Page 60 of Beachcomber Danger

“He gave us until eight fifteen.” Andrews shook his head. “He’s determined to catch them one way or another. He’ll be heavily armored. I think he’s half looking forward to the confrontation and fancy’s catching them himself.” Andrews lifted his wrist to look at his watch. “You have twelve minutes to find the assassins before the President makes himself a target.”

Dane shoved out the door and went in search of the office and his tux. He found the room and dressed in record time even for him. He figured once he got to the ballroom where the guests were milling he’d have three minutes to find the Chambers. Great.

The first person he saw when he entered the main entry way was his friend, Governor Peter John Douglas. Apparently, he was playing host and greeting guests in a very short reception line as people entered. Dane joined him. His original assignment was supposed to be a post at the front door on the outside, but there were already almost a hundred people there, he’d guess, and an endless stream at the door and down the walkway.

Shit. He’d been told the guest list was one hundred and fifty but there looked like more than that, probably because there were at least another fifty federal agents posing as guests and a dozen posing as servers. Then there were the Secret Service agents who were standing at their posts not making any secret about who they were.

The Chambers would never get away with an assassination attempt with this security. Not unless they planned to take a hostage or kill massive numbers of people, for instance with a bomb. The simple explosive device they’d rigged back at the pie shop came to his mind. The collar on his tux felt like it was shrinking and he tugged at it. Trickles of sweat ran down his back under the layers of Kevlar, shirt, and tux jacket.

Keeping his eyes on auto scan without any obvious swivel of his head, Dane stepped in line next to Peter and nodded at the short older woman shaking the Governor’s hand.

“How long have you been at the door?” Dane asked under his breath.

“Good to have you join us. Mrs. Stempel, this is my old friend Dane Blaise.” He handed the bright-eyed old woman over to him and said under his breath. “Not long enough. I missed the first twenty minutes.”

“Oh my, aren’t you the handsome one. You bring to mind a fair-haired James Bond.” She winked at him and kept walking. Dane would have been suspicious of the lady, but she was far too short to be Emeline. That was one important and distinct feature the assassin would not be able to disguise.

“I’ve only seen photos. Glad you’re here to give a closer look. This whole setup makes me nervous,” Peter said.

Dane nodded. Most of the people came in and handed over their invitations to security and walked by.

“Where’s Andrews?”

“Everywhere. Where’s Shana? We need her eyes on the crowd too.”

“She’s dressing. Hiding the bruises and fat lip will take some doing.”

Peter turned to him. “Is she all right? Truly?”

Dane’s gut dipped and rattled. He didn’t like to think about Preston Chambers slapping her around. Not trusting his voice, he nodded. Peter put a hand on his shoulder.

“She’s a tough cookie, Dane.”

“No need to tell me that. She’s so tough she’s agreed to marry the most unmarry-able guy in the world.”

Peter smiled. “Don’t look now but here she comes. On your seven.”

“Is she carrying a tray of food? Because I’m famished.”

“No. Drinks.”

Dane snorted as he watched the next wave of people closely. He turned on his wireless earbud.

“I’m covering the front door with PJD. She-Devil and Captain Kangaroo should cover the crowd in the ballroom who got here early. We missed them.”

“Captain Kangaroo?” Peter said.

He got affirmations from Shana and Cap on the line and turned to Peter.

“You have no problem with She-Devil?”

Peter shook his head. “I’m going to circulate. And then I’m going to speak with the special guest of honor one last time.”

“To talk him out of showing up?”

“No chance of that, but I can buy you some time. Wish me luck.” Peter made a graceful exit from the entry foyer and jogged up the stairs with his usual swift elegance. The man hadn’t lost his touch.

They needed all the extra time they could get. The line of people entering had dwindled and now there were only stragglers. Dane would bet his Kevlar vest that Emeline and Preston were already here, operating in plain sight.