Edward (4 page)

“So the little girl by the bar was one of yours. 
Excellent,” complimented Gillian.  “Tatiana, girl, what set Charta off
this time?”

“Pardon me, ma’... Gillian, ‘this time’? 
There has been a history of problems with the man?” asked a confused Edward.

Gillian nodded, “Charta has been a little over zealous
about several things in the past.  The tabloids love him for it. 
This is the first time he has done anything toward my client.”

Edward nodded, oh the joy of celebrities.

“I just started talking about how cool and polite Edward
was,” offered a still confused Tatiana.

“And you didn't think that might set off a little jealousy
on his end?”

“As opposed to listening to him recount his
exploits
in front of me?  No, I thought I had done nothing wrong in
comparison.” 

  Ouch!  Edward was curious why the pair had even
met in the first place.  He snickered to himself as Gillian echoed his
thoughts.

“I'm not sure why you agreed to lunch with him in the first
place!  He is a horrible man with a checkered past.  Moth to the
flame is it?”  lectured Gillian.

“No, I just figured that all that was a façade.  I
thought all that stuff in the news was him just living up to fan's
expectations.  I didn't consider he was going to be that tactless to me in
person.”

Edward held the door while Gillian quickly shepherded
Tatiana into their waiting car.  As Edward closed the door, the vehicle
launched forward at a speed normally reserved for emergency vehicles.

“Back to the flat, please.  We'll just eat lunch there.” 
Gillian looked at Tatiana with a motherly frown, “Girl, please stop trying to
pick characters out of the limelight.  Try to find people a bit more
grounded.”

“But most guys think I'm too exotic and won't even ask me
to lunch, much less anything else.”

“You are shopping in the wrong place.  Oh my sweet
girl, there are so many good men out there, please try choosing a bit more
carefully.  You just need a man who isn't intimidated by your success, and
not a complete jerk.  Any well standing, self-confident man would do well
for you.”

“Last time I let you try and set me up, I ended up eating
lunch with a banker.”

“I did apologize for that too.  He was a real estate
broker, not a banker.”  Gillian sighed, “How about this: as a first round,
bounce your lunch dates off of the new security team first.  At least we
can rule out the complete idiots and sociopaths that way.”

“Was that a stab at Constantine?  He wasn't a
sociopath, just heavy in to goth.”

“Actually I was thinking of Evan, but Constantine was more
than a little creepy...”

The conversation went back and forth all the way back to
the hotel.  It sounded more like a mother-daughter conversation than an
agent-client one, but they both had a lot to vent.  And both parties had
their salient points.  Yet even as they radically disagreed with each
other neither raised their voice nor become abusive.  It was a good
relationship and it served them both well.  How did they ever become a
team?  Edward laughed to himself, not unlike himself and Kadu.  Each
very different, but polite and professional and, well, much like family at
times...

A late lunch back at the penthouse spilled into late
afternoon as the pair of women snacked and discussed practical points of the
music business for hours.  Finally, around four in the afternoon, Tatiana
retired to her room for an afternoon nap.  The plan was, a quiet dinner at
nine and then out club hopping until midnight.  All in a
day's work.  Edward took the opportunity to take a break for food
himself as well as a quick nap when Alex came in to relieve him.  Alex was
a good man.  He wasn't a Silver, but he was a fellow Highlander and quite
impressive with Live Steel himself.  They were in good hands.

“So how is the client in person?” asked Kadu as she watched
Edward wolf down his food.

“She seems quite nice, a bit naïve, but it is very
interesting to watch her turn her charm and presence on and off.  Like
flipping a switch!  Curious which personality is the real one.  I imagine the answer is quite complicated.”

“Indeed, and her agent?”

Edward cleared his throat and downed half of his glass
before replying, “She is sharp, professional, very well organized and a good
foil for Tatiana.  They have a very frank relationship and openly talk
with each other.  I'm curious how those two met since they are so
different in so many ways.”

“Do you think it is important enough that we should use our
resources to check into it?”

Edward thought for a moment, “Yes, actually.  She also
mentioned her sister's life had been saved by David and his team. Curious about that.  Speaking of curious, what became
of Charta and his goon at lunch?”

“Charta visited the hospital for a series for broken digits
in his paw.  Do you prefer paw or hand?  I am unclear on the optimum
translations at times.”

“Paw, hand, whatever,” laughed Edward.  “And his goon?”

“He is currently in some small amount of procedural trouble
with the local authorities over his sidearm.  He was licensed to carry a
sidearm, but not that particular one.  There is a one thousand joule limit
on sidearms carried by civilians in public.”

“Anything on him being floored by Gigi?”

Kadu flashed a toothy grin, “I'm am
not entirely clear on all the particulars of the exchange but I do believe he
solicited meeting her again in a social manner later this week.”

Edward laughed, “Well good for him!  Heck, good for both of them.”

“So you are heading out again this evening?”

“Yes indeed.  What's bothering you?”

“Trevor has requested, and I concur with the asking, that you
start carrying a comlink with you.”

Edward nodded as he poked at the remains on his plate, no
frills but filling food, “Yeah, as much as I hate those things, I agree: that
sounds like a good idea.”

Kadu smiled in what Edward could have sworn was a
motherly
smile at Edward, “Fantastic.  I had a prepared speech I was going to use
on you to convince you of the utility of a comlink in spite of your historical
objections.  One of the few times I am glad that my preparatory efforts
are going to be wasted.”

Edward laughed as he got up from the table, “You're
welcome, Kadu!”  He looked around for a couch.

“There is a crash bed in the back room.  Have you
ready to roll at 9:30?”

“Oh, good. Um, probably need to be there at 9:30.”

“We will be in motion at 9:10 for an arrival at 9:20.”

“Sounds perfect.  As always, Kadu.”

Edward meet Alex at Tatiana's penthouse with dinner already
starting to wind down.  Tatiana and the trio of vultures retreated to change
her clothes and makeup, while Gillian engaged in small talk and sipped on her
drink.

“Welcome back Edward.  If you don't mind I have some
questions for you.  I confess I did a bit of checking up on you.”

Alex flashed a grin at Edward and playfully thumped the
comlink he was wearing.  “I'll be your shadow tonight,” he offered as he
excused himself from the room.

Edward shook Alex's hand as he left and returned his
attention to Gillian.

“By all means, ma'am,
Gillian
.  You are going to see a lot of me; it is only
appropriate you are comfortable with me and my history.”

Gillian smiled broadly, “Do I understand that Helen
Winteroak was your biological sister?  My understanding was Highland names
were matriarchal, yet I thought you were a Silverglade.”

Edward nodded and smiled, “That is mostly correct.  In
Highland culture there are two names, the family name, which traces through the
First Mother, and the clan name which traces through the father. 
Winteroak is a family name while Silverglade is a clan name.  A young male
uses his family name until he is about fifteen or so, then he usually starts
using his clan name.  When he is married he uses both his clan name and
the First Mother's family name of the new house.  My oldest brother, for example,
is married and thus is properly referred to as Llewellyn Stratford of Clan
Silverglade or as Llewellyn Silverglade of House Stratford.  Either way.”

“First Mother?” came the voice of
Tatiana from the room next door.  “How many wives does a guy go through up
there in the Highlands?”

Edward afforded himself a polite laugh, it was very
different from what was she was used to.  “First thing to consider is the
male to female ratio in the Highlands is one to four.  And thus there are
usually anywhere between three and five Mothers in a family.”  Edward
racked his brain as he fought to make things clear, “From a cultural point of
view, it isn't that a husband has four wives.  It just isn't viewed that
way.  The First Mother is the head of the house, and she has a husband and
several other Mothers supporting her.”

Tatiana poked her head out the door, her dress was very
flattering.  Edward wasn't entirely certain what was keeping it on
her.  “That... That is very different.”  She seemed both confused and
impressed.

Gillian laughed a bit, “A very different culture
indeed.  Your explanation covers my second question: that about Ivy
Stratford.  That is Llewellyn's wife, or she is First Mother of their
family, as it were.”

Edward nodded, “Yes, that is
correct.  So you've heard of her?”

“Ivy Stratford?  Of course I've heard of her!  You kind of have to in the music business.”

Tatiana looked even more confused, “Okay, I've not heard of
her, and I'm in music.”

Gillian laughed, “From an
agent
side, girl. 
Ivy Stratford is a very accomplished concert piano player.  She toured and
taught for two years before she returned to the Highlands.  If she ever
wanted to tour again, people would be tripping over themselves to hear her
play.”     

“Oh, old people music,” Tatiana smiled and returned to her
room.

“Forgive her, she is young,” offered Gillian.

Edward laughed, “It's okay. 
Ivy's music was never my thing anyway.  I didn't know she had toured off
world.  I've been told she was good, but I didn't know, or appreciate, how
good she was.”

Gillian smiled, “I do confess, after all the frenetic
activity of a live concert, sitting back and just listening to piano is quite
relaxing.  Don't tell Tatiana, it'll ruin my reputation.”

“I heard that!”

Things felt wrong as soon as Edward stepped off the
elevator.  It was going to be a long night.  Like the morning, there
was a mob of fans waiting outside.  Instead of the protestors of the
morning, there was a plethora of media hacks with cameras in hand. 
Tabloid vultures, ready to document exactly what Tatiana was or wasn't wearing
as she headed out for the night.  They were a hazard of the course,
unfortunately.  It wasn't up to Edward to judge people,
he was there for one thing: protect the client, protect Tatiana.

Unlike the morning crowd, this one pressed tight up against
them.  It was work to force their way through the mob.  On more than
one occasion he had to stand his ground and forcefully clear a path.  He
was about ready to call in Alex for help when they finally reached the refuge
that was the waiting car.  Edward let out a sigh of relief as the door
opened for Tatiana and she threaded her way over to the vehicle.

Edward's nose itched.  He hated when it did
that.  Urban smells often set him off, he was a
creature of the high forests.  Ugh!  It was a nasty sweet smell and
it wasn't Tatiana's perfume but it was prevalent, something from the car. 
The back of Edward's mind clawed at him as Tatiana climbed into the car.  Cyclohexanone.  That is what it was.  Why did he
remember that?  He hated chemistry. Why did he remember that name? 
Solvent... it was a solvent... why would he know a solvent?  All the
chemistry he knew was...

Edward screamed into his comlink as he grabbed Tatiana and
yanked her out of the car.  She was in no condition to move fast enough so
he threw her over his shoulder and launched back into the crowd, screaming for
everyone to take cover.  Two long heartbeats later the rear of the car
exploded in a sharp blast followed by sooty billowing flames.  
Edward held Tatiana tight and fast until he heard the unique gait of Shukurae
running up to him.  Much to his surprise, not only had he raised his Live
Steel armor, but he had also cocooned Tatiana in it as well. 

Tatiana was a mess, battered and torn dress, she would have
been mad, furious in fact, but the shock on her face
as she stood there watching the car burn said it all.

“Alex, let's get her back upstairs.  Kadu point!”

Edward scanned the crowd for Gillian,
she had gotten caught up in the crowd, separated from the two of them. 
That may have saved her life.  Gillian.  As a matter of ethics, they
were going to need to expand their view to cover her.  Edward gnashed his
teeth as Kestrel's words caught up with him.  There were too many neutrals, they could not protect them all. They had to stop
this at the source.  They had to find the bombers.  Well, they had
the first bombing on their watch, and it was the worst one yet.  Time to see if they could learn what and who was involved.

Jake's voice sparked over the comlink, “Cameras caught it
all.  Trevor is working it now.  How bad is it on the ground?”

“Injuries appear to be superficial,
a few will need formal treatment.  No fatalities.  Chauffeur took the
worst, concussion and ruptured eardrums at the very least, but doesn't appear
to be life threatening,” came the chatter over the
link.

“Jake, you and Paul still covering the
tower?  We're going home and we
don't want any cheap shots as we go back in,” barked Edward.

“You are covered.  No concerns.  Just get her
inside.  Nice work on the armor by the way.”

Edward nodded as he and Alex escorted the catatonic Tatiana
back to the elevator.  Gillian, with blood running down her arm, quickly
caught up with them.

“Is she okay?”

“Scared, dazed, but unscathed.”  Edward cursed to himself at how long it took the
elevator to reach them.  “How bad you hurt Gillian?”

“Me?”  Gillian looked at herself and only then did her
own injures catch up with her.  “Can't be that
bad, I didn't know anything had happened,” she offered with a feeble laugh.

“That or shock.  Seriously ma'am,”
countered Alex.  “We'll have some of our people check you out.”

“Door.  Let's move people!”  The crowd moved into the
elevator.  Kadu stooping to fit, while Edward ran up her
back and out the emergency safety hatch of the top of the elevator. 
A quick check and he rejoined them the way he had gone.   “Clear,
let's go up.”

“You think they'd bomb the elevator?” asked Alex.

“No, but I didn't think they'd bomb the car either. 
They have escalated their game, just as Kestrel feared.  Our job has just
begun.”

Edward stared at the wall as the elevator climbed
painfully, slowly, to the penthouse.

Kadu put her hand on Edward's shoulder, “Breathe, remember
to breathe.  You don't want to swift.”

Edward blinked at her in mild confusion.  He wasn't
aware he hadn't been breathing but he knew Kadu wasn't about to joke about
things like that.  He nodded at her and slowly, deliberately started
breathing.

“Is he alright?” asked Gillian more than a little confused.

“He is frustrated.  In this situation he normally has
someone to kill,” began Kadu.  “All the adrenaline and
no place constructive to direct it.”

The doors opened to the upper level and the team scrambled
out.  Edward lent his shoulder to support Tatiana as she stumbled. 
Kadu attended to the door while Alex sat about closing the blinds on all the
windows.

“I want broad spectrum blinds to install in all the rooms
in the penthouse within the hour.  We also need to get full spectrum
scanners running in the rooms,” barked Kadu over the comlink.

“You think the rooms might be bugged?” asked Alex.

“Not unlikely.  We need to consider all
of the client's schedule to be a target,” began Kadu. “Lady Gillian, I
would like to make your calendar for the client to become privileged
data.  Do you have any problems with that?”

Gillian nodded, “Normally I'd be pissed at you for asking,
but after what just happened, I think it may be for the best.”

“Medic up in less than five,” barked the comlink.

“D-tack,” replied Kadu.

Kadu nodded to Edward and he took Tatiana over to a couch
and sat her down.  She still looked glazed and confused.  Edward sat
down beside her and held her hand.  “How are you feeling?”

Tatiana stared blankly before slowly turning to face
Edward, “I'm okay.... I guess...”  Her voice was detached and distant.

“Can you think of anyone that would have wanted to do
this?  Anyone at all?  Anyone
that you might not have mentioned to the police before?”

There was a noticeable delay as if the words were slowly
bouncing around inside her head before she finally responded, “No.... no
one.... why would anyone want to hurt me?  They almost killed me!” 
The tempo of her speech started to pick up and she started to gain clarity,
“Gillian, you are hurt!”

    Gillian smiled at her, “I'll be fine
dear.  It looks worse than it is.  I think it mainly happened when I
got thrown to the ground.  I'll be okay.  I'm far more worried about
you.  You had quite a scare there and you got quite rattled.  Do we
need to get you something?”

Tatiana tried to smile, “I'll be okay.”  She snuggled
up against Edward.  “Edward took care of me.”  Suddenly her eyes went
wide.  “The driver!  Was he okay?  He
was in the car when it went up!”

“Initial reports indicate he will need a trip to the
hospital, but should be released in the morning,” replied Kadu.  “There
are other reports of other injuries, but they were all superficial.”

“We got lucky,” murmured Edward.   

Kestrel knocked on the frame of the room, “Is it okay to
enter?”

Edward smiled broadly, “Of course.”

“Ma'am,” began Kestrel to Gillian, “we have our medic out
on the landing.  It would be best to get that looked at.”

“Just call me Gillian, and thank you.  Thank you
all.”  She smiled as she left to the atrium.

Kestrel nodded to Edward, “You have a moment to talk, or do
you need some more down time?”

Edward started to get up and realized that Tatiana was
sprawled across his lap and already starting to sleep.  “Whoa!  That
was fast.”

“She probably needed it.  Mild
shock.  So long as nightmares don't chase her.  Natural sleep
is best;  I'm glad she's passed out on her own.”

“Indeed, but I don't think you, of all people, came up here
to talk about Tatiana.  It's the bomb.”

“The bomb indeed.  How did you know it was there?”

Edward knitted his eyebrows as he tried to think back
through it all, “There was a weird smell.  I think you once told me it was
cyclohexanone.  Did I say that right?”

“Yep, commonly found in leftovers from RDX and HMX
production.  That implies a commercial, or more likely, a military
explosive and not a homemade explosive.  That is also consistent with the
sharpness of the explosion.”

“Um... were the previous bombings using those types of
explosives?”

Kestrel shook his head, “No.  Most of the previous
were simple pipe bombs.  This is a whole new level of yuck.”

Edward took a deep breath and thought it all over, “Did
they escalate just because of us?  Or were they going to escalate anyway?”

Kestrel shook his head, “We have no way of knowing. 
But we have a lot of data tonight.  I'm sure we'll find something to work
with.”

“A lot of data?  How so?”

“Well, all those media vultures were taking a lot of
pictures.  Rather than trying to sequester them all, Trevor is
buying
them all.  We have a herd of photos of everyone in that crowd at every
angle for almost thirty minutes before it all went down.”

“Do you think the bomber was in the crowd?  Was the
bomb in or under the car?”

“A quick look implied under, and sitting
on the ground.  That means someone
in the crowd dropped it and kicked it under the car.”

Edward nodded, “And with everyone taking pictures, we
should be able to ID everyone there.”

Kestrel nodded before changing the subject, “You did an
awesome job there.  Not just pulling her clear, but that weird Live Steel
thing too.  You completely covered her up.”

Edward smiled and looked down at the sleeping form of
Tatiana, “Yeah... I didn't know I could do that.  I just had to, so I
did.”  Edward laughed, “I'm starting to sound like Llewellyn now.” 
How much more?  How much closer did that push him?  He was a High
Silver, he
had
to be.

“That's no bad thing.”

“Hey, Kestrel, I'm sorry.  You were right.”

Kestrel looked confused, “Sorry for what?”

“I was all cavalier about this assignment, but looking
around after the bomb went off just drove home how many neutrals there
were.  I can't save them all.”

“No.  No you can't.  But I'll wager you do a
better job than just about anyone else I know.”  Kestrel smiled. 
“We’ll get them, that's our job.  Your job is to
watch out for her.  You did great, don't sell yourself short.”

“Thanks, Kestrel.  That means a lot coming from you.”

Kestrel smiled, “Well, I got to go.  Your night has
come to an end; mine has just started.  Take care and try to get some
sleep of your own.”