Chapter 3: A New Threat

When Liz woke up the next morning she was hoping that it was all just a bad dream but when she walked into the kitchen she knew that it wasn't.

Her father was sitting at the table having breakfast and talking to Ray.

"Good morning, darling. Did you sleep well?" Sam inquired.

"Uh-huh" Liz said while eyeing Ray. He was sitting next to her dad, again immaculately dressed. He looked up from his breakfast and gave her a smile.

"Good morning, Elizabeth" he said.

"Morning", she replied as she walked to the fridge to get some milk for her cereal.

"So, can I actually go out and do something today or am I housebound again?" Liz asked, not able to keep the frustration out of her tone.

"Well, Ray and I were just talking about that. We went through all the details yesterday so it would be okay if you want to make some plans for today. Just keep in mind that you can't just go and do whatever you want, okay? And always tell Ray about your plans and don't go anywhere without him" Sam explained.

"So I can call someone to go shopping later today?", Liz asked, ignoring her father's question.

"Sure" Ray said, "just let me know what time you'd like to leave and I'll be ready to accompany you".

After finishing her breakfast Liz went up to her room to call one of her close friends.

"Samar! Hey, how are you? Do you want to go shopping today?"

"Hi Liz! Yes, that sounds great. It seems ages ago that we saw each other", Samar answered.

They decided to meet at eleven a.m. at the entrance of the Cooper Mall.

As she hung up Liz ran down the stairs looking for Ray. She found him still in the kitchen, talking to her dad. She announced that they needed to be at the mall at eleven so they should leave at about ten thirty. She kissed her dad on his cheek "Bye dad" and ran out of the kitchen back to her room.

She needed to be on her own for a while before they left, cause she knew she would be in Ray's company for the rest of the day. She sat on her bed, put on her headphones and started listening to her favourite music.

When it was time to go Liz was standing impatiently at the door, waiting for Ray, her huge handbag hanging from her forearm.

"Ray, come on, let's go!" she yelled loudly, tapping her foot on the marble floor.

Argh, why can't he just be on time, Liz thought, annoyed.

She almost jumped a mile in the air when suddenly the front door opened and Ray peeked his head around it "Are you ready to go? Been waiting here for you"

"Yes, I am", she sniffed as she walked past him towards her car, which was already parked in the driveway.

When they got to the car they both walked over to the driver's side.

From behind his sunglasses Ray raised an eyebrow questioningly and held up his hand to receive the keys from Liz. She didn't hand them over but instead said "But I always drive myself"

"Not anymore I'm afraid", Ray responded, "I need to be in control, Elizabeth. At all times".

Liz wanted to get into a discussion but decided not to, because she knew that in the end he would win anyway. With a sigh she handed Ray the car keys and walked over to the passenger's side.

After adjusting the seat and mirrors of the black Audi TT Ray turned the ignition and drove off the property.

They didn't say a word during the twenty minute drive and, after looking for a strategic parking spot, they arrived at the entrance with 5 minutes to spare.

"So, how does this work?" Liz asked, "Will you be walking with us the entire time?"

"No, not with you but somewhere behind you. You just go and have a good time with your friend and I will try to make myself as invisible as possible, okay?" Ray said, "Although it would be a good idea to tell your friend about me. That way she won't be thinking that I'm stalking you", he smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yes, I will tell her. I just don't want her to worry and think that it's unsafe to hang out with me", Liz said with a sad face.

"I understand, Elizabeth. But I'm afraid that that's the situation you are in right now and until we find out who sent those letters we will need to be careful. And it's best that your friends know about it too".

"I understand…oh, there she is…Samar!" Liz shouted excitedly, walking towards her friend. They shared a long embrace before they started talking. Ray couldn't hear about what but when he saw Liz pointing at him he knew well enough.

The two women walked towards him and Liz introduced Samar to Ray.

"This is Ray, he's going to be my bodyguard for now"

"Nice to meet you Ray", Samar said while shaking his hand and taking him in from head to toe.

"Nice to meet you Samar. As I already told Elizabeth, I will be keeping my distance, you'll hardly notice that I'm here"

As they walked into the mall and went into the first store, Liz already barely remembered the fact that Ray was there because she couldn't wait to do some serious shopping.

While they were trying on some clothes, Samar sneaked into Liz's fitting room.

"So what's the deal with this Ray, huh?" she asked Liz.

"What do you mean? I told you that he is just here to keep an eye on me"

"Yes, you told me. And I think that is exactly what he's doing, if you know what I mean", she giggled whilst wiggling her eyebrows.

"What are you talking about? You've got to be kidding me", Liz exclaimed.

"Come on, you've got to admit that he looks really hot in that suit and those sunglasses, mmmm" Samar said, while poking Liz.

"Stop it! That's so not funny! Besides, he is way too old and too serious if you ask me"

"Too old? Girl, you'll be 28 next week. I think you can handle a man his age, Liz"

"That's enough, Samar, please stop this nonsense and go try on your clothes", Liz said whilst pushing Samar out of her dressing room.

When she was on her own she couldn't help but think about Samar's words. Was he really that handsome? Liz had noticed his nice suits and the way he looked in them but hadn't really paid attention to Ray himself.

As Liz and Samar tried on some dresses, Ray stood at the entrance of the dressing rooms and caught a few glimpses of Liz in a dress. He couldn't help but notice that she looked good in them and how radiant she looked whilst interacting with her friend. Far more attractive than the hateful looks she gave him.

At one point Liz looked up and caught Ray looking at her. She automatically blushed and dove away into her dressing room.

Ugh, why did he have to look at her that way? Was he checking her out? She certainly hoped not.

They went in and out of stores and before long they were carrying lots of bags and it was still only just lunchtime.

"Good score so far", Liz laughed, looking at their bags.

"Yes! But let's get something to eat, okay? All that shopping has made me hungry"

They sat in a small restaurant and Ray didn't have much choice but to sit close to their table.

He didn't want to listen in on their conversation and he hadn't so far but sitting this close, he couldn't help but overhear a few things.

"So, have you thought about a present yet? I mean, your birthday is only like a week away now and you still haven't told me what you want", Ray heard Samar say.

"I don't know…it's so hard to think of anything…" Liz said to Samar, "Why don't we just go to the spa or something, your treat".

"We could do that, but I'd rather buy you a present. If only I could buy you a man", Samar grinned, "You could use a nice guy's company after that bastard Tom"

Hmm, sitting this close definitely made for good information, Ray thought. He already found out that it was her birthday next week and that she broke up with some bastard named Tom.

They ordered some food and during their meal Ray learned about Kim and Meera, two other close friends of Liz's and Samar's and about Liz's plans to throw a birthday party.

After lunch they resumed their shopping and at around four p.m. they turned to Ray, saying they were ready to go home.

Finally, Ray thought. He had grown tired of going in and out of shops hours ago. But since he was getting paid to go wherever Liz went, he couldn't complain.

As they exited the mall and walked towards the car, a guy came walking towards Liz.

"Liz, hey, Liz" he yelled.

When he came closer it only took Ray mere seconds to grab the guy from behind and hold his arms behind his back. He was just about to push the guy to the ground when Liz reacted.

"Ray! What the hell are you doing? Let him go!", Liz started pulling Ray's arm.

"You know this guy?" Ray asked, loosening the tight grip he had on the guy's arms.

"Yes, I do! We took math class together", Liz explained while putting a hand on the guy's shoulder after Ray released him, "Are you okay, Donald? I'm so sorry about this".

"Yeah, I'm fine", Donald grunted, giving Ray a deadly look, "What the hell was that all about?"

"Ehm, well, this is Ray and he is looking out for me for a while"

Liz explained what was going on and even though he was still a bit pissed off, Donald understood the situation.

"Well, good luck with that Liz. I hope they'll catch the guy soon", Donald said before taking off.

They continued their way to the car and Samar whispered in Liz's ear "Oh my god, did you see that? How quick Ray reacted? How hot was that?"

"Hmpf, please. If he's trying to impress me, it really didn't work. He just attacked one of my friends" Liz whispered back.

"Oh, come on Liz. He didn't know it was a friend. At least now you know how serious he is about protecting you", she said with a wink.

"I guess…"Liz responded.

Liz and Samar said their goodbyes and Ray and Liz drove home in silence, just like that morning on their way to the mall.

"Sorry…I didn't know you knew him", Ray broke the silence when they were almost at the house, "But I was just doing my job"

"I know you were, it's just…I guess I just didn't see it coming. I really have to get used to this whole security thing", Liz muttered.

"It's okay, I understand. Just try to warn me next time someone comes up to you and you know that person"

Liz promised that she would. Ray parked the car in the garage and switched off the engine, "I guess it takes some getting used to for the both of us", Ray said with a smile as they got out of the car.

They walked in and Liz went straight to her room to drop off the bags of clothing and accessories that she bought.

Ray loosened his tie while walking to the kitchen to fetch a drink.

He greeted Martha, the cook, and walked out on the terrace, drink in hand.

He heard a car and saw that Sam was already home from work. Ray decided to walk back in and talk to Sam about what happened today before Liz had the chance to do so.

The two men greeted each other and sat at the kitchen table while Martha started making dinner.

Ray started talking about the day Liz and he had had while Sam was sifting through the mail. Suddenly his hands stopped and all colour drained from his face.

Ray noticed it. "Sam, what's wrong?"

"This envelope, this handwriting….I recognise it", he said with a voice not much louder than a whisper.

Ray immediately took the envelope from Sam, careful not to touch it much so as not to leave any of his own fingerprints on it. He grabbed a knife from the counter and carefully opened the envelope on the side.

When he shook it, a picture fell out on the table. The front of the picture was facing the table, so they couldn't see what was on it.

Ray used the knife to slide under the picture and carefully flip it over.

It was a picture of Liz sitting at the pool. It was from quite a distance but it must have been taken from inside the walls of the property.

"You know what this means, right?" Ray asked Sam, who was still in shock, staring at the picture, "Someone was inside these walls".

Sam just nodded his head, unable to speak. All this time he thought his daughter would be safe inside but now he knew that even that wasn't the case.

"Sam, do you know when this picture was taken?" Ray asked Sam, putting a hand on his friend's arm.

"Ehm, no, you should ask Liz. I'm sure she knows when she was out by the pool"

Right on cue Liz walked into the kitchen "Hey dad. You're home early" she quipped as she kissed him on his cheek.

It was only then that she noticed the strained looks on the men's faces.

She was about to ask what was wrong when she saw the picture lying on the table.

"What the hell?" she said and was going for the picture to get a closer look.

"No, Elizabeth, don't touch it!" Ray exclaimed as he pushed her hand away just in time, "There might be prints on that photo, we can't touch it"

"It just came in the mail", Ray explained to her, "It's probably from the same guy as the letters. He is showing off. Letting us know how close he can get"

"But, but, this was here, at the pool. And he was right there!" Liz's eyes became big and full of fear.

"Yes, I know… Can you tell me when this happened? When were you at the pool?"

"I don't know, I go there once in a while but not very often…. but hold on" Liz said as she took a closer look, "That was two days ago! I know because I'm wearing my new bikini"

After establishing when and from where the picture was taken Sam decided that he would call the police first thing in the morning.

They had dinner and there were a few uncomfortable silences. Everybody was thinking about the picture and what it meant. Ray could tell that Sam and Liz were shaken by the fact that someone had climbed their walls.

Ray now knew that this guy was serious and he would have to be extra careful and attentive from now on.

When Liz was going to bed, she kissed her dad goodnight and said goodnight to Ray before heading upstairs. When she got to her room, she couldn't help but look at the door of the room next to hers. Ray's room. For the first time since he arrived, she was actually glad to have him here….