Paladin 2: Chapter 3

The elevator dinged, bringing Tristan’s attention back to the present. He’d been distracted all week, his mind overloaded with all the security preparations for this event. Most of the time, he was thrilled to have this job. He’d worked hard enough to get it, so feeling a certain sense of satisfaction was a serious plus. The leaders of a mercenary unit couldn’t be too picky about jobs, so when the work was pleasant, it was a definite plus.

This job had some downsides, though. He’d arranged to have his team hired as citywide security. On paper, they were contractors assisting the regular Security Services. In reality, Tristan was basically in charge of security, especially for major events. Day to day policing went mostly to the people who’d been doing it before, although even there he was allowed some oversight. Special events, like this one, were much more purely Tristan’s purview.

Which unfortunately meant a lot of extra work for him! Even though a banquet to honor the most dedicated and impactful farmer leaders in the area was a relatively low-risk event—who would try to rob farmers? It wasn’t like they were known for their wealth!—this particular event still had him wound up.

Because of her. Because she was coming.

Kira was a trouble magnet, which was something Tristan seriously didn’t need just then. Or ever, for that matter! But whether he liked it or not, she was on her way to this event. If anything was going to go wrong, it would absolutely happen after she arrived. And with Jace Haven one of the farmers being honored at the event, Tristan had no doubt she’d be all over him, double-checking his work to ensure the security was as tight as it could be. He’d driven himself to ensure security was the best he could reasonably make it, partly because he didn’t want to risk the sharp side of Kira’s tongue, and partly… Well, partly because he owed her.

All of that was further complicated by the date. It was Mabon, one of only a handful of actual holidays the people of Percival celebrated. Mabon marked the end of the old harvest season, from back before they were growing things year-round in greenhouses shielded from the desert heat.

They’d set the banquet honoring top farmers for that day partly because as a holiday, the farmers were more likely to attend, and partly because it meant the building would be mostly empty. None of the regular city officials would be in work for Mabon, leaving the building open for the banquet. It also meant only a skeleton crew of regular building security would be on duty, leaving Tristan’s people to pick up most of the slack.

He shook his head to clear it as he stepped from the elevator and made his way down the hall toward the office he’d grabbed as his temporary base of operations. He only made it about halfway before a woman came up behind him, laying her arm around his waist.

“Hi, gorgeous,” she said.

He slipped away from her grip, frowning a little. “Xara.”

She followed as he continued down the hall. “You still working? Don’t you take a break? I think you have the security well in place for this little ‘shindig,’ don’t you?” She said the word ‘shindig’ like she’d placed air quotes around it. Every word that dripped from Xara Richmond’s mouth was laced with either sarcasm, sardonic humor, or stupidity.

Sometimes, she even managed a mix of all three.

Tristan couldn’t stand the woman, but she was one of those necessary evils of this job. She was a representative from one of the trade unions in Sunset City, so she was always hanging out around the Government Center, which meant he often bumped into her. She, in turn, chose to make each of those chance meetings into an opportunity to seduce Tristan, something he hadn’t let happen. It was somewhere between annoying and amusing, for him. The annoying part was because he suspected the woman was intentionally running into him more often than she had to, just to have more chances at getting him into bed with her.

“Look, I know we’re all gonna be busy today,” Xara purred. “I’ve got a speech to give, you have bad guys to watch out for, and all that. But tonight, after all of this is done, there’s a private party over at my union headquarters. I’d love to see you there. We could even maybe talk about you…moonlighting…some, for the union, of course. Then it would be a business meeting.”

He turned toward her, finally losing some of his patience. “Xara, I have to grab lunch. Then I need to double check the security prep for the event before our guests start arriving. Then I need to greet most of those guests. After that, I’m spending all afternoon and evening making sure the place stays safe for the duration.”

Xara made a scoffing sound. “Like anyone is going to attack the building. Who’d want to rob a bunch of farmers?”

That sounded annoyingly like a thought Tristan himself had just had, not long before. He knew that wasn’t the whole story, though. “Usually, we’re able to keep the building extremely secure. First floor is offices open to the public, and only people with clearances are allowed to enter the floors above the first floor. This is different, though. Most of the building will be open to these guests, and it was never really designed for that sort of thing.”

He’d pushed to move the banquet elsewhere, in fact, but the city council overruled him. They had a lovely hall in the Government Center building, and they wanted to show it off. How better to do that than to hold an awards banquet there? The space was amazing, too. It had a vaulted ceiling, stretching twenty feet or more above the floor, with balconies overlooking a massive water feature, and an enormous open area that was now filled with tables for the dinner.

“You’re not going to be any fun until all of this is over, are you?” Xara said, making a face.

“Probably not. Sorry about that. Just part of the job,” Tristan replied.

“That’s okay. It’s one of the things I love about you, Trissy. Your dedication to what you do is so sexy.”

Tristan valiantly won the struggle to avoid rolling his eyes. Barely, but he managed. The woman was toxic as hell, a walking stereotype in stiletto heels, but he had to work with her far too often to outright tell her how he felt. It was easier to just play the polite, stoic security officer when she was around. Of course, that did the opposite of deterring her…

“Well, I’ll be around all day,” Xara said, running her hand down from his shoulder to his hip. “If you get bored and want to spend some quality time, you just let me know.”

She slipped away, letting Tristan retreat to his office space. He shut the door, then settled himself in front of a computer console with a sigh. If it wasn’t all the extra work for this banquet driving him nuts, it was Xara showing up to ambush him. He had no doubt that he’d be fending her off all day.

Tristan pulled out his com-link and set it down on the desk in front of him, then activated it to contact the ship. In spite of the crew’s employment, most of them had elected to continue using the Dauntless as home. He preferred spending his nights there too, when he could, but it didn’t look like this would be one of those nights.

After a few moments, the device blinked green as it connected. A holo appeared in the air above the com unit with the face of his second in command. “Hey, boss-man. How’s it going?”

Mark had been with Tristan basically since he started the unit. They’d been friends for ages, and Tristan trusted the man with his life. Just then, though, if there’d been a way he could have ordered Mark to cover this instead of him, he’d have taken it! “About as well as can be expected. Ran into Xara a few minutes ago.”

“That shark still circling you?”

Tristan laughed. “Yeah, she is.”

“Doesn’t know when to quit.”

“That’s about right. Otherwise, things are going well,” Tristan replied. He checked the time. “I’m expecting the firsts of our guests to arrive before too long. I’ll have to go up to greet them all.”

“Is she still coming?” Mark asked.

He knew without asking who Mark was talking about. “Yeah.”

Mark gave a short, dry chuckle. “Yeah, you think Xara is a shark. Watch out for that other one.”

“At least Kira has brains,” Tristan replied. Plus, unlike Xara, she wasn’t trying to get him in her bed.

“That’s what makes her more dangerous, boss. Not less. I’m sure you can handle it, though. The rest of the agenda still on track?”

“Yeah, we’re good on that score. After the meet and greet, it’s a whole afternoon of meetings. Boring shit. Then the banquet, awards, et cetera. It’s going to be a late night. Wish we were somewhere else.”

“Me, too,” Mark said, laughing. “But that’s why we get paid the big bucks!”

Tristan wanted to remark that they weren’t actually being paid that much, and there had to be an easier way to make a living. But they weren’t doing bad at all, under the circumstances. The truth was, he’d become the face of security and safety in Sunset City. The media made him their darling after word got out his unit had stopped the raiders who’d been hitting mine convoys. Of course, the truth was that his people had been the original raiders, but it was simple enough to frame the bounty hunters he’d taken down with Kira’s help, and then collectively claim credit for beating them.

Since Kira hadn’t wanted the spotlight or much of the credit, the media latched onto Tristan instead, showing his face across every news broadcast for weeks after the mess ended. The press coverage eventually slowed down, but now the city wanted him to personally cover the security for all major events. He was known, his face trusted, so he was the obvious choice for the job.

“Anyway, just wanted to check in. All good at the ship?” Tristan asked.

“No issues here. Quick reaction force will be ready to deploy before your guests arrive, and I’ll keep them on alert until you’re home, although I don’t expect we’ll need them,” Mark replied.

“No, me either, but it pays to be sure,” Tristan said. “Okay, that was it for me. Unless you have anything else to cover, I’ll see you tonight. Probably very late tonight.”

“Don’t worry, boss. We’ll keep the lights on for you.”

“Thanks,” Tristan said, then closed the connection. The holo winked out.

He leaned back in his chair, pondering the rest of his day. If all went well, this would be another boring security detail. The least boring part of it would be seeing Kira again. He found himself looking forward to that. The woman was damned impressive.

There was still an hour before the guests started arriving. Time left for a swim, and the building had a stunning pool. Decision made, Tristan stood and made his way back down the hall to the elevators. A quick workout would clear his head and leave him ready for the rest of his day.