Randle's Princess Read online

  “I’m already headed that way sir,” he replied knowingly.

  Lia just couldn’t understand how anyone could kill someone like that and seem so happy about it. What kind of man was Randle after all? But then again what did these people do to double cross him? Could anything justify such an act? But she knew he had always loved and protected her since she was a child and she had seen the good in him. But after all this she found herself confused and she wasn’t sure what to think about the man she so much admires.

  Finally Randle looked down to see Lia staring straight up at him with the strangest look about her face.

  “What?” he asked almost seeming to be in too good of a mood for someone who had just killed two people.

  “I’m not even gonna ask,” she replied meekly.

  “Well it’s about time,” he acclaimed as he hugged her head to his chest.

  Chapter 3

  A few weeks had passed now since their trip to Arizona. It was a beautiful fall morning in September and Lia was dressing for breakfast. The last few weeks had been peaceful back in the safety of home but so much more was missing now. She yearned more now than ever before to get out and see as much of this magnificent world as she could but wasn’t too excited about doing that with Randle anymore. She feared his secret life more intensely now than she ever had and couldn’t see herself living that way forever.

  But after seeing the beauty of the new city as the plane had landed and being able to mingle amidst the fancy hotel with all its glamour made her hunger to see more. But how will it ever happen? she wondered as she again joined Randle in the dining room. He would surely never allow her to go out in the world on her own. Not without him or his security hovering over her every second she was outside this house.

  “Good morning my beautiful little Princess,” he greeted more enthusiastically than usual. “Ready for a new adventure today? I have plans for us.”

  Lia glanced back with surprise and reluctance to whatever it was he was up too all at the same time as she took her seat at the table.

  “A new adventure? I’m not too sure I can handle that…not with you anyway.”

  Randle chuckled silently at her response. “Sure you can. You love the adrenaline of it too. You just refuse to admit it to yourself. And I think it’s high time you learn how to better protect yourself in case of danger.”

  Now he had gained her full attention. “And how do you suppose we do that?” she asked not sure she wanted to hear his answer to this one.

  “We’re gonna take a little trip out to the shooting range this morning.”

  Her eyes widened at the prospect of this one. “Shooting range?” she questioned with uncertainty.

  Then he reached to floor and brought up a black case and sat it in on the table next to his plate. She watched curiously as he flipped the hinged lid open exposing a shiny little revolver. A handgun that looked small enough to fit in a ladies purse she could tell.

  “And just exactly what is that?” Lia asked astounded.

  “Your new little .45,” he responded proudly still looking over the small silver revolver with its black pearl handle as if admiring its beauty.

  “I’m not shooting that thing,” she proclaimed with a rather surprised look.

  “Sure you will,” he didn’t hesitate to reply back. “You’re my Princess and I know you can handle anything.”

  “You’re actually gonna teach me how to shoot that thing?” she asked still in disbelief at the thought of it.

  “Yep. And I better not ever again catch you leaving this house without it afterwards.”

  “But why do I need it? You have Jeffery go everywhere with me. Isn’t that enough?” She sounded as if she were protesting and not at all happy about becoming armed just like him and the rest of his men.

  “We’ll discuss Jeffery later,” he then stated with slight disgust leaving Lia at a total loss for words.

  What could he possibly have meant by that she quickly wondered but feared the answer so she dismissed the question from her mind.

  “Aren’t you afraid I might get mad and shoot you with it?”

  Randle smiled at her remark. “Oh Princess. I think you’re the least of my worries.”

  Finally he placed the gun in a small leather carrying case that he pulled from his pocket and secured it closed with a small velcro strap then simply slipped it back into his jacket pocket.

  Betsy now placed their food on the table and left them alone together again.

  “Now eat up. We have a long day ahead of us,” he ordered playfully.

  He seemed far too happy about this and had Lia confused to an extreme. What possibly could have persuaded him to think she needed a gun of her own?

  When they had finished Randle seemed much too anxious to start training her to use this weapon. He hurried her through their meal the best he could and was ready to begin their journey immediately. Almost acting like a child headed for the playground.

  “Let me get my purse would you?” she smirked with an edgy attitude. Then she made her way up the stairs to her bedroom, reached to grab her purse from the dresser then appeared back at the head of the stairway. She knew now if she was going to possess this thing she needed a place to conceal it.

  “Hurry up!” Randle exclaimed from below.

  “What’s your hurry?”

  “I’m anxious to see you do this,” he replied with a laugh. “My little Princess…as mean as me.”

  “That will never happen!” she exclaimed.

  Randle laughed out loud now as she met him at the doorway. She looked out now seeing his Mercedes parked out front instead their usual chauffeured limo ride.

  “Oh wow, we’re actually driving ourselves,” she let out rather cheerfully as she flung the front door open and ran down the outside steps with the sound of her heels clicking on the concrete. She rounded to the driver’s side.

  “Please let me drive,” she began pleading.

  “Oh hell no,” Randle exclaimed not at all laughing at the prospect of it.

  “Please, Please,” she kept on as they faced off over the top of the vehicle from opposite sides.

  Randle shook his head as if couldn’t believe his own decision then flung the keys in the air and over the roof of the car.

  Lia jumped and caught them. “Yes!”

  She wasted no time climbing behind the wheel and Randle cautiously climbed in next to her.

  “Please don’t kill us,” he pleaded jokingly now.

  “Oh come on,” she declared. “I’m not the one we need to be worried about here.”

  They made their way to the shooting range but Lia’s stomach was churning at the thought. Never had she so much as held a gun in her hand before much less fired one. And why all of sudden does Randle feel it to be so necessary?

  Once inside Randle met with the manager and picked up a pair of protective headgear to muzzle out the sounds. They were then escorted to their long narrow booth with the targets hanging at the rear. Randle placed the headgear over her ears and his as well then pulled the revolver from his pocket and removed it from its case.

  The gun was already loaded and ready to fire. She could barely hear Randle’s voice through the ear muffs but paid full attention.

  “This is the safety button Princess,” he went on explaining as he pointed and went over all the pertinent features about the small revolver. Then he took stance in the small alley holding the gun with both hands as he brought it up and aimed at the target.

  She heard a pop and saw his arms jerk just slightly when he pulled the trigger. “Now that’s all there is to it. Try it,” he stated as he now handed the pistol to her.

  Lia was more curious now than afraid and took the gun without hesitation. Immediately upon its feel she liked it. It almost felt as if Randle had handed over some his power to her. She then felt his hand on her right shoulder from behind as he pulled her into position centering her in front of the target.

  He stood directly behind her now
and she could feel his body pressed against her back as he wrapped his long strong arms around hers with his hands against the side of her own as she held the gun. She could then feel him pulling her arms up to aim at the target, her finger already positioned on the trigger.

  “All you have to do is look down the top of the barrel and line it up to your target,” he then instructed with his mouth just outside of her muzzled ear.

  Surprisingly to herself she wasn’t the slightest bit nervous. This was intriguing to her now and she wanted to learn. It felt so good and seemed to come natural for her. And for some reason the need to make Randle proud of her made her try that much harder.

  She squeezed the trigger without him having to tell her too. The feeling of power increased drastically.

  “Nice job Princess,” she heard from behind.

  She turned to face him. “Did I do it right?”

  “Yes you did,” he replied beaming with pride.

  “Now do it again,” he then commanded.

  She turned and on her own raised the weapon and without hesitation she aimed quickly and fired.

  “How was that?”

  “Well let’s see,” Randle replied as he reached up for the cord to retrieve the target.

  As he looked it over, “Pretty damn good. You’re a natural. But then I knew you would be,” he responded.

  Lia smiled proudly. “So am I ready?”

  “I do believe,” he answered quickly. “All I have to do now is make sure you know how to load and unload it. Now take a few more practice shots.”

  She practiced for a couple of hours more while Randle went over everything with her. She loaded and unloaded the gun. She put the safety on and off. The more he taught her about the gun the more confident she became with it. Finally when they were done with her lessons she placed the gun in its small case and didn’t hesitate to slip it into her purse.

  “C’mon my evil little Princess, let’s get some lunch,” he then stated as he took her hand and they left the range.

  Lia again took the driver seat. “Where too?” she asked as they made their way back onto the main road.

  “Oh I don’t really care. You pick the place.”

  “Sonic?”

  “No.”

  “McDonalds?”

  “No.”

  Lia laughed at him knowing Randle Malcolm wasn’t eating anything but fine cuisine.

  “Why did you even tell me to pick?”

  “I have no idea.” He only shook his head and smiled knowing she was teasing with him the entire time.

  She pulled into a steakhouse just a few miles up the road and finally he was content.

  Lia crawled into bed that night feeling like a stronger person. She actually liked that fact that Randle had taught her how to shoot the gun. It gave her a sense of safety and freedom that she had never felt before. But she still couldn’t believe he had done this and couldn’t figure out what his motivation behind it was. Then again she doubted anyone would ever be able to figure out what Randle Malcolm would do next.

  She placed her purse on the bottom shelf of the nightstand next to her bed. At least now if someone breaks in during the night or something I can actually defend myself she thought.

  The next morning Lia left her bedroom just in time to catch Randle fixing to leave for work. He stopped and looked up to her and she hurried down the stairs to catch him.

  “Randle can I go into town with you today?” she asked hoping to have a day out of the house.

  “Not this morning Princess. I’m gonna be too busy.”

  “Please?” she pleaded again.

  “Oh hell, come on. I should know better than to argue with you by now.”

  He opened the door and she bounced out ahead of him. It had been quite some time since she had been to his downtown office and she missed it greatly. Joseph used to take her to work with him all the time and she knew the girls that worked there, Jessica a lady near her sixties now who was with Joseph for most of his career and a new girl Randle had hired a couple of years ago Misty who was probably about her early thirties she was guessing. At least this was a chance for her to have a conversation with someone other than Randle or Jeffery for a change.

  Randle drove this morning Lia not even bothering to ask. She had already gotten her way once and wasn’t about to overstep her boundary.

  “Jessica still there?” she asked hopefully.

  “Yes, she’s not about to retire anytime soon.”

  “Misty still there?” she asked again.

  “Yes,” he replied with a smile and quick glimpse in her direction. “Please don’t start questioning me again. I’m gonna have a headache before we even get there.”

  “Okay, okay,” she answered knowing full well he wasn’t angry.

  Randle pulled the car into the parking garage at the bottom of the huge skyscraper that housed his office. They pulled around a couple of times to the private area for employees only and he parked the car.

  Together they walked to the elevator and waited for it to open. Randle seemed a bit tense all of a sudden but Lia really wasn’t concerned about it. He probably was focusing on his work now and she was going to do the best she could to stay out of his way.

  Finally the doors opened and they entered. He pushed the button and it started up, all the way to the twenty-first floor. Lia loved being up that high. The view from every single window in the building was breath taking.

  The elevator doors opened again into the beautifully decorated waiting area of Malcolm and Associates Law Firm. A huge round secretary’s desk was just straight ahead and Lia could see Jessica and Misty already busy at work answering the phones and typing away behind it. A huge fish aquarium lined one wall and a row of comfy leather chairs along the other for his clients to sit comfortably while they waited.

  “Good morning Mr. Malcolm,” Jessica and Misty both blurted upon his sight.

  “Oh and Miss Lia, how nice to see you again,” then came from Misty as the woman now realized Lia was standing just behind Randle. An almost puzzled look was about her face.

  Lia picked up on her sudden animosity immediately but blew it off. “Thank you Misty. It’s nice to see you again too.”

  Jessica rose to hug her. “It’s always a pleasure to see you dear.”

  “Thank you. I have really missed you too Jessica.”

  She then continued to follow Randle around the desk and through the huge wooden doorway into his oversized office. He shut the door behind them and quickly took his seat behind his desk. His phone was already buzzing.

  “Mr. Malcolm,” she heard from Jessica’s voice through the speaker. “Mr. Whitman is on the phone for you.”

  “Thank you Jessica, I’ll take it.”

  He turned to Lia. “I told you it was gonna be a busy morning so try and keep quiet please,” he told her. “But don’t you dare leave this floor.”

  “Okay, I won’t,” she promised then made herself comfy on the sofa next to his desk and picked up a magazine from the coffee table in front of it and began to fumble through the pages.

  Randle answered his call and she unconsciously tried to listen to all his business as he took one phone call after the other and she tried to read her book all at the same time.

  Finally after a couple of hours she made her way out of his office and spent almost the rest of the entire afternoon behind the receptionist desk chatting with Jessica and being nosy as she found herself going through Randle’s appointment book to see who was coming in next.

  Sitting in his office listening to all his clients come and go just to discuss their wills and estate planning, real estate purchases and wanting to know what their chances were to sue someone because they slipped and fell in a puddle of water had gotten old and hard to bare.

  No wonder Randle would rather be home frolicking in the pool with me instead she thought at last. This stuff can get real absurd quick.

  Finally it neared 5 o’clock. She returned to his office after his last cl
ient had gone and perched herself comfortably up on the side of his desk. Misty made her way into the room now.

  She stood a little shyly in front of his desk. “Are you finished with me today Mr. Malcolm?” she asked acting a little fidgety.

  Lia didn’t like the way she was acting but sat quietly and watched and listened.

  “Yes you can go. And thank you,” he replied without ever looking up at her.

  “See you tomorrow then,” she responded almost seeming embarrassed about something, a slight tone of redness appearing on her cheeks. She glanced quickly in Lia’s direction then hurried from the room as if she couldn’t get out fast enough.

  Lia had sat there and looked from one to the other as they spoke and thought that both their behavior was rather peculiar and then watched as Misty made her way out the door and closed it behind her. Then she had a sudden surprised look about her face as if an idea had suddenly hit her and her body did a little jerk as she turned to face Randle.

  He glanced up to meet her gaze after the sudden change of expression.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Randle are you banging that girl?” she asked with utmost sincerity.

  Randle quickly snapped his brief case closed and spun the locks then he yanked it from the desk as he stood up. “What the hell’s wrong with you talking like that?”

  “Nothing. I mean it, are you sleeping with her?” she continued prodding as she rose from the desk and began to follow him.

  “Why would you ask me such a stupid question?” he nearly protested. He rounded to the front of the desk in a hurried pace never looking back knowing she would be right behind him.

  “You are aren’t you? That’s why she was acting so funny about me being here from the start this morning. She’s ashamed of herself!” she then proclaimed.

  “Princess, you have a vivid imagination you know that?” he tried to joke now.

  Lia didn’t believe him. She knew full well it was true and had a sudden feeling of anger and jealousy. But why should I care? she wondered to herself as they made their way down the elevator and to the car, her eyes looking up at him with disbelief almost the entire time.