playing stylist as we try to even out the
peacock blue highlights she attempted to put in. It's a mess!"
"You girls are
nuts," I laughed as I imagined Alex trying to apply highlights to her
friend's head.
"Indeed we are,"
she laughed with me. "Look, can I call you back? We're at a crucial point
and -- Liz sit down and wait! God, she's my best friend but she's a major pain
in the ass!"
"No problem, call me
back if you have time," I said as Tesla wandered around holding the ball
in her mouth, a sign that she'd had enough catch for one night. "And be
careful!"
"I'm trying! Talk to you
later!" Alex laughed before the line went dead.
I put the phone back in my
pocket and wished I could be there to witness the chaos. I just wanted to be
near Alex again. I shook my head and looked down at Tesla.
"I'm nuts, girl," I
sighed. "Just flat out nuts. And I'm not sure what I'm going to do about
that, so if you've got any ideas, throw them my way, would you?"
Tesla dropped the ball and
barked once as she headed for the station door. I sighed as I picked up the
ball and tossed it in the toy basket before heading inside.
"You okay?" Newsome
asked quietly.
"Yeah, fine," I
nodded as I grabbed a soda and sat down to watch television with the guys. My
mind was a million miles away as I stared at the screen and thought about the
past, present and future.
#
The next
morning, after I got off shift, I drove home and dropped Tesla off before I
headed to the CSC offices to find Leo. It had been an uneventful night at the
station, which had left my mind to wander. I wanted to know what information
Victor could possibly have and then I wanted to find a way to shut it down.
"Morning, Becky," I
said as I entered the office. "Leo in yet?"
"He is, indeed,"
she said. "Not a good morning, though."
"Why? What's up?" I
asked stopping at the desk.
"It seems Mr. Marini got
some bad news this morning and he had a bit of a meltdown," she sighed.
"I hate mornings like this."
"I'll see if I can't go
turn it around," I said. "Keep your chin up, Becky. It's bound to get
better."
"One can only hope,
sir," she sighed as she turned back to the ringing phone.
I walked down the hall to
Leo's office and noticed that several of the pictures that had been hanging on
the walls were now on the floor. One frame's glass was cracked, and I frowned
when I saw it was the shot of the state capitol.
"Leo, what the hell is
going on here?" I said as I walked into his office and found him leaning
against the floor to ceiling window with both palms pressed to the glass as if
he were single-handedly holding up the wall.
"Don't start with me,
Cam," he said in a voice that sounded more weary than angry.
"I'm not going to, I
just want to know what's going on," I said calmly. "C'mon, tell me
what happened and why you're so damn angry."
"The son of a
bitch..." he began as he dropped his hands and turned around to look at
me. His mouth twisted into an ugly grin.
"Leo, just tell me
what's going on and we'll work it out," I said.
"Richard Metzler wants
to sign a contract with us for security coverage during the election
campaign," Leo said.
"Okay, so what?" I
replied as I watched him start to pace in front of the window.
"He's demanding that we
limit our work to his campaign alone," Leo said running his hand through
his already messy hair.
"I still don't get what
the problem is," I said. "So, we only work for one candidate. What's
the big deal?"
"The big deal is that
Metzler isn't really giving us an option, Cam," Leo said. "He's
gotten a hold of our financials and he knows all about you."
"How the hell did he get
that information, Leo?" I asked as I felt the anger rising. "This was
the one reason why I had not wanted to move forward with this idea and now
you're telling me that it's turned out exactly the way I'd feared it
would?"
"I don't know how he got
it, Cam," Leo said as he moved away from the window and walked to his
desk. "I had the lawyers bury it so deep that