Blood Noir - Laurell K. Hamilton [27]
“Will you change hotels then?” Chuck asked.
“No,” Jason said, “I’ve earned the right to be here. Not because my daddy paid for it, but because I earned it. I’m not going to slink away because Keith Summerland is a dick. Talk to your publicist, try to figure out a way to do damage control that doesn’t include me being hidden away at some cheap motel.”
“You could stay with your family,” Chuck said.
“No,” Jason said, “I couldn’t.”
Chuck’s eyes hardened. Just a flash of a look, but it was one I’d seen before. He had just put Jason in the problem box. A box that men like Chuck usually took care of in unpleasant ways. Maybe I was overreacting, but he just made my bad-guy radar go off too loud to ignore.
I had to repeat Chuck’s name twice to get him to look at me. Even then it was a dismissive look. He, like most of the guys in college, was looking at the physical package and making assumptions.
“Chuck, let’s be very clear with each other. We will do our best to stay out of your hair, and the wedding, but Jason needs to see his dad. It’s bad timing that it happened on the same week as this wedding, but that is not our bad.”
“You are going to give them fodder to trash Governor Summerland’s family in the media.”
“We’ll do our best not to, but if it happens, then Summerland is paying people to do damage control. Let them do their jobs.”
“She always this pushy?” Chuck asked.
I hated it when men did that. Asked the men I was with why I was such a pushy broad.
Jason laughed. “If you think this is pushy, Chuck, you have been hanging around with some weak-ass women.”
The driver asked, “Do I drop them off in front of the inn or in the parking garage?”
“You won’t change hotels?” Chuck asked.
“No,” Jason said, “we won’t.” He sounded so serious, so unlike himself, that I touched his shoulder. Almost as if I was reassuring myself it was still him. He could be firm, and strong, but he usually chose not to be. I’d always known that it was a choice on Jason’s part, but for the first time I was seeing just how much strength of will he hid behind that charming smile.
“Drop them off in the parking garage; it’ll slow down the feeding frenzy.”
The limo passed the front entrance and glided into the dimness of the parking garage. There were armed security guards making sure that no one got back there who wasn’t supposed to be there. I’d never seen uniformed security at a hotel before. I wondered who was paying for it.
The driver got my door, and Chuck got Jason’s side. I ignored the driver and slid out with Jason. A show of solidarity, yeah, but also that creepy feeling I had. I’d have flashed my badge at Chuck if I’d been certain seeing a federal marshal would have spooked him more. Some professional bad guys react really badly to badges of any kind.
I’d hold the whole badge thing in reserve. This was Jason’s gig, not mine. My flashing my badge when I didn’t need to might undermine his…whatever the hell he was doing.
The driver got the bags out of the trunk. Chuck said, “Can you at least not be too intimate in public so they don’t get pictures of you doing the brunette?”
“She has a name,” Jason said.
“I’m sorry; can you please not be up close and personal with Ms. Blake in public while you’re in town?”
One of the uniformed security came close and whispered something to Chuck. “Shit,” he said.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“They’ve spotted a photographer hiding among the cars. I thought we were paying you guys to make sure this didn’t happen.”
Jason looked around, and I followed his gaze. There was a figure crouched between two midsized cars. He had a camera with a huge lens on it.
Chuck grabbed a suitcase and tried to get us moving. I was willing, but Jason took my hand. He drew me in against him. I knew what he was going to do before