Protecting Miss Dawes - a job like any other

Chapter 2: Charles

The day was uneventful. She spent it in her office. Much of the office was open landscape and even if she a few others had rooms of their own, there were huge glass windows, so even from the outside it was easy to view what was going on everywhere, even if I could not hear everything that was said. I have found however, that sometimes when you do not hear what people say, it is easier to read their body language because you are not distracted by what comes out of the mouth. The mouth is a better liar than the body. By the end of the day, I had a fairly good idea of which of her visitors she liked, and which ones she did not like. However, I had not picked up that she felt threatened by anyone that she met. I did pick up that her personal assistant, Chantal, deeply disliked the Home Secretary for some reason and it was beyond me how you can work as assistant to someone you do not like, when you have to work so close together. My own job was different, it was all about keeping some distance – I did not have to like her, only protect her.

In the evening, when her day at the office was over but her working day far from, I sat in the passenger seat beside the chauffeur, Terry, as he drove her back to her flat. Ms. Dawes was on the phone and I acquainted myself with Terry and talked about their driving routines. It disturbed me when I found out that he practically always drove the same way back and forth between her home and the office. The predictability would make her an easier target and was something I wanted to change, immediately.

"Cross the river and take the South Circ", I instructed Terry.

Ms. Dawes had just gotten off the phone and exhaled an annoyed sigh.

"Terry has been driving me for three years, I think he can be trusted to determine the fastest route."

"I've made a dynamic risk assessment and given the current threat level I'm recommending a diversion, even though it may not be the fastest route."

"And how much longer will that take?"

"Can't say for certain Ma'am."

"In that case we'll just take the usual route, please Terry."

"Take the South Circ, if you don't mind", I insisted firmly. This I directed to Terry who wriggled a bit in his seat, seemingly uncomfortable being in the midst of a verbal cockfight between us. Then I half turned to Ms. Dawes in the backseat;

"My job is to keep you safe Ma'am. I won't tell you how to do yours."

"No, but you're happy making it harder", she retorted dryly, before she bent over the papers in her lap again and I realised that keeping this strong-willed woman safe would be a challenge. Obviously, she had not ended up where she was by meekly following what others told her to do. She was not my first difficult client, but I was starting to get a feeling that she might be very difficult.

As we finally reached the building where Ms. Dawes' flat was located, the back-up team parked their car across the street and I followed her inside, briefly greeting the police officer that was stationed by the front door as a permanent feature.

When we entered the flat, I asked her to hold on by the door meanwhile I secured the flat. Even in the darkness, before I turned on the light, I could feel irritation oozing out of her. If this was not routine to her, I wondered what kind of job my predecessor had done because she ought to be familiar with this, but maybe the threat level to her had been judged as lower before and this had not been done. Still, she was the Home Secretary and the lack of security awareness amazed me.

I walked from room to room in the spacious and elegant flat, carefully checking all possible hiding places; behind doors, in closets, behind curtains. As it was my first time here and I needed to familiarise myself with the surroundings, a thorough check required some time. She quickly lost her patience and disobeyed my request, walked into the living room and unloaded her briefcase on the table with another heavy sigh.