“Why not?”
“Brain wouldn’t shut off.” He didn’t give her any tips to improve her sleep health. She’d sleep fine once the president had come and gone. And once the people behind the threats against her had been apprehended. “How’d you sleep?”
“Fine. I woke up twice but went right back to sleep.” After checking his phone to be sure he hadn’t missed any messages. “It’s a survival mechanism. I’ve learned to sleep when I can, wherever I can.”
They avoided speaking of the twelve hours they worked onSunday, the eighteen on Monday, the security protocols they were following up on today, the fact that they had less than forty-eight hours before Raleigh was invaded by the president’s advance teams, or that last night they received word that Craig Brown, their “person most likely to try to assassinate the president on this trip,” was seen in Charlotte... at a drone expo.
No. They talked about the ridiculous bike ride she was training for. The Assault on Mt. Mitchell began in the Upstate of South Carolina and covered over one hundred miles, a painful majority of it uphill, until it ended at the top of Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi. She expected it to take her a few years to be ready, but she was determined to pull it off.
He had no doubt she would succeed. Right now, however, her work hours made consistent training difficult if not impossible, and the lockdown they’d put her in since the threats on her life began had further impeded her ability to ride. She’d squeezed in an indoor ride Sunday morning, but it would be the weekend before she got in another one.
“I don’t have to do it this year, or even next year,” she said. “But I need a goal. It keeps me motivated.”
“I’d rather run a marathon than ride a bike that far.”
“That’s because you’re weird.” Before he could argue, she said, “Gil’s here. See you in a few.”
“Be careful.”
“Always.”
ZANE WAS WAITINGby the curb when Gil and Tessa pulled in to pick him up. He opened the door. “Morning.”
Gil gave him a small salute. “Tessa is already bossing me around.”
“What’s new?” Zane slid into the seat behind Tessa and gently tugged the fall of wavy hair that flowed down the seat. He leaned toward her and whispered, “Morning, Princess.”
She turned enough so he could catch her glare before she picked up the conversation she and Gil had been in the middle of. “I’m saying that you don’t have a leg to stand on. You need to butt out.”
“She’s my sister.” Gil turned in the opposite direction of the office. “And they haven’t been dating that long.”
“They’ve been dating almost a year.” Tessa held up a hand when Gil went to protest. “Let’s see. You reunited with Ivy in October, was it? You proposed at Christmas. And then you married her in, wait, let me think. Oh, that’s right. June of the following year. Is that correct?”
“That was different. I’d known Ivy almost my entire life.”
“You hadn’t spoken to her since you were seventeen!” Tessa’s hair swayed as she shook her head. “Emily and Liam have been together for almost a year, and he just now popped the question.”
“He’s been working a detail for that year. They’ve barely seen each other.”
Zane didn’t comment. Gil wasn’t wrong. Neither was Tessa. And Emily, Gil’s twin sister, would do whatever she wanted.
“Gil.” Up to this point, Tessa’s arguments had been lighthearted, but her tone was serious now. “She loves you. She doesn’t need your approval, but she wants it. Don’t give her a hard time. Trust her to know her own mind and heart. You can go a little big brother on her, but be careful that you don’t overdo it.”
Gil dropped his head back against the headrest. “Why do you do this to me?”
“Do what?”
“Make me see reason?”
“That’s my job.”
Their shared laughter settled over Zane, and he waited until it had died down to ask, “Where are we going?”
“It’s Tuesday.” Gil said this as if that explained everything.
“He doesn’t know.” Tessa twisted in her seat enough that he could see her face. “I found a new place. It’s called The Slam Dunk.”
Understanding dawned. “What’s their specialty?”
