William's Tale (5 page)

Her eyebrows furrowed. “Come on now. Doesn’t me coming in to sub seem a bit…
staged
?”

The nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach grew. He had felt uneasy about this entire trip. Whatever was going on, she had sensed it as well.

Jackie shook her head. “I have it all wrapped up in my head that I was called in to sub so I could up the minority numbers. I figure that was why I had been chosen to shake the President’s hand.”

He cleared his throat. “
That’s
not why you were chosen.” He watched as she gave him a questioning glance. It was time to come clean. “
I
chose you for that position.”

Before she could ask why, he held up his hand to the com unit in his ear. He could hear the agents as they completed their tasks. “The President will be leaving shortly. If you ever need any help, or if you just want to talk,” he said, reaching into his pocket and then putting a business card into her hand, “call me.”

Jackie glanced down at the card, and he could have sworn he saw a slight smile from her.

The team was preparing for the President’s departure, and William had no time to chat with Jackie since he needed to get into position. The President would be exiting from a back door of the school, near the cafeteria dumpsters. Two Presidential limos waited, one for the man himself and the other a decoy. Overall, it didn’t matter which car the President left in. After all, the man visiting the school today wasn’t really the President.

The team had safely escorted the presidential stand–in back to the White House, where COLONY team members divided into their respective tasks and went to work. At all times a vampire stood guard near the real President, which would have meant more COLONY members present at the school, but due to last minute security concerns, the President’s decoy had been called in instead. Several other the team members watched the house from monitors and by walking the White House grounds. Vampires could always sense other predators nearby, an ability that had proven helpful many times in the past.

It would be so much easier if the decoy himself were a vampire, but that ideal situation probably would never happen.

William, now officially off duty, led the other available team members into their favorite pub. McGreggor’s boasted the best selection of beers in town, as well as a good choice of wine. The place didn’t belong in the catalog where the upper crust tied one on. The tavern had a wooden floor, where everybody knows your name kind of place. Other than doing their best to go unnoticed, the team blended into the atmosphere just fine.

William settled into a corner booth in the back of the bar. He shoved the table out a few inches since he dwarfed the small bench seat, cramping his team members, Sterling and Sulie, who tried to sit across from him. Raymond, the COLONY leader, joined a moment later, after he had spoken with the waitress and placed all their orders for the evening. Being usuals at the place, the wait staff should have known their orders by heart, but their predatory nature had the vampires blend in. With repeated exposure to a vampire, humans could sometimes remember them, which could prove problematic if a vampire wanted to visit his favorite bar for decades without aging. With just one of them speaking to the waitress, there were fewer team members to recall and less chance of the humans becoming aware of them.

Once they were all settled, William had to ask. “How did the administration pick which school to visit today? And why cancel my day off?”

Raymond looked across the table to William. “Because of the safety of the route to the school. Given the preparation time we had, it made it the safest one to select.”

“But why call me in on my day off?” William pressed.

There was no hesitation in Raymond’s answer. “We were shorthanded and didn’t know until the last minute that the President wouldn’t be going to the school.”

William nodded, allowing the information to sink in. Assuming Jackie was not the only substitute teacher to receive a last minute call, he asked, “What about the substitute teachers called to work at the last minute?”

Raymond sat back in his seat, as if assessing William’s questioning. “We dismissed any teacher who had a record, even a childhood misdemeanor, and called in confirmed, background–checked subs.” He paused a moment, and then added, “The answer to the question you’re dancing around is ‘yes’. Every sub was a minority.”

William’s jaw tightened. “And I was called in because I’m a black man!”

“Not just you,” Raymond said. “Ben, as well. Plus, some human agents were called…”

“What the hell!” William said, cutting him off. His nostrils flared and he bared his fangs before realizing the nearby humans now looked his way. Covering his face, he growled deeply.

“Stand down.” Raymond scanned the room, noticing the humans had lost interest after a few seconds. “This isn’t the first administration that has lied.”

The waitress brought a round of beers and a glass of wine to the table and set them down. She smiled and asked about lunch and if everything was all right. The team politely declined the meal and sent her on her way.

Taking a few deep breaths, William said in an even tone, “We shouldn’t support his lies. We should stand up for what is right. We need to…”

“No!” Raymond glared at him. “We serve and protect the President. No questions. No judgment.”

“It isn’t fair,” Sulie added, “but we need to look the other way. It’s not our place to impose our beliefs on him.”

William’s body tensed as he eyed the three of them. His eyes stopped at Raymond. “With your pale complexion and teal colored eyes, I wonder if you’d feel the same way if you were on the receiving end of the injustice.”

“We are
all
minorities,” Raymond said.

Sterling chimed in. “I’m not even accepted within vampire circles because of my human mother.”

“And women are only now treated as equals,” Sulie added. “We’ve all faced prejudice in the past.”

“I know you’re unhappy with the President’s actions,” Raymond said, taking a deep breath. “And I am sorry not to have told you ahead of time what was happening — but I couldn’t risk you making a scene at the school.”

William’s eyebrow rose in curiosity. He hoped racial stacking was the only agenda the President had, but he had to know for sure. “Does the President have a specific agenda by visiting this school, or by posing with those children?”

William noticed Sulie’s eyes slightly widen as though he had touched a raw nerve. She brushed her blonde hair aside and glanced over at her brother Raymond.

“Well?” William asked.

“The team is being informed of the circumstances in the morning. But I guess you and Sterling can be told now,” Raymond said as he gestured over to Sulie.

Sulie swiveled her head to confirm no one listened in. Then, in that high–pitched voice only the vampires could hear, she said, “The President has had an inappropriate relationship with a member of his staff.”

“So?” Sterling asked, using his normal voice. “It’s not the first time a president has had an affair. Unless it was a man.
That
would be different.”

“It wasn’t a man,” Raymond said below a whisper, “however, there is a complication and we can’t compel her to forget about the indiscretion.”

William’s eyes turned cold. The First Lady, a mature woman in her late–forties, had supported her husband through his campaigns, being a single parent while the man traveled, and had gone down the infidelity path with him in the past. She was a quality woman — a woman the President didn’t deserve in William’s opinion. If he were ever so fortunate to have the love of such a woman, he would treat her like gold.

“Why can’t we compel her?” Sterling asked.

Sulie cleared her throat as her eyes scanned the room a second time checking for any eavesdroppers. “She may be pregnant.”

“Wait.” William stared at Sulie. “You can’t tell her condition?”

“Elevated levels of Clomiphene are in her system. It’s a fertility drug.” Sulie sighed. “A common one usually giving good results for women who
can
get pregnant and want to ensure they do as soon as possible. Her HCG levels, the pregnancy hormone levels, are still low — but gestation may have just started.”

“So she is trapping the President.” Sterling huffed as he sipped his beer. “Never trust a woman of childbearing years. The man’s an idiot.”

“Enough,” Raymond scolded. “She had a relationship with the President over the last few weeks.”

“Who?” William threw his hands up. “I’ve never seen him with anyone — not that way, at least.”

Sterling shook his head. “Yeah, well, that would have been on my watch. I’ve seen him with someone recently.”

“And you didn’t stop him from cheating on his wife?” William would never have allowed such behavior, at least, he would have tried to stop such immoral acts.

Sterling leaned in towards William. “She wasn’t a vampire. All I am
required
to do is confirm she is human and that she doesn’t intend to harm the President. Unless I touched her,” he said, holding up his gloved hands, “I wouldn’t have been able to detect the drug in her system. There was no reason to lay a hand on her.”

“And since we are unsure if a baby is involved, we don’t want to compel her to forget her relationship with the man — at least not until we know for sure,” Sulie said.

“We compelled her not to speak to the press.” Raymond finished his beer and set the glass down on the table. “The President is aware of the possibility of a pregnancy and has severed ties with the woman, although he does still harbor feelings for her. Right now he is trying to foster a more husbandly and parental appearance in case a leaked announcement comes out in the next few weeks.” He took a deep breath. “Honestly, we don’t know who else is aware of the relationship, and many times the news is leaked by someone other than the mistress. We understand the First Lady suspects nothing, and the President is doing his best to keep the facts hidden from her and their teenage daughter. Which is why he recently scheduled vacation time for the family at Camp David in a few weeks, and did this trip to visit the kids at the local school,” Raymond explained.

It all made sense to William. Something did feel odd about the school trip, and now he understood. He just never would have guessed the real reason. After a moment’s pause, he said, “The President doesn’t understand how lucky he is, and he’s just pissing away the best thing in his life.”

Playing with the paper coaster nearest him, William thought about the First Lady. She was a good woman and always supportive. Her charity work alone had always impressed him, although her charities of choice had been more geared towards saving helpless and abused animals. Upon reflection, her recent support of UNICEF and their cause to help children now made sense. She too busied herself painting a domestic, parental picture of her marriage with the President, probably because her husband’s staff asked her to without telling her the real reasons why. Most likely, his staff lied and told her he needed to appear more family oriented towards her and their own child.

She would do anything for her husband.

William wished he could find someone half as decent as the First Lady to be his wife. His bed never remained empty for long, but his heart had always been vacant — as well as any cribs and nurseries. His thoughts now focused on his meeting with Ms. Jackie Pearlman from earlier that day. Her body, her passion, her beauty….

William felt self–conscious. His friend Raymond stared at him, and he didn’t understand why.

“No,” Raymond said directly to him. “Don’t put yourself through this again.”

God, he couldn't keep anything a secret. Why did his boss always have to pick up on the smallest things. “I don’t know what you’re talking about…,” William began.

“You know,” Raymond said. “I can feel your mental patterns as well as hear your thoughts. You’re thinking of asking some pretty teacher out.”

William tossed the coaster aside. He knew better than to try to cover up his feelings. Raymond could read mental patterns of both humans and vampires by just being near them. If he sat near a vampire, he could even read their thoughts. William bit his lip and tried to think of something to say.

“God. Let’s not go through this again.” Sterling rolled his eyes. “I suspected your interest in that teacher when you asked me to place her in the handshake spot for the President,” Sterling said. “A few years ago, I had to help you compel one scared human woman out of the bathroom after you confessed your true nature to her.”

William looked away. “That was a long time ago.”

“We go through this every year or so,” Raymond chided.

Sulie looked from one vamp to the other. “What are you talking about?” She glanced over to William and then touched his hand. She took a deep breath, as though now being on the same page. “You’re smitten with someone, William.”

Sterling shook his head. “They never take the news of you being a vampire well. You always get too emotionally attached to the woman, and another team member has to clean up after you. We always have to compel them to forget your entire relationship.”

“Once we get them out of the bathroom or hunt them down after they run from you,” Raymond added.