The premise for both the preceding chapter and this one were based on conversations I have had with a mate of mine, a former Australian Special Air Services soldier who ended up providing personal security services to celebrities in the United States. I couldn't make up some of the things he's told me.
Who guards the guardian's part 3
Sharon's viewpoint
Carl Walters turned out to be a very fit, deeply tanned man in his early fifties. With his short cropped salt and pepper hair and neatly trimmed moustache he looked like the army colonel from central casting.
Brenda handled the introductions.
"Mr Walters, I appreciate you making the time to chat to us, I'm Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson. These are my LAPD colleagues, Commander Raydor, Detective Rizzoli, Doctor Isles and Ms Dearing, plus Special Agent Romanov of the FBI, please have a seat"
As he sat I could see him sizing us up, we obviously didn't fit his notions of LAPD officers, mind you I couldn't really blame him.
"Mr Walters, I'm sorry for the loss of one of your employees, Tony Jefferson. We're trying to get some idea of the background to the threats made against D-Crypt and your company's response; anything which may help us determine who was responsible for his death." He looked at Brenda for a moment and then nodded.
"Chief Johnson, Talisman Personal Services was engaged by Street Cred Studios to protect one of their label's rising stars, the rapper known as D-Crypt. There had been threats made against his life and given the prevalence for such issues to end poorly, we were hired to keep him safe" I almost snorted at his choice of words, 'prevalence to end poorly' indeed.
"I understand that your company was providing round the clock protection to D-Crypt, an expensive task" He nodded once.
"Yes, but the studio thought there was a serious threat" He made a gesture with his hand. "Obviously they were right" Brenda nodded.
"Indeed. Could you please give us an idea of the nature of the protection you were providing D-Crypt?"
"As you're aware, we had three three-man teams providing close personal protection, which means we were escorting him everywhere, we had his home wired with intrusion alarms, we provided a secure vehicle for the team to travel with the principal and his associates and we stood post on him wherever he went"
"The vehicle that exploded outside was one of yours?" He nodded.
"Yes, a lot of celebrity's demand that they travel in appropriate style, no matter the threat, so that was one of our vehicles, appropriately modified"
"Modified?" It was Jane. "In what way?"
"Heavily armoured, run flat tires, under body protection, cypher locks, encrypted radio communications, you name it. Same deal with the chase car" Jane frowned.
"Chase car?" Walter's nodded.
"Two of the team travel in the limo, the third in a nondescript vehicle which follows them closely during the trip in case of an incident. It then proceeds ahead to allow the driver to recce the site before the limo arrives" Brenda smiled, obviously continuing the good cop persona.
"That sounds very comprehensive Mr Walters; do you get much call for this level of services for celebrities?"
"More than you might think, a lot of high profile people have justifiable concerns for their safety. Our job is to keep them safe, it's an expensive job to do it right, but we have a reputation for not cutting corners. Very few of our clients begrudge the money, especially when it turns out they need us" Brenda smiled, turning on the innocent charm. I'd watched enough of her interrogations before but I still liked watching her in action.
"I'm sorry to confess I hadn't heard of your company before tonight"
"We try and keep it low key. That's the way most of our clients prefer it, they don't want it getting out that they have serious security concerns. Our job isn't to run around with drawn weapons, it's to ensure the safety of the principal; if we see a threat, we try and get them out of there first and detain the threat second, if we can we hand the threat over to your people to deal with" Brenda nodded.
"I understand that there may have been some tensions between D-Crypt's associates and some of your team"
There were some, but that's not unusual"
"Not unusual?" It was Ana. "In what way?"
"Look, how much do you know about what we do?" He looked around us all, getting no answer he ploughed on.
"We get called in because there's a possible threat to a person's life, a serious threat. We're a part of their lives for hours, days and sometimes weeks at a time. We stand between them and the rest of the world. Some of them hate us, some of them ignore us and some of them love us" He sat back in the chair and stretched his arms out before he leaned forward and continued.
"Many of these celebs think their fans love them and often they're right. Unfortunately some of these fans love them so much they can't stand to see them with someone else. They have an unhealthy fixation on a celeb to the point they resent them being with anyone else, family, co-stars, partners, husbands or wives, anyone"
"Sometimes these stalkers have a delusional belief that they're their target's one true love, they want to free them to love the stalker. They don't handle it well when they're rejected, some believe their life has no meaning and that if they can't have the celebrity no one else can either" We nodded as I recalled John Lennon's death.
"Lots of the people we look after are pretty fucked up as well; they live a life pretty much divorced from reality. Some of these people barely touch base with what you and I call normal"
"In what way" The question came from Maura.
"Look, not long after I started out in this industry I worked close protection for this singer; she'd been famous since she was a teenager, a full card-carrying member of planet celebrity. There was a threat to her safety from her ex and also from an obsessed fan, so we were called in. I worked with her for six weeks. In that time I got a good look at her life, she didn't have a real friend to her name. Everyone around her was an employee, they weren't her friends, as far as they were concerned she was a meal ticket, she was basically alone surrounded by sycophants"
I thought about that, it seemed strange, a life with no friends. I looked around, seeing the five women in the room, wondering what my life would be without them, especially Brenda. My mind shied away from that concept as soon as I thought of it. I noticed a few surreptitious glances being cast around the room, I guess I wasn't the only one having issues with that thought.
Jane was obviously having some problems coming to grips with that level of isolation.
"What about family, people she grew up with, surely she can't have no one?"
"She's a one woman music machine, she supports an industry, there's around 60 odd people surrounding her who work full time for her; managers, personal assistants, secretary, publicists, dietician, stylist, hairdresser, personal shopper, maids, nanny's for her kids, drivers, lawyers, photographer, web people, producers, nutritionist, beautician, you name it" He shook his head at the list.
"As for her family, they leech off her as much as anyone. It's been like this since she was a teenager, as the industry around her pushes away anyone who isn't important to her career. It's one of the reasons that celebrities come across so weird. They're surrounded by people who depend on them for a job, everyone competes to tell her what they think she want to hear, not what's actually happening"
I could see both Jane and Natalie were having issues with a family treating a daughter as a meal ticket, I remembered they both came from close families, so their issues were understandable, god knows I felt the same way, I couldn't contemplate that with Lucas and Heather.
"And then into that little world comes yours truly and the rest of our team, pretty normal people, well, kinda. We fit into that world about as well as me in one of your evening dresses" I had to smile at that image, I found myself liking Carl Walters, he seemed pretty down to earth, grounded.
"So little miss superstar, used to being told she's incredibly talented, wonderful, sensational, and brilliant, you name it, suddenly gets put into contact with people who don't kiss her ass all day. We might be the first person to tell them no in years" Natalie leaned forward.
"I can imagine that doesn't go down to well" Walters made a so-so motion with his hand.
"Some hate it, throw tantrums and push boundaries to see what they can get away with. Others try and ignore us and just keep on doing whatever it is while we do our best to protect them. Some, well we might be the first people to give them an honest opinion or a straight answer in years"
"Could you explain that statement please Mr Walters" It was Maura.
"Sure. That singer for example, she was supposed to sing at a major function, lots of important people there. She was all set to walk out in a costume basically made up of scraps of see through material and not much else. Everyone was telling her how good she looked, how she'd be guaranteed magazine cover shots and plenty of press. Trouble was it made her look like a cheap tart, she'd be flashing anyone who looked and it'd be front cover material all right" He shook his head at the memory.
"Well Brian, another security specialist and I have the detail when she walks out of the dressing room in her house, trailed by the stylist, shopper, publicist and a few other hangers on. We take one look at her and exchange a look, we're both thinking the same thing, but we're not going to volunteer the info, that's not our job" He rubbed his hands together slowly as he looked around.
"Fortunately, she looks at us and asks us what we think. Well, we look at one another and we kinda hesitate" He shrugged.
"We're there to protect them from threats, not bad fashion advice. She notices that we're not exactly doing cartwheels about it and asks us for a straight answer. She tells us that it's supposed to get her noticed and on the covers of magazines We tell her we don't think it's appropriate for a person of her stature in the industry or for someone of her looks and talent" He laughed at the memory.
"As you can imagine, that didn't go down to well with the stylist who starts getting pissy but she gets shut down real quick. We get asked to explain why and we tell her. I told her I wouldn't let my daughter out wearing what she's wearing, it makes her look cheap and she's better than that. Brian tells her that he's seen hookers in some of the worst dives around the world wearing nicer clothes, that she should look the star she is, not some wanna be porn star"
"Anyway, we get dragged into her dressing room and get asked for our opinion on what she should wear, in the end she wears a really classy metallic ball gown, makes her look like a million dollars, like a real star. As you can imagine, the stylist is stewing and we're no longer on her Christmas card list, but the singer, well she ended taking a shine to us both and we still stay in contact" He shrugged again.
"So you can see we don't fit into the natural order of things. We're outsiders suddenly in close contact with people who don't have a lot of contact with the real world, what with living on planet celebrity" Ana nodded, then followed up on her initial question.
"So you said that tensions were not unusual, were there issues between members of D-Crypts entourage and your team?"
"Yes there was, however as I explained this is nothing unusual"
"What sort of issues?"
"I understand that several members of the principal's entourage had issues with Tony Jefferson, they didn't like him, they saw his rapport with the principal as something of a problem" Brenda smiled and inserted herself back into the conversation.
"Was there a request to remove him from the team?" Walters nodded.
"Yes, the principal's manager Paul Weatherly asked that Tony be replaced" I frowned at that, trying to understand his statement. Brenda had the same issue.
"Why then was he still on the team tonight?""
Normally, if the situation gets to the point of a formal request I would have pulled Tony out, however the principal got wind of the request and made it very clear that was not what he wanted" I nodded and got him to clarify the details for the recording..
"So D-Crypt asked for Tony to be kept on the protection team?"
"That's correct. I suspect that he may have had ideas of hiring Tony to provide direct personal security" Jane jumped in.
"Is that common?"
"It happens more often than you might think. I try and hire the best people, I pay them well, but if a celebrity is prepared to pay my people enough to make it worth their while, then I have no issue with that" Brenda leaned forward at that comment.
"For heaven's sake, why not?"
"Well, it's a good advertisement for my business; it helps word get around about the quality of my people" He shrugged.
"Besides, more often than not they end up coming back to work for me, sometimes they get tired of the nursemaid duties and all the stupidity that goes along with it, sometimes the celebrity gets new management and they end up letting the person go and sometimes the situation changes and the relationship ends" He spread his hands.
"I'm happy to let them go and happy to have them back. We're all professionals and we behave like it" Brenda smiled again.
"So it had been agreed that Tony would remain on the team?"
"Yes, I don't want to break up a team in the middle of a job, it just means a new person has to play catch up to pick up the principal's routine" Jane and Maura exchanged a quick look, before Jane nodded her head slightly in a 'go ahead' gesture and Maura spoke up.
"Mr Walters, could you please confirm when you received the initial request to remove Mr Jefferson from the team? Also when you agreed with D-Crypt's request for him to remain on the team?"
"Not exactly, probably two weeks ago, then the countermanding order came about two days later, after the principal became aware of the request" I shared a quiet look with Brenda; it was obvious we both had the same idea in mind. She smiled at me and made an 'after you' motion with her hand, I smiled and returned her gesture with a nod and turned to Carl Walters.
""So to summarise, Tony Jefferson was having issues with several members of D-Crypts entourage, one of whom asked him to be removed from the protective detail, however D-Crypt rescinded that request shortly thereafter" He nodded slowly, obviously he had put it together from our line of questioning..
"So you suspect the bombing had nothing to do with the feud with the New York rapper, you think it was personal, one of D-Crypt's people did this?" Brenda smiled at him.
"We are investigating several possible lines of enquiry Mr Walters; this is only one of them. We would however appreciate you keeping this to yourself until we can conclude our investigation" I could tell Walters wasn't too happy with the way our investigation was leading.
"Tony was in my unit in Afghanistan, we made it out of there together in one piece, now he's dead on a Los Angeles Street" He stared at Brenda, pouring his personality into the gaze he turned on Brenda.
"I'm about to go and try and explain this to his wife. Tell me you'll catch whoever did this and put them on death row"
I'd heard of command presence, I was seeing it right here. To her credit Brenda didn't flinch, meeting his gaze levelly.
"Mr Walters, that's what I want, that's what we all want" Walter's stood and looked around at us all, meeting each of our gazes in turn, before he turned back to Brenda.
"Then with your permission, I'll be leaving, I have a widow to notify and a funeral to plan"
"Please convey our deepest sympathies to Mrs Jefferson" Walters reached into his jacket and pulled out a business card, before handing it to Brenda.
"I don't want your sympathies Chief Johnson, I want you to call me and tell me you have Tony's killer in custody or even better, dead"
"You have my word; I'll call you when we have something"
With that Carl Walters walked out the door, leaving us looking at one another. Finally Jane spoke.
Y'know, that's an angry man. I don't think I'd want a man like that, commanding a bunch of Special Forces guys, mad at me anytime soon" I nodded, noticing I wasn't the only one. Finally Brenda spoke.
"While we wait to hear from Detective Benson, let's see if the surveillance tapes show anything. Most importantly though, I need a coffee" I caught her eye and smiled, getting a tired smile in return. I reached out a hand and laid it on her arm, relishing the touch, if only for a moment.
"Probably a good idea, it's going to be a long night"