WILD Security- The Complete Series Read online

  With her father gone, Janet was next in line to manage the business. He had never released his full ownership of the company and so he had passed it to Janet. Janet had studied business at college- her father had insisted, but other than that, she had no real idea about what made this company tick.

  It was the family business, the business that her father had built up from scratch, built up from nothing at all. It was to be revered, it was special and sacred and it was supposed to light a fire inside of her. But, put simply, Janet didn’t know what she was doing when it came to running this business. She didn’t know what she was supposed to be doing when she spoke with clients. She didn’t know what his end goal had been, and how she was meant to shape and mold this business in the right way.

  She understood the basics, of course, but every company ran differently and Janet was still trying to figure out the company culture. This was her office now, technically speaking, but she couldn’t have felt more out of place. This room was full of her father’s ghosts, ghosts of a company she didn’t understand, ghosts of a man she never really got to know.

  She shuddered and looked back out the window. The city sprawled beneath them, layer after layer of buildings, of smoke and lights and people. It was incredible to see it from this height, incredible to think how many hundreds and thousands of people might live in this city, might love just below, just out of sight.

  Janet turned around, her hand falling on a book. It was an old book. One of her father’s favorites, full of poetry and stories with deeper meaning. Janet lingered on it for a moment before she glanced at the desk, where a ticket lay, printed out and ready to go.

  A plane ticket. A plane ticket to South Africa, where her father had been killed. She shifted in her seat, feeling the discomfort creep into her chest. He hadn’t been killed by accident, and it hadn’t been a curse of crime or something like that.

  No, from the reports that she had received, it sounded like this had been very much on purpose. He had been killed on purpose by an extremist faction, who was opposed to her father’s work. She swallowed deeply as she considered it.

  The company dealt in diamonds, which was always a touchy subject around the world. It was important that she made sure she understood the climate in the diamond industry and she had been reading up about it. Evidently, the extremists were claiming that her father’s company traded in blood diamonds, and lives of their countrymen in neighboring countries were being slaughtered for profit.

  They had been angry when they had killed him and Janet felt like a stone was dropping into her stomach. She had no idea if what they were saying was true or not, but the thought made her sick to her stomach. She didn’t want to believe that her father had done anything wrong, and the fear at the thought of him being attacked and killed like that, lingered like a bad taste in her mouth.

  What if she was attacked next? What if they went after her instead of her father? She felt a pang in her stomach. It was silly to think like that, silly to let fear creep into her mind and stay there, lying quiet and waiting. It was silly to be driven by what ifs, especially as she had a job to do.

  Janet steadied herself and took a deep breath. It had been a lot to take in, a lot to try and handle and consider and figure out. It was a lot to manage in her head and try and learn about this all at once, but Janet was determined to try. She didn’t want to take up the family business and try to smooth out the latest business deal. She didn’t want to take charge of it all and keep the company afloat, but Janet didn’t know what else to do.

  This was still her father’s company, her family’s security and dream. She couldn’t just let it all crumble around her while she sat and did nothing. She was intelligent and hardworking and she could figure this out.

  At least, that was what she repeated to herself over and over. Finally, Janet pushed herself up, her legs aching from being still for so long. She grabbed the ticket and stuffed it into her wallet, tucking it away and making sure that it was safe and hidden. Then she looked and checked her cards, her passport and other identification. She checked that she had all the business documents, hotel room numbers and other numbers that she might need.

  In a spur of the moment decision, Janet pocketed the book as well, sliding it into her bag. Satisfied that she had everything she needed, Janet made her way to the door of the room. Somehow, it was always hard to leave this room.

  On one hand, she was eager to leave, leave the ghosts and the responsibilities behind her, cast it off and go back to how life was before. But, on the other hand, it felt like turning her back on her past, turning her back on her father and the life that he had built for them.

  She lingered, her hand resting on the door frame as she stared back into the room, into the darkness that was starting to descend on the furniture, “I’ll be back.” She whispered, murmuring the words almost like a prayer. She would be back. She’d sort this out.

  She’d manage the company, she wouldn’t let it crumble. Somehow, she would learn as she went.

  Chapter 2

  Janet stopped by the house to pick up her suitcase, and dropped it into the car. She had a personal driver now. Of course, she had the option growing up, but she had always declined and chose to live a more normal life instead.

  Now, as the head of the company, with a potential bounty on her head, Janet took the option given to her and used a personal driver instead. She sat in the back seat, watching the city swirl by her. She couldn’t help but consider how terribly different the city looked from this perspective. It was a lot busier, and the layers all but disappeared into nothingness when you were this close to the ground.

  Janet continued to watch as they headed towards the airport and she settled back in the seat. After a few moments, she glanced at her bag. The book of fairy tales and poetry that her father had left in his office…it was calling to her. She felt a lump in her throat. He hadn’t spent a lot of time with her, hadn’t really read to her very often. But when he had, it had always been from this book. She smiled, feeling the prick of tears, which she blinked back.

  She lifted the book out of her bag and thumbed through it, trying to find the page of her favorite story, the story of the golden bird. She scanned the pages until she came to the most well-worn part of the book.

  “How long until we’re at the airport?” Janet asked the driver, leaning forward.

  “A few more minutes.” Janet nodded and glanced down. She could finish whatever she didn’t read now, in the plane. Eyes down, she began to read.

  A specific lord had an excellent garden, and in the garden stood a tree which bore brilliant apples. These apples were constantly checked, and about the time when they started to develop ready it was discovered that consistently one of them was no more. The ruler turned out to be extremely irate at this, and requested the nursery worker to hold observe throughout the night under the tree. The planter set his oldest child to watch; yet around twelve o'clock he nodded off, and early in the day one more of the apples was absent. At that point the second child was requested to watch; and at midnight he excessively nodded off, and toward the beginning of the day another apple was no more.

  At that point the third child offered to keep watch; yet the nursery worker at first would not let him, for fear some damage should come to him: in any case, finally he agreed, and the young fellow laid himself under the tree to watch. As the clock struck twelve he heard a stirring commotion noticeable all around, and a winged creature came flying that was of unadulterated gold; and as it was snapping at one of the apples with its nose, the plant specialist's child bounced up and shot a bolt at it. In any case, the bolt did the flying creature no damage; just it dropped a brilliant plume from its tail, and after that took off. The brilliant plume was conveyed to the ruler toward the beginning of the day, and all the board was assembled.

  Everybody concurred that it was worth more than all the abundance of the kingdom: yet the lord stated, 'One plume is of no utilization to me, I
should have the entire feathered creature.'

  Janet smiled faintly as she read the words, ghosting her fingers across the page. It struck her, suddenly, that her father was a bit like the king in the book. He wasn’t happy with a small business, but he strove to build an empire. He wasn’t happy with one feather- he wanted the entire bird.

  The car jolted to a shuddering stop and Janet lifted her head. They were surrounded by cars, many, many cars and the bright lights of the airport terminal. Quickly, Janet slipped the book back into her bag, resolving to read it while waiting for her plane, or perhaps on the plane itself, to pass the time.

  She sat up slowly, double checking the time and that she had everything that she needed for the trip. Then she stepped out of the car. The driver had finished paying for parking and had grabbed her suitcase for her. She smiled in appreciation, and they walked towards the building.

  Inside, it was busy. The night air was cool around them, but within the building, it was bright and bustling and busy. Janet drank it all in and took a deep breath to settle the buzz of nerves in her heart. Everything was going to be just fine. Everything was going to work out and there was no reason for her to worry as much as she was. She headed towards the checkout bays and presented her ticket and identification. Her driver helped slide the luggage through, although Janet kept her carry-on bag close. It didn’t take long to process everything and she turned to her driver with a smile, “Thank you for your help.”

  He nodded politely, “Shall I stay, miss?”

  Janet shook her head, “No thank you. It’s late, and I’m sure you have somewhere to be.” She smiled, “I’ll arrange for pickup when I know my return dates.”

  He nodded and smiled, “I hope that you have a safe trip.”

  Then he turned and Janet watched him weave through the crowd, watched him until he disappeared, watched him until he was gone, until she could not see him anymore, until she could not see even a glimmer of him in the crowd.

  Then she turned around, and headed towards the admissions gate. She showed her ticket and was scanned accordingly. She was searched, she had her luggage checked and then she was allowed through.

  She made her way into the terminal itself, shuddering at how busy and bright everything seemed. She held her bag tighter. She needed some time to breathe. Looking around, Janet spotted a coffee shop. She hurried towards it, ordering herself a cup of hot coffee, before she found the most secluded spot she could.

  She looked up, watching the screens flash with the flight times. She still had a little while before she had to board. She was lucky enough to avoid the hour or two wait time, purely because the company’s human resource team had flashed her name and position while they were booking her tickets.

  She shivered a little. It only served to reinforce the idea that she was in trouble, in some sort of danger, just by existing and the thought was not one that Janet was comfortable with, not in the slightest.

  She tried to ignore her worry and focus on something else instead. She grabbed the book back out of her bag and flipped through the pages until she found her place again, and continued where she had left off.

  Then the plant specialist's oldest child set out and thought to locate the brilliant fowl effortlessly; and when he had gone yet a little way, he went to a wood, and by the side of the wood he saw a fox sitting; so he took his bow and made prepared to shoot at it. At that point the fox stated, 'Don't shoot me, for I will give you great guidance; I realize what your business is, and that you need to locate the brilliant feathered creature. You will achieve a town at night; and when you arrive, you will see two motels inverse to each other, one of which is extremely lovely and wonderful to take a gander at: go not in there, but rather rest for the night in the other, however it might appear to you to be exceptionally poor and mean.' But the child contemplated internally, 'What can such a brute as this think about the issue?' So he shot his bolt at the fox; yet he missed it, and it set up its tail over its back and kept running into the wood. At that point he went on his path, and at night went to the town where the two hotels were; and in one of these were individuals singing, and moving, and devouring; however the other looked extremely filthy, and poor. 'I ought to be senseless,' said he, 'on the off chance that I went to that ratty house, and left this beguiling spot'; so he went into the brilliant house, and ate and drank at his simplicity, and overlooked the feathered creature, and his nation as well.

  Time passed on; and as the oldest child did not return, and no greetings were known about him, the second child set out, and a similar thing transpired. He met the fox, who gave him the solid counsel: however when he went to the two motels, his oldest sibling was remaining at the window where the fun was, and called to him to come in; and he couldn't withstand the enticement, yet went in, and overlooked the brilliant winged animal and his nation in a similar way.

  Janet chuckled a little. This part of the story always seemed a little bit odd to her, but she was enchanted with the talking fox. She was enchanted with the idea that a fox could speak, could be so much more intelligent than a human. She was enchanted with the magic of the story, the choices that were so impactful to the people within the book. She sighed and began reading the next paragraph.

  Time passed on once more, and the most youthful child too wished to set out into the wide world to look for the brilliant flying creature; yet his dad would not hear it for quite a while, for he was exceptionally attached to his child, and was worried about the possibility that some evil fortunes may transpire likewise, and keep his returning. Nonetheless, finally it was concurred he ought to go, for he would not rest at home; and as he went to the wood, he met the fox, and heard a similar decent advice. Yet, he was appreciative to the fox, and did not endeavor his life as his siblings had done; so the fox stated, 'Sit upon my tail, and you will travel quicker.' So he sat down, and the fox started to flee, they went over stock and stone so brisk that their hair shrieked in the breeze.

  A chiming voice came in over the intercom and Janet looked up from her book with a frown. She listened carefully and fished her ticket out of her bag, double checking the flight number. Nodding in satisfaction, she noted that yes, yes, this was her flight and it was now time to board. Janet didn’t know if she was nervous or excited, but her stomach was flipping with butterflies and she bit her lip as she pocketed her book, grabbed her bag and made her way over to the terminals.

  Janet had, of course, flown before. She had flown many, many times as a child and a few times in her adult life. There was nothing about it that frightened her, and it wasn’t particularly exciting either. She supposed it had something to do with the gravity of her trip, the gravity of all that had happened to her family.

  After all, her father had died in that country, through no fault of the country itself, but because of a handful of people who stood against the company. It frightened Janet that she might be walking straight into their hands, playing into their plan, but she couldn’t be sure. She couldn’t just turn her back on her father’s company, on everything that he had worked so hard to build, create and protect. She couldn’t handle the thought of it all crumbling because she stepped away, backed off at the last moment. She hated the idea of being the one who damaged the company in any way. She took a deep breath, pushing back the panic and the thoughts that swirled around her head. It was a long flight and there was no point starting to worry already.

  She handed over her ticket and stepped through the gate, making her way towards the boarding tunnel. She stepped onto the plane and made her way through the seats. She was fortunate, very fortunate, to be riding first class.

  She had felt that it was a huge waste of money, but her assistants had all insisted that this was just safer. It was a long, long flight on a big plane, with multiple stops. It was just safer to have her away from the crowds, somewhere comfortable, that she could be well rested enough to start the meeting with a bang when she arrived. It was for the good of the company.

 
Janet had still been reluctant, but what did she know? She didn’t know how it was done in the company. She didn’t know what it was like to be the head of a company this big, who was also in potential danger. She bit her lip and took a deep breath. It would be fine. She just had to go with it and act like she knew exactly what she was doing.

  Janet made her way to first class, where she was immediately shown to her seat and offered a drink. She politely declined and chose, instead, to settle into the seat and stare out of the window.

  It was different from riding in business class, which she had done before. It felt more luxurious, more spacious. But what Janet found herself the most thankful for, was the fact that it was more private. It was a long flight, after all, and she didn’t particularly want to spend it cooped up with a lot of other people, never getting a moment to herself. She was exceptionally fortunate, although the waste of money still nagged at her conscience. Still, she did what she could to get comfortable, doing up her seatbelt and settling in. She wished that she could push the seat back a bit, but she knew she had to wait until they were well and truly in the air. She considered for a moment, and then fished for her book again. She probably had a bit of time before take-off and she decided that this was a good way to spend her time. She scanned the pages and kept reading…

  When they went to the town, the child took after the fox's guidance, and without looking about him went to the ratty hotel and rested there throughout the night at his straightforwardness. Early in the day came the fox again and met him as he was starting his adventure, and stated, 'Go straight forward, till you go to a manor, before which lie an entire troop of fighters sleeping soundly and wheezing: fail to acknowledge them, however go into the stronghold and pass endlessly till you go to a room, where the brilliant winged animal sits in a wooden confine; near to it stands a delightful brilliant pen; yet don't attempt to remove the fledgling from the pitiful enclosure and place it into the nice looking one, else you will atone it.'