Free Hear Me When the Sun Goes Down by Lisa Olsen Page B

Order it was likely to get worse too.  “Hey, have you heard from Jenessa lately?  Maybe you’d better get word to her about skipping town.  She’d be a more likely target than Maggie, I think.”  The rest of them knew how to take care of themselves, but the pretty doctor didn’t have those survival skills. 
    “That’s a good idea, I’ll call her next, but Maggie is my first priority, she’s the most fragile.”
    Interesting.  When had he gotten so close to Maggie?  “Do what you think is best, but I honestly think she’ll be safe as long as she stays in the house.  Maybe you should move in there too, at least until I get back home.”
    “And when will that be?”
    “I’m starting to think sooner than later.  The Gathering is still going and Felix has meetings lined up for me, but it won’t do me any good to set any accords if everything goes all Mad Max , will it?”
    “You’re the boss.”  There was a note to his voice – he almost sounded as if he was gloating over something.
    “You have something to add to that?”
    “Not really.  Just , I’m starting to believe being the Elder isn’t quite the bed of roses I thought it would be.  If I’d known I was going to inherit this kind of disorder my first year out, I never would’ve run for office.  Better you than me, boss.”
    “Hey, if it was easy everybody would be doing it.  You’re still on my team though, right?  Or have you reconsidered the position?  I’m betting your corporate duties back in L.A. are looking pretty good right about now, aren’t they?”  I could understand if he wanted to head for the hills, but I hoped like heck he’d stick around.  I needed him.
    “No, I made a commitment to you, I’ll see it through.”
    “Thank you for that, I appreciate it.”
    “So will you be coming home then?”
    That was the question of the hour.  “I’ll have to get back to you when I know for sure.  Thanks for keeping me in the loop and thanks for thinking of Maggie.”  That was one less thing for me to worry about.  From the sound of it, Marcus would do his best to keep her safe.  The rest of the territory was my job.
    It didn’t take long to get Felix and Bridget up there for a pow-wow, only he didn’t seem all that surprised to hear about the situation.
    “You knew about all of this, didn’t you?” I demanded, more irked that he hadn’t bothered to tell me about any of it.
    “Yeah, I get reports in from all the magistrates on a regular basis.  It’s not as bad as it sounds.  San Francisco is pretty much the only hotbed of activity right now, the rest of the land is running smooth as silk,” he replied easily.
    “What the hell, Felix?  How could you not share this with me?”  What else was he keeping from me?   
    “I didn’t want to bother you with it while you’re busy with Gathering stuff.”
    “ In the future, will you please share any news that starts with cars exploding on my home turf?  That’s the sort of thing I need to hear about.”
    “Sorry, boss, it won’t happen again.”  He looked suitably contrite, and I tried to remember he was used to handling these things on his own under Tommy’s reign, but it still bothered me more than I liked. 
    Taking a deep breath, I moved on.  “The bigger issue here is, how bad is this?  It doesn’t seem like it’s going to blow over anytime soon.  If anything, it seems to be spiraling out of control.  It’s only a matter of time before someone gets hurt bad enough to attract the attention of Rome, and trust me, we don’t want to do that.”
    Felix gave a careless shrug.  “Rome’s not really a threat right now, they’re too busy with their thumbs up their asses after what you did to Volkov,” he sniggered.
    “You don’t think they’re going to replace Volkov?” Rob snapped.  “I can guarantee there’s someone ready to step in and fill that vacuum of power.” 
    “Come on, boss, it’s not that serious.  Anyone taking