Today's Reading
She rolled her eyes. Sometimes it purely sucked being a woman of a certain age. The worst part of getting older was that nobody took her seriously anymore. Most of the time it was the perfect cover. But now and then it was a huge pain in the butt.
"Do me a favor," she asked the guard. "Go out there and tell the press I'm not crazy."
"I've got to clear the room anyway," he said officiously. "We need to evacuate the theater."
"Maybe, instead of ushering my son out into the lobby where the shooter could be waiting to try again, you should keep him and everyone else inside the theater until you know the shooter has cleared out of the hotel?" she suggested gently.
The guy shot her an irritated look. Didn't like being told how to do his job, did he? Tough. She'd forgotten more about how assassins operated than he would ever dream of knowing.
The guard stepped forward to the podium and said into the microphone, "We've had a security incident and need all of you to stay here until we clear the hotel."
Skirting the back of the stage as far from the spotlights as she could go, she made her way across the stage to the other side where Mitch and Nancy were embracing tightly.
"Are you two okay?" Helen asked them. "I'm sorry I had to knock you down."
"Why?" Nancy demanded in a rare outburst of anger. "Why do you always ruin everything?"
Helen sighed. "I saw a laser gun sight trained on Mitch. I thought it might be a good idea to get between him and the shooter."
Mitch stared at her over his wife's head. "You were trying to jump in front of me?" he asked blankly. "Take a bullet for me?"
"Yes, dear. It's what mothers do."
"Not regular mothers," he snapped.
"Well, this one protects her children with her life," she snapped back. "And it might be nice if my children showed a little gratitude from time to time. I know I was a terrible mother when you kids were little, but I'm doing my best to make up for all the times I wasn't there for you."
"You didn't have to jump in front of me," he said more mildly.
"Yes, Mitchell, I did. You'll always be my baby boy. No one was shooting you on my watch."
"We don't even know there was a laser. Or a gun," Nancy said peevishly.
"Actually, the security guard and I found a bullet hole in the back of the stage just now. The wood around the edge of the hole was still warm. Someone did, indeed, take a shot at Mitch."
"Ohmigod!" Nancy gasped. But even in her distress, the girl kept her voice down and didn't draw attention or cause a scene. Helen didn't know who had trained her to be a political wife, but whoever had done it had been darned good at it.
Mitch blurted, "We need to get out of here—"
Helen cut him off. "We need to stay put. The shooter has undoubtedly fled by now. This is the one place he or she won't be. After the hotel is cleared, we'll have the security guards, and the police, who I expect are en route to the hotel, move you out to a car and get you home."
"At least it'll ensure that my announcement makes the evening news," Mitch said pragmatically.
"Really? Someone tries to kill you and all you're thinking about is the publicity it'll get you?" Helen demanded.
Mitch shrugged.
Politicians. They were all the same. Annoyed, she asked, "Who wants to kill you? Have you received any threats recently?"
"You do know what my job is, don't you?" he replied dryly. "I get threats every day, and I put criminals in jail all the time. The list of my enemies would fill a phone book."
She sighed. He was not wrong. "I'll speak with the police. Arrange full-time protection for you. And I know a few guys who've gone into private security. I'll give you the names of the very best—"
"I can take care of it, Mom. Don't you worry about it."
Lord, she hated that placating tone he took with her.
"I can help, Mitch—"
"I'll let you know when I need help." His voice was firm.
"Fine," she added, grumbling under her breath, "but if you die, it's on your head."
Even as she turned away in disgust, though, she knew that wasn't true. No way could she sit by and do nothing if someone was out to kill her child.
...
