Page 21 of Daddy's Oath
“Yeah,” Isaiah spoke up. “Seeing you on TV and connecting you with the studio is one thing. But knowing your home address?” He shook his head. “They didn’t get that from the news report.”
“What if they said my name?” Lana posed.
“There’s no way the U.S. Marshals have you listed,” Ace stated. “Even the new identity.” After another drink of water, he stepped closer to the table. “I bet you have a driver’s license.”
“Yeah.”
“Which means you’re in the California DMV database.”
“Which might mean someone who has access to that looked her up after seeing the TV spot,” Isaiah proposed.
“It’s possible,” Ace said. “Of course, it’s possible, like she said earlier, that the Witness Protection Program has a leak in it.”
“So it was smart to call you all?” Lana asked.
She couldn’t help but grin at Ace’s response.“It’s always smart to call the Daddy Guard.”
He winked.
She giggled.
“Tell us more about this gang. I figured Boston was old mob’s territory. La Cosa Nostra,” Ace said.
“It started in Texas,” Lana explained. “In the Dallas area. But then they got big. Made their way east to Atlanta and then all the way up the coast. My grandpa was in on it. That’s how my dad was born in Boston.”
She continued to watch as Ace and Isaiah exchanged glances.
“Makes sense they’d have an L.A. branch,” Isaiah offered. “Could be how they got to her so quick after seeing that TV piece.”
“Yeah, but again, how did they know where she lived?” Ace asked.
“Lot of stuff to figure out,” Isaiah noted.
“But you’ll help her, right?” Athena asked.
Ace answered her but he was looking right at Lana when he said, “Of course. She’s under the protection of the Daddy Guard now.”
He winked again.
And Little Lana giggled again, too.
Chapter Eleven
Lana was exhausted by the time she reached the mansion that served as the Daddy Guard’s headquarters.
She was excited to see it in the daylight, because it looked awesome in the dead of night. She could only imagine what treasures the sunlight would reveal.
“This place looks like one of those old movie star palaces they built back in the Twenties!” she told Ace as he walked her into the bedroom where she’d be staying.
“That’s exactly what it is,” he said. “A famous actress used to live here. You ever heard of Theda Bara?”
“Theda Bera? Of course! She was the original Cleopatra, you know! Way before Liz Taylor.”
Ace’s eyes seemed to hold a healthy dose of appreciation as he said, “I didn’t know that, actually. You’re pretty smart.”
She blushed. Shrugging the praise off, she said, “I’m just a film nut. All I’ve ever wanted to do was work in theater or in the movies. I can’t be an actress now. That would sort of defeat the idea of keeping a low profile. But I work at a movie studio. At least… I did.”
Feeling suddenly deflated, she sat on the bed. Her shoulders shook as she cried. She felt silly for breaking down in front of Ace, but she just couldn’t help it.
