Every Action (The Gifted Realm Book 3)

by Jillian Neal

  “Ugh, Adrian what is taking you so long? I thought you just had to take a picture or something!”

  Dan threw the partially opened door back and gave Samantha Peterson a delighted grin.

  “Well, well, well, this just gets better and better!” Dan spat as he summoned instantly. He was careful to only halt Samantha’s escape and get her handcuffed. While he’d love nothing more than to drive his boot through Malicai’s rib cage, he had no desire to harm Samantha. She was a pawn in an extremely dangerous game her father had decided to play.

  Dan linked Malicai’s and Lecroy’s handcuffs. He placed them back-to-back and added shackles. Samantha sobbed as Dan called the Gifted police precinct in Boston. He instructed them not to show until seven that morning. Then he phoned the number for the Gifted Associated Press. He informed them whom he was and what would be taking place outside the Orange Grove Hotel in the next few hours.

  To Dan’s delight, Cindy also grew worried about the men and came around to check on them. After he cuffed her, Dan drawled:

  “So, how much did he give you to do all of this for him?” Cindy scowled. She was clearly more intelligent than LeCroy, but LeCroy came through for Dan again.

  “Tell him, and he’ll let you go.” He urged Cindy.

  She considered for a few minutes and then huffed, “Ten K. My kid needs surgery.” She didn’t lie well.

  “Uh huh,” Dan chuckled. “You should’ve held out for more, sweetheart. He would’ve given you twice that.”

  Certain that Lawson was either sleeping or rocking Emily to sleep, Dan waited to text him with his findings.

  “You can’t just hold us here!” Samantha demanded annoyingly. “Daddy is a Governor!”

  “Uh no, dear. Your father is no longer a Governor, and after this I’m quite certain that he won’t be the future Crown either. So, basically, you’re no more than a suspect under arrest for aiding and abetting Adrian here in the wrongful act of invasion of privacy, theft of information, not to mention breaking and entering, oh and bribery.” He gestured to Cindy. “I’d say you’re looking at two to five in Felsink. Of course this is Emily Haydenshire’s room you tapped, and as her father is about to be Crown you could be looking at longer.” Dan quipped.

  “You can’t send us to jail! We’re in love! We’re getting married.” Samantha begged. After taking in the expression on Malicai’s face, Dan tried not to laugh. It didn’t appear that Adrian knew of his upcoming nuptials to Samantha. Dan released his cast on Adrian’s smug mouth momentarily.

  “Uh babe, we are not getting married. We’re just hanging out having a good time.” Adrian assured Samantha as he opened and closed his jaw while glaring furiously at Dan.

  By five thirty, there was a large gathering of press outside the hotel, and officers from the local precincts were awaiting Vindico’s orders.

  Dan phoned Lawson.

  Those That Know the Least

  ~Rainer Lawson~

  “Hello?” Rainer cleared his throat and tried not to awaken Emily.

  “Sorry I woke you up, Lawson, but you and Miss Haydenshire need to come back to the Orange Grove. I think you’re gonna want to see this.” Vindico chuckled.

  “Ok, sure. Let me wake Em up, and we’ll be there.” Rainer tried not to lament being awoken at 5:30 from one of the best nights sleep he could remember. He ended the call and rolled back to allow himself a moment to revel in Emily’s luscious curves tucked up beside him completely naked.

  Curiosity to know what Vindico had found in their room drove him to kiss Emily’s cheek and awaken her.

  “Em, baby, wake up.” He soothed. She grunted angrily. Rainer tried not to think how adorable she was when she was frustrated as Emily was definitely not a morning person. “Em, I think Vindico caught whoever tapped our room. He wants us to come back to the Orange Grove.” He continued running his hands over her body and trying to kiss her awake.

  “No.” Emily buried her face in his chest.

  “Baby, come on. Vindico sounded thrilled. This has to be good.” She let her eyes blink open hesitantly and whimpered.

  “Oh, and by the way…” Rainer drawled, “Hey there.” This got him a broad grin. She sat up with a deep yawn as Rainer stood and pulled the curtain back away from the bed.

  “Rainer,” she pled.

  “Yeah baby?” He pulled on the jeans he’d worn the day before and the t-shirt Emily had managed to fit in her purse.

  “Can we stay here tonight? I don’t want to go back to the Orange Grove.” She gave a visible shudder.

  “Sure, we can come right back here after we throw this big shin-dig for your parents and….” He tousled her messy hair. “If you don’t tell anyone where we stayed, we could probably have another peaceful night all alone.” Her eyes lit excitedly as she nodded and looked thrilled that they could return to their sanctuary.

  Twenty minutes later, they were ordering breakfast sandwiches at a small walk-up shop and then headed to the Orange Grove.

  “What the hell?” Rainer spat as they exited the cab into throngs of press. They pushed their way through as the press began to stir with their arrival. Rainer and Emily entered the lobby to find Vindico standing, smiling broadly, and talking with several Boston Iodex officers.

  “Ah, there you are.” Vindico drawled as he spotted Rainer and Emily.

  “So, did you catch them?” Rainer demanded. Vindico held up one finger and gave him quite a smirk as he pointed to the elevators. Rainer’s mouth fell open as Adrian Malicai was escorted out swearing and trying to jerk away from the officers as he was photographed hundreds of times by the awaiting press.

  Another of Wretchkinside’s men exited with two other officers, and Emily gasped as they watched in complete astonishment as none other than Samantha Peterson was brought out in hand cuffs and escorted to the waiting police cars.

  “Samantha?” Emily turned to Vindico. “Samantha Peterson bugged my hotel room!” She gasped. While giving Rainer another sly grin, he shook his head.

  “No, Samantha really didn’t have anything to do with this. She came looking for Malacai, after I’d arrested him. I’d say, really, her only crime was agreeing to date that scumbag, but I also thought it would make a nice front page to have Peterson’s daughter being taken out in cuffs. Thought we’d see if we couldn’t shut Peterson up about your family for a little while.” Stunned disbelief etched Emily’s entire being.

  “Dad may not like that you did that.” She lamented. Vindico didn’t seem to mind the assessment.

  “Well, this was my call, and first and foremost I wanted to scare the shit out of her. She needs to stay the hell away from Malacai and his kind, and secondly your dad may not mind too much once he sees this.” Vindico pulled a folded copy of the morning paper out from under his arm and handed it to Rainer.

  He flipped it open and this time Rainer gasped as Emily covered her open mouth in horror.

  “Is Haydenshire’s son using women to gain access to legal prescriptives?”

  “What?” Rainer stunned as Vindico nodded morosely. Rainer began reading the article.

  “Seventh in the long line of Haydenshire sons, Logan Haydenshire, age 21, Elite Iodex officer’s long time girlfriend Adeline Parker underwent emergency surgery yesterday. However, it wasn’t the patient that was demanding high-powered pain meds; it was Logan. Several orderlies and nurses from Georgetown Hospital in D.C. stated that Logan demanded pain medication for his recently minted fiancée, and that Logan was extremely rude to hospital staff. One orderly informed the Globe that Logan appeared agitated while staying with Miss Parker, after her surgery. His eyes were blood shot and he seemed to be exhausted, the orderly commented, but during Miss Parker’s surgery Logan was no where to be found.

  “What?” Rainer fumed. “He was right there in the waiting room! We all were!”

  “Keep reading,” Vindico ordered.

  “What will all of this mean for Governor Haydenshire’s run for Crown? The Globe caught up with Haydenshire
’s opponent Lachland Peterson. Peterson deeply regrets Logan’s drug abuse problem and urges Governor Haydenshire to drop out of the race and help his son seek the help he needs.” The Globe would tend to agree and also wonders if perhaps Logan began dating Miss Parker because of her connection to the drug world at large. Her mother is currently in prison for possession and use of illegal substances.”

  Fury shot through Rainer’s veins.

  “This is insane!” He nearly shouted. Emily and Vindico immediately tried to quiet him.

  “I know, but we can combat this. I’m more worried about Haydenshire and Miss Parker than I am what this will do to the campaign, and I intend to point out to the press that as an Iodex officer he’s tested regularly and has never used.” Vindico tried to soothe, but Rainer was seething.

  “They were three hours late with her medication. She’d just had surgery and woke up crying. Logan told me. He was furious! Rightfully so.”

  “Ok Lawson, get it together,” Vindico husked. “You’ve got a party to throw, and everyone will be looking to you to see how to respond to this.” He pointed to the paper. “This we can clean up, but Peterson is gaining ground with stories like this, and the constant bashing of all of you, so we’re going to have to fight fire with fire.”

  “What does that mean?” Rainer huffed.

  “Well, watch this.” Vindico moved quickly to the front stoop of the Orange Grove Hotel.

  The press moved in instantly.

  “Officer Vindico, can you tell us if you were the arresting officer?”

  “Vindico give us a run down of exactly what happened?”

  “Officer Vindico does the former Governor yet know of his daughter’s arrest?” The questions flew furiously. Vindico held up his hands and effectively hushed the crowd.

  “I’ll take a few questions.” He plastered on his typical irritated façade; although, Rainer knew he was going to enjoy enlightening the press as to what had happened the night before. He pointed to a man in a cheap suit coat that was standing in the middle of the crowd.

  “Can you tell us what Samantha Peterson’s part in all of this was?” The man called loudly.

  With a single nod, Vindico elaborated.

  “Last evening, when they arrived, Officer Lawson found that Miss Haydenshire’s hotel room had been breeched and tapped. After I made certain that Officer Lawson had ensured Miss Haydenshire’s safety, I set up a sting and took down two men. They are both known associates of Dominic Wretchkinsides and the Interfeci. After their arrest, Miss Peterson came looking for them. She had been waiting in their getaway car, and she informed me that she was planning to marry Adrian Malicai, an underboss in the Interfeci.

  She was arrested, as well, but it will be up to the Governing Board to determine how big a role she played in the attempted information theft.” Vindico drawled as the press scribbled furiously. He gestured to a brunette woman on the front row wearing a fierce scowl.

  “Could you elaborate on the way the sting operation took place, Dan?” She quizzed haughtily.

  “No, I could not, and that’s Officer Vindico, thank you.” Vindico spat as Rainer tried hard not to laugh in his awe of how Vindico stayed cool under constant pressure and refused disrespect of any nature.

  “Next,” Vindico pointed to a well-dressed woman in the back.

  “You said that Rainer secured Emily. Can you tell us if they’re still staying here at the Orangegrove or if they were moved to another location?” She cooed in a heavy southern accent. Rainer clenched his jaw and shot Vindico an annoyed glance.

  With a disdainful chuckle, Vindico shook his head.

  “I don’t really believe that Mr. Lawson needs any interference in keeping Miss Haydenshire safe. Nor do I feel that it’s anyone’s business where they might choose to stay, be it here at the Orangegrove or somewhere else. I will go ahead and let everyone know that they are no longer staying in the city.” Vindico lied and never batted an eye as the obvious disappointment washed through the crowd. Vindico pointed to another news reporter near the back.

  “Will Rainer and Emily answer a few questions, Officer Vindico?” The reporter asked derisively.

  “That’s up to Officer Lawson and Miss Haydenshire.” Vindico corrected. Rainer stepped forward, but Emily hung back.

  “Officer Lawson, can you tell us if this will affect tonight’s gala in the Governor’s honor?” The reporter quizzed. Rainer smiled and shook his head.

  “Certainly not. We’ll be applauding Governor Haydenshire’s efforts in keeping criminal organizations, like the Interfeci, away from the Realm, along with giving him our adamant support in his run for Crown Governor.”

  He pointed to a woman a few rows from the front wearing a stoic, navy blue suit with her hair pulled into a tight bun.

  “Yes, could you tell us your feelings, Emily, on your discovery that your hotel room had been breeched?” The woman tittered. Rainer turned to Emily to check before he informed the crowd that she wouldn’t be answering any questions, but Emily shook her head and stepped forward.

  She grasped Rainer’s hand and drew from his steadying strength. The motion made his heart swell as he gazed at her as she gave the crowd a kind smile. She drew a steadying breath and studied the crowd as she considered her words carefully.

  “This entire process of my father running for Crown has been trying.” She stated calmly. “People seem very interested in judging my family by the actions in a brief moment of time instead of seeing my father as the noble and courageous man that he is. His opponents want to isolate an instant in my or my brothers’ lives and then, if that isn’t enough, they want to put listening devices and cameras in my hotel room. Or they want to use a difficult situation to see if they can trap us into doing or saying something that can be spun into horrendous lies to try and create more drama because people are so eager to judge. Rainer’s dad used to tell us that everything in life teaches us something, so I guess what I’ve learned about being who I am and being so deeply in love with the man I’m engaged to marry…” She turned and gave Rainer a sweet, affectionate smile. “Is that it seems that the people who know the very least about me often have the most to say. So, I suppose I feel the way any of you would feel if someone tried to force themselves into your life as if it were their own. I feel violated, and hurt, and scared. It seems that my father’s run for Crown has brought out the worst in some people, and, you know, I suppose that’s all right because my father is the man that we need to run this Realm. He’s good, kind, and wise, and I have faith in the Realm as a whole that eventually you’ll all be able to tell fact from fiction. The Haydenshires are people. We have flaws just like all of you, but we want what is best for this Realm. I firmly believe that my dad is the man for the job, so I’ll take the cameras and the wire taps and the extra security measures, if that’s what it takes to give the Realm a Crown Governor like my dad.”

  Emily smiled to the crowd and then stepped back still holding tightly to Rainer’s hand. Vindico and Rainer stared at her. They were both slightly dumbfounded by her wisdom and her brilliance. While he squeezed Emily’s hand, Rainer brushed a kiss across her cheek.

  “Wow,” he whispered. He watched her beam as the cameras clicked feverishly.

  “Well, I don’t think I can add anything to that.” Vindico admired. He dismissed the crowd as Rainer and Emily waved and then returned to the hotel to begin setting up for the evening festivities.

  Tad and Nathan, Emily’s uncles, arrived a few minutes later. They were helping Emily with the gala. She was so busy directing the decorators and the caterers for the gala that she didn’t have time to get nervous over the challenge until she’d gone to Fionna’s suite to change.

  Challenge

  Rainer decided to forgo one of his Angels t-shirts, with the rather lurid phrasing, and opted instead for a polo with the Angels logo and khakis. He was certain that he’d be photographed repeatedly. Rainer walked Emily to the visitor’s locker room, and they ducked behind a door in the e
ntryway to exchange the rings.

  Emily certainly couldn’t challenge in her real engagement ring. It had been infused with promethium, or nuclear energy, and when it was on her skin she could draw on its energy endlessly. It had saved her life, and probably Keaton’s, in this insane war with the Interfeci.

  “Good luck, baby. I know you’ll be amazing.” Rainer felt her nerves begin to consume her.

  “Thank you.” She tried to will calm.

  “Em, you’re going to be great, and I’ll be right up there.” He pointed towards the stands.

  Emily nodded and her lip found its way between her teeth yet again.

  Rainer brushed a kiss on her forehead and squeezed her hand. He left her with teammates as he went to find a seat in the visitor’s box.

  Everyone else was flying in later for the party, so Emily didn’t have her normal assembly of Haydenshires to root for her. Rainer purchased a Dr. Pepper from the concession stand and took his seat. As he took in the field configuration, his heart sank.

  A Coulomb’s web, Rainer recognized it immediately. It would be up to Chloe and Sasha to arrange the entire team throughout the web to be able to pass the energy from around the energy sinks and then to the iode. They would have to transfer the energy from one teammate to another, around the energy shields, to get it back through the web until the last person, Fionna, Rainer assumed. She could certainly convert the energy with the most skill and could convert the energy to electricity and release the iode.

  It was an extremely complicated process. If Sasha miscalculated at all, it would both eat up the energy in each players’ Joule meter and eat up their time.

  Since every single player would be on the field at the same time, there would really only be one chance to position everyone correctly in order to be far enough away to still access the electromagnetic energy and pass it throughout the team. The process was extremely draining. The Joule meters would empty quickly, and Rainer recalled the number of times when Emily was lead Receiver for the Venton Vixens when there was a Coulomb’s web challenge. The Vixens had lost far more than they’d won. Her confidence would be shaken as soon as she saw the course. She hated them.