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I raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”
“Back when he was first making a name for himself, one of his kids died, very young—a car accident that killed her and the nanny. That could throw anyone off kilter. And besides, a lot of people feel he’s a little too harsh on crime, so for him to be involved in a criminal organization at the same time...” He rubbed his mouth, frowning.
A vague flicker of memory returned to me. “He’s got some new bill he’s been pushing, doesn’t he?”
Blaze nodded. “He’s advocating for more severe sentencing across the board as well as increasing the usage of convicted criminals in forced labor.”
“Maybe Noelle and whoever else she’s worked with saw him as an enemy, then.” I suggested. “They could have simply been keeping an eye on him.”
“Possibly. I’m not sure why she’d have felt the need to travel around going to his rallies in person for that. His activities are pretty well-publicized. She’d have found out more reading articles on the internet. So, maybe his supposed political stance is a really thorough cover-up for his real interests. Stranger things have happened.” He let out a huff of breath. “Well, I’ll download everything on here so I can do a more intensive search when we’ve got the time.”
He plugged a hard drive a little bigger than his hand into the side of the laptop and clicked a few more times. A progress bar appeared on the screen.
The bar was nearly full when footsteps reached my ears on the other side of the door, shuffling along the carpeted hallway. I would have assumed it was another hotel patron heading to a different room if not for the voices I heard a moment later.
“Did he say where in the room we’d find it?”
“Of course. You know Damien—everything in its place. He left the notepad on the table at the left side of the bed.”
Damien. My nerves jittered, and I leapt away from the door. “We have to go now,” I hissed under my breath.
Blaze’s eyes widened, but he didn’t let panic throw him off. The progress bar had just topped out. He tugged the hard drive free without a sound, closed the laptop, and sprinted across the room toward the balcony.
I ran after him, jerking the doors shut behind us. The curtain would hide us—but who knew if Malik’s staff would find some reason to come out here?
I yanked my rope taut in an instant. Blaze fumbled with his. Acting on instinct, I whipped myself into his arms.
“Hold me,” I whispered as the door at the other end of the room squeaked open. Blaze hesitated for a split-second but wrapped his arms around me before I had to repeat my command. I grasped the rope and hauled both of us up there with the strength of my arms.
A burn spread through my muscles—and through my torso where I was pressed tightly against Blaze’s lean body. It wasn’t exactly an unpleasant sensation. When we reached the level of our own balcony, Blaze immediately rolled over the railing so he could release me, and some part of me regretted the loss of contact.
I leapt over the railing after him and hauled any remaining rope up out of view. I couldn’t hear anything from the balcony below. It didn’t sound like we’d been spotted.
Exhaling in relief, I glanced at Blaze. He gave no sign of having noticed how our closeness had affected me, though his own cheeks looked a bit flushed from the hasty escape.
“A tight one, but we made it,” he said, offering a fist for me to bump.
I couldn’t help smiling as I returned the gesture. “We make a good team.”
When we hurried into our own room, Garrison was pacing by the front door. “Nothing from Julius or Talon yet?” I asked him.
He shook his head, only catching my eyes briefly before diverting his attention. I braced for some of his usual snark, but nothing came. The exhilaration that’d rushed through me with our escape dulled.
I wished he’d start snarking at me like he used to. At least then I’d know things were normal between us. Something about our passionate interlude on the deck had thrown off the dynamic between us, and I didn’t know what to say to fix it. Especially when he seemed determined to interact with me as little as he could get away with while fulfilling our missions.
I might have tried to rile him up, but just then, Talon strode into the room. The urgency of his entrance hummed through the air.
“Malik’s talk got bumped to an earlier slot,” he said. “He’s going on in fifteen minutes. Dess, Julius wants you to come and see if you can spot anyone in the crowd or his staff you recognize.”
“Of course.” My pulse hitched. That’d always been part of the plan, but we hadn’t thought Malik would be giving his main speech until later today.
I hustled out of the room at Talon’s heels. He walked on swiftly and silently like the predator he was, but his lack of conversation didn’t niggle at me the way Garrison’s did. Talon was quiet most of the time—it was just how he was, nothing to do with me. He didn’t hesitate to meet my eyes, and once we were inside the convention center, he guided me through a staff-only doorway with a brief touch to my waist that showed no signs of discomfort.
I wasn’t sure if he was going to want any more passionate interludes, but his steady demeanor put me at ease.
He led me to a maintenance area and then a ladder that brought us high over the auditorium, near the lights. I peered down from the metal catwalk, letting my eyes adjust. We were far enough up that I didn’t think anyone would notice us through the thin slats in the walkway floor. Of course, it was hard for me to make out the faces below in much detail either.
Talon was prepared for that. He handed me a pair of binoculars. I shot him a smile in thanks and sprawled out on my stomach for the most comfortable viewing position from this angle.
