At the far end of the room, Mandi banked hard left at the wall and made
three complete circuits of the auditorium at what must have been more than sixty
miles per hour.
Paul softly muttered, "Hooo-ly shit..!"
"Yup," said Cade. "She'll bring her own props, too."
"Huh? Props? What props?"
Nodding, Cade said, "She wants to use a Crown Victoria like the one that
blew up."
Stepping back slightly, Paul blinked at Cade and exclaimed, "She can't bring
a goddamned car in here!"
"Sure she can. The gas tank'll be empty. It'll never touch the carpets. No
problem."
"But..."
"Don't worry so much, man. We'll clear it with the hotel if you'll clear us
a path through the crowd. Rope off a trail about eight feet wide from the front
double doors to the auditorium and have people on hand to keep it clear at
showtime."
"But... The doors! Will a car even fit through the doors?"
Grinning, Cade said, "Yup. Already checked that out. We'll have three inches
on each side at the ballroom doors and almost four on a side at the front doors.
We'll have to put the antenna down, though."
Mandi streaked back across the auditorium and looped once over the mens'
heads to settle gently to the stage a few feet away from them. Flipping her cape
over her shoulder again, she walked toward them with a smile.
Paul's eyes were on her chest. Cade's eyes met her gaze, as usual. Mandi
liked that about him; he wasn't one of those guys with a boob fixation and he
had no trouble making or keeping eye contact when he talked with her.
"Well, Paul?" she asked. "Do I go on stage tonight?"
"I... uh, I really ought to check with..."
"Nope," said Cade, shaking his head. "Safety first. Nobody else is to know a
damned thing about this until showtime. Yes or no, Paul. She can go public here
tonight or at a press conference at WNN tomorrow."
"Paul," Mandi said softly, "We'll give WNN ten minutes' notice so they can
get a camera crew over here. Think of the publicity for the convention."
In a visible quandry, Paul grimaced and glanced at Cade, then asked, "You're
sure it'll be safe..?"
"If you keep it secret, it will be."
Mandi perked up and glanced at the doors, causing Cade and Paul to also look
that direction.
"Gotta go," she said. "People are coming."
"That's just the sound crew," said Paul, but Mandi was already gone when he
turned.
"She's pretty quick," said Cade