Equalizer

I'd worked enough bodyguard gigs to know that protecting a client is always a risky proposition. Anytime some lunatic threatened violence, I would have to take EVERYTHING into account. In this case, our opponents were known to me, but it would be sketchy if Gordon hired some goons to kill William. As much of a coward as he was, and as much as he hated being beaten, I'd have to protect him as best I could, not to mention watch my own back in the process.

I was also worried about Tabby. Sure, she could hold her own, and had a spine of titanium, but she was still human like the rest of us. I hoped that Gordon wouldn't be that stupid, but you never can tell with some assholes.

"I get it," he said with a nod of understanding. God bless him, he was taking it all in stride. My first impression of him was correct. The heart of a lion. Too bad his stature didn't reflect that. I wondered, not for the first time, how he'd ended up kowtowing to Candace for the years they'd been married. My only conclusion was that he'd loved her completely. She didn't love him anymore, if she ever did, though. That much was apparent by the way she'd been treating him in the last year or so. My best guess on that was that she'd lost all respect for him because he gave her whatever she had wanted with no fight or argument. By the time he put his foot down, it was too late, and she had turned into a fuckin' harpy from Hell. It didn't help William that she'd also taken a lover who could beat William into a pulp if she had told him to.

So here I was, the Equalizer in this whole mess.

My job was simple on paper: Protect William Turner and help him in any way possible until this situation was resolved.

My job was complicated in practice: Protect William Turner from an unstable sociopathic asshole and a seemingly unstable sociopathic soon-to-be ex-wife. Add to that the fact that the unstable sociopathic asshole's former attorney was now helping his rival, and shit got even more complicated. He might go after her as a sort of revenge for firing him and changing sides.

This was going to suck.

* * * * *

After getting Plan D hashed out with my cohorts, and praying that this one wouldn't get waylaid by circumstances beyond our control (Mr. Murphy), I left and went back to my apartment. I showered and turned on the TV to the News. I was mildly surprised to see that the story in progress was about Gordon Smith and his latest arrest. The feed was Live for the interview portion of the spot and I recognized William's house. When it panned to the front door, William was on the porch with Maggie beside him and Shelly on the other side of Maggie.

Maggie was the one answering the questions. "Mr. Turner doesn't have any comment on that at this time," she said. "As to his bodyguard, he isn't needed right now due to the fact that Mr. Smith and Mrs. Turner are currently incarcerated. Next question?"

"Yes, how did Mr. Turner end up in a cuckold/hot wife relationship?" the asshole reporter asked.

This time, William stepped forward. "Listen up. I was not a willing participant, and I am currently in the process of Divorcing my soon-to-be ex-wife. Mr. Smith is listed as the co-respondent in the case, and I for one will not be slandered by the likes of you. This interview is over."

So saying, he turned and was followed into his house by Shelly and Maggie, and the door slammed and was locked in the asshole reporter's face even as he tried to ask another asinine question.

I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face. William made me proud to know him in that moment. He didn't take any shit, and made his position known to the broadcast journalists, or as I like to call them, TV Idiots.

The TV Idiot who had asked the dumbass question tried to cover his own ass as he told the home audience that he was surprised by Mr. Turner's hostility. I just shook my head at the asshole and flipped over to another channel.

Hell, William had been anything but hostile. He'd given his last statement to the TV Idiot in a level tone of voice, so the Idiot came off looking like a total Idiot (natch). Reminded me of one of the Today Show anchors asking stupid questions about classified operations that she had to know the Brass couldn't answer, during the early days of the War on Terror. Each time a General said "I can't talk about that", the TV Idiot in question would then ask ANOTHER stupid question about classified ops. Yep, gotta love TV Idiots.

* * * * *

Taking it slow with Tabby turned out to be harder than I thought, no pun intended. During that first week, we went out to lunch or dinner every day until the next Wednesday, when we got word that Gordon made bail and had posted bail for Candace, too.

That put a damper on our mood that night at dinner, which had gotten increasingly romantic as we danced a bit and kissed on the dance floor during slow numbers.

We bunkered down when that happened. I got to meet Tara and Kevin, William's kids, for the first time when I moved into their house for a couple of days. I was given the guestroom for the duration of my stay. Kevin was impressed when I told him that I was his dad's bodyguard, but Tara couldn't care less. She was too busy texting her friends to really worry about her father's safety. Kids. Gotta love 'em.

Kevin was 11, and Tara was 14. She was your typical teenage girl. Kevin was your typical pre-teen boy. At least typical from what I'd seen of other kids their age. They at least respected their father, and surprisingly took their parents' separation in stride.

William told them that their mom wouldn't be around for a while, and he wasn't sure when she would be home. He left it at that, refusing to say anything bad about their mother to his children. The man has class.

The next day, the results arrived from the DNA test. Maggie, Shelly, Tabby, and I were all there when he opened the envelope.

The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. William stared at the envelope in his hands for what felt like half an hour. He looked up at each of us in turn, and finally tore the corner off and opened it. He pulled out the paper and unfolded it as if he was reading his own death warrant. His face remained blank while he read the whole thing twice.

I was hoping that the results would show that he was the father, but I was expecting the opposite. The tension got even thicker as he read it a third time.

Nobody said a word. I think we were all holding our breath while he read it yet again. His expression gave nothing away, and I was beginning to think that my expectation of the worst was going to win out over my hope for the best.

Finally, he looked up and at each of us in turn. His face broke into a grin as he said "They're mine! Both of my kids are mine!"

Maggie squealed in glee, Shelly laughed to release her tension, while Tabby and I both just sighed in relief, letting out laughs as we did so.

"Congratulations, hon!" Maggie and Shelly said, pretty much in unison. They both hugged William, then Tabby moved in and hugged him too. I shook his hand, then pulled him into a backpounding hug.

"I'm happy that it worked out for you, man," I said sincerely.

"Yes!"

"Definitely!"

"Thank God!"

"Thank you all. I had to know for sure, especially after that talk we had and the fact that Candace was so brazen about the whole thing," he laughed in relief as well.

"Don't worry about that, William. I do need to make a copy of that for the Custody portion of the Divorce, though. I wouldn't put it past your wife to try and bring your paternity and parental rights into question," Maggie said.

"Of course," he nodded, handing the form over to Maggie with a smile.

"At least now, she can't claim that you aren't the father. I won't lie to you, William. The mothers in Divorce cases get primary custody of the children 95% of the time, no matter the circumstances that cause the Divorce. That's including cases where the husband is the cheater, and cases where the couple Divorce for reasons other than infidelity," Maggie said.

"No. Unacceptable. I want full custody. Anything less, and she's already made her intent clear to take my children and run!" William had a look of steely determination on his face.

Maggie nodded again. "I understand that, and her recorded confession to that effect should go a long way toward getting primary custody for you. It will depend on which Judge we get, though. Before we even get to the Custody portion, I will offer supervised visitation for Candace. An olive branch, but one where she will never be alone with the children. I've already submitted a petition to have the Orders of Protection against Gordon Smith made permanent due to his history of violence."

"Maggie," I said. "Orders of Protection are all well and good, but like I've said before, they're just pieces of paper, and if our theory about Gordon hiring outside muscle to do his dirty work for him is accurate, he won't need to come anywhere near William in order to try something."

"Isn't that why you're here?" she smirked.

"For the moment, yes. Granted, the gun should help, and there's only 24 hours left on the hold before he can pick it up."

William spoke up. "So am I going to have to look over my shoulder for the rest of my life because of Gordon?"

"Not ideally, no. Gordon has shown that he holds a grudge, though," I said. "I'm going over a worst-case scenario here. If he decides that he has to have revenge, and hires some hitters to do it, you are going to have to get very good with that pistol. I'll go with you to the range and give you a course on it if you need one. You said you've done some shooting before, so you might be ok. The thing is, paper targets and assholes trying to kill you are two different things entirely."

"I'm not a killer, Deck," he said, shaking his head.

"I'm not telling you to kill anyone, William. What I am telling you is that you might very well need to defend yourself and your family. I'll be moving out tomorrow after you pick up your weapon, so it's going to be on you to defend yourself and your children when I can't be here."

He listened and thought about what I'd just said. "What's it like?" he asked softly. "Killing someone, I mean."

How did I answer that? I thought for a moment, then settled for the truth. "It's different for everyone, and some people actually enjoy it. For me, the first time I had to take another life, I puked my guts out after the battle was over. Then Captain Drake told me something that helped quite a bit. He said: 'They have no fathers or mothers; no sons or daughters; no sisters or brothers; no wives or lovers. They aren't Human. They're The Enemy.' That right there helped me out if I took his philosophical outlook and compartmentalized the enemy as less than human. It might sound cruel, but it's how I kept my sanity over there. I didn't know the Enemy personally, though. You know Gordon Smith, even if he's a dickhead. I hope you don't have to kill him, but if you do, he is The Enemy."

As I was reciting that, Tabby took my hand in hers and gave me a squeeze to show her support. I squeezed back in thanks.

William was mulling over what I'd said, and finally looked up with a smile. "Then he's the Enemy, and I'll do what I have to do to protect my children and myself."

"Good man," I said with a nod of respect. When a man, even a mild mannered man like William has his family threatened, he can turn into a lion to defend them. As far as Candace and Gordon went, they now posed a clear and present danger, as far as I was concerned. Candace might try to kidnap her own kids, while Gordon might go completely ballistic and try to kill them and William too. Granted, we had no proof that he had hired a hitman to kill his previous rival, but we couldn't take anything for granted.

Tabby herself had told me how unstable the asshole is, and how it had been getting progressively worse over last several years since he'd hired her as his attorney.

Well, that little meeting ended with the kids getting home from school. Kevin was now my bud, as he thought I was cool because I'd been a soldier. Tara was starting to warm up to me, too. I let them both know that I would only be staying one more night, but I was never more than a phone call away, and would be here off and on until the whole thing was over. They took it well.

Then William came clean with his children about the reasons why their mother and father were not living together anymore. Tara and Kevin were both surprised, to say the least. But then Kevin said something that shocked the shit out of all of us.

"Is that the guy who was doing bad things to mommy a few weeks ago?" he asked.

That got everyone's attention, and instilled the previously stated shock.

"Kev, what do you mean by 'bad things', son?" William asked, having recovered from his son's statement before anyone else.

"I saw them in your bed and he was making her scream. I know I was supposed to be at school. I wasn't feeling good, but the school nurse couldn't get ahold of mom to come get me, so I walked home. When I got here, this big buy was on top of mommy and she was screaming. I was so scared I ran out of the house and back to school."

When Kevin finished saying that, William looked like he was about to go find Gordon and his soon-to-be ex and kill them himself. "Son, did you get a good look at the man's face?"

"Yeah, but I was so scared. I'm sorry, dad. I should have told you before, but when I came home later, and mommy was ok, I just thought I'd imagined the whole thing," Kevin finished.

"It's ok, son. That was the day that your mother told me that you weren't feeling well, and you were already in bed by the time I got home, right?" William asked.

Kevin just nodded.

Tara just stood there with her mouth hanging open while her little brother related the events of that day. Then she accused him of making it all up.

"No, sweety. He isn't making it up," William told his daughter. When she heard that, she went paler than a ghost. Then she went running and screaming to her room.

"I'll go talk to her," Shelly volunteered. She went chasing after Tara to try and do some damage control.

It had just become a whole new ballgame, folks!

Maggie, as it turns out, is really good with kids. So is Shelly, for that matter. Maggie, as gently as humanly possible, interviewed Kevin and recorded his account of what had happened that day.

As she was wrapping up the interview, Shelly and Tara came back into the living room and Tara just smiled apologetically, then ran and hugged her father tightly.

"I'm so sorry, daddy," she sobbed. "I had no idea that mom was like that!" Then she looked at her brother. "I'm sorry I accused you of lying, shithead."

I had to chuckle at that. Brothers and sisters will always fight while growing up. It's human nature. Even when apologizing, she still had to insult him. It reminded me of growing up with Cara as my "sister", so I had to grin at the memory.

"It's ok, sweety, but don't call your brother names," William said in a stern voice, even as he hugged his daughter.

"Sorry," she mumbled. Then she actually hugged her brother, and they shared a different sibling emotion together. Compassion. Most times, blood will win out, and you love your family, even if you sometimes hate them too.

* * * * *

Things started to move quickly after that. With the new recorded testimony from Kevin as to what his mother had been doing with Gordon Smith, and then picking him out of a photo lineup, the Judge in charge of the Divorce, a Judge Reinhold (no relation), found in favor of William having primary custody. At least until the final settlement came down, that is. It seems that while the Judge was a bit of a bleeding heart, he was also a father himself. So he understood.

That was just the preliminary ruling, however. The final settlement, including custody, was still debatable. It all depended on how the rest of the case went.

Maggie gave her argument to the Judge about how Mrs. Turner had shown a pattern of disrespect, not only to her husband, but to her own children as well. She had also put her children in danger by being unreachable in case of an emergency. She was, after all, their primary contact for coming to get the kids in case of an illness at school or any other issues that may arise.

I studied Candace's stature, and what I could see of her face from my vantage point over on William's side and in the bench behind the Plaintiff's table. She had first a look of shock, then one of profound shame and guilt, as she realized that her little boy had witnessed her affair first-hand.

When I looked at Gordon, sitting beside her, his look was one of smug satisfaction. He still believed that he was going to skate away scot free.

His new attorney was a fuckin' Great White Shark, and unlike Tabby and the girls, wasn't hampered by anything as trivial as a conscience.

The only members of our "team" in court that day were Maggie and me. Tabby had to get an Order of Protection and No-Contact against Gordon as well, since he'd called her up one night while we were on a date.

She'd put him on speaker, and I'd listened to him making some very thinly veiled threats against her. You know the kind. "It would be a shame if..." fill in the blank.

She finally told him that she wasn't intimidated, and hung up on him. She then Blocked his number, and called Maggie and Shelly and told them to do the same.

When she reported what he'd done, with her smart phone's recording feature and my testimony backing her up, the Judge was more than happy to grant permanent Orders of Protection and No-Contact against ol' Gordy.

When we walked out of the courtroom, I took Tabby's hand. "Sweetheart, why not stay at my place for a while?"

"You think he would try to get me at my place?" she asked.

"Well, that, and I think we've moved slow enough. If you don't mind, I'd like to speed things up a little," I smiled and kissed her.

"Mmmm, I like that idea. I've been wanting you since the night after you rescued me from that asshole."

We had been dating and spending a lot of time together for almost two months, since that fateful day when I'd gone to run that surveillance op on Gordy boy and had ended up flattening him.

"Good. We'll stop by your place on the way, and you can pick up some clothes and other necessities," I smiled even wider.

With what William was paying me for retainer and on-call protection services as needed, I was making some damn good money. He'd already paid me 100K, surprising me with his rationale that I'd already saved his bacon once, and would do it again if the need ever arose.

For the Asshole's and soon-to-be ex-wife's part in this little play, they'd kept away from us except in the courtroom. All contact was through Lawyers, and even with Candace and her shark fighting tooth and nail, the Divorce was still proceeding, albeit slower than we would have liked.

As we drove over to her place, I reviewed what had happened since the initial hearing. Candace and Gordon had pled out on the Trespassing and Assault charges, and got community service for the lesser charges they'd opted for. With Gordy's insanely high priced shark, the sentence was the minimum for what he'd pled to, as well.

We found out that Gordy was bankrolling Candace's shark too. Trust Fund Babies. Gotta love 'em, right? No? Good, because I was being sarcastic anyway.

For some odd reason, Candace seemed to want to stay married to William. Her lawyer was now lobbying for Marriage Counseling, which Maggie was fighting tooth and nail, arguing that William had no need or desire for Marriage Counseling, as his mind was already made up. Judge Reinhold (still no relation) felt the same way. He even chastised Candace's shark by saying "If my wife had done to me what Mrs. Turner has done to her husband, I wouldn't want to go through Counseling, either."