CHARACTER
The Bodyguardby Katherine Center

Glenn Schultz

Glenn Schultz

Quick Facts

  • Role: Owner and director of Glenn Schultz Executive Protection; boss and mentor to Hannah Brooks
  • First appearance: Early in the novel at the agency, shortly after Hannah’s mother’s death
  • Key relationships: Hannah (mentee), Jack Stapleton (high-profile client he assigns to Hannah), Robby (star agent and foil)
  • Reputation: Gruff, unflinching, and nicknamed “The Warthog” for his angry, noisy breathing
  • Distinctive look: Built “like a tank,” bald, freckled—an exterior that mirrors his hard-edged style

Who They Are

At first glance, Glenn Schultz is the obstacle: a hard-nosed boss who cuts through excuses and feelings with military precision. But the more we watch him, the clearer it becomes that he practices a ferocious, results-driven form of care. As the one who grounds Hannah after her mother’s death and then sends her to protect Jack, he’s the novel’s chief catalyst—both for plot and for Hannah’s growth. Glenn embodies the theme of Appearance vs. Reality: a tank on the outside, a guardian underneath, whose “tough love” is designed to force healing, competence, and courage.

Personality & Traits

Glenn’s leadership style is blunt, strategic, and deeply observant. He’s allergic to sentimentality, but he reads people with clinical acuity, then uses what he sees to make the call that will best protect the agency—and, often, the person. His methods can feel merciless; his motives rarely are.

  • Gruff and demanding

    • Evidence: He issues orders like “Get out” and “Go home,” and shuts down Hannah’s attempts to work after the funeral with “Don’t even think about coming to work.”
    • Why it matters: His brusqueness enforces boundaries Hannah won’t set for herself, creating the space she needs to grieve and regroup.

  • Extremely perceptive

    • Evidence: He inventories Hannah’s symptoms—“Your pulse is elevated… your hands are shaking…”—to justify sidelining her.
    • Why it matters: Observation is his superpower; he sees what people won’t admit and acts before emotions jeopardize safety or reputation.

  • Pragmatic and business-first

    • Evidence: “I’ll send you when it’s best for the agency.” He removes Hannah from Madrid and positions the Jack assignment as a proving ground for London.
    • Why it matters: Glenn treats careers like missions—earned via performance, not favoritism—giving Hannah a clear, if unforgiving, path upward.

  • Cynical realist about romance

    • Evidence: He coolly asks Hannah and Robby, “What are you going to do when it ends?”
    • Why it matters: He’s seen workplace flings derail teams; his cynicism protects the agency—and pushes Hannah to separate personal needs from professional goals.

  • Secretly paternal

    • Evidence: He forces bereavement leave, engineers a way for Hannah to earn the London post, and later officiates her wedding in the Epilogue.
    • Why it matters: His care expresses itself as structure, stakes, and ritual; beneath the bark is loyalty.

Character Journey

Glenn himself doesn’t soften so much as the reader’s understanding of him sharpens. Introduced as a self-interested hardliner, he keeps Hannah in Houston when she’s desperate to flee, then hands her the Jack assignment that will test—and remake—her. Each “cold” decision lands as protective in hindsight: bereavement leave prevents escape-by-work; the London competition gives her a tangible goal; the pretend-girlfriend cover strips Hannah of her usual emotional distance. By the end, his officiating role reframes him as family—a stern steward of Grief, Family, and Healing whose discipline becomes a conduit for connection.

Key Relationships

  • Hannah Brooks

    • Glenn is Hannah’s uncompromising mentor—the gatekeeper to advancement and the person who refuses to let her anesthetize pain with work. He challenges her competence while also engineering opportunities that force her to expand it, seeing potential she can’t access until she confronts her grief.

  • Robby

    • Glenn values Robby’s talent but refuses to indulge his drama. By turning Robby into a professional rival, Glenn sharpens Hannah’s competitive edge and clarifies the terms of success: performance, not proximity, earns promotion. His skepticism about their romance is part risk management, part blunt truth-telling.

  • Jack Stapleton

    • Glenn never fawns over celebrity; Jack is a client, a mission, and a test. By assigning Hannah to Jack—and insisting on the ethically awkward girlfriend cover—he places her in the crucible where personal and professional selves collide, confident she can turn the heat into growth.

Defining Moments

Glenn’s choices propel both plot and character development. Each key move is tactical in the moment and transformative in retrospect.

  • Forcing bereavement leave

    • What happens: He forbids Hannah from returning to work after the funeral.
    • Why it matters: It’s the first unmistakable sign of paternal care—he protects her from herself and signals that healing is nonnegotiable.

  • The London competition

    • What happens: He benches Hannah from Madrid and pits her against Robby for a coveted two-year post.
    • Why it matters: Glenn reframes heartbreak as fuel. Stakes clarify her ambition and convert pain into focus.

  • Assigning the “pretend girlfriend” cover

    • What happens: He tells Hannah the Jack job is “tricky” but “easy,” and insists she take it to be considered for London.
    • Why it matters: He forces Hannah into emotional proximity she avoids, catalyzing the vulnerability that ultimately heals her.

  • Officiating the wedding

    • What happens: In the epilogue, he marries Hannah and Jack.
    • Why it matters: The consummate boss becomes kin, completing the shift from supervisor to guardian and anchoring his role in Hannah’s found family.

Essential Quotes

“Don’t even think about coming to work,” he’d said. “Just stay home and grieve.”

  • Glenn’s authority shields Hannah from her own avoidance. The command is brusque, but it reframes rest as responsibility—a professional mandate to tend to her emotional injuries.

“You can’t spend your entire life running away,” Glenn said. “Yes, I can. I absolutely can.”

  • This exchange crystallizes their dynamic: Glenn as the immovable truth-teller, Hannah as the flight-risk. His challenge names her pattern, setting up the arc in which she learns to stay.

“I’ll send you,” he said like we were done here, “when it’s a good fit. I’ll send you when it’s best for the agency. I’ll never send you over somebody more qualified.”

  • Glenn’s creed is competence over favoritism. The finality—“like we were done here”—signals that professional advancement is earned, not negotiated, raising the stakes for the Jack assignment and the London post.

“Your pulse is elevated, your eyes are bloodshot, and your makeup is smeared. Your speech is rapid, and your voice is hoarse. You haven’t brushed your hair, your hands are shaking, and you’re out of breath. You’re a mess. So go home, take a shower, eat some comfort food, grieve the death of your mom, and then figure out some goddamned hobbies—because I guarantee you this: You’re sure as hell not going anywhere until you get your shit together.”

  • Glenn’s assessment reads like a tactical report—objective, thorough, unflattering—and ends in care disguised as orders. He diagnoses before directing, wielding observation as both shield for the agency and lifeline for Hannah.

“If you don’t knock this assignment out of the park … then Robby’s going to London, and you’re staying right here in Texas on office duty forever.”

  • He motivates with consequences, not pep talks. By naming a concrete rival and a permanent penalty, Glenn converts abstract ambition into immediate urgency, compelling Hannah to rise to the moment.