Chapter 108 – Chris Intervenes
Before Nathan could answer, there was a knock on the library door. Everyone turned to look at the door. Doug walked over there and cracked the door open to see Chris standing there with Gran.
"I know that you didn't want to be disturbed." Gran said. "But Chris has information that JP needs and he also wanted to sit in on this meeting."
"Okay." Doug said.
Gran nodded and left Chris standing there. Doug waited until Gran was far enough away, then he stepped back and let Chris into the library and relocked the door.
"What the hell is going on in here?" Chris asked.
Jack looked at Lee and nodded. Lee stepped back and motioned for Doug to join him so he did. Nathan stood there watching Chris walk over and look at Gabe for a moment. He then shook his head and then took a seat on the opposite end of the couch. Jack went over to Nathan.
"Please have a seat." Jack said.
Nathan looked at Jack and knew that he had calmed down enough that he wasn't worried about Jack attacking Gabe. Nathan nodded and took a seat in the armchair by the fireplace. Jack turned and faced Nathan. He knelt down to talk to Nathan quietly.
"I am sorry." Jack said. "I never wanted to put you in the middle. I do trust you, but Grandpa John had worries about Gabe and told me to push him. Grandpa John wanted me to find out what Gabe knew or thought he knew. Grandpa John and Devin have been looking for a leak. They never thought it was you. Things just got out of control. I never wanted anyone to get hurt. Both of us lost control and let our emotions rule, that is why Chris is here."
"What are you talking about?" Nathan said.
"I am sorry." Jack said. "I would never use it against you. When we first came in here, I turned on a video/audio recorder. Chris has been listening the entire time. We can use the recording against Gabe if I want to go ahead with the slander. I will have access to the video if I want it. No one else other than Devin, Grandpa John and Grandpa James would be able to access it. Not even Dad at this point."
"You can't do that?" Gabe yelled.
"Actually." Chris said. "He can. This is his home and he can record what he wants. There are signs that say this property is protected by audio and video surveillance. Also with Nathan, Doug and Lee in here, you had no expectation of privacy."
Nathan looked at Jack with wide eyes.
"Jack." Nathan said. "What about when I was in here with Father Mark?"
"I promise it wasn't on." Jack said. "I am only one of five people that can turn it on. Also I have to notify security to listen. The recording will automatically shut off if no voices are picked up after a couple of minutes. Someone would have had to be listening to save the video/audio to the secure server. I swear, no one was listening. I would have had to have been in here right before you talked to Father Mark. I swear, this is the first time I have used it since we have been here. Grandpa James and Grandpa John added it as a feature because they have had meetings here. Look at me, I promise I would never listen in on a conversation with Father Mark."
Nathan looked at Jack and saw that he was being honest, so Nathan nodded.
"Are we good?" Chris asked.
"Yes." Nathan said.
"So what is this about a leak?" Doug said.
"Devin and John have been convinced that there was a leak somewhere." Chris said. "This is more than the last couple of days."
"Let's back up and start over." Jack said.
Jack pulled up a chair and sat near Nathan. Doug and Lee sat on the other smaller couch. Everyone was looking at Jack. Jack took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. He was trying to find the right words without giving too much away.
"Okay." Jack said. "When Kensington threatened me, it was really the first time that I have had security since last summer. Yes, there has been follow security at times, but usually just to make sure I was not hassled by the press."
"Don't forget the school had its own security." Doug said.
"Yes." Jack said. "That helped. Anyway, Devin has hired a tech guy that monitors social media, gossip sites and tabloid papers. Normally, we don't care as long as what they were posting was true. There used to be a lot more when I was jumping all the time. There were a few things last summer, but not much of anything. Starting about mid-October, my name started popping up again. At first it wasn't much, but by Christmas there were rumors that I was engaged or going to propose. There were also rumors that I had fathered a baby and forced the girl to have an abortion. I ignored it, Devin and Dad handled it. After that, things were pretty quiet until late January. Again things start popping up. This time there were pictures and posting where I was."
"Is that why you didn't want to go out much?" Doug asked.
"Yes." Jack said. "I wasn't sure who I could trust. Some of the pictures that Devin showed me were taken from pretty close, but no matter the picture you never saw security."
"Impossible." Nathan said.
"That is what I said." Jack said. "That was when I convinced Grandpa John to pull back the security for a week. No follow security, I just had to call Devin or Chris and let them know where I was going and who I was with. As a compromise, I agreed to also wear a panic button for that week. In that week, there wasn't one single post about where I was or pictures of me out and about. I was convinced that security was posting them or telling someone where I was so that they could be there to get pictures of me."
"I would have thought the same thing." Nathan said.
"After that week." Jack said. "I sat down with Grandpa John, Devin and Chris. I told them my concerns and how since I was an adult, I could make my own decisions. After hearing their concerns, I asked for minimum security and that my schedule not be shared with anyone outside of Chris, Devin and Grandpa John. If I had follow security, they weren't told where I was going, but only to keep me in sight. My Jeep and phone were routinely swept for bugs and tracking devices during that time. That was also when Grandpa John talked to Chief Burke and he added the same level of encryption that Doug had on his phone. They agreed to pull back in security as long as I continued to check in, wear the panic button and continue to allow my devices and Jeep to be swept for bugs and tracking devices whenever they wanted. I didn't mind. I knew that there would be help quickly if something happened. The sweep of my stuff didn't take long and it kept me safe with minimal security."
"That was why Devin floated the story about you going to Florida for spring break." Doug said. "And what a security nightmare it would be with all those people. Throw them off and also see what or who popped up."
"Exactly." Jack said. "And it worked like a charm. The gossip sites and tabloids went crazy about trying to find me in Florida. When no one could get pictures of me, they started saying that I was having a private party in the hotel. They caught several girls coming and going from the hotel where I was supposedly staying. When asked where they were partying, they said the penthouse. The gossip site and tabloids assumed that I wouldn't stay in anything less than the penthouse, so they ran with it.
As the tabloids and gossip sites posted that I was partying at the hotel penthouse, more and more people were at this hotel trying to sneak into the party. The thing is, I was never there. The hotel knew I wasn't there, but due to privacy couldn't say one way or another. The penthouse where everyone was partying would have been the one my family would have normally stayed in. When people called, they were buzzed up. The staff at the hotel couldn't do much without giving away that I wasn't there. Let me back up.
When Lacy Pennybaker had showed up at the hotel and said that she was my fiancee, some staff member who didn't know what was going on, gave her a key and took her up. Lacy was the one that threw the party in the penthouse saying that she was there with me. Devin knew that she was there, but wanted to see what would happen. He knew that we wouldn't be charged for the hotel, so Devin wanted Lacy to incriminate herself. She charged things to the room. The hotel let the charges go through, but Devin knew that we wouldn't be charged for anything that Lacy charged to the room. Any charges on that card for those nine days needed to be approved by Devin with the company prior to purchase. The hotel allowed the charges because they knew about the deal."
"How the hell do you do that?" Gabe asked.
"Have the last name Thornton." Doug said. "When you have accounts with several black American Express cards and/or the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, these companies will bend over backwards to keep you happy."
Nathan looked at Jack.
"So you paid for a room so Lacy Pennybaker could party?" Nathan asked.
"Nope." Jack said. "The Pennybakers got the bill. The minute that the second key card was issued, Devin was notified. He called the hotel manager and asked who the second card had been issued to. When he was informed that it was to one Lacy Pennybaker. Devin informed the manager that I had never arrived, nor was I coming. When the manager checked the records, he saw that was true. He apologized to Devin, removed the card as active for the room. So when she tried to charge a case of champagne, it was rejected. The hotel upper management went along and allowed those items to be charged to the room after a conversation with Devin about what was going on.
Devin told the manager exactly who was in that room and where the bill needed to be sent. Because we stay there a lot and also bring a lot of business to the hotel chain as a whole, the manager wanted to keep Grandpa John happy, he assured that we wouldn't be charged for anything past when Lacy got her key. The room had been empty for twenty-four hours prior to Lacy's arrival. Grandpa was willing to pay for an empty hotel room, but not Lacy's party."
"Genius." Nathan said.
"It was." Jack said. "The best part was that the hotel knew who Lacy was, so they were watching for her when she was supposed to leave, which was two days after we had originally booked the hotel for. She was picked up by the Miami-Dade county sheriff's department for trying to skip out on the bill. William Pennybaker was so upset when he got a fifty thousand dollar bill from the hotel. He tried to fight with Grandpa John about it. We had the hotel manager on our side as well as proof that I wasn't there. The judge said that it was Lacy who basically broke into the hotel, had a party and ran up charges, and she was responsible to pay. William Pennybaker threatened Grandpa John that he would be sorry. Devin and Grandpa told me not to worry about it, so I didn't think any more about it."
"So this about a baby and you being engaged is payback." Nathan said.
"Yes." Chris said. "But we think that it is more than that."
"Why do you say that?" Nathan asked.
"I will get into that more in a bit." Chris said. "After the spring break thing, JP's name started popping up on the gossip sites again. It was almost worse than when he was jumping full time. The press wanted photos of him and this girl that he was supposed to be with. We kept a tight control of who had access to his schedule. Devin started believing that we had a security leak, but couldn't narrow it down to more than any one of three people or maybe they could have been working together. We just never had enough to fire anyone. Devin changed who was working with who and who was on follow for JP.
It didn't seem to matter, sightings and gossip continued. Nothing more than JP was seen here or there, so nothing we could do about it. The gossip was about what he was going to be doing over the summer and who he was going to be spending his time with. There was talk that he was with a girl and they were going to elope and such. We tried to shut it down, but really couldn't without giving away our plan. We were still fighting with Pennybaker and trying to draw out who the leak was. The compromise was that JP had no security after graduation and wasn't going to have any until he got up here and then only when at the track or alone. We were hoping that not having any security for a bit would draw the person or persons out. We had a plan, but things changed so we had to roll with it."
"What changed?" Nathan asked.
"Elizabeth." Jack said. "Not that this is her fault. When we stepped in to help Elizabeth and then Kensington's threats, I had no choice but to accept full-time security."
"JP also made it very clear to Devin and myself." Chris said. "That the three members in question were not to be on his detail without Devin or myself also there."
"So that is city security." Nathan said. "Why are there issues up here?"
Jack, Doug and Lee all looked at each other and then at Nathan. As Jack raised his eyebrow at Nathan it dawned in him.
"Michael." Nathan said.
"Correct." Chris said. "Devin asked for a volunteer to come up here for general security. They weren't exactly assigned to JP's detail, but would be a fill in where needed. James thought it would be nice to have another person as he wanted at least two security guards on at all times and more if you were to be leaving the farm. When Devin asked, Michael jumped at the chance to come up here, since it was a special assignment, it had a bonus attached to it."
"If you suspected him of the leak." Nathan said. "Why would you allow him to come?"
"Because we weren't sure if he was the leak." Chris said. "John and Devin talked about it and decided that if the actions continued then they would have the grounds to fire him as well as slap penalties on him for breaking the confidentiality agreement that was signed. Even as he was planning to come up here, Devin and I continued to investigate him as well as the other two."
"Weren't you worried about safety?" Nathan asked.
"No." Chris said. "For a couple of reasons. At the time, we had no reason to suspect anyone up here was connected to the leak. Also we knew that you would be with JP anytime that he left the farm. In addition to both of those things, John has had several shadow teams in the area since before you all left the city."
"Shadow teams?" Gabe asked.
"Grandpa John has contracted with a separate security company." Jack said. "He would have sent at least two or three teams up here. They would be two or three man/woman teams. They would appear as tourists enjoying the city or even residents. However, they would be listening and watching everything, taking notes and looking for any red flags. Everything would be reported to Grandpa John directly. The other security probably have seen the shadow teams and never knew that they were being watched by the shadow team. He has used them for years. He probably sent a couple teams up here after the spring break thing, but would have upped the teams when he knew that we were heading up here."
"So the shadow teams would have known when we left the ranch?" Nathan said.
"Maybe, maybe not." Chris said. "I saw a report that they did see you all at Dairy Haus. I know that they were at the farmers market this morning."
"I didn't see them." Nathan said.
"That is the point." Jack said. "I saw a couple people that I have seen before, but I didn't know if they were just residents or security. I just knew that I had seen them up here before."
"Wow." Doug said. "I didn't even know about the shadow teams. I mean I know what they are, but I had no idea John used them. It doesn't surprise me, especially the way that he is with security. What surprises me is that he would tell you about them."
"That was the point." Chris said. "The only people that knew about the shadow teams were John, James and Devin. In the last couple of months, JP was informed of the shadow teams. I was briefed after the spring break thing."
"So we have established that Michael was part of the leak." Nathan said. "Now what else do we need to know? There is a part of me that wants to trust Gabe here, but I am starting to wonder if someone didn't get to him or if he just has a chip on his shoulder."
Gabe just glared at Nathan.
"Why would he have a chip on his shoulder?" Lee asked.
"Gabe." Nathan said. "Well …."
"Shut up!" Gabe hissed.
Nathan just glared at Gabe.
