Bens jumped to his feet.“Is blackmail what you think a leader should do?”
“Gaslighting isn’t a good look on you, and it doesn’t work on me.”James slowly rose and brushed imaginary lint from his suit coat.“I’m not going to tell you who to vote for.I’m not going to blackmail you at all.The surveillance is simply for when others try to do it to me.As a council member, I expect you to uphold the Coalition’s bylaws.To cast a vote for who we are as a society, not for your personal purse strings.”
Bens glared at him, but he didn’t say anything.Truthfully, what could he say?
James raised an eyebrow.“You know where the door is.”
The elder man turned and stomped out.The construction mogul would have to be watched carefully.One rotten apple could kill the whole crop, and James refused to let that happen.He had plans for expanding the Coalition’s reach, and he’d be damned if Landry Sessions would collapse his ideas.
Glancing at his watch, he realized the meeting with Timothy Bens made him late for retrieving Kleya.He shot her a quick text and locked up his office.His administration assistant had already left for the day.
As he exited the elevator in the underground parking structure, all his nerve endings tingled, and his sixth sense told him something wasn’t right.He paused, glancing around, and heard the scraping of a shoe off to his right.Making a quick decision, he hurried to one of the large load-bearing cylindrical pillars and pulled the gun from the shoulder holster under his suit coat.He waited, listening.Hand steady.Shit like this didn’t scare him, because whoever was stalking him was no match against his laser focus and determination.No way would he allow someone to get the drop on him.
The minutes ticked by, and he heard the soft tread edging closer on his left.He waited, having infinite patience.Allowing the person to come to him.The garage wasn’t open to the public, but it didn’t mean someone couldn’t sneak in.Or had help.Was the mystery person a hired gun?Someone he knew?It was hard to believe this sneak attack was random given the state of the near empty garage.
He waited, letting the person come to him.Then, suddenly, something rolled toward the elevators and James recognized it immediately as a flash bomb.He ducked his head and closed his eyes just as it exploded.The bang made his ears ring, preventing him from tracking where the assailant moved by sound.Luckily, he still had his eyesight and moved quickly to put space between himself and the asshole.Only a few cars were still parked, so he kept to the shadows.The crack of a gun relayed over the ringing in his ears, the bullet going wide, and he returned fire.
As his hearing slowly returned, he heard the thud of a shoe and ducked as he spun, pulling the trigger.A masculine grunt sounded, letting him know he hit the asshole’s body somewhere.James took off after the would-be assassin, but by the time he made it over to the area, all he saw was blood on the concrete ground.He spun around, checking every possible nook and cranny.
The man had disappeared.
Just in case, he did a perimeter sweep and saw blood leading to the staircase.He opened the door and waited, making sure he wasn’t going to get his brains splattered all over the place.Everything was quiet, but more importantly, the tingling jolt to his senses was gone.He was alone in the parking garage.
“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath, as he made his way back to his car.He hesitated, wondering if there was a bomb somewhere on the damn thing.Although he wasn’t afraid of death, he didn’t want to meet it too soon.Opening his phone, he placed a call to his assistant.“Jason, get someone to inspect my car for a bomb.”
“A bomb?”
“Yeah, I was ambushed tonight in the garage.I’m not chancing it.”
“I’m on it.”
James disconnected the call and then dialed Kleya.
“Hello?”she greeted.
“I’m going to be late.My car might be compromised.”
She was silent for a moment.“Does that mean what I think it means?”
“It does,” he affirmed.“I’ll have to call for one of my company cars to come—”
“I’ll pick you up,” she offered.
“I thought you didn’t have a car.”
“I don’t.I’ll see you in twenty minutes or so.”
He hung up, confused.
****
Kleya pulled up toVeilstone Tower in the back of her rideshare and watched as James left the building and headed toward the car.He slid into the seat next to her.
“Uber?Really?”
“Like you stated, I don’t own a car.”
The driver pulled back into traffic but kept throwing quick glances at them.James didn’t talk and his silence was a little unnerving.
