Heroes Reborn--Collection 2 by Keith R. A. DeCandido

Author:Keith R. A. DeCandido [Swierczynski, Duane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-3-96002-0158
Publisher: Bastei Entertainment
Published: 2016-03-17T00:00:00+00:00

15

4 December 2011

The Petrelli house, Vienna, VA

Claire had started to take bets on the “second string” of her security detail.

Agents Hopwood and Uduwana remained the primary agents assigned to her, and they worked five eight-hour shifts a week, Tuesday through Saturday, ten to six. However, the agents working the six to two and overnight two to ten shifts rotated every week, as did those who worked the Sunday and Monday “weekend.”

The bets took the form of what the new rotation would bring. Would the agents be tall or short? Male or female? Friendly or terse? What race? Most had been either white or black, with a few Latinos and one Asian woman, who had a weekend day shift.

The second-string shifts were staggered so that they changed at different times, but Sunday always meant a new weekend day-shift pair while Ana and Bekenya went off to do whatever Secret Service agents did on their weekends. Bekenya, she knew, would spend time with her wife and daughter, and also volunteer at a karate dojo. As for Ana, Claire had no idea—Agent Hopwood was one of the terse ones.

On this particular Sunday, she bet that it would be a new pair that she’d never seen before.

She lost. A black sedan pulled up to the house on Fox Rest Lane and out came Agents Arbucci and Rodriguez, who’d been her day-shift detail over Halloween weekend. They’d been kept pretty busy, as Claire had spent much of that weekend doing appearances and events for various children’s charities.

After they formally relieved the overnight pair, Claire smiled at them. “Didn’t think I’d see you two again after Halloween.”

“You kidding?” Naomi Rodriguez said. “You were easy. Last year I had to do the President’s kids trick-or-treating. That’s a nightmare. Watching you talk to a buncha kids in a hospital is a cakewalk. Anyhow, you’re clear today, right?”

“Yes,” Claire said emphatically. “I’ve been going nonstop since Thanksgiving. And tomorrow I’m back with Dr. Hsu, and then it’s more appearances through to New Year’s. I want today to be a day of rest. Just me, the couch, and Netflix.”

Rodriguez smiled. “Sounds like a plan.”

However, Nick Arbucci was frowning. “Who’s Dr. Shoe?”

Smacking Arbucci on the arm, Rodriguez said, “You remember, that geneticist who’s checking out her blood?”

“Oh, yeah, right,” Arbucci said weakly.

“You okay, Nicky?” Rodriguez sounded concerned.

“Nah, I’m fine. Not enough caffeine this morning.”

“It’s your own damn fault for not ordering the double latte like usual. Tell you what, you stay inside and caffeinate, I’ll do the perimeter.”

Arbucci nodded.

The rest of the morning went smoothly. Claire caught up on a romcom she’d been wanting to see, and Arbucci gamely pretended like he was interested in it, too.

At noon, Rodriguez took her lunch break. She actually took the car and went off somewhere to eat—not typical, but she’d done that last time, too. Arbucci took advantage of this to do the perimeter, a good excuse to get far away from any more chick flicks.

Then, just a few minutes into the next film, Arbucci came running in.

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