by R. J. Blain
The last thing I wanted or needed was extra attention, especially when I worked alone. I could only hope everyone came to accept that the murders of the bill’s supporters wouldn’t necessarily stop the bill. Until we discovered the true motive of the assassins, we played a losing game.
“I was not aware you played political games.”
“No, I just don’t like you, I think you’re rude, and I have no interest in making your life easier. You have no interest in making my life easier, so I think we’re even on that score. Were you really expecting me to pander to you, Representative Kennedys?”
The man scowled.
“You reap what you sow,” I reminded him, and I pointed at my foot. “This hurts like hell, and all you’re doing is making my day worse. Why would I care about your comfort and making things easier for you? I can promise if I were in your voting district, I would vote for your opponent—any opponent—because you taught me you’re not the kind of person I would want representing me. And I see no reason to be shy about sharing my general belief about your person at this point in time.”
That got his attention, and he frowned. “You are not what I was expecting.”
“Well, I’m sure you were expecting me to be a murderous asshole, but that’s nothing new. That’s the mentality of those who fear what they don’t understand, and you don’t understand a lot about exsanguinators. Do you know what I wanted to be when I was growing up?”
“No. What did you want to be?”
“A nurse, but politicians like you barred me from it, because you fear what you don’t understand. You, and men just like you, stole my dream from me. Perhaps you should learn from your mistakes and petty prejudices. How many lives have your prejudices cost, I wonder?”
A woman behind me chuckled. “I told you once, and I’ll tell you again, Representative Kennedys. You always pick the wrong fight.”
“Senator Hanson,” the man replied, his expression souring. “I’m surprised you even attended.”
“Why wouldn’t I pay my respects to Samantha? Just because I feel your legislation is poorly timed, poorly written, and a violation of human rights doesn’t mean I won’t do the right thing. Ma’am, don’t you pay no heed to this rattlesnake’s prattling. He doesn’t like anyone younger, smarter, or more talented than he is, and you’re all of the above.” Senator Hanson made a shooing motion at Representative Kennedys. “Move along, move along. You had your chance to be a jackass already today. All you’d do is bury yourself at the rate you’re going, and if Miss Asurella did decide to speak out about your behavior today, people would listen because she’s a hero and you are not.”
Representative Kennedys spluttered, and his face turned red. Senator Hanson smiled, and she reminded me of a shark a few moments from partaking of a rather large meal. The man turned tail and ran, and I added Senator Hanson to my list of people to keep a close eye on.
Until we found the truth, anyone could be a suspect. Daily, I wondered if someone had martyred Senator Maybelle and the other victims or if someone from the opposition had wanted to eliminate the backers of a bill destined to eradicate so many lives.
“Thank you,” I told the woman.
Senator Hanson smiled at me. She still reminded me of a shark, although she’d reined in some of her general aggression. “I’m sorry he bothered you. On behalf of several others who couldn’t be in attendance, thank you. I know it’s not much, but I was asked to give you a card from some of my fellow senators. What you did was very brave. You reminded a lot of people that there are still heroes in the world. There’s no doubt you put others over yourself that awful day.” Digging through her tote, the woman pulled out a rather large and thick card, which she handed to me. “Thank you.”
At a loss of what I was supposed to do, I took the card and put it in my bag. “You’re welcome. Thank you for the card. That’s very kind of you.”
“We have a bit of a reputation, so hopefully this helps to make up for Kennedys and his general lack of compassion and integrity.”
“I appreciate that you drove him off, that’s for certain.” I wrinkled my nose. “I’m used to dealing with people like him, although it gets to be tiresome.”
“I bet. Is there someone coming to pick you up?”
“I have to call someone after I get to the street,” I replied.
“I’m in an SUV today, so if your wheelchair folds, I’d be happy to give you a ride to wherever you’re headed. It might even be able to fit the chair without folding. My sister uses a wheelchair, and I drive her around sometimes. Hers folds, though.”
Interesting. It’d only take a few weeks in a wheelchair to understand many people shied away from what they didn’t understand, and for some reason I couldn’t fathom, often believed handicaps were contagious. “Mine folds.”
“I’d be more than happy to drive you around if you’d like, although we’ll have to wait until this crowd clears out. I bet that’s what you were doing before Kennedys came and made a mess of your afternoon.”
That was one way to put it. “It was. I really appreciate the ride.”
“And I really appreciate what you did. Samantha was a lot of things, but she would have been happy to know she gave life to someone else when there was no hope for her salvation.”
I disagreed, although I refused to speak ill of the dead. Maybe Senator Maybelle would have felt that way, but the legal battle involving her family told a different story. “There was no hope,” I confirmed, the only safe response I could think of, all things considered. “She didn’t suffer.”
“I’m glad for that. I truly am. I hope you won’t think too poorly of Representative Kennedys. He’s fairly set in his ways, and he doesn’t handle being caught by surprise all that well. I can say this much, you are not what he expected. You’re not what I expected, either, but unlike him, when a storm cloud shows its silver lining, I’m grateful. Still, I don’t know what Kennedys was thinking even approaching you. He has a reputation for disliking exsanguinators.”
I shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not going to. But if anyone does ask me what I think about him, I know how I’m going to reply.”
“I hope that keeps him up at night,” Senator Hanson admitted. “May I ask a personal question?”
“Sure.”
“Why did you choose to become a librarian?”
“I like helping people, and as I told Representative Kennedys, people like him prevented people like me from becoming nurses. It’s the closest I can get.” I’d keep the recommendation I go to medical school close to my chest, as the last thing I needed was a bunch of politicians gossiping about my future career options.
“I’ll see what I can do about that,” the woman promised. “And in the future, I hope one day, I can say it’s all because of you we turned exsanguinators into a blessing to society rather than an enemy.”
One could only hope.
TWO
Somehow, you’ve become even more stubborn.
Bradley Hampton, my ex-boss who’d somehow wormed his way into becoming my fiancé, leaned against my apartment building and observed the battle between a senator, her SUV, and my wheelchair with a raised brow. As I hadn’t brought a cane or crutches, I hopped around on one foot, strategizing how to get up the steps without having to ask for help.
I recognized I took the stubborn pride thing too far, but I lacked anything else to do. I refused to apologize for attending the memorial service. I also refused to apologize for wanting to find justice for the fallen, even when the victims planned to enslave a frighteningly large portion of Americans, myself included.
Senator Hanson departed after a few pleasantries and my insistence I could handle everything without additional help. Managing my wheelchair while hopping around on one foot would challenge me, but I’d overcome the challenge numerous times before. The steps up to my apartment wouldn’t defeat me.
“Somehow, you’ve become even more stubborn. I thought you’d been pretty damned stubborn bef
ore, but now? Now you’re a wonder to behold,” Bradley stated, and he pushed off from the building, stole my wheelchair, and hauled it towards the steps leading up to my apartment. “I figured you’d do this, but I thought everyone else needed a chance to see you in your full glory.”
“Glory?”
“Glory sounded better than stupidity,” he admitted. “And having an afternoon with a bunch of blood-thirsty sharks when you can’t be armed is the height of general stupidity.”
I considered his words, and I nodded, as when framed that way, attending the memorial solo counted as an act of general stupidity. “You could have gone with me.”
Bradley stopped and turned to face me. “That was ruthless even for you.”
“They’re just some politicians. At events like that, they’re all bark with no bite.” They’d done a lot of barking, but I’d survived unscathed and with minimal damage to my sanity.
He narrowed his eyes. “I should verify you weren’t bitten by any politicians.”
While I lacked any relevant experience with having a boyfriend or a fiancé, even I could recognize when someone flirted with me. Or wanted to get me out of my clothes. Did wanting to get me out of my clothes count as flirtation?
I needed more time than I had to think about it.
“I wasn’t bitten by any politicians, but I got to talk with President Castillo.”
Bradley’s eyes widened. “President Castillo was in attendance?”
“He sure was. Guess who I also got to talk with?”
“I’m afraid to ask now, Janette. I hadn’t read anything about President Castillo being in attendance.”
“Honestly, when I stopped to think about it, it would be stranger if he hadn’t gone to the memorial. What astonishes me is that I wasn’t given more scrutiny. Security was a breeze. Then again, they know I’m an exsanguinator, so what’s the point of trying to stop me from bringing in a gun? To them, I’m the weapon, so they must have figured I was a safe enough risk to have around.” As I’d been too stupid to bring my cane, I hopped in the general direction of the steps.
“Let me get this up to your apartment, and then I’ll come fetch you. I’m debating if I’m tossing you over my shoulder or treating you more like a princess today. Before you arrived, I thought about dragging you up the steps by your hair, but I worried I might hurt your foot, so I was forced to reject that plan.”
I raised a brow at his commentary, which was more in line with his behavior before the disagreement over how to handle the investigations had broken out. To make it clear I could hop up the steps without help, a vast improvement to last week, I grabbed the rail and followed him.
“I see you have decided you are not a wilting lily and will go out of your way to vex and worry me.” Bradley heaved a sigh and lugged my wheelchair to the top, where he unfolded it and pointed at it, snapping his fingers until I hobbled to the damned thing and sat down. Unlike some of the other chairs I’d used, it fit through the doorway into my apartment. “The others are having a mass meltdown, and I left before I started banging heads together. Important lessons on your stubborn pride have been learned.”
“They should know this by now,” I grumbled.
My fluffy goddess bounded out of the bedroom, and without waiting for an invitation, Ajani jumped on my lap. I gave her three strokes down her back and waited to see what my cat wanted. She rubbed her head against me in a demand for her chin to be scratched, and I obeyed so I wouldn’t be mauled. “You brought Ajani?”
“She whines when you’re gone too long, so after I got annoyed, I headed to the house and retrieved her. After you left, I decided to use my brain for a change.”
As I’d informed him he could use some quiet time with his brain as an active part of his decision-making process, I stared at him, wondering what had happened to the Bradley from yesterday, who’d been adamant I shouldn’t attend the service. “I see you were listening to some of what I said.”
“However much I disagree, some of what you said was sensible, reasonable, and should have been considered with more care. For the record, my mother tore into us for being stubborn, and she reminded us your integrity is more valuable to you than many things, including your foot. You also have enough medical training you refuse to ignore anyone in need, even if you think they’re useless wastes of breath.” Bradley pointed at my couch. “Make yourself comfortable there, and I will take care of feeding us. As I still can’t cook to your mother’s standards, I’ll do this through the magic of delivery. I mean, I can’t cook to my standards, either, but I try. My last lesson, I managed to follow the directions on a box of fake cheese and noodles.”
“Did you punish yourself with lactose, Bradley?”
“Yep.”
I sighed at his idiocy. “Why did you do that?”
“I was feeling sorry for myself. By the time I realized I’d been a dick, I was already committed to my dickish ways.” To help make certain I made it to the couch, Bradley claimed Ajani, and he worked his wicked magic on my fluffy goddess’s chin so she wouldn’t maul him.
I got up and hopped the short distance from my wheelchair to the couch. On what planet did Bradley acknowledge he had been a dick? I eyed him with interest. “What brought on that change of heart?”
“My mother reminded us that the politicians are merely the symptom of a greater illness, and that the politicians aren’t working just for themselves. They work for their constituents. That means that even with the various bits of legislation that helps them cover their tracks, there are people who voted for them and support their efforts. The problem isn’t just with the politicians. And you’re right. Murder won’t stop these bills and might martyr them, heightening the chance those bills make it through the system. And we, on a whole, voted for it.”
“I don’t want to sleep in that bed,” I muttered.
“Neither do I.” Bradley waited until I made myself comfortable on my couch before coming to join me. “Are you going to make me suffer with Chinese today? I lost to milk once this week already, but I’m willing to sacrifice myself for the cause if truly necessary. Honestly, it might serve me right at this stage.”
“I’d say pizza or Mexican, but I’m not that cruel. Let’s get some barbecue. Try to avoid the things that will attempt to kill you.” I placed my purse on my lap and dug out the card Senator Hanson had given me. “I got waylaid by a senator who tangoed with Representative Kennedys. Apparently, there are politicians who have enough of a conscience to bother with cards. Also, my ethics and morality may need some work. I would be sorely tested if Representative Kennedys were shot in front of me and I had to save his ass. To say I dislike him is an understatement. However, watching Senator Hanson tear into him was interesting and rather satisfying.” After setting the thick envelope aside, I dug into my wallet and showed Bradley the business card. “The President of the United States visited me, and I was invited to teach the Secret Service about bodyguard stuff, including car accidents and subsequent trauma associated with such accidents. Apparently, he hasn’t lost a single agent during his entire presidency. I’m not even sure how that’s possible. But he was aware he hasn’t lost any agents, and he wanted to expand their education.”
“He has a strong offensive talent. He probably augments the Secret Service, and when the President of the United States can electrocute somebody at the snap of his fingers and pull other elementalist tricks, he’s quite capable of defending himself.” Bradley took the card and frowned at it. “He really gave you this?”
“He even wrote the contact numbers down. From memory.” I needed my contact list on my new phone to dial anyone, and it amazed me that President Castillo had such excellent recall, especially considering how difficult of a job he had. “He’s aware of our engagement.”
Bradley stilled, and for a long moment, he stared at the card. “That’s something for us to be worried about, and that’s intel we wouldn’t have gotten without you going to the service. Damn it.”
“Doe
s this mean I get to hear the most prized of words, Mr. Hampton?”
“Will it make you happy?”
I stole my cat back from Bradley and risked petting her, and as she refrained from shredding my flesh from my bones, I snagged the brush and went to work on her fur, earning her adoration. “It will make me happier for certain.”
“You were right, and I was wrong.”
“You weren’t completely wrong,” I conceded. “But I was definitely right about the opportunity. I now have access to the President of the United States, and he gave me orders to contact his security team.”
“Still, you were right. You going to the service was important. And even knowing that, I expect everyone will try to keep you safe, and that’s despite knowing there are some things only you can do. I’m in the club of those wanting to keep you safe. You’ve suffered enough.”
I regarded my infected foot with a scowl. “Give me ten minutes and a knife, Bradley. I’ll have that infection purged.”
“Your lungs still need to heal.”
“Gangrene sucks, and I don’t want it.”
Bradley frowned. “Do you have a sterile knife?”
“No, but I’m sure we could sterilize one given a pot of water and ten minutes. Even a needle will do the trick. I just have to pierce the skin enough to get to the infection so I can use a minor amount of my blood to purge it. Then we can dump on all those helpful chemicals good at killing infections. And when my doctor asks why I improved so much, we will look innocent and claim some miracle happened at the memorial service.” I heaved a sigh and resumed stroking Ajani with the brush. “It’s not like the ten minutes is going to make any difference for my lungs. I’ll just be pissy once I put the bracelet back on because breathing without the damned thing on is easier.”
“Where do you keep the needles or knives?”