LONDON CALLING

Jess thought for amoment " would it be detrimental to his health if we bring him back, since hes just got settled?" she asked " Jack can up patrols around the duplex and with Edward living next door hes got people around him." she looked at the others " my vote is leave him whre he's settled and up the protection and patrols." she looked at Jack who seem to be debating in his own mind  abouth the question.

"I say being him where he will be protected, hell understand" Jack said but Jess shook her head. For the first tim they disagreed.

"if his rehabilitation is to work he needs a stable enviroment we cant go disrupting that, besides his house is adapted now for him to get around and he has Ruby and Andrew there to help" she looked at Robert " Robert your word is the only one that matters here what you chose jack and I will go with." she said sitting back in her chair to let the others talk too

"It's certainly possible there would be a bit of deterioration just because of getting him to his feet again," Robert said. "However, this house has never been breached. And we can protect them better here than over there."

"Unless," Lee said, "we bring in more guards. I can call in some additional protection agents to supplement your staff. I can trust my people, and right now, you may be taking a chance if you summon in additional people from Paris until you find the mole. You can't trust them like you want to. I can bring in some additional men until we get something done with Tyler. What do you think Angus and Edward will say when we tell them?"

"I think there is a 110% chance they will want to stay in their homes," Robert said. "They aren't men that will turn and run. I can see them wanting to protect Ruby and Simone, but I don't see either woman running either. I can order them all back, and they probably would come but not happily."

"My men could put different protection grids around the duplex to provide it extra protection, and then I could station two men in each side of the duplex and perhaps some additional men to join your grounds crew. As long as you can't trust your Paris crew, you'd need my help anyway. We can station one man upstairs and one downstairs on each side and a number of men out on the grounds. Are the halves of the duplex connected at at all?"

"There's a door in the living rooms that connect both halves," Robert replied. "I'm betting they will leave that open while Angus is compromised. If you bring the people you're saying how many shifts would you bring, Lee?"

"Three, of course," Lee said.

"That's 24 people. We'd have to house them in the cabins. Most of our cabins are three or four bedroom cabins. That would mean three four bedroom cabins."

"Well, I can house them in London, and they can apparate in and out. You don't have to absorb the expense of housing and feeding them," Lee said.

"And you trust these men?"

"I'd pull from my first stringers," Lee replied. "That way, I would know them and trust them. And I'd use some other first stringers to help you find Tyler."

"Well, my own first stringers are going to want a piece of Tyler, and so is Edward. Watch this. Jack, what's the chance, if you could get a piece of Reginald Tyler, that you'd be left out of that mission?" Robert already knew the response, but he asked anyway, already amused.

He knew Ruby would want a piece too, but he was determined he would not send Ruby. It was entirely too close for her to be expected to go on a raid to apprehend her own father. He did not want her on that mission at all. He knew she would, likely, be angry with him, but that was his choice. He didn't want her going.

Jack and Jess sat listening to Robert and Lee talk out the fine details when he turned to Jack , Jack growled and looked at them both " not on chance I'll be left behind, that man need to see how a wear deals with little shits like him" he said Jess chuckled and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"calm down Jack , but hes right both of us Ruby included would not sit back if we had the chace to give that man a thrashing." she knew that was what Robert wanted to hear sine it was exactly how they felt " but don't worry about Ruby Simone and I can keep her calm should the need arise." Jess said " but I do like less idea of extra men, with one of our best men out of action the rest of us have taken up his duties." Now Jack lent on the table.

"I have no issues with extra men, it would mean Angus can stay put and relax, there for recovering." he psued " but that man need to know he can't mess with this family, once and for all" he banged his fist on the table but Jess calmed him " sorry, he gets me so worked up."

"We're not going to do anything until I talk to Angus and Edward. Right now, what we know is that Tyler wants Angus eliminated. It isn't right to decide a course of action without talking to Angus. I want to have a conversation with him--just him, and not everybody else eavesdropping in on it. Nothing against Ruby at all, but somehow she is always within earshot of every bloody conversation I have with Angus, and this is one that I want to have without everybody else having a voice in. We'll tell her, of course, but this is going to be touchy business. He's ultimately responsible for the condition that Angus is in right now, and I don't want him feeling he has to censor himself because she's within hearing distance. He needs to deal with the fact that his father-in-law-to-be is a hit man and wants him very dead. Ruby will need to deal with her thoughts too, but, in this case, I really think they both are going to need a minute alone before they come back together on it."

"Send her over here," Michael said. "She could help me with supper. I really am going to need the help tonight. I'm going to need someone to scrub up a couple dozen baking potatoes and wrap them in foil so I can roast them. She can help skewer the shrimp and season those for the grill, maybe make a tossed salad, cut the baguette for toasted garlic bread. and get the dining room ready. I've already got dessert made, but I soon need to get the steak, the corn, and the potatoes on the grill."

"I need to check Angus anyway to make certain he's still doing alright," Robert said. "So I'll talk to him and Edward, and then I'll talk to Ruby at some either before supper or right afterwards."

"And I'll send word to get a team deployed and checked into a hotel in London, shall I?" Lee asked.

"Yes, please. Thanks you, Lee," Robert said. "I owe you."

"No, you don't. That's what friends and allies are for," Lee smiled. "Can I use Brian's office for a bit?"

"By all means," Robert said. He got up and went over to the duplex, knocked, and then opened the door. "Anybody home?" he called.

"Family doesn't need to knock," Angus called. "Come in."

"How are you doing?" Robert asked, going in.

"I'm alright," Angus replied.

"Ruby, do you mind going over and giving Michael a hand with this steak dinner? As the day has gone on, Michael's menu has gotten bigger and bigger. He's going to need someone to...wait, let me see if I remember it all. Wash baking potatoes and wrap them in foil, skewer shrimp, make a large tossed salad, make garlic bread from a baguette he's already bought, and set up the dining room. He says he's already handled dessert, but tt sounds like the man is feeding a very large platoon, and he needs a hand or four."

Ruby smiled seeing Robert enter then her mouth fell open at the tasks Michael had to do " okay Im on it" she lent over and kissed Angus 2 I'll be back later " she aid then stood and walked over to the main house. " all right show me teh potatoes" she said as she entered the kichen " robert said you needed help" she asked seeing teh bag of potatoes on the counter " okay wash and foil the potatoes then scewer teh shrip, did I forget anything?" she said as she tipped the potatoes into the sink and began scrubbing them clean to tin foil ready to cook.

Once the potatoes were ready to go in the oven she began skewering the shrimps , which wasn't wasy as they were so small " you sure this is what you want?" she asked as she slipped another on the skewer followed by a secon and a third untill the skewer was full and so was the platter several sat on. " okay next job." she asked.

Michael had a large bag of potatoes that were all large enough for jacket potatoes, and they were all roughly the same size.

"The bag right there on the floor is what I ordered for jacket potatoes. I'm going to put them right down on the coals to roast, so we just need to scrub them up and wrap them in foil. We'll roast them right in the foil. 2 dozen should do it. The potatoes, the shrimp skewers--oh, the shrimp is already shelled and deveined. so you should only need to skewer them. One or two skewers per person, I should think. So that's about 48 skewers if we do about 2 per person. A nice tossed salad, and I bought a couple big baguettes that I want to use for loaves of garlic bread. There is some nice fresh Irish butter in the fridge, and in the pantry is some fresh garlic or garlic powder. I've made garlic butter both ways. Sometimes I can pack more garlic flavor into the butter by adding the garlic powder and a bit more salt, but you do it whatever way you like. We have about 2 dozen people, you know, so you might need both loaves. I don't know. I made 2 enormous New York style cheesecakes for supper. I have a classic cherry cheesecake, and I also have a chocolate cheesecake. So people can take their pick. New York cheesecake is a very different sort of thing. It is cheesecake but its particularly made to be very dense and heavy. When we cut that, we will cut it into thin slices. I think we actually may have enough that if people want a thin slice of each, they'll be able to do that. I'll have to get a large pot of coffee going, because they will probably all want coffee with that. Now, are you overwhelmed?"

Robert checked Angus and then sent Andrew upstairs, who was fine with going upstairs because it gave him a moment to unpack.

"Angus, we need to talk for one moment. I really wanted a moment alone with you," Robert said.

"What's happened?" Angus asked.

"Kyle Redfern is dead, and so is Nurse Finch. They were found dead a couple hours ago--murdered execution style. Our intel says it was Ruby's father who committed the crime because he wanted Redfern to kill you, and Redfern botched the job. Finch was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. She knew too much."

"That should surprise me but it doesn't," Angus said. "So it sounds like my turning them to swine sealed my own death warrant."

"No, I don't think so," Robert said. "That was minor. The fact that you work for me, and you've been making things difficult for Gelding for years has been the major thing. And the fact that you're Benjamin's son. Remember Redfern turned on Benjamin because Benjamin didn't help him up Gelding's ladder of opportunity, so he struck out at not only Benjamin but your mother too. I think all that little swine prank did was just maybe irk him a trifle, but that isn't what Tyler's pissed about. He's pissed about what side you're on, and he's exceptionally pissed that you're involved with Ruby. Intel says he thinks you two are already married."

"Because that's what I told him, and its what I told Benjamin, not knowing the two of them were connected.

"Ah. I see. So, I already know what you're going to say, but I have to ask. I'd prefer you come back to the main house..."

"No. This is my home. I'm not running," Angus said. "I don't want Edward or Ruby or Simone or Andrew caught in the crossfire, but..."

"They're not going to go any sooner than you would, and we both know what they're all going to say."

"Yeah, I know. Robert, I need to find my gun, then...."

"I'll make sure you have one, just in case. But--Lee is bringing some extra men to help us reinforce ourselves until we can get Tyler secured. I'm putting two in side over here, one upstairs, one downstairs--here and at Edward's, and more men on the grounds. There will be three shifts..."

"I don't want.."

"I know, but you can't fight. And you can't leave yourself and the people you love unprotected. If you want to stay here, then we'll give it a try, but if you're going to do that, you're going to accept my help. Understand me?"

"Oh, alright," Angus said, knowing Robert was right. Angus couldn't fight. The best he was going to be able to do was to fire a gun.

"I'll bring you a pistol and a couple of clips," Robert said. "I know you have a gun, but I don't know where Ruby put it. So I'll bring you one. Won't hurt for you to have more than one anyway."

"Thank you."

"You alright with this?"

"As alright as I'm going to be," Angus said.

"I'm going to go talk to Edward then. Do not push yourself to overdo it," Robert cautioned. "It won't get you up any sooner." Angus nodded.

"We've got you covered," Robert laid a reassuring hand on Angus's arm for a moment, and then he went over to Edward's side to see Edward.

Ruby paused and listened to Michel " all that?" she said then took a deep breath and rolled up her sleeves to begin making more skewers with shrip in them. Once donw she then cut and made the garlic butter for the baggets before covering it and leaving it for the butter to soak into the bread. Quickly she moved to gather the salad things " ichel were out of lettuce I know theres some in teh garden I'll fetch some" she sid gathering the basket to head to the fruit and veg garden to cut two large letucce heads for the salad.

Walking back in she washed each one and then cut them free from its base. now with enough lettice she placed it in a large bowl with the other ingrediants and looked to Micahel " you making a dressing or is it juwst a plain salad?" she asked

"Okay," Michael said, "there's more coming tomorrow with the grocery order from the suppliers. She asked about dressing, and he said. "I haven't made one yet, but I'm sure they're going to want at least two different kinds so they can pick. Angus has some large bottles of dressing in the walk in that he's made, and he's got recipes in his book for some more. They look like they make the same large quantities like the large bottles in the fridge. They look easy, like they're pretty much just assembly-only sorts of things. You're welcome to take a look and make something if you don't find what you want in the fridge. What would I do without you, Ruby?" He smiled. "I'm putting the steaks on right now. I'll be ready for the potatoes as soon as they're ready to go. And I'll cook the shrimp skewers right at the end for three or four minutes. It's a hot fire, so it isn't going to take long for them at all.

He had a massive platter of well trimmed steaks ready to go out to the grill. He had invested, with Robert's permission in a huge outdoor charcoal grill for the estate. It was six foot long. He had loaded it with charcoal and hickory wood chips and had started the fire earlier so that the coals were ready to cook on. He had already put out a six foot long prep table and had taken his grilling equipment out and had set it up. As he went out, he called back to Ruby.

"Hey, it's beautiful out here tonight. What if we asked Kate and Jess to help get the tables out here ready and we can eat outside tonight? When I get done grilling, this prep table can serve as a buffet maybe."

Edward had been as unyielding as Angus had been, just like Robert had predicted. Edward was willing to accept the guards, and he promised fierce protection for Angus and Ruby and Simone. Robert believed Edward was certainly a fighter of his word, and that he would be heavily armed at this point. Edward said he would tell Simone and Ruby about Tyler when they all got just a moment to breathe. In the meantime, though, he went into his study, and he armed himself. He gave Simone a pistol and a switchblade, in addition to her wand.

Robert kept his word. He brought over a pistol for Angus and two clips and a pistol for Ruby along with a clip. He made sure the pistols used the same ammunition so that between the two of them Angus and Ruby had three full clips. He also made sure they had a couple of good knives, and he brought Angus some of the exploding bubbles that he liked so well. The bubbles would at least make noise, and that surely would bring help coming.

Ruby looked to the walk in and nodded " I'll fetch them and look for a second" she moved to teh fridge and breathed in relife as cool ai hit her. Chuckaling to herself she picked up the bottle and returne to the kitchen placing it next to teh salad. She moved to Angus office and smiled seeing his diploma still on the wall looking to the folders she found a dressing that semed simple and took the folder to the kitchen to make it, it was an easy vinaigrette with Dijon mustard, olive oil and white wine vinegar.

Placing it in a jar for easy poring she moved them to the dinning room table but hearing Michaels sugestion she moved outside and looked around " yes it is " she said " we'd need to see if Andrew can bring Angus out for the meal." she said placing the salad and dressings on the table. " thats a big BBQ " she said seeing the size of it just looking at it she felt it could cook a whole pig on it.

"Robert agreed with me that it was about time we had a proper grill. Grilling is healthier anyway, and as many people as we cook for, we might as well have the right size grill to do the job. If you know how to do it, you can make just about anything on the grill, including dessert," Michael told her.

At the duplex, Edward and Simone had decided they were going to go safeguard Angus until Lee's men got there. Angus was getting very tired from being awake so long, so Edward had taken it upon himself to lay back the recliner so Angus wasn't sitting up anymore, and he pulled the blanket up a bit farther around Angus. Once Angus was more horizontal than upright and once he had allowed himself to rest in Edward's promise of protection against Tyler, he had fallen asleep. Edward was glad to see Angus resting, one of the first opportunities Angus had taken to doze off all afternoon. Edward was smelling the steaks, and he was sure Angus was too. Edward decided he would wake him to have him eat a little, but he wasn't going to wake him until he had to. Simone busied herself for a moment in the kitchen making a fresh pot of tea--this one was Robert's newer flavors--peach praline, which was peach, pecan and caramel. It smelled fabulous as it was brewing.

"We can check to see if Angus is up to coming out, but I'm betting Robert will want him to rest tonight. It was a big risk just moving him home at all," Michael told her. "You could go check if you want, though."