Isabelle was going to guess Yeun had a habit of pacing. Something he’d have to stop if she did take over his personal protection. Especially in front of any transparent glass, bullet-resistant or no. What a marksman couldn’t see, he couldn’t attempt to target.
Yeun himself was easy on the eyes. But the way he tended to twist his mouth into a frown irritated her. Most of his commentary since they’d entered the pod had been patronizing with a dash of arrogance. The man had attitude and he was on every last nerve of either one of his police escorts.
That was what was making her pause. Oh, she could be professional. She didn’t have to like the person she was protecting to do her job well. In fact, it was much less complicated if she didn’t like the person. On most of her contracts, she managed a convenient neutrality in terms of what she thought of her client.
But if the man had soured his police escort over the past few weeks, they’d be a pain in the ass to work with from her perspective too. There was no way she could walk into this on their good sides. Coming here hadn’t been their idea and they were not happy.
Austin had his arms crossed and Weaver was impatiently tapping her fingers against her knee. Both of them were shooting antagonistic glances Diaz’s way.
Fun.
She pulled out her smartphone and texted Diaz. On screen, he glanced down at his phone. “For a basic testimony, it seems standard witness protection procedures would be more than sufficient.” Diaz nodded to the US marshal deputy, Austin and Weaver in turn. “Our services are generally retained for private concerns where the police are not involved.”
Yeun paused in his pacing and looked up at Diaz. She did like that the man at least maintained eye contact when he was going to address people. “I would’ve thought so too. Last night’s incident shook my faith in the police force somewhat.”
“Now wait a minute.” Austin sat forward and stabbed a finger in the air, pointing at Yeun. “If you would do as you’re told, there wouldn’t have been an issue last night.”
Repetitive argument was going to get tiresome too. It was always an exercise in perseverance when she had to deal with the same gripes, defensive commentary and complaints over and over again. Hell, it generally meant she was going to have to consistently reinforce the logic behind every move she made for this mission to both the protective detail and her actual client.
Ugh.
Not that she hadn’t dealt with it before but she didn’t exactly approach those situations with happy anticipation either. She’d established herself in any number of teams throughout her military career wading through this kind of bullshit. What she needed was a reason to willingly walk into it now.
“We’ve covered that.” Yeun apparently didn’t bestow the favor of direct eye contact on everyone. Currently, not Austin. “I do not believe the outcome would’ve been as definitive if those men had come up to the hotel room you all had stuffed me into. At the very least, they’d have been much quicker about threatening me with firearms. I believe you mentioned each of those men was armed and they didn’t seem to have qualms about drawing their weapons.”
True. The men the night before had walked with the confidence of having an employer who’d get them out of whatever legal trouble they got into as a result of their dirty work.
“At least down on the lobby level, they were hesitant,” Yeun pointed out. “They were conscious of onlookers.”
But he’d endangered innocent bystanders. It was a craptastic risk to take.
“Either way...” Yeun handed the tablet back to Diaz. “I felt my life was in danger. They were not going to stop at an intimidation tactic. And none of us anticipated there’d be this kind of effort to keep me from testifying.”
Man had a point there.
“The police force is very busy and last night’s incident isn’t quite enough to convince them of my assessment of the situation. The US Marshal Service follows a minimal force required doctrine which leaves Marshal Decker here working with us alone in the field.” Yeun returned to his seat and looked directly up at the camera. At her. “I’m willing to take action to protect my own interests. If I’m being paranoid and the extra layer of protection is not necessary, it’s only my budget impacted. I think it’s worth the investment for peace of mind.”
Reasonable. Logical. From what she’d seen, there was no particular reason to turn it down apart from a distinct lack of enthusiasm for working with these particular personalities. And that was why she should. There was a job to be done and she hated backing away from anything just because the team might not welcome her. She texted Diaz to let him know she’d take the contract.
Leaving the briefing room, she left the dossier on the table for the time being. She’d ask Diaz to send her the electronic version via encrypted email to study later.
She strode down the length of the office floor, exchanging nods with the one or two other Centurions working in the office today. As she approached the pod, Yeun saw her through the glass and rose.