AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He glanced at her. Looked at the space between them. “I don’t bite,” he said. “Move closer so you can look at these documents, too.”
She slid over a few inches, then stopped. He gave her a side eye but didn’t say anything.
Clearing his throat, he said, “Before we talk about plans, I need to know what you’ll be doing during this conference. Lay it out for me, step by step.”
She nodded, studying her hands pressed together between her thighs. “Friday night is the reception for the… for the VIPs, for lack of a better word. All the presenters, which is no more than fifty people. Then there’s the group that organized the conference and the board of directors of the association that sponsors it. Maybe another twenty to thirty people.”
“Okay. You need a ticket to get into that reception, right?” Spence asked.
“Yeah. They were mailed out a few weeks ago, so everyone will have theirs. It’s a meet and greet, basically. Just about all the presenters know each other, so it’s a social gathering. Catching up, like you’d do at any industry conference.”
“And you know all the people who’ll be there?”
“Mostly. There may be one or two I haven’t met, but I know most of them.”
“There’ll be someone outside the door, keeping everyone else out?”
“Yes.” She shrugged. “There are always a few people who try to crash the reception. People who want to meet someone specific and figure that’s their best chance. People who think it’s open to anyone attending the conference.”
“You think Davies will try to get into that reception?” he asked.
She nodded slowly. “I do. It would be a chance to get to me with a relatively small number of people around.”
“I hope he does,” Spence said. “Perfect chance to take him down before the conference begins and eliminate the threat.”
She swallowed. “Can you do that discreetly? So you’re not wrestling him to the ground in front of fifty people?”
“Sure, if he cooperates. From what I know of Davies so far? He won’t cooperate. So are you okay with making a scene?”
She stared down at her plate. Curled her fingers into her palms. “Do I have a choice?”
“No. You don’t.”
“Then a scene it is.” But her stomach churned at the thought. She didn’t want to be the woman who needed to be protected. Rescued. She’d spent too much time and effort trying to carve out a niche in this male-dominated business.
“It probably won’t come to that,” he said. “Nico will be outside the door, and I’ll be in the room with you. He won’t get past Nico. But you can’t plan for everything.”
“That should work,” Zoe said, exhaling and forcing her shoulders to relax. Spence sounded so confident. So sure that the reception wouldn’t be a problem. Was he telling her the truth? Or was he sugar-coating for her?
“Are you telling me the truth, Spence? Or are you telling me what you want me to hear?”
He froze for a moment, then turned to look at her. “We’re talking about possibilities, Zoe. What might happen. Not what’s going to happen.”
She held his gaze. “I trust you to tell me the truth, Spence, instead of patronizing me.” She leaned closer, staring at him. “I’m a data person. That’s how I operate. So don’t pat me on the head and tell me it’ll be fine. Give me facts. Data. Probabilities.”
“I thought that was what I was doing,” he said, his voice sharp. “I have no idea what Davies will do. I’m telling you what he might do. How I would respond. But it’s all speculation at this point.”
“Then give me numbers. Probabilities. That, I understand. That I can deal with.”
“I have no idea how probable any of these things are. That’s the nature of mental illness -- it’s not logical, except in the mind of the ill person. I’m simply trying to cover all the bases.”
She leaned closer to him. “Trying to be nice to me, to downplay the danger, will kill me. And if you get hurt protecting me, do you think I’d ever get over that?”
“I doubt Davies is interested in hurting me.”
“He already did hurt you,” she shot back. “And if he thinks you’re in the way? That you’re preventing him from getting to me? He’ll hurt you again.”
“I’ll be armed,” Spence reminded her. “And I won’t hesitate to use my weapons to protect you. Or myself.”
