The Bodyguard

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The car door opened and out stepped a six foot four giant with broad shoulders and dark hair, his immaculately creased navy trousers and blue check business shirt failing to hide the muscle beneath.

It was Dominic, one of her father’s jewellery guards; sent by her father to check on her, most probably. Especially since he knew which university College she was living in.

“What do you want ?” Frances asked casually, as she drew near. She had noticed the car a few times during the week, noting that it was the same make and colour as one her father owned, but had thought nothing of it.

Dominic was leaning back against the car, hands lazily in pockets. He didn’t look as out of place in the university setting as she might have expected.

“Your father wants you home,” he replied, equally casually.

“That would be a first,” she replied. “When ?”

“Today.” There was slight amusement in his tone. 

Frances glared at him. “He’s got to be kidding ! I’ve got a week to go before exams and I need to study. And I’ve got a party tonight,” she exclaimed. “What’s the problem ?”

“I think you’d best ask your father,” he answered abruptly.

A thought struck her. “Is he okay ?”

She thought that he looked a little surprised. “You mean, is he healthy ?”

“What else would I mean ? Deranged ?”

“He’s fine.” This time he was sharp. “When can you leave ?”

“I’m not.” She turned to walk away. “Tell him I’m glad he’s okay but I’m too busy to come home at present.”

His voice was quiet but firm. “I’ve got instructions to bring you home whether you want to come or not.”

She looked at him incredulously, but knew that he would be speaking the truth. Her father wasn’t a patient man. “What are you going to do ? Pick me up and carry me ? I don’t think that would go down so well with so many people about.”

“If necessary.” He shrugged, looking bored. “Would these people really think you were serious if you complained ?” A moment was all it took for her to realise that he was right. Horseplay was fairly common at Uni. “A smart girl like you ought to know that your father will get his own way.”

Frances shrugged resignedly. “I suppose it will only  be for a day or so. Can I have time to tell my friends why I won’t be there tonight ?”

“Sure.” He glanced at his watch. “I’d like to be underway in an hour or so, or we’ll catch the peak hour traffic coming into Sydney.”

Frances reflected, as she threw some clothes into a suitcase, that the reason why she had chosen to attend University in Canberra was to escape from Sydney and the criticism of her father. She wondered why he had found it necessary to send Dominic across to fetch her instead of phoning.

The Broulles jewellery empire was legendary. With many thousands of dollars worth of jewellery kept in the Broulles’ North Shore estate, it would be an obvious target for home invasions, so Vincent Broulles always employed a guard.

Dominic was actually fairly new. Frances wasn’t sure of Dominic’s background, which was unusual. Mr Broulles hand-picked his men and normally they knew a family well before a member of it was offered a position as guard. They had entertained little since Frances’s mother had died a few years previously, though, so Frances didn’t know many of Mr Broulles’ current business associates.