Tara stared after the woman a moment once she’d left, then shook her head. Man, seemed like everyone had an angle around here. Same as when her mother had been mayor of their small town. She’d won on a platform of equality and fortitude. Her mom had had the last one in spades. She hadn’t let a child hold her back from her ambitions and she’d taught her daughter the same. Never let your personal life get in the way of your professional obligations, no matter how painful or lonely that might be.
Tara sighed. The past was over and the future awaited. The sooner she got onboard with that, the better. Plus, she wasn’t a “dwell on your hardships” kind of gal. More a “pick yourself up and dust yourself off and get right back in the fight” type. Which was even more reason to make sure she got that piece of climate change legislation passed before her tenure was up.
And maybe if she did so, it would prove she deserved to stay in the position permanently.
She got back to work, sorting through her emails and reviewing the latest press releases her staff had put together.
It was several hours before she stopped, mainly because a calendar alert popped up on her computer that the chairman of the board was coming into the office and had requested an emergency meeting with her in five minutes. Her stomach sank a little at that. In her experience, emergency meetings were never a good thing. Still, she checked her appearance in the mirror on the wall, then headed down the hall to the conference room where she was meeting Nathan Harrison. She knocked briefly on the door to announce herself. “You wanted to see me, sir?”
Harrison looked up from the papers he was studying and waved her inside. “Yes, come in, Ms. Crumb. Have a seat. Oh, and please close the door behind you.”
Oh boy. The knot in her gut tightened. Tara did as he asked, then sat down, doing her best not to fidget. She hadn’t planned on seeing the head honcho today, so she hadn’t really dressed up. She wasn’t sloppy, of course, but instead of a more formal suit, she’d worn one of her favorite tops and pants. Her preferred style was sort of boho chic—Stevie Nicks meets upscale Nirvana grunge—but now, she felt a bit out of place with her flowing sleeves as she sat across from Harrison, who worked as a high-powered CEO in his day job and who looked like he’d been born in a three-piece suit.
Finally he set his papers aside and clasped his hands atop his table, his gaze direct and unreadable behind his glasses. “I’ll make this quick, Ms. Crumb. After the events at the rally last weekend, the board thinks it would be best if you took a step back from the campaign to pass the legislation, for your own safety.”
The nervous energy bouncing around inside her froze solid with disbelief. “I’m sorry? I don’t understand.”
“It’s not permanent,” Harrison said, looking a bit uncomfortable as he stared down at his hands and fussed with the papers in front of him again. “Just until this is all sorted out. We don’t want you to get hurt or worse because of the controversy surrounding this legislation, especially with the results of the murder investigation into the last director’s death still pending. Climate change is important, but it isn’t worth your life.”
“Yes, it is,” Tara said before she could stop herself. She didn’t want to die, dammit, but this was her chance to make a difference. GGE had been pushing for legislation like this for years, but it was only recently that they’d finally gotten traction. Public sentiment was behind them, they had legislators on their side, and it was an election year, so everyone in state government—up to and including the governor—wanted to use this moment to show that they were getting things done. If the bill was ever going to happen, it had to be now. She was the face of the organization. If she backed away, who knew how the tides would shift? Pulse racing and chest tight, she swallowed hard and tried again. “Listen, sir. I get that it could be dangerous, but I don’t want to step back at such a crucial moment. Isn’t there a way we could compromise? Maybe have a protective detail follow me to and from work, perhaps watch my house at night. I’m not scared, if that’s what the board’s worried about.”
Harrison shook his head and set about tamping his papers into a neat stack. “No, I can see that you’re not, but you probably should be. And besides, we don’t have the funds right now to hire a bodyguard detail on an ongoing basis. You’ll just have to accept the board’s decision as final. It really is for the best.”
But it didn’t feel like it was for the best. Not at all. Tara’s posture stiffened. He was dismissing her, and she refused to be dismissed. Okay. Fine. They wanted her to have protection, she’d get some protection. “What if I pay for them myself? Would you reconsider then?”
The chairman studied her for a long moment and Tara feared he’d say no. Then he tapped his fingers on his desk and nodded. She let out her pent-up breath. “It will have to be on your own dime, Ms. Crumb. And I can’t promise the board won’t shut this down after their meeting in a few weeks, but I suppose if you had a bodyguard with you at all times, that would cut down on the risk.” He gave her a look. “But be careful, please, Ms. Crumb. You getting yourself killed won’t do this legislation any good at all.”
4
Tara went back to her office, her mind whirling. She needed to strategize here, be smart about things. Figure out how the heck to even find a bodyguard she could trust. She closed her office door this time to hopefully rule out any more nosy visitors and pulled up her web browser. With no idea where to start, Tara just typed in “hire bodyguard Atlanta” and hit Enter.
Page after page of local firms started to show up. Okay. But as she checked out the sites, she only got more anxious and confused. Each one insisted that they were the best in the region, so how was she supposed to judge? She didn’t even know what criteria she should be looking for. Dammit. This wasn’t helping at all.
Choosing one firm at random, she pulled out her cell phone to call, but was interrupted by a knock at her door. Her annoyed gaze flew to the office door. If that was Judy again, come to snoop, she might just go off on the woman…
Knock, knock, knock.
Ugh. Judy was nothing if not persistent and she wouldn’t go away until Tara answered, so she put her cell phone down and called out, “Yes?”
The door opened to reveal someone who wasn’t Judy at all. In fact, it was the last person she’d ever thought she’d see again. “Clint? What are you doing here?”
He looked as flustered as she felt, tiny splotches of crimson blossoming atop his high cheekbones as he stepped into the office and tugged his daughter in behind him. “Uh, hey. Sorry, I hope we’re not interrupting.”
“No,” she said, standing and coming around her desk. “Not at all. Come in.”
“Thanks.” He closed the door behind them and held out a bouquet of what looked like a somewhat motley assortment of wildflowers and weeds to her. “These are, uh… these are for you.”
Tentatively, she took them, blinking at him over the tops of the bedraggled stems. “What are these for?”
Clint scratched the top of his dark head, his short hair grazing his fingertips as he looked down sheepishly. “They were Ashley’s idea.”
“We picked them outside just for you!” the little girl said, her smile wide and beaming.
It was so contagious, Tara couldn’t keep from grinning herself. She did love fresh flowers, even slightly-past-their-prime ones like these. Ashley tugged free of her dad and walked over to Tara, staring up at her with wide eyes. “Do you like them?”
“Yes, I do. Thank you for picking them for me.” She crouched down in front of the little girl. “How have you been?”
“Good!” Ashley looked around the office, then at Tara’s arm. “How’s your bullet wound?”