“I suggest you two leave here, now,” William said, leaving little doubt about what would happen if they refused. Both men glared, but turned and walked away.
“Are you going to turn JP in to his editors?” William asked, opening my car door for me.
“No,” I said, sinking into the seat with relish, my body finally realizing it was exhausted. “JP will live in fear that I will call his editors and that is punishment enough for him. As for Halbert, he’s got one hell of a boss, how pleasant can that be? I am satisfied just to get on with my work.”
“You surprise me,” William said, as he turned the key in the ignition. “Most people would be ready for revenge by now.”
“Oh, I do want revenge,” I said, yawning. “But the best revenge will be for Levi to win the race. So I would rather focus on that. Besides, I feel foolish, having almost fallen into their trap. If you hadn’t come for me, I might have done something far worse to harm Levi’s campaign. I hope you don’t mind that I lied and told them we were engaged. It seemed like the one thing that would take the wind out of their sails.”
“I don’t mind one bit,” he said, giving me a provocative look that spelled hours of fun later. “I say we go back to my place and make it official.”
****
CHAPTER 30
The sun, it seemed, was taking its time to set, driving me crazy as I waited for dusk to arrive. Only when it was dark could our group assemble at the Council’s offices and review the videos of the robbery. Unlike the two days before, when time had passed at the speed of light, today had dragged on.
The only bright spot in my long, restless day was reviewing the positive media coverage we continued to receive following our press conference. My instincts and my ability to read people had paid off. Earlier in the day, our campaign pollster had phoned with news that Levi was widening his lead against Lacy. Even JP had surprised me. His story hadn’t betrayed any of his venom; he’d played it straight.
Finally, as the foghorns began to wail and dusk crept into the city, I called upstairs to Elsa and asked her to walk with me to the museum. She had gone up to take a nap earlier, something I’d never seen her do before. She complained of being tired, which was understandable given that we’d all been working at a fast pace for weeks.
On the way to the museum, we spoke very little, too wrapped up in our own thoughts, I suppose. We walked around to the side door and I placed my palm on the copper, waiting for the sensors to recognize my fingerprints and open the door. Once inside, as we approached the main bay of cubicles, I saw William seated, speaking with Aidan. Their discussion, whatever the topic, looked serious and I sensed that I was being mentioned in some context. Gabriel was there too, nodding solemnly. Perhaps William was simply recounting last night’s finale, which were details I had yet to tell the team.
“Hello,” I said, breaking into their conversation. “How is everyone tonight?”
“Olivia,” Gabriel said standing to take my hand in his for a moment. “William is telling us about Halbert’s threat against you. He tells us you handled them well, but I am still concerned. This Halbert, he is about to enter a lost place, we have an expression au diable vert, a place that is inadvisable.”
“It was his choice,” I said. “He chose the dark side. But I wonder what will happen if he loses the election. How will he and his entourage take the loss?”
“Indeed, that’s a good question,” Gabriel said, a glint in his eyes. “You have come through all of this a changed woman, Olivia. You seem more…composed.”
“My newfound responsibilities are growing on me,” I said earnestly. “Thanks to Elsa and the rest of my training, I don’t feel as vulnerable. I feel more in control of my destiny.”
“From what I have been told, you’re more than comfortable, Olivia,” Aidan said, joining the conversation. “You’re becoming a leader.”
I blushed, feeling suddenly shy at the compliment. I looked over at Elsa to see if she was happy,