The line was quiet for a few seconds, the drone of Richard’s voice echoing inJamie’sears.
“TheGlavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniyeis not a problem,” Stanislavfinallysaid.
“Seems like it is from where Istand.”
Stanislav let out an impatient noise. “GRU pretend to have power,da? But they are nothing. They have no standing with the people whomatter.”
“Peoplelikeyou?”
“Is my word not goodenough?”
“The agent lied her way into an Empyrean brand party the other night. I want more than assurancesfromyou.”
“The Kremlin favors my family. That should be enough assurance. The GRU is not aproblem.”
“That’s notenough. Our partnership is with you,nota thirdparty.”
“Having second thoughts,Jamie?”
Third and fourth, if Jamie were being honest, with some compounded interest thrown in just for the hell of it. But he couldn’t say that. “Not enough tobackout.”
Which was a lie he could taste, and hoped Stanislav couldn’t hear. But Jamie’s worry over what Stanislav might think was immediately overrun by the sudden threat that reared itsuglyhead.
“Gun!” Kyle yelled out with battlefield loudness, voice ripping throughtheair.
Jamie’s head snapped up at the warning, the call cutting off in his ears. Kyle was a blur, already racing for the stage even as the Secret Service responded to his warning. Two men sprinted from their positions at the corner of the stage to haul Richard away from the podium as people in the crowd began to realize something waswrong.
Then the first bullet slammed into the Secret Service agent standing in front of Richard, causing the man to crumple to his knees. He survived only because of the Kevlar-lined vest he wore beneath his dress shirt, the same sort Richard wore beneath his expensivebespokesuit.
At least, Jamiehopedhis father waswearingit.
Jamie was halfway to the stage when Kyle reached his father, putting his body between Richard and the shooter. Screams and shouts pierced the air as Kyle hauled Richard toward the side of the stage and what questionable cover they could find out in the openlikethis.
Hands grabbed at Jamie’s arms, Burwell popping up out of nowhere to get in Jamie’s face. “Takecover!”
Jamie glared at the special agent before shaking free of his minders with ferocious ease and going to meet Kyle’s frantic dash off the stage. His father’s eyes were wide holes in his pale face, mouth parted in shock as Kyle literally dragged him behind the stage where the Secret Service had corralled CharlotteandLeah.
Over everyone’s heads, Jamie could see one of the campaign’s SUVs racing down the backstretch of the loading area to extract them. The Secret Service was barking orders over comms Jamie didn’t have access to, and he didn’t trust them to get the job done when it came to hisfamily.
Catching Kyle’s eye, Jamie jerked his head in the direction of where the shots had come from. “Find thebastard.”
Kyle nodded, unholstered a gun from the small of his back, and disappeared into the panicking crowd. Jamie, unarmed because of the location and his job of playing dutiful son, reached out and hauled a Secret Service special agent around by the back of his plain black jacket. The man in question looked surprised, considering he was almost of height with Jamie and might even have a few poundsonhim.
“I need to borrow this,”Jamiesaid.
He wrenched the gun out of the man’s grip, checked to make sure the safety was off, then raced after Kyle. Jamie ignored the affronted yell Burwell let out behind him as he disregarded safety protocol for those under government protection in favor of finding theshooter.
Jamie scanned the area, eyes catching on every conceivable location the sniper could have made their nest in. The options seemed limitless. Rather than focus on the possibilities, Jamie focusedonKyle.
“Location,” he snapped over their personal encryptedcomms.
“Shooter was on the roof of the next building over in tech camouflage,” Kyle responded. “Didn’t the Secret Service canvassthearea?”
“I wasn’t in charge of security. How’d you spot thebastard?”
“He’s using tech camouflage, but fucker forgot to hide his scope. Saw theflash.”
Jamie would be forever grateful for shitty, untrained shooters if it meant his father survived. Tech camouflage usually meant a nanotech woven suit that could mimic any surrounding background and hide the person in question from most searches. The gear was useful for holding position under stealth, but not for a fight. Luckily, Kyle’s sharp eyesight had saved Jamie a lot ofgrief.
