“I agree we can cut that expense in half.” Jim’s voice carried clearly through the audio feed, the small camera planted in his pen picking up the images of the three senators on the intelligence committee sitting to his left. A second camera on his cuff link allowed Kade to see the men seated to his right.
“We still need to trim at least another two billion from the intel side of things,” Senator Royce pointed out.
“Maybe we should start here. Does anyone know what this line item is for?” Jim asked, and Kade could envision him pointing at the guardians’ budget. “It was originally put in here by Senator Spalding. One of my staffers noticed it and thought it was for the security contingency fund for the state department. When I looked into it further, I realized it was for something else entirely, and I haven’t found any backup documentation.”
A discussion ensued, everyone coming to the same conclusion that none of them had been read in on the project being funded.
“Does anyone have any objections to removing this line item?”
“What if it’s for a critical program?” Senator Smithson asked.
“If it’s critical, someone will come forward and ask for the funding to be put back in,” another senator said. “For all we know, it could be something outdated and unnecessary.”
“And if it’s not?” Smithson persisted. “Where is the money going to come from if we’re dealing with a highly classified program? It’s not like we can parade such a thing in front of the whole congress and expect to get approval without compromising national security.”
“What if we move this line item into a contingency fund?” Jim suggested. “That would keep the money in our control while making sure it’s available if needed.”
The discussion continued, and Kade took notes on who appeared to be against keeping the funding available. Ultimately, all but three of the fifteen members voted to keep half of the original amount available in a contingency fund.
Kade made a note of the names and began background checks on each of them. It took only a few minutes to figure out the pattern in their voting. Each of the three traditionally voted in favor of budget cuts with very few exceptions.
“How’s it going?”
Kade turned to see Renee standing in the doorway to the security office. “I’m not sure. No one opposing the funding stands out as a potential problem.”
“It could be that whoever wants it gone went on record as a supporter to alleviate any suspicion.”
“Maybe. Or whoever it is doesn’t sit on the intelligence committee.”
“I have a hard time believing a senator could be behind this in the first place,” Renee said.
“Honestly, so do I, but I can’t explain how the guardians’ budget got deleted if someone on the inside didn’t do it. This isn’t something people can hack into.”
“We may have to cast our net wider and start doing background checks on the staff members,” Renee suggested.
Kade let out a sigh of frustration. “We might as well start on the senate intel committee.”
“And to think I was wondering how I was going to spend my day.”
* * *
Renee walked up the trail to the stable, enjoying the simplicity of being outside. All day yesterday, she and Kade had searched every aspect of the lives of various senate staff members. After so many days spent primarily inside Kade’s trailer and the security office, even braving the late July heat today felt like a gift.
She had volunteered to take over feeding the horses for the senator when she realized he took care of the task himself. Kade hadn’t been thrilled about the idea of either she or the senator being outside, where he considered they might come into harm’s way, but he had finally relented. After all, they might as well have been at the White House with all the security measures he and the Saint Squad had put in place.
She glanced behind her at the rear of the Whitmores’ house, a long deck stretching along one side, a patio with a grill situated on the other. When she had seen houses such as this in magazines and movies, she had always envisioned them filled with servants who took care of every task. Now that she was living in one, she was surprised to find the Whitmores didn’t even have a maid.
After living here a week, she still couldn’t quite wrap her mind around the idea that a U.S. senator fixed his own breakfast and did his own dishes.
Renee felt a trickle of sweat drip down her back despite the early morning hour, a testimony to the weather forecaster’s accuracy that today was going to be miserable. She didn’t care.
She reached the stable and walked inside, retrieving two flakes of hay and dropping them in the first two stalls. She repeated the process to feed the remaining two horses. After she filled the water troughs, she turned and went back the way she had come, her mind still trying to catch up with her ever-changing living situation.
Did Kade really expect them to stay here for more than another week or two? And how did he expect to stay out of sight if they did extend their time? He was so fiercely private, she still couldn’t believe he had agreed to move in with the senator in the first place.
She reached the back door of the house and was startled when it swung open.
Kade stood in front of her and reached out to pull her inside.
“What’s wrong?”
“The capitol police got here a minute ago, and I don’t want them to see you,” Kade said.
“They’re early. I didn’t think they were supposed to be here until seven.”
“They weren’t.”
“Someone must have gotten their times mixed up.”
“Maybe.”
Alarm bells started ringing in Renee’s head as she followed him into the kitchen. “Is there a chance these guys are impostors?”
“They’re the same men I saw yesterday when they came to escort the senator, but I’m uneasy about the change in plans.”
Senator Whitmore entered from the living room. “Everything okay?”
“We were just discussing our concern about the early arrival of your security detail.”
“You must have read my mind. I just got off the phone with the man in charge, and he said he didn’t order the early arrival,” Jim said. “He’s checking with the lead agent right now and is going to call me back.”
“I don’t like this.” Kade started toward the living room. “Both of you stay here.”
Though Renee suspected the senator was as rattled by Kade’s tone as she was, Senator Whitmore pulled open the refrigerator and said, “If we’re banished to the kitchen, we might as well eat some breakfast.”
He retrieved a carton of orange juice and poured two glasses. That’s as far as he got with his meal preparations before Kade returned with a laptop in his hands. Renee saw the surveillance feed and moved to stand beside him when he set the laptop on the counter.
She took a quick look, not seeing anything out of place. “Do you see anything wrong?”
“No, and we haven’t had any motion detectors go off.”
“What do you think this is all about?” Jim asked.
“I don’t know. My first thought was that someone might have changed the time for your security detail so they would be able to follow them here.”
“My address can be found through property records,” Jim said. “I don’t think anyone would need to go to that extreme.”
“It could also be a test to see how easy it is to change the security detail,” Kade said. “If someone can gain access to change the time, they might also be able to cancel your detail altogether.”
“Which would make this a practice exercise for when they want to get to me.”
“Yes.”
“If you’re right, these people have identified me as helping you out.”
“I hope I’m wrong.”
Jim’s phone rang, and he scooped it out of his pocket. “Yes?”
Renee felt Kade’s tension rise as Jim listened to whoever was on the other end of the call. Several seconds passed before he said, “Thank you for letting me know.”
“What did he say?” Kade demanded the moment Jim hung up.
“He said the agent in charge of my detail called in and found out someone had mixed up the times between me and Senator Royce.”
Kade didn’t have to voice his concern. The skepticism on his face took care of that for him. “Has this kind of thing happened before?”
“I don’t normally keep a security detail, so I can’t be certain. I can call Walter and ask him if he had any trouble this morning,” Jim suggested. “If there really was a mix up, logic follows that his detail is late.”
“That’s a good idea.”
Jim made the call. “Hey, Walter. Sorry to call so early, but I have a quick question. By any chance, is your security detail late today?” He paused as the other man responded. “No, actually, I had the opposite problem. I guess they mixed up the times.” Jim chuckled and nodded his head. “Yes, I’ll be sure to do that. I’ll see you this afternoon.” His posture visibly more relaxed, Jim hung up. “He confirmed that his detail hasn’t arrived yet. Apparently he isn’t very happy about missing his morning stop at his favorite coffee shop.”
“All the same, I’d like to escort you to work.”
“I appreciate the gesture, but I’m not sure what good that would do. You wouldn’t be able to come into the building without the proper credentials, and from what you’ve told me about the guardians, you aren’t the type who is going to want to sign in at the visitors’ desk.”
“I can take care of that.” Kade glanced at his watch. “How soon were you planning to leave?”
“In about forty-five minutes.”
“That should be enough time.”
“Enough time for what?”
Kade didn’t answer. Instead he turned to Renee. “Gather whatever you’re going to need for the day. I want you to stay in the security office while we’re gone.”
“Seriously?” Renee wasn’t sure what she’d been hoping for, but being banished to the tiny space by herself for the day wasn’t it.
“Seriously. I’ll be back in half an hour. Also, do me a favor and call Hannah. I want her to tap into the security feed at Capitol Hill and run facial recognition for Werthcamp and Caspar in case they’ve been anywhere near there.”
“You do realize how many cameras there are in that area, right? Checking them all will take days,” Renee said.
“I know it’s a long shot. Have her start with the main entrance and the service entrance. Those are the two most likely to be vulnerable.” Kade motioned to the laptop. “Keep an eye on things, and call me if you see anything out of place. And I mean anything.”
“I will.”