Chapter Sixteen #2
“Oh, uh, Dom says they’re finishing up their meetings, so let’s go get them.
He says Sean has an appointment to have cocktails with a senator and her director of communications.
We can sit at another table and let them do their thing, and then maybe after, the four of us can go somewhere for dinner.
I know this great farm-to-table place from when I stayed in DC to guard Ben Hoffman,” Austin explained.
“Ben Hoffman… The former congressman? Yeah, I met the two of them and their little girl, Rachel. Did you go to the christening?”
The nerves were building like a beaver with a dam. I was completely out of my element. What the hell did I think I was doing? Sean’s dining room table probably cost as much as my truck, and even though I wore my dress boots, they weren’t worthy of stepping on Sean’s expensive rug under that table.
We truly were a city mouse and a country mouse. How would that ever work?
Eileen Rowe, one of the US senators from Texas, was an enigma.
She had that thick Texas accent I knew from my time in Special Forces.
One of my fellow soldiers was from Killeen, Texas, and we used to give him ten kinds of shit for the slow way he spoke.
That was the way Eileen Rowe spoke, but I could tell her mind was going a hundred miles an hour.
Sean sat at a table with the senator and her communications director, while Dominic, Austin, and I sat in a nearby booth of our own, them having drinks while I sipped a club soda.
“The communications guy seems tense, don’t you think?” Dom asked Austin.
Austin put his arm around Dom’s shoulders and pulled him closer.
“You gotta quit listening to those true-crime podcasts, Willow. I’m sure the man is just being attentive to his boss.
You know how it is. When you’re with Gabby, you gotta listen to everything he says because he’ll promise things and not explicitly tell us. ”
I laughed. “That’s pervasive in the military. The generals’ promise shit we were expected to somehow know without them saying anything. But I agree with Dominic. The guy seems pretty on edge, don’t you think?”
Austin glanced over his shoulder as the senator excused herself from the table and walked outside with her phone. It was then that I noticed things got tense between Sean and Marvin Thompson.
“Excuse me,” I said to Austin and Dom as I stood and carried my empty glass over to the bar, which was right next to their table.
The private room Sean thought he’d reserved ended up being given to someone else by mistake, so Sean and his guests were seated in the quiet bar area.
We had a table near the wall several feet away.
The bartender walked over to me. “May I help you? Your server should be right back.”
“I just wanted some water instead of club soda, please.” He took my glass and grabbed a fresh glass.
“You swore to me nobody would find out what happened between us. I have a wife and kids, Sean,” Marvin Thompson said.
“Nobody knows, Marv.” Sean’s tone was angry and cold. The tone he reserved for dealing with politicians, or so it seemed.
“Bullshit! I got a call from a rag in Austin asking for a comment on a story they were going to run about you doing sexual favors in exchange for me talking up your pro-LGBTQIA+ agenda. They said they were approached by someone in your camp with the story.” Marvin sucked down his drink and slammed the glass on the tabletop.
At the same time, the bartender scooted a glass of water in front of me. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a couple of dollars as a tip and stepped closer to the table to hear what Sean said about Marvin’s accusation.
Just as Sean was about to respond, Senator Rowe returned to the table.
“We’ve gotta get back for a committee meeting, Marv.
Sean, I appreciate your insights on the trans healthcare bill.
I’ll take it into consideration. You know as well as I do that I’ll be making some enemies if I vote against the bill.
You had better reach out to Leslie Collins from Alabama.
She and I have similar views on the overzealous Christian conservatives and the overreach they seem set on making. You’ll need her to vote with me.”
Sean stood from his chair as Senator Rowe gathered her purse and stared at Marvin Thompson, who was texting on his phone. Sean glanced in my direction and smiled, motioning for me to step over, so I did.
“Senator, this is my good friend, Jericho Hess. Jeri, this is Senator Eileen Rowe from Texas. Are you and your friends ready to go?” Sean glanced toward the booth where Dominic and Austin were sitting, the two of them wore telling smiles reflecting the massive love they had for each other.
“Of course, you’d surround yourself with those people, Fitzpatrick.” I glanced at Marvin to see his disgusted sneer backed up his words.
Sean’s face morphed into a caustic scowl. “Those people? I didn’t recall you being so damn judgmental, Marvin.”
I glanced at the senator, who seemed surprised. I didn’t know the senator or her sidekick, but the way the guy said those people, I immediately took offense.
“If, by those people, you mean members of the rainbow army, I’d be damn careful who I talked shit about. Tell me, Marvin, how does who I love affect you in any way?” I felt Sean’s hand slide into mine, fueling the fire of hope deep inside me.
Marvin, the stupid fucker, spat and sputtered as if he couldn’t believe I would actually talk to him that way. I didn’t know him from apple butter, but my life was none of his damn business.
I turned to Sean. “You ready? We can go get something to eat with my friends if you’re done for the day.”
Sean grinned. “I’m ready.” He turned to the senator. “I’ll reach out to Senator Collins. Have a good evening.” I led Sean over to the table where Austin and Dominic were waiting.
“Let’s go.” We made our way to the front, and I pushed open the door, holding it for everyone to step outside.
At the same time, a black SUV squealed to a stop on the street in front of us.
We all turned, and when the window came down, I pulled Sean behind a bus shelter while Dominic, having seen what I had, pulled out his gun from under his arm, aimed, and pulled off two rounds, shattering the glass of the SUV window and putting a slug in the rear passenger door.
The SUV sped away, and I turned to Austin. “We’ll get home. Go after them!”
The two of them ran to the black SUV parked up the block and were inside in record time.
Sean pulled out his phone and hit a contact.
“Detective Compton, this is Sean Fitzpatrick. The same black SUV that shot at me outside the Indiana Avenue station just shot at me outside...” He gave the cop the address, and we went back inside to wait for the police to show.
I didn’t know about Sean, but I was starting to take this shit personally.