it really matter if she tracked down this S.A.F.E. organization-if it even existed at all? Was she Don Quixote, tilting at windmills in her own elusive chase after glory?
Maybe she should just give it up. Stop pretending she was capable of saving Gabe single-handedly. That’s what the entire Secret Service was for. They could handle the job.
Her phone rang, startling her out of her funk. She picked it up. “Hello?”
“Hey. It’s me.”
Gabe. What in the world was he doing calling her now? “Are you all right?” she asked in quick concern.
“I’m fine. I was worried about you. You seemed pretty upset after Owen raked you over the coals. I’m sorry about that.”
“He was just doing his job. I can’t blame the guy.”
“Still, he was pretty rough on you. You put your neck on the line for me today and I really appreciate it.”
Was that all he felt for her? Gratitude for her work? Had she blown it with him, too, and somehow shut him out as she did everyone else? Soberly she replied, “I was just doing my job. No different than Owen.”
Gabe chuckled. “I don’t know about that. I’d say you’re quite a bit different than Owen.”
His remark startled her into a laugh. She retorted, “Well, I should hope so.”
Gabe replied quietly, “That’s much better. I needed to hear you laugh.”
He’d needed it? Needed something from her? Aloud she said, “Well, then, did you hear the one about the boy who got the bicycle after he had sex for the first time?”
Gabe laughed again. “I don’t need a laugh that bad.”
They lapsed into silence for a moment.
She said hesitantly, “Thanks for believing in me today. Not many people would have. They’d have figured I was some sort of nutcase.”
“I suppose you are a nutcase.”
“What?” she blurted out.
“You like me, don’t you? I figure you have to be a little bit crazy to do that.”
“Gabe Monihan, you’re one of the most eligible bachelors in the entire world. Women are swooning over you by the thousands in case you hadn’t noticed.”
He snorted. “They’re swooning over my job description. You’re the first woman I’ve met since I ran for President who looked at me and really saw me.”
She stammered, flustered at the compliment.
He said earnestly, “Just promise me you won’t change after I become President.”
“You’re not sworn in, yet?” she exclaimed.
“Nope. Owen’s really wired tight. He’s worried that someone way up in the government may be a crazy bent on taking me out. He’s got me locked down. Again.”
She said seriously, “I have to agree with Owen on this one.”
Gabe absorbed that in silence. Did he think she was crazy after all? She took a deep breath. She had to stop looking for reasons to push people away. She’d be engaging in long bouts of silence, too, if someone told her a close associate of hers was out to kill her.
She said lightly, “Well, look at it this way. A day’s delay in taking office will make for an interesting footnote in the history books about you.”
“Gee, thanks,” he said dryly. “There’s nothing like being reminded that my every word and move for the next four years is going to be recorded and commented on for generations to come.”
She couldn’t help but chuckle. “Hey, you’re the numbskull who volunteered for the job.” Lest he take offense she added quickly, “You’re going to be a great president.”
“Why’s that?”
She answered sincerely, “Because you care. Because you want to make the world a better place. Because you’re decent and honorable and will do the right thing.”
A long pause. Then he said quietly, “I think that’s about the nicest thing anyone’s ever said about me.”
“So, are we taking turns embarrassing each other tonight, or what?” She laughed softly. “I think it’s your turn, now.”
“Tell you what. I’ll take a rain check on that. I have confidence that in the next few months, I’ll have ample opportunities to embarrass you.”
Months? As in he wanted to see her again? For months? Whoa. “Okay,” she managed to choke out.
“So what are you up to right now?” he asked her.
“Well, I thought I’d try to track down some of those high-ranking crazies who might be out to kill you. I’m on my way to see my grandfather.”
“Joseph Lockworth, right?”
“How did you know he’s my grandfather?”
“Owen ran a background check on you after breakfast this morning. He mentioned it to me.”
“Oh.” She cringed. He’d heard all the gory details of her checkered past, eh? So much for him ever respecting her.
Gabe added, “I didn’t ask to hear the details. I’d rather learn about you myself. From you directly.”
If only she were half that noble. She cleared her throat. “In the interest of being honest, I should tell you that I’ve done quite a bit of research into your life over the course of trying to figure out why the Q-group was so determined to kill you.”
“Did you find anything in my past that bothers you?” he asked cautiously.
“Well,” she drawled, “there was that whole French 101 debacle in college. You really are hopeless at foreign languages.”
He laughed. “I plead guilty as charged.”
“In the interest of honesty, I should also tell you that my past won’t stand up to scrutiny nearly as well as yours does. I was…a bit of a rebel in my youth.”
“Well, whatever went into making you the person you are today is fine with me.”
“Okay. You’ve embarrassed me, now. I guess that makes it my turn again.”
He laughed. “I can’t wait. Unfortunately, I’ve got to go now. We’re going to have yet another planning meeting to set up an inauguration for me. I think we’re going to bag trying to do it publicly and just do it at the White House. One of the official photographers can film it and then we’ll release the film to the public tomorrow.
“Sounds like a plan,” she replied earnestly. “At this point, I don’t think the nation cares about a fancy ceremony. They just want to get you safely installed in office.”
“Agreed. My cabinet and a few key advisors are going to assemble in a couple of hours to witness the oath.”
A chill of foreboding trickled down her spine. Why was she still so bloody sure that he was in mortal danger? It was a certainty lodged deep down in her gut, and no matter what she did, she couldn’t shake it. “Well, I’d better let you go to your meeting. I wouldn’t want to keep the nation waiting.”
“Take care, Diana.”
“You, too, Gabe. Be careful.”
She set down the phone gently. She had no choice. She had to see this thing through. For him. And for herself if she was ever going to have a chance at love. She had to push through the fear, the vulnerability he provoked in her. Resolutely, she picked up her phone and asked a mobile operator to connect her to the Shoreham.
“Joseph Lockworth’s room, please,” she told the hotel operator.
“One moment please.”
The phone rang a couple times, and then her grandfather’s deep voice answered. “Lockworth, here.”
He answered that as if he expected this to be a work call. But he was retired. Of course, if he was involved with S.A.F.E. he might answer that way if he expected the call to be one of his partners in crime.
“Grandfather. It’s Diana. We need to talk. Now.”
“Do we, indeed?” he answered. “About what?”
Gramps was definitely in full CIA Director mode. She answered coolly, “About a man named Richard Dunst. He used to work for you. And about the Q-group. Do they work for you, too? For S.A.F.E?”
“Well, now. We do need to talk, don’t we? I’m a little tied up at the moment. I’ll call you in a few minutes and we’ll meet. We have a lot to talk over.”
