Read Campaign of Desire (CSA Case Files 4) for Free Online Page B

on her tiptoes and kissed their father’s cheek. “But they’ll have to keep up.”
    “Dad, one more day isn’t going to hurt,” Phoebe said, placing a hand on Stan’s arm and doing what she did best—compromise. It also gave Kimmie a chance to slip around everyone and head for the door. “Even you have to admit that you should have run this by us first. Can we talk in private?”
    Phoebe might have been addressing her father, but all of her attention was on Lach. He stood several feet away, his black leather jacket unzipped. She knew that it gave him easy access to his weapon. He’d yet to take his eyes off of her, not even when Kimmie walked by him. His dark gaze concealed his emotions and she couldn’t tell what he was thinking, let alone feeling. They hadn’t parted on the best of terms, and if her dad thought she could have Lach around her on a daily basis, her father was dead wrong. She wasn’t even sure why they needed security details at this point. They hadn’t even formally announced her father’s candidacy yet.
    “Yes, we can talk but it won’t change anything,” Stan said, his warning evident. He turned and addressed two of the three men that had walked into the office with him, excluding Paul Mooney. Phoebe noticed that the third man had followed Kimmie at a close distance when she’d left for her class. “I need five minutes alone with my daughter before we sit down and go over our schedules.”
    Phoebe didn’t wait to be introduced, hoping beyond hope that it wouldn’t be necessary. She’d been around politics her entire life and she knew that candidates didn’t get security details until one hundred and twenty days before the election. Her father apparently had high hopes that he’d make it through the primaries, not that she would argue with him. His polls had come out on top and he’d also hired one of the best campaign managers around. Tomorrow’s declaration was a little later than when his other opponents announced, but the speculation on his run only swayed the public support more in his favor.
    “Dad, this is unnecessary,” Phoebe declared after she’d closed her father’s office door behind them. “One, there’s no need for security at this early stage and two, it’s a waste of money. Lach McKinnon works for CSA. From my understanding Gavin Crest charges an astronomical fee.”
    “Crest is good. He can charge whatever he damn well likes,” Stan replied with a chuckle. He walked around his desk and took a seat, leaning back in the leather chair, his gaze softening. “Phoebe, I just spent over two hours with the man. Nothing is more important to me than my daughters. You know this.”
    Phoebe bit her lip to question that statement, but she felt ashamed at her reaction and kept her mouth shut. Her father did love her and Kimmie, but sometimes his decisions affected them in ways that he didn’t understand. Adding twenty-four seven guards to them wouldn’t make things any better. She’d won their last argument in regards to her missions for Crescent and she’d returned to Iraq without any further issues.
    “All I’m saying is that there are better ways to spend money when security will be provided to us at a later date.” Phoebe felt a tremor run through her and she knew that Lach was looking at them through the glass. She refused to turn around and instead she took one of the guest chairs and tried to make herself comfortable. The heat on her back only intensified. “I’m surprised Paul thought this was a good idea.”
    “It was Paul’s idea, although I’ll grant you that he wanted to go with a firm that was less expensive.” Stan looked down at his desk, as was his habit when he was trying to form his words carefully. Phoebe’s heart skipped a beat and waited for the bomb to drop. “There have been some threats made in regards to a partisan agreement on the Right To Work bill that is coming up for a vote by the Senate Labor Relations Committee. There are