A/N – Alright, since Georgiegirl75 asked nicely. You get two chapters today.
Chapter 3 – Direct Threat
Liz hopped into the limo and then sipped on some champagne as they drove to pick up Kelly and Robin. After glancing at her phone and seeing that her father had left her several messages, she ignored them and decided to deal with him tomorrow.
As they piled into the car, she smiled.
"Nice cleavage," she said eyeing Kelly's outfit.
"Thank you."
They all toasted to a good night out.
"Hold on." Kelly dialed her phone and put it on speaker, so Liz turned down the radio. "Hey loser, what are you doing?"
"I'm in the middle of something," Sam whispered.
"I'm sure you are…" Robin said.
Laughter filled the limo and then they heard a guy's voice in the background.
"Please tell me you are not with him."
"I've got to go. Have fun. Bye," Sam said before hanging up the phone.
They groaned.
"We need to de-Brodify her."
They toasted to that.
The limo pulled up to the club and they got out.
"Come in beautiful ladies," the bouncer said with a smile as he stared at Kelly.
They sauntered past him and she slowly turned. "Take a picture next time."
The girls laughed as they went inside and then made their way to a private seating area and ordered some drinks. Some rapper walked in and nodded at them and they smiled. A few minutes later, he sent over a bottle of champagne.
"This is yummy," Kelly said sipping it.
Liz had sat her little purse on the couch next to her and they were distracted by a few more people who had come in and were chatting with them.
She excused herself to go to the bathroom. When she was finished, she went to get her lipstick out of her purse and saw a piece of paper in there. She didn't remember putting anything like that in her purse, so she curiously took it out and read it.
"You're gonna die."
For a long moment, she stared at it and then fearfully, she looked around in the bathroom to see if she is alone. Pulling out her phone, she tried to reach Kelly and then Robin, but they didn't answer, so she dialed Sam. Panic starts to build in her body and she's scared to go anywhere alone.
"I know this sounds crazy, but I need you to come get me right now."
Sam sat up in bed hearing the fear in Liz's voice.
"Where are you?"
"I'm at Club Excess."
"I'll be right there."
Sam glanced at Brody, who is sleeping, one last time and then jumped up, throwing on a dress and freshening up her makeup in case she had to go inside and then grabbed her keys and jumped into the car.
Liz texted Kelly and Robin to let them know that she had to leave and that they could take the limo. She left the bathroom and motioned for one of the security guards.
"I'm sorry to bother you, but do you mind walking me to the front? Some guy has been following me and he has me a little freaked out."
He smiled at her and led her through the maze of people. She is relieved when they made it to the front and she stepped outside making sure that the security person could see her. Finally, Sam pulled up and Liz hopped into the car.
"What's wrong?"
Liz handed her the note.
"Shit. Where do you want me to go?"
"My parent's house…"
Sam nodded and then started to drive. "I take it this means you're going to take them up on the bodyguard?"
"At this point, I'd be willing to get about ten of them."
Sam smiled, but inside she is very worried. Elizabeth is tough, but we all have our breaking points. Her father seems to constantly attract trouble and everyone around him had to pay for it.
They pulled up to her parent's gate and Liz typed in a code and then they waited for it to open and drove inside.
"Let me know if you need anything else," Sam said before hugging her.
"Thank you."
She watched Sam drive away and then realized she didn't have the key to her parent's house with her, so she walked around to the side of the house and tapped on the caretaker's window. Finally, William's face appeared in the window. He gave her a 'thumbs up' as she made her way back to the front door.
"Elizabeth is everything okay?"
"It will be. I'm going to sleep in my room tonight if you don't mind."
"Of course not, you are always welcome here."
The butler had always been very kind to her. She said goodnight and walked up the staircase to her room. Smiling, she walked inside and noted that it looked just how she had left it. Pulling off her dress, she threw it to the side and then went over to the dresser and got out a t-shirt and pants. Once she changed, she went into the bathroom and removed her makeup before climbing into bed and falling asleep.
The next morning, Liz's dad is walking towards the staircase when he notices that her door is closed which he is pretty sure was open when he went to bed. Carefully, he turns the knob and pushed it open and quickly spots her, smiling at himself before sitting next to her. It always amazes him how beautiful she looks while she sleeps. He had made plenty of mistakes over the years, but his daughter was not one of them.
Liz's eyes fluttered open and she flew towards the other side of the bed. "Dad!"
"What has got you all jumpy?"
"Nothing, you just startled me."
He had seen the fear in her eyes and is not willing to let it go.
"You want to tell me why you spent the night?"
She got up and walked over to the dresser where she retrieved the piece of paper, put it into his hand, and then strode into the bathroom and shut the door. When she came out, he wasn't there. She ran downstairs to find him. "Dad?"
Finally, she located him in his study.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm getting a body guard for you and I don't want to hear another word about it."
She sat across from him. "Don't worry, you won't."
She waited for him to finish the call.
"So, it's settled. He'll come by here in a few hours and pick you up and take you home and there will be other guards watching your house after hours."
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Liz sat on the porch with her mom. She took a sip of lemonade and studied her mother's face. She mostly took after her looks wise, but other than that, they are nothing alike.
"Your father didn't mean for any of this to happen, you know."
"He never does."
"He's doing all he can to protect you, Lizzy."
"Please don't call me that. Have you spoken to Steve?"
"Yes, I spoke to him yesterday. He's studying for an exam, so don't bother him."
"I never bother him, mother." Why her mother hates that Liz is close with her brother is something Liz will never understand.
"You know what I mean."
Her mother isn't happy with Liz because she had tried to set her up with a few men and Liz didn't like any of them. And after giving up all her dreams to be the perfect wife, mother, and socialite, she doesn't want to hear about Liz's success or dreams at all. The problem is that her mother is not even close to being perfect, so she has no right to judge. She is an alcoholic and miserably lonely. Her life consists of smoke and mirrors; hiding all her dirty secrets as she kissed up to the right people and dismissed those who just didn't make the cut.
She noticed her dad approaching them.
"Liz, this is Calvin Goddard. He will be your bodyguard."
Liz sized him up rather quickly. He is probably in his mid-forties and very fit. His head is bald and a dark, large pair of sunglasses adorns his face. Moving closer, he held out his hand so Liz shook it.
"Stick close to my baby."
"I will sir, shall we go?"
"Yes, I just have to go get my purse and a few things."
She said goodbye to her parents and ran upstairs and once she had gathered everything, she met him at his car.
"So, how are you going to play this?"
"What do you mean?"
"Are you sleeping at my house?"
He smiled. "No. But, I will have another person watching your house all night."
"What if I want to go out?"
"Then I'll be there."
"Are you carrying a gun?"
"Yes."
"Are you married?"
"No." Confusion is etched in his face as he briefly glanced at her. "Why?"
"Oh, you're kind of my friend Kelly's type."
"I really am not going to have time to date. This is a bad situation and I take my job very seriously."
Liz didn't say anything for the moment. They pulled into her driveway and got out and walked up to the house.
"Do you have an alarm?"
"Yes."
She opened the door and went to type her code in the keypad, but paused. "That's odd. It's off."
He put his hand out. "Wait here."
Removing his gun from his holster, he held it in front of him just as Robin came from around the corner with a cereal box.
"Freeze!"
Robin screamed, dropped the box, and put her hands up in the air.
