“I’m really looking forward to our new partnership, Jordan. I promise you won’t regret it.”
I hand her my martini glass. “Don’tmakeme regret it, Grace. Hands wash hands, right?”
“Right.” She walks me to the door. “I’ll expect you to get with me soon.”
“I will.Afterwe return from this weekend.” She opens the door for me and I step through before I turn to face her. She’s about four inches shorter than me in her bare feet, and while I’m not beefy, I easily have forty pounds on her.
I mentally note that.
I drop my voice to a whisper. “Grace, swear to me that we do this, you’ll keep him protected from your other ‘friends.’ He’s literally given his body and soul for his country. He deserves to keep his dignity and reputation.”
“I will, I swear. They don’tdarecross me. I have too much on too many of them. I can make things ugly for them. They’ll back off once there’s a public announcement of us getting married.” She grins. “Welcome to the big leagues, Jordan.”
I nod and head down the hall toward the elevator without looking back. I have no way of knowing if she’s got access to the building’s security video, so I act calm all the way downstairs and out the front door.
When I’m a block away, I remove my personal phone from my shirt pocket. I look into the lens, state my full name, the date, and add, “That was a private meeting I just had with Representative Grace Martin, where she attempted to gain my assistance in extorting Vice President Elliot Woodley. I told her a few lies to earn her trust and make her think I’m going to help her. I want to make sure I have ample proof against her about this scheme before I take it to law enforcement.” Then I end the recording.
I still have time in the schedule, so I head to Leo’s, because I need to be alone and think.
Think, and calm myself before I rejoin Elliot. I don’t believe there’s a word in the English language to adequately express the level of rage boiling inside me. Elliot will be able to tell something’s wrong if I go to him now.
Unfortunately, he’ll also assume that I’m upset with him, and I won’t be able to adequately reassure him until we’re alone later.
Yeah, I know my boy intimately well. That’s one of the things that makes me so good at my job.
When I arrive at Leo’s I purposely don’t reset the alarm, because my conversation in the hotel room with Casey the day I hired her comes to mind, giving me the seed of an idea. Other than removing my blazer and shoes, I remain dressed and I carry my phones into the bedroom, where I stretch out on Leo’s bed.
I damn sure can’t tell Leo about Grace’s threat, or include him in my plan to thwart her. Whether Leo brings in law enforcement, or handles it himself, it puts him and Elliot in too much jeopardy. I believe Grace’s claims that she’s connected and has plenty of kompromat on people. In addition to what Leo’s told me about her, it explains too much to be mere boasting on her part.
Add to my growing list of things to do, I have to learn who Grace’s source of info is, either in the campaign or the West Wing.
On my personal cell, I play back the entire video I recorded as my rage courses through me anew. Sometimes, the camera lens is partially or completely obscured by my blazer, but the audio is clear. You can perfectly hear every word she says.
Didn’t imagine it happened. Now, I’ve got to deal with this bitch and protect my boy.
I upload the video to my Dropbox account so I have it backed up.
Right now, just from this piece of evidence, we both look horrible, unless you play it to the end to see my disclaimer. She could be planning on double-crossing me, but I think she’s not at that point yet. I have a very brief window of opportunity to derail this and her. If she is going to double-cross me, I imagine it’d be after the wedding and inauguration, once she’s safe.
Or until shethinksshe’s safe.
Resigned, I get out of bed and check Leo’s closet, where his gun safe is hidden. Sure enough, his Glock is there. I’m comfortable handling it, thanks to all the training he’s given me with it. He’s taken me shooting dozens of times over the years, and I’m a pretty decent shot. He has a special carry permit, since he’s a retired federal law enforcement officer, but he usually can’t carry when he’s working, because he’s with Shae.
I take it out of the gun safe. Yes, it’s loaded.
This would be a messy and hard-to-explain option. Getting rid of the gun wouldn’t be a problem, but explaining its disappearance to Leo would.
Not to mention, that puts me squarely in the middle of a murder investigation, because there are too many video cameras in her building that could identify me. I’d have to meet her somewhere else and leave my cell phone at Leo’s to give myself an alibi.
Or involve Leo to alibi me, which I absolutely donotwant to do. There are plenty of places I could meet Grace in the DC area where I could evade CCTV cameras and shoot her.
Except, maybe thereisanother option.
In the gun safe, Leo also has several brand-new burner phones he’s never used. He and Elliot both have and use them. Because I work for Elliot, and live with him, I don’t carry one. I can use Elliot’s, if needed, or I can simply text Leo on my personal cell.
I replace the gun in the safe. Instead, I take one of the burners, lock the safe, move his clothes back into position, and put the burner phone on a charger. After I turn off the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on it, I use the phone’s cell data to do a little research.
Fifteen minutes later, I’m feeling a lot calmer. I’m reasonably certain I won’t have to shoot Grace after all. I strip and don a pair of jeans from my drawer of spare clothes I keep here. Then I grab one of Leo’s black T-shirts, which hangs large on me. That’s fine—I want it to. I have an old pair of sneakers in his closet and I put those on, along with a dark knit cap.
Perfect.
I leave everything else here, including my personal and work phones, because I’ll return here first to change clothes again. Leaving the alarm off—and hoping Leo doesn’t come home or try to call me—I have just enough time to run another errand before I head to campaign headquarters and rejoin my boy.
As long as I don’t rush the steps or fuck this up, I’m confident I can save Elliot without sacrificing myself.
I hope.
