Security - 16. Chapter 16

“Okay, we have guests coming so you need to get the grill ready. I have steaks and chicken, so we need to marinate the chicken and make potato salad, you know how to do all that right?”

Laughing, “Yes, but not the marinade but I can find that on the net.”

“Let’s make a fresh salad to go along with the meal.” He nodded and we got busy.

“Everything is done, I’m going to get the guys, if Noah and Gwen show up offer them a glass of wine. I’ll be back soon.” I left a smiling young man. The drive to the hotel was a short fifteen minutes. I picked up Pete and his wife, Dave drove his car with Jim and his wife. They followed me back to the cottage.

Entering the cottage, Noah and Gwen were having a glass of wine. David and Pete knew Noah and Gwen from college. I stood back and watch the interaction, while I poured everyone a glass of wine. Bobby came in from the liana wearing an apron. “Ladies and gentlemen, I like to introduce a very special friend and our chef tonight, this is Bobby, my friend is a student at Noah’s university.”

The ladies fussed over him, he was cute and blushed. “Chaz, is this your protege?”

“Yes, he wants to be a marine biologist, he was a savior for my mom and dad when they were alive. My dad always introduced him as his grandson.”

I wasn’t sure if it was the wine or the breezes from the ocean, but it was a very cordial gathering, even Pete behaved himself. The food was perfect, Bobby outdid himself.

After a few bottles of wine, everything is possible. We sat around and chatted about college days, Jim was not part of our group but he and his wife sat there enjoying the company. Bobby turned in, he was tired I’m sure. “Chaz, I’m turning in. I’ll clean up in the morning.”

“Ok Bobby, good job tonight”

In the morning when I woke up, a young man was standing next to my bed looking at me. “Carlito, good morning” He ran out of the room, I heard something in Spanish. I suppose he was telling Rosa I was awake. I got up, showered, and got ready for the day.

“Good morning Rosa”

“Good morning señor, coffee?”

“Yes, thank you, I have a young man here who you need to meet.” I banged on Bobby’s door, a sleepy boy opened the door. “Bobby, get dressed you need to meet someone.” About twenty minutes later Bobby came to the kitchen. “Rosa, this is Bobby, he’ll be living here while he attends the University. Bobby this is Rosa who will be our housekeeper and this young man is her son, Carlito.”

What is it about young people, Bobby had Carlito laughing? I watched as Bobby started to tickle him, his laugh was a welcome sign. “Breakfast is ready, Carlito, come here.”

We all sat at the table, while Rosa refilled our coffee cups and servers our breakfast. “Rosa, you and Carlito join us.”

She smiled as she fixed Carlito’s plate and one for her. It reminded me of a family, it was nice and I watched as Carlito kept looking at Bobby.

“Bobby, I want you to come with me this morning. Rosa, I placed a box in the cupboard with grocery money. I’ll check it once a week and add money as needed.”

Breakfast finished, Bobby and I drove to the hotel, only I didn’t stop at the hotel. I kept driving till I came to a cycle shop. “I need to go and take care of a little business here. You can stay in the car or come with me.”

I knew there was no way he would stay in the car. “I’m going to look around.”

“May I help you?”

“Yes, I have a son who is eighteen, I’d like to buy a cycle that he can ride to and from school. What do you have?”

“We have two units that he could use, but I would recommend this one. It gets good gas mileage, easy to handle, and has top security.”

“What about accessories?”

“He’ll need a helmet and probable a carry-all. This is a top-of-the-range helmet, notice the head protection, the lining is a soft absorbent material that would absorb some shook and the straps hold the hat away from the head allowing some movement if he is in an accident. We have saddlebags for carrying books and things.”

“Great. Here is my credit card ring it all up.”

“Thanks, I’ll throw in these glasses as well.”

While he was writing everything up, “Bobby, what do you think about this bike?”

“It looks very nice but it is too small for you. You need one like that over there.”

“No, I think this one is perfect for what I have in mind.”

“Here is your card back. Here guy, try this helmet on.”

Bobby looked at me, I smiled as the salesman put the helmet on Bobby and adjusted the straps. “As soon as I check the oil level and fill the tank you can drive it out of here.”

“You bought that for me?”

“Yes, if you’re going to stay at the cottage you’ll need transportation to school and back.”

“I’d thought I’d stay on campus. I know the scholarship didn’t include housing but I have some money saved which I’d use.”

I made sure that a dorm wasn’t included. Living at the cottage will be better for studying and not as distracting as living in a dorm. Lee and I thought if we had an option we would’ve lived off-campus.

“You’ll do better living off-campus. Living in a dorm is distracting, a lot of noise and you don’t know who your dorm mate will be. That could be either good or bad. When you get a chance ask Noah about it. I think that first year he went through three dorm mates. I was lucky and only had one who turned out to be my best friend. If you meet a classmate that shares your interest, you can invite them to the cottage. If they stay longer than one night, you should let me know.”

“Here you are sir, all ready to go.”

“Bobby, you know your way home?” He nodded his head yes as he pushed the bike out of the store. I watched him get on it, start it and ride away.

“I need to pick up some fishing gear. Any ideas?”

“Yes, go down to the intersection, make a left and you’ll see a store on your right.”

“Thanks” I followed his directions and sure enough there was a sports store. I parked across the street and went shopping.

“May I help you?”

“Yes, I just bought a cottage close to the ocean, I’d like some fishing gear and gear for crabbing. What do you have that I need.”

“This is a good rod for surf fishing.”

“Yea, my dad had one like this. He did a lot of surf fishing. So I’ll take two of these, what about gear for crabbing.”

“You won’t catch any crabs in the surf.”

“No, but there is a pier and there is some old man there who crabs every day.”

“In that case, this will do nicely and you’ll need a can to carry them home.”

“Great, I’ll take two of the gear and three cans, one for the old man.”

I think I made some salespeople very happy today. On the way out I saw a book that describes several types of fish and crabs. I picked it up, put the money on the counter, and left. Now to get to work and earn the money to pay for this stuff. Arriving at the hotel, I went to the room where the guys were meeting. “About time you show up. Leave all the work to us to do.”

“You always tell me I know nothing so let’s see what you geniuses came up with,” Laughing, I got a cup of coffee and sat down.“

We broke it into three packages, the outside, the office area, and the residential area.”

“You forgot one more area, the public area. With an open house, there will be a lot of people passing through. We need security and particularly guards against a thief. Give that some thought, in the meantime send a wire to the General and tell him we have broken the security into four parts. Set up a meeting with him when you have it all laid out and I’ll have the plane ready.”

“Okay, we were planning on returning home this Friday if that is okay.”

“You all have your return tickets so go ahead and make your flight arrangements.”

“We had a good time last night, is there a repeat in the works?”

“We land this contact and there will be more than a repeat.”

For the rest of the day, I reviewed each of the three proposals that were finished and then we priced them out. “Don’t forget the contingency fee.”

By six pm we were finished and Dave had sent a telegram to the General. Now we had to come up with a security plan for the common tourist area. Recording cameras would be the main element with a secondary camera back up in case someone tried to destroy the main camera. Sneaky but necessary where priceless antiques are on display.