Master Unchained (Stealth Guardians Book 2) (30 page)

Hamish nodded. He’d assessed Meredith Durant correctly. She hadn’t disappointed him.

His gaze drifted back to Tessa. Instantly he was alert. She was talking on her cell phone, seemingly quite agitated. Without hesitation he walked over to her.

“No, I’m not giving a statement.”

Hamish mouthed
“Who?”

Tessa put a hand over the phone’s mic. “Poppy,” she whispered.

“Let me handle this.”

Tessa lifted her shoulders, but appeared happy to hand him the phone.

“Hey Poppy, it’s Hamish.”

“Hamish? Can you talk some sense into Tessa? I’m her campaign manager. I shouldn’t have had to find out about this via the Internet!” Poppy was clearly annoyed. “And now she doesn’t want to come out and comment on the news article.”

Hamish sighed. “I’m sorry, Poppy. I do understand your frustration. But Tessa has asked for privacy for her and her sister. It’s a difficult time for both of them.”

“Difficult time? Are you kidding me? The election is in two days! If she doesn’t come out and speak to the voters, she’ll lose the election after all.”

“I’m with Tessa on that.” He locked eyes with Tessa, who gave him a grateful smile. “She’ll lay low until the election. We’ve done everything we can. Now it’s in the hands of the electorate.”

“At least have her meet with me. We need to go over stuff. We need to make plans,” Poppy insisted, her voice turning more high-pitched with every second.

“We’ll see you on election night at City Hall. Night, Poppy.” He disconnected the call and silenced the phone.

Tessa sighed. “Thanks for doing that. It’s really hard to say no to Poppy. She’s always so insistent. But I just don’t want to face the press right now. I’m exhausted, and I need my energy for Tiffany.”

Hamish pulled her into his arms. “I’m here for you.” He kissed her, until he heard hollering from his colleagues.

“Get a room!” Aiden demanded.

Hamish released Tessa’s lips and smirked when he noticed her flushed cheeks. “Normally I don’t like to take orders from Aiden, but I’m in a compliant mood today…”

43

It was time.

City Hall was buzzing like a beehive. More police than usual were on the premises to deal with the increased amount of visitors who had come to hear both candidates speak on election night. In addition to the usual security that required every visitor go through a metal detector, City Hall employees were at hand to direct people to the areas where they could get refreshments and sit down.

Only invited guests were allowed on the premises tonight. But according to Tessa, this didn’t just mean the official guests selected by the acting mayor and the city council. Every city employee had received two passes to hand out to friends and family.

But this wasn’t an event Tessa could skip. Tonight she had to be here. Preliminary exit polls showed that she was doing well, and if everything continued this way, she would be the one on the podium at the end of the night, giving an acceptance speech. Hamish felt his heart fill with pride. He knew she was right for this city. But he also knew that it meant that a future together, if Tessa wanted that, would be complicated.

In his mind Hamish went through the security arrangements he’d made for Tessa to make sure that she would be safe in tonight’s melee. Sean was standing sentry at the main entrance, Jay at the side entrance used by staff and catering personnel. Both were cloaked, armed, and equipped with communication devices so they could alert the rest of the team if they saw a demon enter. Aiden was roaming through the halls, uncloaked, to look for anything suspicious. Manus, Enya, and Logan were shadowing Gunn, cloaked. Only Pearce had stayed back at the compound with Leila and Wesley.

While Wesley had offered to help, Hamish and his colleagues had voted against it. They’d already broken enough rules by not keeping him locked up or notifying the Council of Nine of his presence yet. Hamish was planning to deal with that issue after the election, when everything had settled down.

Hamish turned to Tessa, who looked radiant tonight. She wore an elegant red shift dress with a scoop neckline. They were alone in her office on the third floor of City Hall, where they were waiting for his team to check in and confirm that everybody was in position.

“Ready to mingle?”

She inhaled deeply, her chest lifting in the process, drawing his gaze to her breasts.

“Maybe you should have worn something a little less revealing,” he mused, hating the idea that every man here tonight would be leering at her.

Tessa chuckled softly and put her hand on his chest, running her fingers down the lapel of his jacket. “I’m wearing this for you.”

He rolled his eyes. “For me you should be wearing nothing but a skimpy bra and tiny panties.”

Her eyelids fluttered in a most tantalizing fashion. “I’m wearing that underneath.”

He pulled her to him, so her breasts were crushed to his chest, and her hips were aligned with his. “You do know how to get me all hot.”

“I’m a fast learner,” she murmured and brushed her lips to his. “I thought you liked that.”

“I love it.”

“Then show me later how much,” she suggested and freed herself from his embrace.

She walked toward the door, and he followed her with his eyes.

“You coming?”

“Almost,” he said and adjusted his rising cock, willing it to go down. This was neither the time nor the place. “Let’s go before I forget all my manners.”

~ ~ ~

With Hamish by her side, Tessa reached the gallery that overlooked the large rotunda in the middle of City Hall. Below them, chairs and a podium had been arranged for the speeches later in the evening: one concession speech, and one acceptance speech. She and Gunn would be on the podium, but who would give which speech wasn’t decided yet. The ballots had closed an hour earlier, but not all districts had reported in with their results yet.

“I’m nervous,” she admitted.

Hamish slid his arm around her waist. “I understand. But everything looks good. The exit polls favor you. And Gunn would be stupid to try anything tonight with so many witnesses. But if he’s crazy enough to act, our guys will take him out before he can hurt you.”

She smiled, grateful for everything Hamish and his colleagues were doing for her. But she was thinking of the future, too. “And what if I really win? What then?”

“Then you’ll bring order and justice back to Baltimore.”

“And the demons? Will they give up?”

There was no hesitation in Hamish’s voice, when he replied, “Never truly. They’ll always be looking for an opportunity, but even they know when they’re chasing a lost cause. Zoltan will figure out very quickly that I won’t leave you unprotected, not even after the election.”

“But how will that work?”

He drew her closer to his side and brought his lips to her ear. “I was going to talk to you about that later, after the election. But since you’re bringing it up…”

She turned her face to look at him. “You mean I’ll always need a bodyguard-slash-pretend-boyfriend?”

“I was hoping that I could be more than that.” His chocolate-brown eyes seemed to sparkle. “And if I have anything to say about that there will be no
pretend
anywhere in sight.”

Her heart made an excited somersault. “Are you…” She swallowed hard. “You mean…”

“I—”

“Tessa!” Gunn’s grating voice interrupted and made her spin around.

Dressed in a dark gray suit, Gunn made an impressive figure. He was alone, though she knew that Enya, Manus, and Logan had to be close by. But they’d cloaked themselves so not even Tessa could see them.

“Robert, good evening,” she said as calmly as possible, though his presence unnerved her.

Gunn briefly nodded toward Hamish, then looked back at her, his face a mask of indifference. Just how good of an actor was he?

“Interesting little charade you pulled off this week,” he started.

“It wasn’t a charade.”

“Wasn’t it? Kind of weird that first Durant and her biased rag write about you being a druggie, and then three days later, she retracts it all and comes out with a sob story about what a good sister you are, taking care of a junkie sibling that you just pulled out of a hat. Well played.” But the last two words weren’t meant as a compliment; they sounded more like a curse.

“I don’t like your insinuation that this was staged. We both know who planted that false story about me using drugs to boost his own campaign,” she retorted.

Gunn narrowed his eyes. “You’re accusing me of having anything to do with that?”

She made a step toward him, incensed by his lies. “Who else had anything to gain by seeing me fall on my face?”

“As much as I’d like to take credit for that brilliant move, I’d like to think that I’m smarter than giving you an opportunity to turn into Mother Theresa.” He huffed. “I’m sure your Miss Smartypants campaign manager cooked it all up for you. Maybe
I
should have hired her instead.”

“As if Poppy would have worked for somebody like you.”

She felt Hamish’s hand on her arm, and realized only now that her voice had risen.

“Yes, Mr. MacGregor, you should hold her back, or she might hurt herself. And we wouldn’t want that, would we? It would be a shame to disappoint all her voters.” Gunn turned on his heel and stalked down the hallway, disappearing around a bend.

Tessa forced down a curse. “That vile, no-good—”

“Don’t Tessa, he was just riling you up. He knows he’s lost.” He took her hand, leading her toward the stairs.

As they descended into the rotunda, she glanced at him. “Do you believe what he said? That he didn’t do it?”

“He’s a very convincing liar, and he’s desperate. He’s capable of anything.”

She nodded to herself. “That’s the feeling I got, too.”

Upon reaching the first floor where the crowd was mingling, Tessa let her eyes roam. Her assistant Collette was coming straight at her, smiling.

“There you are,” Collette greeted her.

“Hey, Collette,” Tessa replied. “You look nice tonight.” Her yellow dress looked beautiful on her.

“Thanks, so do you. And thanks again for giving me your spare tickets. I brought my son and my parents.” She pointed toward the crowd. “They’re so excited to know that I might soon be working for the new mayor.”

“The results aren’t in yet,” Tessa cautioned her.

Collette smiled. “But it’s looking very good. We’re all keeping our fingers crossed.”

“Thank you! That’s so sweet. By the way, have you seen Poppy yet?”

Collette turned her head to the side. “I just said hi to her. She went to the ladies room just a second ago.” She pointed to the corridor next to the stairs with a sign saying
Ladies Restrooms
above the open doorway. “In there.”

“Thanks!”

“I’ll see you both later,” Collette said and walked away.

“Do you mind if I go see Poppy? She’s probably still pissed at me for not returning her phone calls.”

Hamish hesitated. Then he pressed his finger to the mic in his ear. “Where’s Gunn now?” There was a short pause, then he nodded. “Okay, you can go to the ladies room, but only there. I’ll be out here watching the entrance.”

“I’ll be back soon.”

Tessa turned around and walked to the open doorway and into the corridor. At the end of it, it made a right turn leading to several doors: the ladies room, a janitor’s room, and a couple of mechanical closets. She pushed the door to the ladies room open and entered.

44

Standing only a few yards away from the entrance to the corridor that led to the ladies room, Hamish glanced around. More and more visitors were streaming in. He got a glimpse of Sean standing near the entrance, critically running his eyes over every person who entered through the metal detectors. Lifting his eyes, Hamish gazed up to the gallery. Several people were walking around up there, some with drinks in their hands. He noticed Gunn shaking somebody’s hand. Good, he was far away from Tessa.

“Excuse me, young man,” a woman suddenly said.

Hamish turned his head to look at the lady, who looked to be in her mid-sixties. “Yes, ma’am? Can I help you?”

She pointed to the ticket in her hand. “You look like you know your way around here. My daughter gave me this ticket and said she’d meet me at the entrance and show me where I could sit, but I don’t see her.”

Hamish glanced at the ticket. “There’s general seating only. You know, first come, first serve.”

“Oh, Poppy didn’t mention that.” She gave a long suffering sigh.

“Poppy Connor?”

The woman took a step closer. “Yes. She’s the campaign manager for Councilwoman Tessa Wallace. I hope she wins. I mean, that Gunn, I don’t like him.” She put her hand over her mouth. “Oh dear, you didn’t vote for him, did you?”

Hamish shook his head and smiled. “I’m with you on that. So, you’re Poppy’s mother.”

She nodded proudly. “Do you know her? She’s so bright. But I’ve barely seen her since she’s been working on Tessa’s campaign. She’s always so busy.”

Hamish smiled, glancing back to the corridor. “Yes, I’m sure.” Then he motioned to the area where rows of chairs had been arranged in front of a podium. “You might want to grab a good seat while you still can, Mrs. Connor.”

“You’re right, I’d better go.”

“And I hope you’re feeling better after your fall,” he added automatically.

She’d already turned away and now spun her head back to him. “My fall?”

He nodded. “Yes, a few days ago. You were in the hospital.”

Mrs. Connor’s forehead furrowed. “I just got back from Aruba two days ago. And I can assure you, I didn’t fall anywhere. I’m not that old.” There was a sharp tone in her voice. With a huff, she whirled around and marched toward the chairs.

Nothing in her gait suggested that she’d recently taken a fall and had to spend time in the hospital. Then why had Poppy left Tessa alone in her apartment to go to the hospital to take care of her?

Poppy had lied.

“Ah shit!” he cursed.

He spun around and started running, his finger on his mic. “It’s not Gunn, it’s Poppy.”