Divorced! Now what?
Chapter 152

Scott POV

Since Bethany was taken the second time, Theo has become a little obsessed with security. I have to admit it was a hard pill to swallow twice on my shift. Regardless of whether the so-called FBI was supposed to be watching her, I had taken on that task, and my team dropped the ball. So, I can understand Theo grumbling at me about the last two kidnappings and how he needs to set up a better setup for the security in his new house. I feel a deep sense of responsibility for what happened and a strong commitment to prevent it from happening again.

I am headed over there now to start setting it up. I will add a feature that was not asked for, a security feed that is straight to me. The moment anyone enters the grounds by the gates by force, I will know. If someone manages to climb the fence and makes it to the house, I will get informed. I will not drop the ball again. I will also have drive-bys at all hours of the night.

My phone rang as I arrived at Theo's new address. Some workers were already there, so I sat in my car, watching the men as I answered the phone.

'Scott speaking.' I said, not checking the phone before answering as I usually would, too distracted in my thoughts. 'Scott, Jacko. I tried not to cringe when I heard his voice. It is rare to hear good things when he phones.

'Hi Jacko, how did the sports day go?' I didn't attend as intended but got called out at the last moment. 'Babies and weddings. Jacko said and started to fill me in. I was not surprised about Theo, but regarding Bob, I thought Pam was on birth control. That was what Bob had said. Even that can fail, and it should be covered up in the same way.

'I called to inform you that the account has been searched, and we expect a reaction shortly. The airports and shipping have been alerted, and if there is any movement, I will let you know! Jacko was cryptic, but I knew what he meant.

'Any thoughts on whether they will target Bethany for this?'

'No clue, but it's better to take precautions just in case.' Jacko sighed on the other end of the phone.

'I am setting up their new home now and will add a few personal touches; I have let them down twice, and I won't let them down again.' I grumbled back.

'The second one was not on you. He tried to soothe the pain that I felt, the guilt for not making the men stay regardless of what they said. 'Still on my watch, I will wear it!

'I won't try to talk you out of that. I wanted to let you know that you are part of the wedding; I wonder if I mentioned that. He chuckled. 'What? Would you like me to organize security?'

'Nah, better than that, you are to be best man.' I groaned; I hate wearing monkey suits. But what an honor! I can't wait to be part of it; Hank has always made me feel like I was part of the family; he was there when my family was killed, took me under his wing, and nursed me back to health. I have been with him for years and would do anything for Hank and his family. I owe him big time.

'Best man for who, Theo or Bob?'

'Theo, of course, and I get to walk Pam down to Bob; that will be different for me. He sounded so happy and delighted with himself. He brought back this subject to put the bad news behind us, as I have little to do until there is movement. 'Theo will contact me and fill me in with what he wants. Should we do a bucks night out? What do you think?' 'Better off asking Theo. With both women expecting, I doubt either would want to be too far away from their lady!

'Both. I still can't believe that Pam is pregnant, too; I was sure she said she was on the pill.' I voice my thoughts again.

'Yeah, but she had a bug and was on antibiotics. She had had a week off work with it, so maybe that caused the pill not to work. I have heard about that sort of thing happening!

'I did not know; I remember her having a cold but did not realize it had got that bad.' She came around full of sniffles, and I shooed her away. I did not need to catch it.

'Catch you on Saturday, have things to do. Jacko more or less hung up before I could say goodbye. I chuckled as I heard the phone go dead. He must have had another call or some other urgent need. He is one very busy man.

I climbed out of my car and started to walk the yard's perimeter, getting an idea of what was over the fences and where blind spots could be. Before entering the house, walking around the rooms and the flat, I would touch that until the men had done their task and set it up. Knowing Bethany, she might have them pull down internal walls to expand her lab.

'Hi Scott, you doing the security?' Danny asked as he came out of the flat and saw me sizing it.

'Yep, got hidden places you need me to work on?' Danny often gives me work, and I do the same. His places are more selective; several people need the type of builds that are his specialty. He had expanded a little in the last few years, but not by much, as he is in demand for what he does.

'I have a high-profile home where I am putting some high-tech stuff. I think you should have a look at it. It may not need your security team as I think he has his own, but I would like someone else's view on what I see! Code for something illegal may be going on. 'When.'

'Can you come by my office tomorrow morning? We can go there after I give you more details. I have guys there today doing some finer work and coming by tomorrow under the guise of checking up on the work progress.

'I can do that. I would need to place an order next door to you, so that would work great for me! I shake Danny's hand and leave with work to do. After Jacko's call, I need to organize more extensive details on Theo, Bethany, and others connected to this case. It is going to be interesting to see who they go after. Who they believe might have their money. I doubt they would consider that the police have it. Deciding to detour before heading back to the office, I pulled up at Hanks's place on the off chance he was home. Hank opened the door before I had finished walking up the steps to his door; the gatekeeper must have informed him of my arrival.

'Hi Scott? Been at the new place?' Hank is on the ball and never misses a trick.

'Yep, getting the place's basic layout and then working on putting it in. I want to wait for the flat to be finished or close to it before I start there!'

'Good idea. The kettle is on; want a coffee?' I followed Hank to the kitchen, where Kitty was icing some cakes.

'Hi Scott, I'd like some cake from the oven.' Yep. I love visiting here.

'What do you think of the house?' Hank asked as I sat down with a coffee already in front of me.

'It should be good once the referral is completed. A good old house that has been well maintained over the years will take little to put all the security measures in place; they had a good one before. Jacko said I am to be the best man. Do you know if that is true?' 'Theo has not got hold of you yet?"

'Nope.'

'I will get him to contact you. He should have done that by now. What did Jacko want?' I looked at Kitty, who placed more cakes in the oven.

'He just filled me in with Sunday's activities and all that news; it sounds like a fun day!' Hank noticed my glance at Kitty and picked up the fact that I would not discuss it here.

'Grab your coffee and come to my office. I have some blueprints of that house that are from the original building; you might like to see.' I picked up my coffee and followed Hank to his office. I pulled open a drawer and pulled out a rather sizable yellow blueprint, a funny name for it, as it was not blue. It was odd that Hank had blueprints of that house, but looking at this one, he had a number of house blueprints. His explanation was that when he was going to re-design the den, he went to the boxes in the storage shed and found he had one for nearly the whole street, something his father had gathered over the years. Loving old house designs, he would collect them.

We leaned over to look at the blueprints, and I told Hank about Jacko's situation. He thanked me for not mentioning it in front of Kitty and promised to keep him informed.

As we left his office, Theo walked in with Bethany at his side.

Just the man I wanted to see. Theo said in a way of greeting.