Seduced By The Candidate (The Candidate, #1) (18 page)

Ackermann and Deane had already left for the evening and the
security guards were as regular as clockwork. That just left Martin unaccounted
for before he could make his move and get the job done. It wouldn’t be fully
dark for another hour or so and he would wait until the time was right. He was
good at waiting and the anticipation merely added to the overall excitement of
planning and executing a mission. God he’d missed this. There really wasn’t
anything like the buzz he got from putting himself on the line and the feeling
of delicious satisfaction when it was all over and the target had been
neutralized.
 

“Better than sex,” he thought to himself.

* * *

To keep up the pretense of the clean cut Senator and the
devoted, yet strictly professional supporting staff entourage, Goulding and
Charlotte had taken separate cars. This was a necessary precaution, but in
truth Goulding had needed some time alone to deal with the emotions his visit
to the Veterans Centre had aroused in him. Despite a brief argument with the
security detail, Goulding insisted that he be allowed to drive himself to the
hotel and that he would be perfectly safe. He expected a thorough bollocking
when Jake got wind of his actions, but promised the concerned security men that
the decision was his to make and his alone. None of them would be subject to
any repercussions and he would accept complete responsibility for the decision
and anything that came of it.

This had seemed to placate the Bureau men and gradually they
had drifted away, but the hand-picked private detail had still been unhappy and
unsure. Goulding couldn’t help but note that each of these individuals exuded a
professionalism and poise that simply wasn’t present in the official security
detail. Jake had indeed screened them well to ensure that only the very best
men became part of his operation. If they ever got through this day, he would
make a point of telling Jake how impressed he was and help him set up his own
security business so that he wasn’t solely reliant on Goulding for his income
moving forwards. He still wanted to take Jake with him to the White House, but
the man clearly had an eye for talent and a God given ability for this kind of
work, which should be encouraged and not stifled.

In the end, they had agreed on a compromise, where he would
ride alone, but his security detail would accompany him in separate cars: one
in the lead and one bringing up the rear. As soon as he seen to be entering the
hotel, they would leave him for the evening and return in the morning to check
over his vehicle and bring it round to the front entrance for him. Goulding was
nervous of being seen when he inevitably met up with Charlotte, but accepted
that this was the best he could hope for and somewhat reluctantly agreed.

It was only a ten minute drive, but it allowed him plenty of
time to consider his feelings and why he had been so moved by the day’s events.
At first, he considered the main reason to be the return to a military
environment and that the pain he felt was simply the loss of the life he had
cherished in every way for so many years. Then he thought that it might also be
the fact that he was meeting other soldiers that had shared the pain of a
military injury and the loss that was far more deeply felt than mere flesh and
blood.

Though these were definitely contributing factors, they weren’t
the main reason for his emotional state. He really had been knocked sideways by
the strength of feeling that he had experienced for the nameless masses that
made up this great country. He felt enormous guilt that he had so easily
dismissed them in favor of more secure, vote wining strategies and merely
labeled them a distraction and an annoyance. He also felt his heart flush with
pride at the thought that these people were willing to put their trust in him
to guide
them
forwards through uncertain waters,
whatever the outcome.

He loved his country and he loved every one of its constituent
parts, including everyone that called it home. Regardless of color, creed,
sexuality and outlook, he would uphold the trust that they were showing in him.
He would be the ‘Peoples President’ first and foremost in everything he ever
did and never lose sight of the core reason that he was in such a privileged
position.

He would get through today, win this fucking election and show
them exactly what it meant to be the leader of a nation. The last few blocks
passed by in a blur as he was completely oblivious to everything that went on
around him. He had never felt so alive and full of life before and he would use
this new realization to guide him forward not only for the first few weeks, but
for the all of the years that followed.

* * *

Brian Kennedy was positively giddy with anticipation and the
prospect of getting exclusivity on the story of the decade. He knew that his
instincts had been right and despite the dangerous game of bluff and double
bluff, he had stuck to his guns and very shortly he would see the pay-off. He
had struggled through numerous sleepless nights where the thought of jacking it
all in and taking the safe option of distancing himself from Senator Goulding,
regardless of the dark secrets that he might be keeping were never far from his
thoughts. He had persevered and he had been right to do so.

He checked his watch for the third time.

“He’s late,” thought the reporter. “Still, what does it matter
as long as he shows up?

He had all night if necessary and nothing was going to distract
him from the potential pay-off that lay only a conversation away.”

“Twenty minutes is neither here nor there in the grand scheme
of things. I can wait, I’ve waited this long, another few minutes is hardly
going to make a difference.”

He took another sip of his beer and began to count the dollar
signs that danced gracefully through his mind.

Eight-thirty came and
went,
then nine
and then nine-thirty. When an hour and a half had passed since the agreed
rendezvous at eight o’clock he had started to feel a sick sensation of
certainty and despair deep in the pit of his stomach. With each minute that
ticked by the feeling had intensified and now he was depressed and thoroughly
nauseous.

“Goddamn fucker isn’t coming,” he said bitterly. “Goddamn
lying, cheating, shithouse of a fucking politician isn’t coming.”

Dollar signs had been replaced by sneering faces and
red-lettered final demands and he cursed William Goulding for ever having been
born.

“Fuck it! I’m done. I’m done with all of this shit. Well played
Senator, you win. I haven’t the time or the energy to keep digging for this
particular bone. I’ve passed up on countless other jobs in pursuit of the big
one and despite being sure that there’s still a story to tell. I can’t afford
to keep chasing it.”
  

Kennedy gestured to the barman and ordered another beer, this
time accompanied by a generous whisky chaser. He couldn’t really afford it, but
when you were broke, being more broke wasn’t really much of a threat.

“Have you been stood up, honey?” said a feminine voice off to his
left. “I hate to see a handsome man like you so down in the dumps.”

At first, Kennedy was convinced that the mystery woman must be
talking to someone else and looked over his shoulder in an attempt to locate
the lucky man. Seeing no one there, he realized that incredible as it was, she
must be addressing him. He turned slowly in his seat, reluctant to look at her,
as if to actually put a face to the voice would somehow make it disappear in a
puff of smoke as if it were merely a mirage.

Before him sat a stunning looking woman with
shimmering silvery white hair and a smile that radiated warmth and
understanding.
She wore simple, understated make-up that enhanced every
aspect of her finely sculpted features and he longed to reach out and touch
her, just to make sure that she was actually real. Trying hard not to make it
too obvious, but failing miserably, he appraised the tight fitting velvet dress
and admired the slit along the side that exposed a glorious amount of her thigh
and had him guessing at the pleasures that lay within.

“Are you okay, honey?”

The voice brought him back from his daydream and he
blushed
a deep scarlet red, almost as if looking into her
eyes would allow her to see exactly what he had been thinking.

“I-I…yes, sorry,” he stammered in response. “It’s been a shitty
day and the person I was supposed to be meeting let me down when I was really
counting on them showing up.”

“Well, I’d say that any woman that could leave a man like you
alone for any length of time is a damn fool.”

“It wasn’t a woma…pardon?”

This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t possibly be real. An
attractive, well-spoken woman had approached him in a bar and was actually
flirting with him. Nothing like this had ever happened to him before. Why would
it? He was plain, boring old Brian Kennedy: failed journalist, mediocre husband
and so-so dad. It felt like a scene in every romantic Hollywood film that he
had ever seen, but this time he was the principle actor and the leading lady
was making a play for him.

He swallowed hard, what was he going to do? He was so far into
unchartered waters that it made the Bermuda Triangle
look
like a puddle!

Focus on Sandy and the kids.

Focus on the family.

Focus on the family.

Focus on…..

“If you don’t mind, honey, I’d like to join you for a drink.
Perhaps I can find some way to…cheer you up.”

She bit her lip as she said the last few words in an
exquisitely erotic gesture that inflamed Brian to his very core. She also
placed her slim, delicate hand on his thigh and as the warmth and the pressure
stirred primal urges deep within him, all thoughts of his family and the
no-show Senator drifted slowly from his mind.

* * *

The nest of coiled wires that lay before Jake Armstrong seemed
to writhe in a myriad of assorted colors, patterns and thicknesses. The movies
always showed the grim faced hero pondering over whether or not to cut the blue
wire or the red wire, but real life was never that straight forward.

This was the central control box and every conceivable
electrical service was routed through its complex interior. Wires that powered
the automatic windows in the offices, the ventilation system, the lights, the
internet, the television, the wall sockets and most crucially, the door locks
and security alarm were all present. Without the electrical engineer’s detailed
plans to guide someone, it was a one in a thousand chance that they’d ever be
able to get the right one.

It was a one in a thousand chance that was, unless you’d been
trained for just such a situation.

Jake’s hands worked quickly, isolating the wires that he
wanted, stripping the thin plastic sheathing and connecting the bypass
equipment that he had brought with him, clipping it neatly to the exposed wires
beneath. First job was the security cameras,
then
he
could move on to the more sensitive elements that needed his attention. He
counted slowly from one to ten and the little device that he had attached to
the wire hummed and whirred quietly.

 
When he had recorded
enough of the existing camera feed, showing nothing but empty rooms and
abandoned corridors, he flicked the switch on the device and set it to play. As
far as the security guards were concerned they would see a safe and secure
facility and could go on listening to the radio, reading the paper, or watching
the television. In reality, the recording would perpetuate in a never-ending
ten-second loop that would play out over the monitors and conceal the fact that
Jake was in fact making his way stealthily through the building, heading closer
and closer to Frazer Martin’s office.

Satisfied that the CCTV had been dealt with, Jake turned his
attention to another coil of wires and set about deactivating the motion
detectors and security lights. This was far more straight-forward. As long as
there was no secondary alarm system that would indicate the presence of anyone
tampering with them, he could deal with them without the need for any
complicated equipment at all. He traced the wire from its source to its final
connection point and found nothing that would indicate the presence of a
secondary circuit. Satisfied, he steadied his hand and delicately clipped the
wire, the ends
glinting
their outrage in the dim glow
of his pencil light torch beam. Two down, one to go!

That took care of the security measures, now he needed to
secure his access to the building. He had considered utilizing the buildings
expansive ventilation system, but he was a big man and as roomy as the central
ducting appeared to be, he doubted whether it would be
that
roomy! He had also considered gaining access via the windows,
but had quickly dismissed this as well. They were large and modern, but they
were controlled by a central BMS, or Building Management System. Activators
opened and closed the windows dependent on the temperature registered by the
internal heat sensors that operated within every room of the building. This
ensured that a pleasant overall ambient temperature could be maintained without
the occupants ever having to do anything.

Unfortunately, even though the system was easy enough to
bypass, the actuators were difficult to dislodge and only allowed the windows
to open a maximum of four inches. He had neither the equipment nor the time to
waste trying to gain entry in this manner. He was pushed for time, carried the
bare minimum of equipment and the next security patrol was due in a little over
four minutes and thirty six seconds. It was risky, but he had no choice but to
take the direct route and enter the building via the fire door in the Western
elevation.