Dovolo Securities

It was 7:15 and Torrance was running late. A late night break-in at one of their larger customers, the fact that Lorr was cutting teeth and Tyr had an inner ear infection had caused her to lose quite a bit of sleep.

She didn't have time for coffee. Instead, after she dried her hair, she wrapped Tyr in his comforter and carried him to the car. He whimpered as she strapped him in, rubbing his ears. She kissed his forehead, wishing, like all mothers do, that she could take her child's pain. As she went back into the house for Lorr, her phone vibrated. Chad was texting her.

"Clients are running late, want a 20 minute delay."

Torrance texted back effortlessly, " Perfect, I am running late."

She smiled, remembering yesterday's lunch. She and Chad had gone to their favorite little hole in the wall. It was owned by one of their close friends, one of the few that knew about their relationship.

Sometimes Torrance felt bad that she cheated on her husband, but truthfully, if it was not for the children, she would have left Logan long ago. She wasn't really sure that Lorr was his. It made it easier that Chad was the children's work daddy. Perhaps one day they would make things right, but not too soon.

Logan had been with her through some pretty rough times, but the feelings she had for him in highschool just weren't the same anymore. He was a drag on her and the children. His job took him away from the house 6 days a week, and on his day off he was exhausted. He didn't make a 10th of what she did, so it was not for the money. No, Logan was preparing to be a surgeon, and there wasn't room for family in that profession.

But Torrance wasn't willing to give up half of her empire in a divorce, or the children. So until she could move all of her assets into the corporation, and secure some good legal advice, she would stay with the current situation.

Lorr was sitting up in her crib chewing on a frozen washcloth. They had more money than 99 percent of Americans, they had bough all of the expensive teething rings, and yet the child still went for the basics. Torrance wasn't complaining, she had a feeling the Lorr would play with the boxes at Christmas more than the actual toys.

"Are you ready to go?" Torrance said in the voice only reserved for puppies and babies.

Lorr giggled and held her hands up to her mommy, demanding, in a rather innocent way, that she be carried, now.

Torrance complied easily, grabbing the diaper bag from the side of the door as she headed out to the garage. Toby and Bo, their two German Shepard/Mastiff mixes, followed her out and climbed into the back of the Navigator. The dogs were family pets, but their real jobs were to protect the children, which they did very well. They had been pound rescues, but they were extremely intelligent and gentle with the babies.

Tyr rubbed his eyes as he watched his mother strap Lorr into her car seat. He had been graduated to a big boy booster chair a few months ago, and he was proud of it. So proud that he pointed it out to his parents every time they got in the car. The fact that he forgot to mention it now told Torrance how sick he was feeling.

With everyone secure and the house locking itself, Torrance hopped into the driver seat and pulled out of the garage. Usually, when she had the kids they would listen to music on the way to work. But with Tyr being in his present state, Torrance decided that it may be a bad idea. All things considered, if she hadn't had this important meeting, she would have stayed home with Tyr.

Because he didn't take well to nannies, his aunts and uncles were out of town, and Logan could not miss much of his internship, the kids were going with Mommy. Torrance atleast had the common sense to open a day care for her employees when she was pregnant with her son. It had come in handy quite a few times.

"Mommy, I don't feel good." Her 3 year old son whined from the backseat.

Sympathy washed over her face as she looked at him in the rear view mirror, " I know baby, just try to go to sleep, you can sleep in Chad's office today ok baby. I know that he bought Avatar for you." The boy had trouble differenciating Logan from Chad in arental roles. Logan was his Dad, and Chad was his Chad.

Lorr was babbling to non existent music as they drove out of their upper class orange county suburb. Californa freeways were a bitch at rush hour, but the locals knew that there were ways to avoid the freeway. Torrance took costal road to work. It was a little farther, but actually faster when it came down to it.

Her phone went off again, and she struggled to pull it out of her pocket while driving. With the exception of Chad, unless it was an emergency, she wasn't to be disturbed in the morning until she got to work.

It was a text from Rae, the terror alert level was going to go up again tomorrow with the possibility of an attack on the west coast. It made her smile. Torrance had still been in school during 9/11, but she was able to watch the mass hysteria that washed over the country, and even now, she could feed on it. That was one of the reasons that business had always been so good.

The meeting this morning was actually with several Department of Defense Contractors. With the threat of troops leaving Iraq, and so much money to be made by private contractors, they needed protection. Dovolo Securities was already a private contractor for the United States military and Secret Service, providing security solutions for everyone from senators to housewives. However this was a chance at considerable profits. Several of her bodyguards had already volunteered to travel oversees if she could swing the deal.

They drove in relative quite, Tyr drifting back to sleep as the car moved along, a combination of the sun and the vibration soothing him. Car rides had worked on Tyr since he was a baby, car rides and the ocean.

Dovolo Securities was a large building overlooking the waterfront. They had come a long way in 4 years, unfortunately, it would never go public. Torrance was willing to loose money to keep control over her company. She drove the SUV down the driveway and stopped at the security terminal. She could have just swiped her card, but she liked to do a quick check in with the guard in the morning.

"Good morning, Ms. Dovolo." Thomas said with a grandfatherly smile.

"Good morning Tom. Have our clients arrived yet?" She asked, smiling at her old friend. Tom had been with Dovolo Securities since the beginning. At the ripe old age of 65 he retired, afraid that he would miss out on social security. However his wife had died last year, and having no one, he came back to the only thing he knew, work. Torrance paid him the salary that he was allowed to keep his social security, plus extra under the table. He had a good eye for reading people, and in a fire fight, there weren't too many people Torrance would choose over the old man.

"Not yet, but I heard they might be late. I see you brought the babies this morning." He smiled and waved at the children in the back seat.

"Yeah I don't know how long I will be staying today. Tyr has an ear infection, so he is not in the best humor." Torrance looked back to her son, who was grimacing in his sleep.

Tom's brow furrowed, "Well that will not do. When Lynch comes in later today, I will come up and make him some good tea. Calm his nausea and numb him up a bit."

Torrance smiled and touched the old mans arm tentively, "Thank you Tom, that would help us both a lot."

He smiled and patted her hand, "I tell you, sometimes I think you are stretching yourself too thin. I tell you that husband of yours ought to- Oh it looks as if our guests have arrived." He motioned to the car pulling in behind Torrance.

She smiled and said, " Have a good morning Tom, we will see you after the meeting,"

Tom smiled and nodded before hitting the button and popped the gate open and the spike strips down. Torrance drove through and on to her parking spot. Tom interrogated the clientele to check their credentials and give her time to unload the kids.

Torrance killed the car and slipped out of the driver seat, putting on her cream suit jacket. It was a turn from her trench coat, but they were a bit out of place in the summer in southern California, and she didn't want to scare the cooperates. The thought made her chuckle as she hit the button on her keychain and the back door popped open, letting Toby and Bo out. They came around to her and sat patiently as she unbuckled Tyr and rewrapped him in his blanket. She picked him up and held him with one arm against her chest and shoulder. He whimpered but only woke briefly. Torrance could feel his breathing change as she went around the SUV. Well atleast the medicine is still working.

Lorr was giggling and babbling as her mommy struggled to undo her car seat belt and get her out with one arm. After a grumble and an inaudible curse, Torrance finally managed to get Lorr, Tyr, a diaper bag, and what passed as her breifcase loaded onto her body.

She closed the door with her foot and walked to the elevator, again hitting the UP button with her foot. It opened immediately and she grinned, thankful for small blessings.

The dogs followed her in obediently, watching their prospective child. Toby had been hovering over Tyr for the past week, long before he had shown symptoms of being sick. I really need to watch the dogs more, she thought as she kicked the button to the 5th floor and then the one to close the doors.

Lorr babbled a bit and Torrance turned her attention to her, "Oh really? Wow, that's really interesting. Uh huh? Oh yes? I know sometimes I get like that too." Both mother and daughter had a mock conversation. The baby was definitely becoming more vocal, however her babbles had yet to form into definitive words. Torrance could tell that sometimes it upset her daughter when she couldn't get her point across.

But this time, Lorr simply laughed a belly laugh and wrapped her arms around her mommy's neck. Torrance laughed and gave her a kiss and then a gentle bite on the cheek. Lorr growled back and pulled away, looking at her mother with a dangerous coy grin. The expression was well known to Torrance, she had seen it plenty of times in the mirror. She was just happy that Lorr was in good spirits. The baby couldn't comprehend how much her cooperation had helped her mother this morning.

The elevator opened to reveal Chad, waiting for them as he did every morning. His grey Armoni suit was tailored to his body perfectly, hiding his impressive weapons collection. Even Torrance herself couldn't see any holster bulges. They used the same tailor. The baby blue of his shirt really brought out his eyes and complemented his dark blue tie. The man had fashion sence, and the body to go along with it.

He smiled at her as she stepped out of the elevator, instinctively taking the diaper bag and Lorr.

"Good morning Torrance." He said as he took the child off of her hands. That grin and that voice made things low in her body tighten. Good god he was...

"Good morning." She smiled happily. " I am going to put him in your office if that's okay with you. He will probably sleep but he may watch TV."

Chad nodded and turned to the baby in his arms, which he knew might be his. "And how are you princess? Did you cut chor teef yet?" he asked as he tickled her. his voice returned to normal as he turned back to Torrance, " I will take her to the day care while you set him up. I left the DVDs in my car, but we can send someone to go get them if he wants to watch Avatar."

Torrance shifted her son on her body, as her arm was beginning to go numb, " I'll get him situated and then meet you in my office for last minute prep."

They both went their prospective ways, Bo following Chad as he carried Lorr back on the elevator to the daycare on the fourth floor. Torrance, Tyr and Toby walked down the hall to Chad's office. It sat just before Torrance's, which were both guarded by two secretaries at all times.

Mary was about to say her usual loud Latina greeting to her boss when she saw that she was carrying her oldest in a blanket. She stood up and walked around the counter to stop them and lift the cover to see Tyr sleeping, " oooooh miho, what happened?" She asked rubbing his face.

Torrance shifted and whispered, "Inner ear infection. Had to take him to the hospital last night after the DyniCorp incident. He is pretty out of it. I am going to put him in Chad's office. Would you please check on him while we are in the meeting?"

"Of Course, poor little miho. You better prep fast, I think your meeting starts in 10 minutes." She took Tyr from Torrance without hesitation and cradled him to her, gently rubbing his back. Mary had also been with Torrance almost from the beginning. She had worked at a hole in the wall bar which only stayed open because of her amazing accounting and clerical skills. Torrance had seen that and offered her a job making 3 times as much as she was pulling in.

Mary was a force to be reckoned with, as most sassy heavy set Latina women were. She had children of her own, some of which were Tyr's playmates, The woman was one of the only people that Torrance trusted with her children. " I will take care of him, you go make some rain!"

Torrance nodded and said, "Thank you," before she walked on to her office, leaving Toby with Mary and Tyr. The files were waiting for her on the desk , as she was expecting. Her assistants were doing their jobs, good. It was hard to find good people these days, but Torrance had hired an agency that developed a hiring system that was very effective.

There weren't many qualifications to work for Dovolo Securities. Hell ,guards didn't even have to graduate from high school, but all employees were put through rigorous testing. There was a position for everyone. The benefits were great, so their was always a line of applicants. However, like most muscle, they were expendable, and if a particular employee became a nuisance, they were replaced. Only the essential officers knew anything of the workings of the company, and they were well taken care of. Some would think Torrance greedy, but she was an owner, the boss. She looked at the bottom line, what was best for the company, what would keep them in business. There were millions of people out there willing to make money for her, work to put food on her table. And in turn, she had to make sure that they had a place to work every morning.

She walked to her desk and flipped through the file with one hand and typed on her computer with the other. She wanted to check her email, but understood that there was no time. She always checked her mail in the morning, it was a ritual.

She clicked on the intercom on her desk, cleverly disguised as a paperweight with the Dovolo Securities logo. "Smiley, look into my meetings for today, if there is anything that can be rescheduled for later in the week then do so. Bump everything else up so that I can get out of here before lunch." She never bothered to learn her assistants names until they had been working there for at least a year. She also didn't give them access to sensitive information until that point either. But they were mostly college interns, so it was more often than not free labor in exchange for experience.

A voice came back over the speaker, "Of course, Mrs. Dovolo."

She grinned and said, "Smiley, what's my name?"

There as a pause, "Um... Torrance A. Dovolo-Guevera."

She laughed, "Torrance, just call me Torance." It made her seem more human, people would rather work for humans than for an evil rich white woman.

"Yes Torrance." The man-boy spoke again and then the line was dead.

She checked her watch and sighed. They didn't have time for prep. There was a knock on her door and Chad entered along. He was accompanied by two of her assistants and one of his, already carrying his folders. CEOs did not carry anything, their assistants did.

"Are you ready to go?" He asked, that same smug yet delightful smile on his face.

She checked herself in the mirror and then mirrored his expression, " Of course I'm ready. Any clue as to their whisper number?"

"Not a damn one, but I think we will have precedence over the other bidders, because of our contracts and clearance." He watched her walk towards him, her eyes flashing something completely unprofessional at him. It was their own private I love you's. They had a look, an off handed gesture and even a phrase. They were good about keeping secrets.

The conference room was at the far end of the fifth floor. It was caddy corner to Torrance's own corner window office. The assistants would buy them some time, offering everyone coffee and such. Because it was such an early meeting, they would be having breakfast. Again, strategy was everything, even what someone ate could tell her something. Torrance herself would have coffee. She had eaten Cheerios with Lorr that morning.

Everyone stood as she entered the room, being the most powerful woman. It was male chivalry and she used it to her advantage. Gone was her soldieresk walk, instead she was strangely feminine. She had done this in countless business meetings before; made a change from rugged fun loving boss into the intelligent vixen that brought in the dough. She could almost here Chad pop wood next to her and she smiled inwardly at the thought.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"We can agree to the staffing of the green zone, and the computer systems configurations for seventy-four," Chad spoke as Torrance watched the reactions for the men, they seemed to relax a bit. Good they were within the price range, now for some hard hits, "However a complete overhaul of your satellite uplinks will take quite a bit of man power and subcontracting. If you want it done within a reasonable timeframe, we are looking at atleast another 60 million. As for personel guard and site security, if you would refer to page 14 in your packets I believe you will find a detailed list of our employee price range." Chad said, eyeing down the various board members.

Torrance took a sip of her coffee and waited, watching their reactions and thankful for the hard times that had given her that particular skill.

The men and women conversed around the table. They didn't like the 15 million dollar increase from the 45 quoted on the satellite linkage, however the employee pricing was reasonable. It was a good deal, a very good deal, the only way they would find a cheaper way was to cut corners and try an independent firm. They would loose time and large sums of money in the long run. Torrance and Dovolo Securities knew this, however some of the older execs were having problems with the initial pinch to the pocket book. Torrance sat in silence as one of the up and coming explained the benefits that had already been laid out for a second time. Sometimes one had to be patient.

Torrance sipped her coffee and glanced up, noting that the room had slightly dimmed. She looked to the windows and noticed the Dovolo logo appear on the tinting. It was like a silent alarm, notifying her that there was a security breach without bringing it to the attention of whomever outsider might be present.

"I am sorry but I cant comprehend how it would cost 60 million dollars to link a few satellites with our mainframe." Said the Vice President of Halliburton.

Torrance smiled," I understand your concerns sir, however as you understand your satellites are run through a digital connection to your linkage stations, much like cellular phones. And they are also about as secure as a cellular call. In order for your communications to be completely secure, we must configure your data in such a way that it cannot be traced other than with specific emitters. Our communications team has perfected the technology over the past months. There are finer details on page twenty-two of your packets." She turned to her favorite assistant, "Peter, Please get me the San Antonio file." San Antonio was a code for silent alarm, and it meant that he was to go find out what the fuck was going on.

Chad motioned to one of his assistants and she took the contracts from a leather portfolio. "I assume that you would like your legal team to look over our contract terms." He said.

One of the men took it and looked it over, "Yes of course, lets schedule a meeting for... Thursday? Does that work for you?"

Torrance looked to Chad's assistant who checked the appointment books, and then nodded, "Your schedules are free in the afternoon, Ma'am."

Torrance turned back in her swivel chair and smiled, "Does 2 o'clock work for everyone?"

Everyones thoughts were interrupted by a large rumble that sent everyone but Torrance and Chad under the desk.

Somebody yelled, "Earthquake!" But Torrance knew better. That shake was from a bomb.