I was on alert now. “Vraiment? I hope you didn’t promise anything on my behalf, Gabriel,” I said in hushed tones. “I must be free to make my own decisions.”
“I only promised that the Council would not let you do anything alone,” Gabriel said, sounding a tad defensive. “And we won’t. The robbery is a matter of concern for the organization. There is no need for you to investigate this by yourself, or take any unnecessary risks.”
I looked at Gabriel and then at William, who had been standing silently during this exchange. My focus had been about managing my emotions, so much so that I had failed to read his. He was quite angry. Apparently, looking on silently while I restated my position was not what he had in mind.
“Gabriel,” William said crisply. “Olivia is leaving with me. Can you please make her excuses?”
Kidnapping may not have been what Gabriel expected as the outcome of the evening, but the French are never vexed for long.
“I suppose that will be OK. The event is almost over, and has been a tremendous success. I will tell Levi that you caught a ride with a friend.”
I let the two men enjoy plotting my exit for a moment, before I made it clear I would not be cutting out early unless it was on my own terms.
“If you fellows don’t mind, I will make my own exit from the party.” I glanced at my watch. It was 7:30. The event was set to end in a half hour. I didn’t think it would harm things too much if I left in the next ten minutes. But first I had to think of how I was going to break my dinner date with JP.
“William,” I said, a terse smile on my face. “I am going to make another pass through the room and check in with Levi, then I will be ready to leave. I will meet you at the front door in ten minutes.”
He nodded, fixing me with a stare that was unfamiliar. His eyes revealed a look of profound exasperation. Clearly, I had pushed my luck by avoiding him for so long.
I came up behind Levi, his long-ago requested drink in my hand.
“I am going to leave in the next ten minutes,” I whispered into his ear. “A mutual friend of Gabriel’s has offered to give me a lift back to San Francisco.”
“Tonight has been fantastic,” Levi said, beaming. “This thing is in the bag.”
His remark spooked me. Even without the supernatural connection, campaign consultants are a superstitious lot. We don’t believe in tempting the gods by calling a race too soon.
“Shhh,” I said. “You’ll jinx us. You have to knock on wood and hope for the best.”
Levi laughed. “Next thing I know, you’ll be reading my horoscope. Now go on, I’ll touch base with you tomorrow.”
I smiled and walked away, tapping a wooden chair as I passed, hoping the gods would accept the gesture. Moments later JP caught my eye and walked over. I was working furiously to maintain a neutral expression as I tried to concoct a story that would sound even vaguely convincing.
“Listen,” I said, trying to sound serious, but not too grave. “I hate to do this, but it turns out I need to return to San Francisco to deal with a few things this evening. I’m really sorry. Can I take a rain check?”
JP didn’t believe a word I was saying. I could feel his skepticism as he gripped his reporter’s notepad.
“What could be so pressing that he would ask his campaign manager to leave a fundraiser early?”
Ouch, it looked like we might not be able to be friends after all. Again, I strived to keep my face relaxed. I managed to laugh and placed my hand on his arm. “He didn’t ask me to leave,” I said. “I remembered something I need to work on before tomorrow. That’s the nature of campaigns, I’m afraid. Things like this happen. But I don’t have to tell you that, right?”
JP was debating. He was scanning the room for William. William, meanwhile, was waiting in the corner, his eyes locked onto me. My excuse seemed thinner in the harsh light of the living room, and for a moment I thought JP was going to take another pass at breaking me down, but he didn’t.