and focaccia breads.
Damon Jr. and Samuel had just arrived and Amber was suddenly glad that she also played with doughs to help herself go to sleep—as she watched Samuel make a sandwich with the focaccia.
Dan sat next to her. She felt his nervous energy and she looked at him with a frown. His eyes went wide and she shook her head as she looked to Damon Jr.—she did not have time to scold him.
She was getting annoyed with him. He seemed to be only thinking about solidifying things between them while her mind was on her business and the employees she was now responsible for.
"What have you two found out?"
"This Shaw is nasty work." Damon looked at the second oldest son of the Lance family and pursed his lips. "How are you stuffing your face when we are here about Amber's safety?"
Samuel shrugged. "Calm down. Good bread as usual little sis. Anthony Shaw has no modus operandi. He is proficient in a myriad of weapons and techniques, and he is insanely smart and cunning."
He sighed and shook his head.
"We would never see him coming; Jessica decided to use the best. But don't worry, I already hired two teams outside his purview."
"Outside of his purview?" Amber's nose crinkled in confusion.
"He locks down digital footprints around his targets as well. He will know about your lake house renovations because of permits you have to file."
"What!?" Dan and Damon Jr. spoke at the same time, terror lacing their voices. Dan fought not to reach out to Amber; he had seen how she had looked at him earlier—he could sense things slipping away from him.
Amber was deep in thought. Her lips pursed and her mind caught in complex calculations.
"Thanks, Sammy." She sat forward and cocked her head, a frown on her face.
"I left Cristina and Calvin Tucker in charge and they have both been giving me updates since last night. My lake house will be ready in three days."
She looked to Samuel with a nod. "The permits will say that." She looked to Dan. "We have to all play nice; you're coming to the family dinner tonight. I want Jessica to see that you and I are side by side. Let's work into the conversation that you are ready to take a bullet for me." She paused with a shrug.
"If she wants to play games, we will play games. I will stay here and on day three that lady you have out there to be my body double can go stay at the lake house. She can take a bag of my stuff with her and use my clothes there."
She looked at the three men, who were now staring with their mouths agape, over her cup of tea. She then looked to her current security shadow and he nodded—telling her he had already reported the idea to the security team.
Samuel scoffed as he took a banana nut muffin and began making another sandwich. "You are truly smarter than any of us ever expected—seems like Virginia was right the whole time."
"Making her smarter than me." She stood as a redhead woman dressed in security gear entered. "Come in, Ma'am. You don't need to learn how to bake, but you do need to learn my mannerisms. This hitman seems to be a bit of a super villain. He will be hard to fool."
The woman—Teresa—nodded and they got to work.
A dark armored SUV crossed the stateline of the state next to the Lance and Trace families' state. The car's WIFI system alerted. "You have a new 'tech watch' alert:
"Residential building permit issued 24 hours ago for lake house fortification work. Permit approved due to city ordinance code A:6731-b. The permit stipulates work will be completed in 3 days and done within city and county compliances."
The driver—Anthony Shaw—smiled. "Amber Ann Lance-Trace is as arrogant as she is smart. There is no amount of fortification that can save you when I am an expert in explosives, is there, biochemist?"