Do No Evil (Aeon Trilogy Book 2)

Chapter 19

Tracy Cruz looked at herself in the mirror. Her white shirt and white pants fit well under her blue blazer and her black hair fell straight to shoulder length. She looked good. She looked trustworthy. She looked strong.

She took a deep breath. And then another, and then she exited the bathroom where she'd been getting ready.

As soon as she reentered the office suite that served as the headquarters of her movement, Reverend Bacon called out to her. "Reverend Cruz, have you reconsidered my suggestions for your speech today?"

She fought the instinct to cringe. "Steven, I have given it much thought but I still do not agree that now is the time to formally establish a government."

"I thought you had given a forty-eight hour deadline before we attack the Federals. That deadline will occur during your speech."

"I said a minimum of forty-eight hours, Steven," growled Cruz angrily. "Don't twist my words."

Bacon's face twitched. "I see, Reverend. May the Lord guide your hand."

With that, he turned and strode away quickly.

Cruz pushed aside her worries about Willy's mission to talk to the defected Aeon Chengwen Xu. She was aware Chengwen's hiding place had come under Federal attack and that Chengwen appeared to be suffering from some kind of nervous attack. She would just have to trust that Willy would find a way to get Chengwen to work before the tension along the border escalated any further.

Just as Cruz finished this thought, Rosa Verde called out to her. "Reverend, two hours to go. I want to run through the final security protocol for your speech today."

Cruz just wanted to review her speech draft. But she knew she couldn't avoid this discussion any longer. "All right, Rosa."

Rosa waived a group of tall young men in dark suits into the room behind her. "These are your bodyguards."

Cruz took a second look at the men and realized that the square bulk of body armor was visible underneath their loose-cut blazers, and that they had submachine guns strapped to their waists. "I see. Are you sure this is necessary?"

Rosa looked taken aback. "Of course it's necessary, Reverend. You're the leader of our movement, and you're going right to the enemy's gate to denounce them. These are the same bastards that killed your husband just a few weeks ago."

Cruz pushed away the memory of the helicopter blast. She needed to focus on the here and now. "How will people see me if-"

"Don't worry, they know you need to be visible. They will be hovering around you, but not right in your face. Just take a minute to talk to Rafael." Rosa motioned to one of the men, who seemed to be a little older than the others, maybe in his early thirties.

"Ma'am, my detail is trained for political events. We won't get in your way, unless you want us to."

Cruz nodded. "Thank you. But do you really need so many men?"

General Widelane's Texan twang cut into the conversation as he strode over. "Only one dozen men, Rosa?"

"Yes, General, that's Cruz' full security team."

"That's enough for close support but how will you manage an outer perimeter?"

"Local police."

He shook his head. "They don't know how to handle an event like this. I've got a SpecOps fireteam on standby, I'll give them the call."

"SpecOps fireteam? What does that mean, General?" interjected Cruz.

"Five commandoes trained in how to handle any situation you can think of. You will be fully secure if they cordon off the event area."