“He wants to speak with you alone,” Juan said in greeting once Jamie was within earshot.
The hallway outside the room in question was a little crowded with staffers and the Secret Service, but they all made way for Jamie. He noticed the few who wouldn’t look him in the eye and Jamie didn’t let it bother him. He used to be on better footing with the campaign staff, but now he was lucky if anyone outside the top positions would speak with him for fear of collusion rumors rubbing off on them.
Normally Jamie wouldn’t care, except this whole mess could be traced back to him. In the end, whatever happened to his father, Jamie would be blamed for it, and rightly so. No matter that his country had asked it of him, in the end, the Callahans’ reputation might end up in tatters.
“You wanted to see me?” Jamie said as the door slid shut behind him.
The walls here didn’t have built-in soundproofing, but a quick glance around showed Jamie his father was running a military-grade electronics jammer in the corner. At least some precautions were being taken.
“Yes,” Richard said, not taking his eyes away from the holoscreen someone had set up in the room. The latest headline news streamed over the chyron but Richard seemed more interested in the poll numbers the evening host was discussing with a guest.
Jamie settled into parade rest and crossed his arms over his chest. They had twenty minutes until the rally was scheduled to start at 1800. Jamie’s mother was introducing Richard, the task falling to her more and more lately now that some of their surrogates had distanced themselves from the campaign. Charlotte Jacqueline Callahan,néeMontgomery, had taken a larger-than-expected role in the campaign over the last few months, as had his younger sister, Leah.
Jamie had kept as low a profile as he could until some of the heat died down, but he couldn’t hide forever.
“Fifteen minutes, Father,” Jamie said, when the quiet had gone on long enough. Which really only meant five, because Richard still needed to get to the stage and accept the accolades of his wife once Charlotte was done talking him up.
Richard finally turned to face Jamie, flawless stage makeup hiding the circles beneath his blue eyes for the cameras. As the Senate Majority Leader, Richard had juggled his duty to the Senate and his campaign for months now, ignoring the calls for his resignation in favor of continuing forward. The stress of being pulled in numerous directions was beginning to show.
Jamie, perhaps uncharitably, wasn’t very sympathetic.
“President Rodriguez is hosting a State Dinner in two weeks for the British Royal Family,” Richard said as he stepped around the refreshments table set up near his portable terminal.
“I’m aware of the dinner.”
Considering Liam Wessex and his parents were the members of the royal family in question chosen to represent the Queen, Jamie had known about the dinner before it was even formally set. Liam and Jamie had been close friends since they were children, their paths in life eerily similar in a way. Both had gone into the military—Jamie into the Recon Marines and Liam into the Special Air Service—their careers ultimately ending when a mission went bad due to a Splice attack and each were subsequently turned into metahumans.
Liam had watched over Alexei Dvorkin and Sean Delaney in London back in February. Sean’s phase power had been requested by the United Metahuman Group, the United Kingdom’s equivalent to the MDF, for a mission that couldn’t be put off any longer. Jamie’s presence hadn’t been requested. After what happened to Alexei and Sean in Boston, Jamie hadn’t wanted to let them go to London alone. Knowing that Liam had their six was the only thing that enabled Jamie to sleep at night during their absence.
That, and his fiancé, Staff Sergeant Kyle Brannigan.
Even that stray thought had Jamie wishing he were by Kyle’s side right now. Jamie hadn’t wanted to be here tonight, but his father had demanded his presence for a string of rallies and meet-and-greets to try to ease him back into the public’s trust. Jamie could’ve told him that was a wasted effort, but he wasn’t the one in charge of the campaign.
“The president is extending an invitation to all of us at the request of the royal family. I expect you to be there,” Richard said.
Richard didn’t know that Liam was a metahuman. His father’s security clearance may have been high, but it wasn’t high enough to merit knowing who were metahumans outside the team Jamie led. If he were president, then maybe, but that was looking more and more unlikely with every day that passed.
“Of course I’ll be there. I wouldn’t miss it,” Jamie promised.
“See that you are.”
The dig was slight, and Jamie tried not to let it bother him too much. He’d split his time between his commitment to the MDF and his team, and his family on the campaign trail since his father first decided to run for president nearly two years ago. Richard had no leg to stand on when it came to commitment. His inability to see beyond poll numbers back in November had contributed to his current standing.
If he’d only canceled the rally, then maybe the death count wouldn’t have been so high.
But no metahuman had the power to time travel. They had enough problems dealing with Stanislav Pavluhkin’s precognitive power at the moment. His team didn’t need any more complications.
Someone knocked on the door, causing Richard to look away and tug at his suit jacket until it settled perfectly across his shoulders. Jamie stepped aside, allowing his father to exit first.
Juan waited for them in the hallway, tapping at his left forearm where most people had their bioware and RealIdent chip implanted. “We’re cutting it close, Senator. We don’t want to keep them waiting and Charlotte is almost finished with her speech.”
“Of course,” was Richard’s crisp response. “Shall we?”
Jamie followed after Richard, ever the dutiful son.
He tugged up the sleeve of his suit jacket and button-down as they headed for the stage. The bioware implanted underneath his skin was military-grade, with military encryption protocols scrambling communication until Jamie accessed it. No update, and no calls on his encrypted comms.
Jamie wanted to know how his team was doing in the field tonight, but he also knew he wouldn’t get an update when they were in the middle of a mission.
