No way, I sent mindspeech. Tony, you cannot make me go with him. The man's wife had died shortly after he'd gone into office following the last election. I had no desire to cozy up to him for any reason. What if someone took photographs when we got to the hotel? That's all I needed—my face splashed all over the newspapers and television for Wlodek and the Council to see.
Lissa, this is an order, Tony ignored my pleading. At least I had my engagement ring on; maybe that would hold the turkey off if he had amorous leanings.
I had my shortest wig on, too—the ones Tony replaced had caught up with us and I preferred it since it didn't get in the way as much as the other two. Sighing, I walked toward the Senator's car and the Senator himself. Duff had additional security guards with him and one of them opened the limo door for me and waited until I sat down to shut the door. Two security guards rode along with us. A small, built-in television was on and tuned to a news station inside the car. I discreetly attempted to sit across from the Senator, but one of the agents motioned for me to sit next to the esteemed politician. I scooted as far into the corner as I could, the senator's door was shut and off we went.
"I haven't seen you before," the Senator offered an assessing stare. I felt shaky under the unwelcome scrutiny, but forced a smile anyway.
"I don't usually do this sort of thing," I said.
"Director Hancock says you're on loan from one of his special divisions. Is that true?" Duff was smiling now. I wasn't. He was in his mid-fifties, worked out daily, didn't have much gray in his nearly-black hair, had nice teeth, brown eyes and political and religious beliefs that would give me nightmares if I were still capable of having them.
"Yes," I answered his question.
"I spoke not long ago with Admiral Hafer, who described a young woman that managed to perform an amazing rescue," Senator Duff went on. "His description closely resembles you, Ms. Huston." The ass**le was fishing for information and trying to nail me, I think.
Tony, I sent, he's saying he talked to the Ass Admiral, who gave a description of me. What should I do?
Tell him you're not at liberty to discuss any mission, Tony sent back. He sounded as if he wanted to do a little cursing, but didn't send that through the mindspeech.
"Sir," I said to the Senator, "I am not allowed to discuss any mission. I apologize."
"That's too bad," the Senator went on. "The Admiral certainly wanted to utilize those same talents, although he wasn't completely sure what they were."
I'll just bet he would. I almost snorted but held it back. "I go where I'm sent," I said instead. "He'll have to contact Mr. Hancock about that. He's the one in charge at the moment," I added, trying to be as diplomatic as I could.
"I get the feeling Mr. Hancock is less than forthcoming regarding your services." What did this guy want from me? Better yet, what did Admiral Hafer want from me?
"You'll have to address those concerns with Mr. Hancock."
"What if I would like you to have breakfast with me in the morning?" The Senator lifted an eyebrow.
"Senator, while that sounds tempting, I am engaged and my fiancé is quite jealous. I wouldn't feel comfortable doing anything of the sort."
"That's quite a ring on your finger." It was quite a ring. A full two-carat stone surrounded by swirls of smaller diamonds. I couldn't find anything like it anywhere and was afraid to have it appraised. It was probably worth a fortune.
"My fiancé only buys the best," I quipped. If we'd been alone in the car I would have placed compulsion, but we had Duff's two security guards with us and I was afraid to take the chance. Tony, now he's asking me to have breakfast with him, I sent. I don't know if he's digging for information like the Admiral was or if he wants a grope. Tony called my cell phone instead of sending mindspeech. I answered.
"Lissa, we have that appointment in the morning," he said.
"What appointment?" I was confused for a moment.
"The one at seven thirty." He was lying and I figured it out, finally.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot about that," I said. "What time do we need to leave in the morning?"
"Around six or six-thirty."
I repeated the time for the Senator's benefit and said I'd be ready. Tony hung up. "Couldn't have breakfast anyway, I forgot we had something to do in the morning." I tucked the cell phone inside my jacket pocket.
"Well, I would certainly like to hear someone else's account of what Admiral Hafer told me," Senator Duff said. "If you feel up to that sometime, please let me know."
"I'll keep it in mind," I said, glancing over at the security guards. They must have gone to the same school of non-expression that most of the vampires attended; they never made a sound or moved a facial muscle. Maybe their jobs were on the line if they developed a nervous tic. I turned my attention to the small television inside the limo then and almost cursed. Two more children had been kidnapped in Great Britain the evening before. Everybody was getting scared, now. These two made fifteen known disappearances and someone who lived near the two missing boys also claimed to have seen the blond man with the scar. I wanted the information that the newscaster was giving but Senator Duff picked up a small remote and turned off the television. I wanted to hit him for that.
As soon as we drove under the hotel awning, I was out of the car. While I worked my job making sure the Senator was safe, I also did my best not to look him in the eye once. He probably had plans to call the Admiral up and let him know where I was as quickly as possible, and that irritated me. Once the senator's security guards ushered him inside the hotel, I breathed a sigh of relief and slumped a little.
"He said he talked with Hafer?" Tony wore a deep frown as he came to stand beside me.
"That's what he said," I replied.
"I may have to make a few calls myself," Tony muttered.
"Tony, don't draw any more attention than you have to," I grabbed the lapel of his suit jacket. "And just to make sure, you'd better have somebody go out of this hotel in the morning looking like me in case Duff wants to snoop."
"Then we need to get you out of here tonight and make sure the cameras catch you leaving. I'll have someone else come in to take your place later. They can borrow your wig," Tony was grinning at me. Maybe he could joke about this, I couldn't.
That's how I ended up staying the day at another hotel nearby. Tony made the arrangements and brought in a female FBI agent who waited in the room for me, took my wig and walked out of there looking as much like me as anyone could, I suppose.