“I think I’ll do a little night running on the beach later on,” I say, testing.
“Good idea. I hear the weather’ll be great for it.”
Click.
I spend the rest of the day taking care of paperwork, tying up loose ends in my business, chatting with my sister and Facetiming with my toddler nephew.
Because no one can predict what’s about to happen next.
Least of all me.
Chapter 16
“Drew, you’re nuts.” It’s nighttime, right before 8 p.m., and Paulson’s at the perimeter of The Grove, arguing with me at the shore. Because I know every nook and cranny of the estate’s grounds, it’s easy to bypass four men at various stations.
Not so easy to get past Mark.
“Don’t put me in this position, Foster. Lindsay didn’t ask for you. In fact, she’s been badmouthing you to everyone she sees.” His eyes are hard, but they also plead with me.
Back down, they say.
My eyes transmit a two-word message to him, too.
They’re not the same words. Mine start with F and Y.
“That’s part of some scheme of hers. C’mon, Mark. It’s obvious. She’s creating fake distance between us.” Not a shred of worry inside me. I know her ruse.
“I don’t know what’s obvious anymore, Drew.” He sighs, the sound loud and frustrated. “I had no desire to be head of security for a presidential candidate’s daughter when I said yes to you last month. This is madness. I should be home kicking back beers and being with Carrie.”
“You can always quit.”
He makes a sound of disgust. It happens to be the sound of loyalty, too.
“Like that’s going to happen. You fished my girlfriend out of an underground bunker using old sewer pipes before she could have her limbs removed by a crazed drug lord with an amputee fetish. That’s the definition of owing you.”
“When you put it that way...yeah. You absolutely owe me.”
His mouth goes tight.
I cross my arms over my chest and stare him down.
“If I let you in, not only will Harry fire me, he’ll remove the company from covering Lindsay. Your time’s limited anyhow. Secret Service is stepping in more and more. They’re harder to evade.”
“Right.” I know I have a narrow window of time. “I just need to see her tonight. That’s it. I’ll be done after this.”
His sharp look doesn’t faze me. “That’s it?”
I feign innocence.
“That’s it.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Believe what you want. I don’t care. I do care whether you trust me.”
“I trust you to do something stupid.”
“That’s a start.”
His voice goes cold with anger, teeth clenched, arms flexing as our friendship gets overridden by his sense of duty.
“I’m not fucking around, Drew. Your presence compromises her. Those guys are after you as much as they are after her. You’re literally luring them to her. What are you thinking?” You would think his anger would upset me, but just the opposite happens. I’m pleased. When he’s this protective of Lindsay, I know he’s vigilant. I know that anyone who tries to hurt her will have to go through Paulson, too.
“They texted me today.”
He closes his eyes, then runs a hand over the back of his neck, tension bleeding off him. “Of course they did. What’d they say?”
“‘Don’t play if you can’t win’,” I recite, the words like burrs on my tongue.
“Assholes. That’s just a taunt.”
“And a promise.”
“A promise of what?”
“That they’ll follow through. I have to talk to Lindsay. I think I know what’s about to happen next and I need to warn her.”
“Care to share with her head of security? Not that you’re exactly forthcoming with important information.” He is pissed. The double meaning is clear.
He knows. He knows about that video.
I don’t care, actually.
Part of the truth is all he needs.
I ignore the barb. Can’t deal with it. “They’re going to invent some charitable cause for her. She’ll be sent to work with the homeless in Haiti, or with a literacy program in Appalachia, or to restore hurricane damage in Guatemala. Whatever the story, it’ll be designed to get her out of the limelight and for all the attention to die down.” I say this with impatience, and Mark crosses his arms over his chest like he has all the time in the world.
He knows I’m in a rush.
“You’re the focus of attention on the news so far, Drew. Not her. And her attackers are tormenting you now, too. Exposing you.”
Ignore ignore ignore.
“But it taints Harry by default.” I barrel on. “The media’s being nice to her today, but give it two or three more days and the worm will turn. And getting her out of sight means she’ll have less security. Any company other than mine that handles her security can be compromised. Probably already has.”