Despite my nerves, I snorted when Finn snagged me around the waist, pulling me back into his chest.
“Lips to yourself, old man.”
“Behave.” I rolled my eyes, then cursed myself. I wassupposed to be scanning our surroundings, not letting my guard down. “Is everything set?”
“Nelson’s set up in the main security room, along with two of my guys. Between the three of them, they’ve got a visual on almost every inch of the building.”
Duncan, Joel, and Nelson did a walk-through two days prior, placing additional cameras wherever they noticed a blind spot. Although the cameras wouldn’t stop a madman, they gave us the advantage of having eyes everywhere if all else failed.
“Perfect.”
“The two of you need to take your seats.” Noreen ushered us along. “Dinner will be served in a few minutes, then it’s time for your speech, Finn.”
Regardless of what Noreen thought, our arrival was timed perfectly. Finn being out in the open was paramount to the success of our mission. That didn’t mean he had to be on display for hours upon hours. Getting here late was one of my caveats. Finn wearing Kevlar was the other. Even with all the federal agents and police officers in attendance, thinking about him standing up on a stage in front of the entire room made me twitchy. All it would take was one well-placed shot, then game over. Like hell would I let that happen.
“Where’s Duncan?”
“I’m at your eleven o’clock,” he answered through the comms unit.
“Keaton, stay with Finn for a minute. I’ll be right back.”
I pushed my way through the crowd, which started to form when the DJ announced dinner was about to start. Duncan was standing up against a wall, arms crossed over his chest. His eyes continued to search the room, even while I approached.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, flicking the earpiece out of his ear.
“Everything.”
“Break it down for me.”
“I can’t, Duncan. I’ve got nothing definitive. Just my gut.”
“You know as well as I do, if your gut talks, you listen. We’ve still got time to pull the plug on this whole thing if you want. Say the word and it’s done.”
“No. We need to end this before someone really gets hurt.”
This stalker was playing a deadly game. Who knew how many people could’ve died because of carbon monoxide poisoning. He or she didn’t care who they hurt so long as they took down Finn in the process.
“Then what do you need me to do?”
“Stay close. Get to Finn if I can’t.”
“Keaton has him.”
“No, Duncan. I needyouto have him.”
Locking eyes with one of my best friends in the world, I waited for him to grasp my meaning. I wanted––no, I needed Duncan to make Finn his priority over me. Keaton was good, but Duncan was the best agent the FBI had ever seen. No one else came close to his skill level. It’s the reason why he’d been in such high demand before his cover was blown years ago. He could get into and out of any situation without being seen. He was like a ghost.
“Fine,” he gritted through his teeth.
I left him to stew, returning to Finn, who was patiently waiting by our assigned table. We were joined by Joel, Noreen, and two other couples who were introduced, then immediately forgotten about. Thank God Noreen was an expert conversationalist. It wasn’t like I was trying to berude, but there were more important things to focus my attention on, rather than the popularity of my dress designer. Seriously? Who gave a shit?
Drinks were poured for those who didn’t already have one, followed by a plate filled with Caesar salad. Halfway through, the servers reappeared; two per table. One cleared the dirty dishes away, while the other retrieved the main courses from a serving cart. My stomach grumbled loudly when a delicious looking Beef Wellington was placed in front of me.
I leaned into Finn, asking quietly. “How’d they know what I wanted?”
“I gave our dinner choices to Noreen yesterday.”
“What if I wanted the vegetarian option?”
