Read Online Forsaken by James David Jordan - Free Book Online Page B

brought them out after you left. What’s so unusual about that?” Elise said.
    “I was talking to the son of the landscape company’s owner. He told me the two palm trees that he was taking off the cart were the last of the plants for the stage. Those two by the podium—the pulpit—were not there.”
    “What if they weren’t?” Simon was frowning now. “Do you really think someone can hide a bomb in a potted plant?”
    “You better believe someone can hide a bomb in a potted plant! Granted, the odds are overwhelmingly against it; but the odds are overwhelmingly against just about any threat. The point is that you are the focus of attention of some very dangerous people. If they did put a bomb in one of those plants, it would almost certainly kill you. Those plants weren’t there when I checked the stage earlier, and according to the landscaping company they’re not supposed to be there now. I’m telling you that it would be prudent to check them out.”
    Elise tapped her fingers on the laptop she was holding under her arm. “Well, what do you want us to do, call off the show because there are two potted plants that are unaccounted for?”
    I raised an eyebrow. “The show?”
    “The celebration.” She scowled at me.
    “No, we don’t need to call off the celebration. We simply need to check out those two plants.”
    Simon sighed. “How are we going to do that in frontof fifteen thousand people? You know, Taylor, I’m not the president of the United States and it’s not practical to do some of the things you may be accustomed to doing for security. Besides, if we check out the plants and they do contain bombs, won’t whoever planted them just set them off?”
    “It’s possible. More likely there would be a timing device. Whoever planted them would probably stick out like a sore thumb in this crowd. Besides, the printed programs give a great timetable for what’s going to happen and when it’s going to happen. You’re scheduled to be on the stage three-quarters of the time. A timer wouldn’t have to be precise and would still work just fine.”
    He put a hand on his hip. “Fine, but that brings us back to the question: What now?”
    “Can I see that?” I reached for the program Elise carried in her hand.
    She pulled it away. “Why?”
    I looked at my watch. “There’s very little time. Would you please just give me the program?”
    She glanced at Simon. He nodded. She handed me the program.
    “The song leader’s going to pray right at the beginning, isn’t he?”
    “That’s right,” Simon said.
    “We can dim the lights. No one will think anything about it. I’ll get the plants off during the prayer. Most of the people won’t notice. If a bomb blows up, at least you’re back here and not out on the stage. Elise, who’s running the lighting?”
    “Wait a minute,” Simon said. “This seems like a huge overreaction to me. We can’t cart potted plants around during a prayer. What will people think?”
    I threw up my arms. “If you’re dead, it won’t matter what people think!”
    He took a quick look around us to see if anyone had heard. “Okay, calm down. We get the point.”
    I lowered my voice. “I’m sorry if I sound impatient, but dangerous people have threatened your life and you are acting as if you don’t take that seriously. Apparently you don’t know what people like this are capable of, but I do. We are not overreacting. We are using common sense. Your life has changed. You’d better get used to it if you want to stay alive.”
    Elise chewed her lip. I wondered whether she had the authority to fire me before I’d been hired? I was just about to tell both of them that this was a bad fit and I should just hop a plane back to Dallas when she turned to Simon. “She’s right. Your life is in danger, and we’ve got to get serious about protecting you.”
    I did a double take. “Excuse me?”
    She turned back to me. “Whatever it takes to protect Simon, we’ll do.