She glanced at the watch again. Thirty minutes had passed, probably twenty-five more than necessary to pass on the only information that was to be shared with the public. Time to tie things up, let people report and speculate while she took care of her next obligation.
Laura neatened the index cards into a stack, the visual cue she had trained people to recognize that she wasn’t just pretending to leave. “Thank you, everyone. We’ll be providing you with additional updates in memo form as necessary between now and the Guildmaster’s briefing.”
Without waiting for an interruption, she picked up the cards and walked toward the back room. Saffin waited by the door, her hand on the knob, ready to close it behind Laura. As their eyes met, Saffin’s gaze slid over Laura’s shoulder. She furrowed her eyebrow.
Behind you, she sent. She showed no fear or anxiety, so the comment didn’t alarm Laura. As she turned, she saw Jenna Dahl approaching. Protocol dictated that no one approach the stage or the podium. It was beyond doubt that no reporter went near the door to the back room. Since it was someone of Jenna’s stature, that made it intriguing, so Laura paused.
“Can I have one moment, Laura?” she asked as she neared.
“A moment is all I have, Jenna,” Laura replied. She let the oddity of the situation show by being pleasant yet curious.
Jenna had worked her way up to anchor quickly and was known for being fair and firm. People across the political spectrum criticized her for bias, so the joke was that she was doing something right. Not unaware of the public perception of female newscasters, she wore her hair to the shoulder, long enough to appear feminine but short enough to be no-nonsense. Laura thought she was probably the only person in the news business who had darkened her blond hair instead of highlighting it.
Jenna dropped her voice for Laura’s hearing alone. “I received a call at about 9 A.M. Someone told me to make sure we had someone at the Guildhouse and not just the White House.”
Laura wasn’t surprised. “All the stations were there.”
“I don’t think all of them were told to make sure they filmed continuously,” she said.
Laura pursed her lips. “Did you know the caller?”
“No,” she said.
Lie, thought Laura, a clear lie. “Do you have something on tape investigators should see?”
“Not that I can tell. We’re still reviewing.”
Laura smiled with professional detachment in case someone was watching them. “You know telling me this means I will have to inform InterSec. They’re gathering evidence.”
“Of course. That’s not why I am telling you. I’m curious why someone high-level suspected something, but nothing seems to have been done to prevent it.”
“High-level?” Laura said. She had to. Jenna made the slip—claiming she didn’t know the caller, then identifying it as someone high-level.
“I’m confirming that. I thought I’d let you know, though. I’d appreciate it if you would provide me with any information when you can,” she said.
A deal, Laura thought. Not a deal with the devil that the public might think. Jenna had told her something important, something she hadn’t reported and was letting Laura know that a two-way communication might benefit them both. It would, but neither of them could come right out and say that. “Of course, Jenna. I’m sure we’re all interested in the truth here.”
Jenna nodded. “Of course. It’s a question that needs answering.”
Laura gave her a brief friendly touch on the arm. “I’ll let you know.”
She walked into the back room, and Saffin closed the door behind her. “Everything all right?” she asked.
Laura sighed as she removed her wireless microphone. “It was nothing.”
Saffin worried enough about her. She didn’t need to add to it unnecessarily.
As Laura made her way to the elevator, she wondered who the high-level person was and where. Guild? American government? InterSec? Someone, indeed, knew something and hadn’t said anything. Jenna was right to wonder why. It was a good question.
First, she had to face other questions. As she rode up to Draigen’s floor, she knew that Mariel Tate’s day wasn’t going to get better.
CHAPTER 24
LAURA WASTED NO time getting upstairs. Under normal circumstances, she would never risk transitioning personas near a public area, but the macCullens were waiting for Mariel Tate. With no concern for courtesy, she forced two people out of an elevator and activated her glamour. When a failure in security happened, the last place she wanted to be was out of the room while others made their cases.
Draigen stood at the wide window of her suite, looking out across the Mall. Behind her, her brothers’ voices rose and fell as each made his points. Since the return from the White House meeting, they had argued over which of them had been in the best position to prevent the assassination attempt. Laura did not miss the subtle criticisms thrown her way as Aran and Brinen bickered. Neither did Terryn.
“Mariel has extensive experience in security, at this building in particular,” Terryn said.
“Then how did we become so easily exposed?” Brinen asked.
“I was presented with cleared staff,” Laura said. It was a statement that masked her own criticism. The sniper had been found before Draigen reached the White House. In the attic of an office building up the street from the Guildhouse, a dead man had been found with a recently fired rifle. The man—an Inverni fairy named Sean Carr who had been attached to Aran’s staff—had died from an essence-bolt to the chest.
“A plan destroyed by one man is a poor plan,” Aran said.
Laura maintained her composure. Despite her own feelings of doubt, she was not about to take the sole blame for what had happened. “I recommended an integrated staff consisting of InterSec, Guild, and Guardian officers. I was overruled.”
Draigen turned from the window, one eyebrow arched in threatened insult as she looked at Terryn. “Is she implying a question of loyalty with respect to our staff prior to this?”
Terryn shook his head. “We prefer to use integrated staff to keep units on alert. People unfamiliar with each other tend to be more observant of each other.”
“People unfamiliar with each other tend not to work well together,” Brinen said. He had insisted on a Guardian-only security force.
Draigen turned back to the window. “Interesting.”
Laura rubbed her forehead. “If I may, the team composition was a philosophical and strategic difference of opinion and is now a moot point. The question isn’t so much how it happened but why. Answering how merely fixes a flaw in procedure. Answering why might prevent any future attempts.”
Terryn craned his head toward Draigen. “Speaking of which, after what happened today, I would prefer you not stand at the window like that.”
Draigen tilted her head to observe something outside. “Cities never sleep. Sometimes I think when we moved from the country to the city, our priorities changed in an unfortunate way. We began thinking less about our homes and started worrying more about what our neighbors were doing.”
“I’d worry more about the lack of security in this building,” Aran said.
Draigen chuckled as she withdrew from the window and took a seat on the empty sofa. “Aran, brother, the attack came from outside the building.”
Annoyed, Brinen glanced at his brother. “And I’d worry more about who is a friend and who is an enemy.”
“Your taunts tire me, Brinen. My people are as loyal as yours,” Aran said.
“Except Sean Carr, of course,” Brinen said.
Aran glared. Sean Carr had been found and identified within minutes of the attempt on Draigen’s life. “I cannot speak for the thoughts of one man, brother, but I will defend my people with every breath.”
Brinen grunted. “Yet I am the one with a bullet wound.”
“You should be resting,” Terryn said.
Brinen shrugged with a slight wince. “The bullet did not cause major damage and was easily removed. The healing spell is working.”