"James!" Another knock at the door echoed through the small apartment. This had to be the fifth time in under thirty seconds. A new record...James thought to himself as he finally slid off the couch. He took a quick pained look at the clock on microwave and grimaced. "I'm coming, just shut up already!" James shouted at the door. He wiped his mouth and gave himself a once-over. His baggy gray sweats and white T-shirt would have to do for present company. James knew who was at the door but he glanced through the peephole anyway. It was Raymond alright. His pudgy features weren't hard to miss. What stood out the most to James was Ray's complete denial of his age made ever apparent by his rapidly receding hairline and the fact that Ray had a hilarious habit of trying to comb it back. But today he wore his serious face, and that meant a job.<br/><br/>"Do you realize what time it is Ray?" James asked through the door.<br/><br/>"Oh, I'm sorry buttercup! Did I ruin your beauty sleep?" Ray responded. His voice surprisingly high pitched for how hefty he looked. "Come on! You gonna let me in or do I have to start singing the National Anthem, soldier boy?"<br/><br/>James rolled his eyes. "I'd rather just shoot you and spare my neighbors the agony." James turned the lock and gave Raymond a sour look as he opened the door. Ray just shoved past and immediately started raiding James' fridge, grimacing somewhat at the apparent lack of hard liquor.<br/><br/>"What's the job?" James asked as he shut the door. It was already past midnight and he wanted to move this along. Ray fixed him with a look of mock horror.<br/><br/>"Can't a guy just come over to see how his friend is doing?" Ray glanced back at the fridge and settled on the last beer, twisting the cap off and missing the garbage as he tossed it.<br/><br/>"I don't have time for this Ray. Out with it." James pressed.<br/><br/>"Ok, ok. Sheesh. Next time I'll give you minute to pull the wedgie out of your..."<br/><br/>"Now, Ray!" He hated to admit it but James knew if he didn't get his sleep he was always a bit cranky.<br/><br/>Ray took a swig. "Typical contract. Some rich husband wants his old lady looked after while he's away at one of those business trips where they say its a business trip but really its Sally Secretary or Carla Cashier at the corner bagel shop he probably stops at every morning. I mean who knows really but the guy makes enough..."<br/><br/>"Rambling..." James sighed loudly as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Ray had this problem of rambling in a single breath during his job explanations.<br/><br/>Ray made an apologetic hum while he took another swig. "Right, well. You start tomorrow." Ray pulled a folded napkin out of his pants pocket and placed it on the counter. "Here's the address. Don't be late. The husband will give his shpeal on keeping the old lady safe and blah blah blah. Sounds like a long trip though. Money is good, he made a down payment today. I've already wired it to your account."<br/><br/>James stroked the stubble on his chin and nodded. "Ok. Now can I get back to bed now? Apparently I have an early day tomorrow."<br/><br/>Ray chugged the last of the beer. "A thank you would've been nice. But I hear ya." Ray made his way back to the door which James had already held open for him. "Good night fair princess!" Raymond bowed awkwardly. "May your beauty rest resume and your...." James slammed and locked the door. He sighed again as he made his way to the counter and read the napkin.<br/><br/>"The Bradley's, huh?" The name didn't ring any bells. James made a mental note to do some light research in the morning. People don't hire bodyguards for no reason, so it might be prudent to see if any of those reasons might have names and faces to watch out for. For now though, James was set on getting what little sleep he could now that this was dropped in his lap.<br/><br/>*** *** *** ***<br/>Bradley Residence 0900hrs<br/><br/>Despite the interruption James had no problems waking up early enough to get all his things in order for the job. His apartment might have shown him to live a standard bachelor's "organized-chaos" way of life, but when it came to the job he was nothing short of professional. His training with  the Special Forces left no room for anything less. By the time he was ready to leave he had already viewed satellite images of the residence via Google Maps, made his assumptions of entrances, choke points and other security concerns about the property, and even memorized the roads withing a two-mile radius for any escape routes. His research on Mr. Bradley had turned up surprisingly light; successful business man that made his living off of things James would never care to understand, yet some of the guest names on certain promotional functions Bradley attended and even hosted stuck out in James' head but he couldn't figure out why. Either way it seemed like a typical case of a "rich man wants to keep an eye on the wife". Hardly a high risk contract.<br/><br/>James pulled his<a class="postlink" href="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f0/b6/46/f0b646b0fd922aa0e973997a5e6c5f57.jpg">car</a>up to large iron gate at the beginning of a long driveway and waved his ID at the security camera on the drive-up keypad. After a long moment the gate slowly swung open and James rolled through. The driveway was finely decorated with well assorted floral bushes and trees. As he pulled through the roundabout at the end if the driveway he noted the house was a tad bigger than what Google lead him to believe. He exited the car and straightened out his navy blue suit and black tie. He glanced at his reflection in the heavily tinted windows of his car to check that the collar of his white shirt was in line and held his tie properly. Noticing a small tuff of his short light brown hair had been msplaced by the morning breeze, he flattened it out with the palm of his hand. Satisfied, he made his way up the front stoop and rang the door bell once. He was greeted by a kind old maid who beckoned him inside.<br/><br/>"Good morning, sir." The maid smiled warmly. James smiled back and bowed his head slightly.<br/>"Good morning ma'am. James Mercer, here to meet with Mr. and Mrs. Bradley."