“Quiet!” Lincoln roared, shutting down the exclamations and questions.
“It appears to have been an assassination attempt at today’s brunch where Royce Macleod was attending a fundraiser for his race to be governor,” the television reporter said, talking over footage as it looped back around to show Macleod getting up from a long table set in what looked like a large garden and starting toward a microphone in the center of it. The sound had been muted, but the reactions over the rest of the table when the shots were fired made it clear when it happened. The bodyguards—including Devlin—all jumped forward to cover the target.
But Macleod didn’t duck like everyone else. He turned outward, as though he was facing the bullets, throwing his arms out and flinging back his head. Thrusting his chest out like he was daring the universe to try to take him out.
“Mr. Macleod took in an unprecedented amount of donations today, after the drama?—”
Whatever else the reporter said was cut off as the room exploded in noise again, Lincoln’s order notwithstanding.
“Fucker!”
“What are the odds of two assassination attempts in one week?”
“Is anyone else even running? Why would someone try to take out both candidates?”
“Quiet!” This time, Lincoln and Harris spoke in unison, quelling both teams. They’d also muted the television, which was now showing footage of a possible suspect, according to the banner across the bottom of the screen, disappearing from the premises and fleeing down the street. They were completely covered in a grey hoodie and black sweats, with a black duffel bag over their shoulder, looking like any one of the hundreds of people who were headed home from the gym.
“This just happened this morning,” Harris said, his eyes blazing. “This is what we’re on right now. Getting all the information we can about this morning’s attempt and comparing it to what we have on the shooting at the women’s shelter. Got it?”
“Got it.”
Through the crowd, Lincoln caught Zeus’ eye and tilted his head toward the hallway. Nodding, Zeus made his way through everyone to the door, where Lincoln was already waiting for him. Several other members of the teams had peeled off, heading back to their offices, probably to get started. Zeus had a feeling it was going to be a long day of watching the same clips over and over for quite a few team members.
It was probably what he should be doing.
Lincoln pushed the door open and waved his hand for Zeus to precede him into the hallway.
“You’re picking up Yasmine?”
“Yes. Well, as soon as she’s released, which should be sometime this afternoon.” Zeus tensed. He really didn’t want to have to choose between what Lincoln wanted and getting Yasmine.
“You can get started tomorrow, then. Get her settled in tonight.”
Zeus blinked in surprise, feeling his tension recede.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. Our people come first. The rest of the team will be focused on this; you won’t be far behind.” Lincoln shook his head. “If you can do a deep dive into Devlin’s team—I didn’t recognize several of the men in that clip—I want that as soon as you can get it to me, and by that I mean as soon as you can after taking care of Yasmine.”
Fuck. Zeus felt his throat getting clogged, and his eyes suddenly felt a little stingy.
“Thanks, boss.”
“Tell her we’re all sending her the best. I’m sure she’ll have plenty of visitors over the next few days.” Lincoln put his hand on Zeus’ shoulder. “Including Ashley and me.”
“Looking forward to it,” he said as Lincoln gave him another pat on the shoulder before walking back into the office. The lobby was already half cleared out. Surprisingly, Zeus really was looking forward to it. The thought of so many people invading his house, his space, didn’t seem so bad now. He wouldn’t even care if Mason showed up.
The other man had mostly been avoiding talking to Zeus over the past few days, which was fine with Zeus. But he wouldn’t care if Mason and Audrey came to visit, and he was fairly certain they would. Despite the circumstances, Audrey and Yasmine appeared to have become good friends, and there were no hard feelings between Yasmine and Mason.
And if Mason had issues with Zeus, that was his own damn problem to figure out.
“Zeus.”
Shit. He’d thought Mason’s name too hard and accidentally summoned him.
Dropping his hand away from where he’d been about to hit the button for the elevator, he turned to face Yas’ ex-fiancé. As usual, Mason was dressed for the office, with his glasses perched on his nose, making him look even more professional and serious. A sharp contrast to Zeus’ jeans and tank top. But no one cared what the tech guy looked like, and he never had to meet with anyone.
“Mason.” He raised his eyebrows. “I’m on my way out.”
