Prepping for Bahrain

I grabbed my newly minted ID off the desk, sliding it into my pocket. It was time to pick up the two new phones. Instead of paging Ronan to bring the car around just to drive me a block and a half down the street, I decided to walk. As soon as I stepped outside, the July heat hit me—definitely on the hotter side for a Canadian summer afternoon, but the brief stretch of solitude on the sidewalk was still a welcome break.

When I reached the shop, I was glad to see that Max was already all set for me. I’ve been going to his store for years for cell phones, internet packages, and who knows what else. As the years went on and my requirements evolved, Max developed a knack for anticipating my needs—he always seemed to know exactly what I was looking for before I even knew what I was looking for myself.

The chime above the door sounded as I stepped inside out of the heat. Max looked up from behind the counter.

"Good afternoon, Madam—" He caught himself mid-sentence, his eyes darting toward two customers browsing a display of tablets a few yards away. He smoothly dropped the "Prime Minister" shit without missing a beat, using the name he knew me by. "Good to see you, Ms. Smith. Glad you could make it in today."

"Good to see you too, Max," I replied.

The less fuss over me in public, the better it was. When I was taking care of technology needs or grocery shopping, I was just Deppgrl Smith, not Marie nor Prime Minister.

"Everything's ready for you, Deppgrl," Max said, coming out from behind the counter with a subtle nod toward the back. "Follow me."

He led me away from the main floor to a quiet, secluded area of the store tucked behind a partition wall, safely out of sight and earshot of the other shoppers. On the shiny counter sat a black velvet tray holding two sleek devices.

"Here we go," Max said, gesturing to the pair. "These are the next phones to come out. They aren't planned to be released to the public for another six months or so, but I managed to secure two of them and pull them aside just for you."

I leaned in to inspect the phones, appreciating the sheer level of craftsmanship—and Max's unfailing ability to deliver exactly what I needed it without even asking.

"Max, were you ever a criminal in your previous life?" I asked.

"I may have," he said slyly. "I know who you are, Marie. A relative of the Romanovs, the brains of the Mozzarella clan, criminal turned to a perfect Canadian citizen and now prime minister. I have followed your career for many years. You were the inspiration for my shenanigans as a youth and for me now as an adult."

"We both have secret lives, I guess," I said. "If you were an admirer of my past, then you would know what I say about shenanigans."

"If someone shenan once, they will shenan again."

We chuckled for a second.

Max tapped the edge of the counter, bringing our attention back to the black velvet tray. "In all seriousness, though, both of these are set up and prepped to your exact specs. You don’t ever have to ask as I tend to provide you what you need before you need it. These are fully secure and ready to roll. These phones are untraceable to hackers and other criminals. Trust me, I’ve tried. Also, there is never any need to give corporate a call to give the company a heads up when you travel. I made sure that when I received these phones that there would be unlimited travel with ZERO extra fees."

"Perfect. That's exactly what I came for," I said, reaching out to pick up the phones. "You always know what I need before I know what I need."

"Always a pleasure," Max said with a light nod. "Let me know if you need anything else pulled from the back before release day."

"Will do, Max. Thanks," I said. "What is the cost of the phones?"

"For the phones, it’ll be $3,000 Canadian, but with the rebate form and your Italian phone, you may be getting $2,800 Canadian back."

"Sounds reasonable," I said as I handed over my credit card.

"Here’s the form for you to fill out," Max said, placing the paperwork next to me. "As you do that, I am going to transfer the contacts that you have saved on the European phone to these. Once the numbers are transferred over successfully and you confirmed that everything is fine, I’ll shut the European phone down to factory settings and include it with the rebate form."

"Great," I said.

He took my credit card and processed the payment as I filled out the form. He was done before I was a few lines into the paperwork. He then transferred the contacts over successfully to both devices, and I checked them thoroughly after completing the form. Satisfied, Max shut down the European phone to factory settings, then shoved the form and the phone into an envelope, sealed it shut, and slipped it into his pocket.

"I’ll take care of this shortly," Max assured me. "I have a friend who will take care of it for us. He takes care of my high-priority clients."

"Thanks for everything, Max. I appreciate it, my friend."

"Any time, Deppgrl. Call me if you need anything."

"Will do!"

I tucked the new phones under my arm, gave Max a brief wave, and stepped back out through the front door, heading back into the July heat. I took a deep breath and headed back to the office.

When I arrived back at the office, Barb followed me into my more private office.

"Good news, Marie," Barb said as I kicked my dress shoes off. "Bahrain has everything set up and is ready for your arrival. They expect you in the next twenty-four hours."

"That is great news, Barb! I have a bag packed at my house. I need to get it and then I’ll head to the airport."

"I knew that you’d be mostly prepared. I have both Turkish Airlines and Qatar Airways on hold. Which flight?"

"Whatever one has the most accommodations for free I can get with my points," I said as I was digging through my messy desk looking for my keys and license. “Preferably first class, better food quality and better drinks.”

"Top center drawer, Marie," Barb said gently. "You know that’s where I always put your loose personal items. I’ll get you on Qatar as they provide more options along those lines. Organize your desk a bit, then I’ll kick you out so you can get going. Ronan?"

"You’re too good to me, Barb," I said as I found my license and keys and shoved them both in my pocket. "Here are my phones. The pink one is just for personal use, and the maroon one is for just this office plus Bobby and Fred. Can you please figure out which one has what number? And make sure the staff in this specific office has the number for the maroon phone. The only one that I want to have my private number is you. And yes to Ronan."

"Got it," Barb called over her shoulder as she left my office.

With the tasks I gave her, I knew that it’d take her just a few minutes to complete everything for me. I had to be quick with my organizing. Thankfully, Barb and I are both Type A personalities and our organizational skills are nearly identical to each other. I just put the notes and other loose papers in the appropriate folders that she created for me when I was traveling between New Zealand, Russia, and Italy. I threw my good pens into my locked desk drawer and attached that key ring to my key ring in my pocket. I grabbed my shoes, turned off my office lights, and headed out to meet Barb.

"Perfect timing! I printed your ticket for Qatar and also emailed it to you. Knowing you, there’s a chance you could lose your printed copy" Barb said, handing it over. "First class private pod. Three security team members—all undercover. Unfortunately, they’ll still stick out a little bit. Qatar is flying them for free due to your position. I emailed the staff here with your maroon phone’s number and I did save your private number to both my work and personal cell phones. Ronan is on his way up for you."

"No wonder you are my chief of staff!" I said as I took my printed ticket from her. "Can you please lock up my office for me?"

"Of course. Oh, before Ronan gets up here," Barb said as she started rifling through her desk. "I have saved a small purse of yours here somewhere. With your full hands, I’m afraid that you’ll drop something. Ah ha! Here we go!"

Barb handed me a small tan bag that was just large enough for my license, keys, a phone, and a rescue inhaler for my asthma.

"Thank you," I said as I started shoving as much stuff in there as I could. "Oh. Here are my office keys! I thought I lost them."

"You dropped them a few days before you left for your family emergency prior to your leave for New Zealand. I threw them in this purse to keep them safe."

"Again—this is why you’re my chief of staff!"

Barb blushed a little bit. I grabbed the keys out of my pocket so I could attach my office keys to the rest of my keys. I dropped my shoes, walked over to my private office, and locked it.

By the time I got back to my purse and dress shoes, Ronan and Barb were flirting. I knew that it was difficult for both of them to have any romantic relationship due to their jobs revolving around me, but I appreciated the hell out of them. They both also had failed relationships that were due to abuse inflicted upon them. At the end of the day, I still hoped that they would open up a little bit more to each other and start dating.

"Ready, Ronan?" I asked.

"I am, Marie. The quickest way to your not so humble abode?"

"You’re the best. Better not let your sister hear you call me Marie as she doesn’t know my true identity. That is the perfect way back to my house. One of these days, I have to give you both the night off so you can go for coffee or something," I said with a mischievous smile. "The stories that you can both share with each other about me."

They looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

"Maybe when we get you back from the Bahraini government in one piece, Marie," Ronan said quietly. "Their views aren’t favorable to women."

"I’ll be careful. Barb selected the best security for me. Don’t forget, I am the best hand-to-hand fighter and sharpshooter in the entire world, Ronan," I said, grateful for his concern. "Sadly, the world doesn’t know this. If I didn’t have to end my work with the Bahraini government for personal and work reasons, I wouldn’t go with as few security as I have. I need to be discreet and not have a ton of focus on me."

Ronan offered a tight, acknowledging nod, though the residual worry in his eyes didn't entirely vanish. "Fair enough. But discreet or not, my job is to get you to your house and then to that tarmac unharmed. The car is secured at the subterranean exit."

"Lead the way, then," I said, adjusting the strap of the tan purse over my shoulder and taking a final look around the room.

Barb gave my arm a reassuring squeeze as we passed her desk. "Safe travels, Marie. Keep your head down."

"Always try to!" I replied with a faint smile, following Ronan down the private corridor toward the garage doors.

Ronan and I walked in silence, I carried most of my stuff but since I still didn’t have enough hands, he had my shoes in a plastic bag.

“How do you feel about coming with me, Ronan? I know that you don’t have much experience in the protection gig but you being there with me will put you at ease.”

“That would be amazing, Marie.”

I pulled my personal phone out of my pocket and called Barb.

“Barb, can you add Ronan to the round trip flight with the security and I? Also, can you please send his sister Charlotte to his place to pack a bag for him and have her drop it off?”

“Working on the flight now as we speak. I’ll text Charlotte in a second. Once I have everything set up, I’ll email you Ronan’s ticket to your email and let you know when she’s on her way with his stuff.”

“Thanks so much.”

I ended the call and slipped the phone back into my tan purse. Next to me, Ronan had stopped dead in his tracks, staring at me with a bewildered look on his face.

"Marie... I have a passport arriving in the next few weeks," he said slowly, shaking his head. "I can't travel in and out of the country without one."

"I had that taken care of before I left for New Zealand," I said, unable to hide a sly grin. "I had your regular passport delayed a bit, created a diplomatic one for you, processed it through the correct channels, put in safe keeping, and brought over right now. It'll be at my house by the time we get there."

Ronan blinked, caught completely off guard, before letting out a short, disbelieving laugh. "You delayed my passport, created a new but diplomatic one and put it in safe keeping before you even went to New Zealand? You really do think of everything, don't you? What do I do with the one that I’ll be getting soon?"

"I try to stay two steps ahead," I said, pressing the down button for the private elevator. "It keeps us alive and keeps everything running without a hitch. You will travel with that one when you’re not with me."

The elevator doors chimed and slid open. We stepped inside, and as the floor indicator began its quiet descent toward the subterranean parking garage, Ronan shook his head, a mix of awe and genuine relief washing over his face.

"Well then," he said, shifting the plastic bag containing my dress shoes to his other hand. "I guess I'm going to Bahrain."

"You are," I replied softly, feeling a weight lift off my shoulders knowing someone I trusted implicitly would be by my side.

The subterranean garage was cool and dimly lit compared to the humid summer air outside. Ronan pressed the key fob, unlocking the armored black SUV parked in the private bay. He stowed my shoes in the trunk while I slid into the front passenger seat, letting out a heavy breath as the engine purred to life.

Within minutes, we pulled out of the underground complex through the secure side gate, blending smoothly into the downtown traffic. The drive to my home was quick and quiet. Ronan kept his eyes scanning the mirrors with trained vigilance, taking twice as many turns as necessary to make sure that no one was too close to the vehicle.

When we pulled into my driveway, the garage door opened automatically. As soon as the car was parked inside and the door closed behind us, I headed into the house to grab my packed bag. My packed suitcase was sitting right by the entryway closet, right where I’d left it. Beside it rested a courier envelope marked urgent—Ronan’s freshly arrived passport.

I grabbed the envelope and handed it over as Ronan walked in carrying my shoes.

"Here you go," I said with a smile. "Official clearance inside."

He opened the envelope, inspecting the passport with a wide grin. "Unbelievable. You really don't miss a detail."

Before he could say anything else, a car pulled up into the driveway outside. Ronan glanced out the side window and nodded. "That's Charlotte."

We met her by the door. Charlotte stepped inside just long enough to hand Ronan a compact duffel bag and give him a tight hug.

"Everything you asked for is in here, bro," Charlotte said, turning to me with a warm smile. "Take care of my brother, Deppgrl."

“Thanks, Lottie!”

"Always," I promised. "And thank you, Charlotte. We owe you one."

After Charlotte had left, we loaded our bags into the back of the SUV, I locked up the house and we got into the car. We headed on our way to the airport. It was normally a ninety minute drive but Ronan threw the lights on that are on the top of the car. He still  mostly followed the laws of the road but we were able to speed – legally. The evening sky was darkening as we took the private access highway straight toward the executive airfield.

As the perimeter gates of the airport opened to let us onto the tarmac, the sharp silhouette of the Qatar Airways plane stood waiting beneath the floodlights. The engines hummed softly in preparation for departure.

Ronan parked near the mobile stairs and turned to me, cutting the engine. "All set, Marie?"

"All set," I said, picking up my tan purse and stepping out into the warm night air, ready for Bahrain. “Are you ready, Ro?”

“I am but nervous.”

“Totally understandable,” I said. “I’ll fill you in a bit when we’re in the air.”

Ronan nodded and we headed towards the plane.