Jerome smiled again. “Like I said, maybe we need to change my job title.”
“You’re not getting a raise.” Leopold took a deep breath. “Okay, so it looks like we’re going to Seattle. What’s the plan?”
“A party of two needs private security for a long weekend,” said Jerome. “Shouldn’t be a problem.”
“If it’s a simple job, why do we need twelve pages of instructions?”
“You know Jack Melendez.”
“I know the kind of trouble he gets into, sure.”
“Looks like he’s learned from experience,” Jerome said, reading through the faxed document. “It’s all here: Melendez is a former US Ambassador to Chile, and was tipped for the Presidency two years ago, until he was abducted from an economic summit meeting in Santiago. He underwent major brain surgery to remove an explosive device from inside his skull.” He paused. “And, as if that wasn’t enough, he’s now back on the campaign trail. He’s apparently won a lot of favor. Likely to represent his party in the general election this year, but still a relative unknown as far as the public is concerned.”
“For now, at least,” Leopold said. “What are your thoughts?”
“I’d normally suggest a much larger team, but the instructions are explicit. He just wants the two of us.” Jerome leafed through the rest of the document. “And there’s a woman.”
“Isn’t there always?” Leopold reached across the breakfast bar and grabbed a bottle of water from the mini-fridge. He unscrewed the cap and took a deep swig. “Details.”
“Doctor June Kato, his date for the weekend,” Jerome said. “She’s the neurosurgeon who had stones enough to take the bomb out of his head.”
Leopold rolled his eyes. “Typical love story. Guy meets girl. Girl surgically removes explosive from guy’s brain.” He downed the rest of the water. “Sounds like a match made in heaven.”
Jerome kept reading. “Three-day weekend in Seattle, both Melendez and the woman are giving talks at separate meetings at the Washington State Convention Center. They’re staying at the hotel next door.”
“What’s the conference?”
“Some government drive to get more people interested in math and science,” said Jerome. “Melendez is talking economic theory, Kato is down to speak about medical advancements. There’s going to be a lot of eyes on this.”
“Sounds like Jack’s still got a knack for showing up where the cameras are,” said Leopold. “I’m still surprised he never made it to President.”
“Which brings me to the next issue.” Jerome pointed to a paragraph near the top of one of the pages Leopold was studying.
“Seriously?”
“Looks like our incumbent has the same idea.”
Leopold read the paragraph aloud. “‘The President of the United States is due to appear on the first day of talks. He will give a brief press statement before attending the keynote speech.’”
“Looks like Mr. Melendez isn’t the only one with a marketing team,” said Jerome.
“I’m sure both camps want to keep them separate. What’s the living situation?”
“Melendez is due to check in to the First Hill Suites Hotel, just next door to the convention center. They have the entire floor sealed off for the visit. He and Kato want to share the same suite, or at least stay on the same floor, but don’t want it publicly known they are dating.”
Leopold grimaced. “Just to make our lives easier, I guess.”
“The Melendez campaign people seem to think it will look best if he has a woman on his arm for this election, and she’s the one they’re grooming for the job.”
“I don’t see why the Secret Service can’t handle this,” Leopold said. “We’re only a few months from the election. Melendez already proved he’s a runner.”
“After the fiasco in Santiago, the Melendez people want private security for the foreseeable future.” He paused. “I guess they have trust issues.”
“Wouldn’t you?”
Jerome ignored him. “We’ll need to deal with suite requests, food, schedules, and it says here they want to go out on the town.”
“They don’t want much, do they?”
“They want romance, and not just in the bedroom.” Jerome leafed through the file and pointed to a block of text. “At least, I’m reading between the lines.”
“First, we have details to pick apart, and a hotel to inspect,” Leopold muttered, getting up from his chair. “We need specs for the First Hill Suites Hotel, and get there early for our own security check of the VIP floor Melendez has reserved.”