And there would be one less voice proclaiming the greatness of America’s corrupt social, economic, and political system.

“Thanks for being such a trouper all week.” Eve glanced at Brent as he swung the car onto her cul-de-sac. “Getting up at the crack of dawn isn’t for the fainthearted.”

“It wasn’t an issue. I’ve put in a fair number of odd hours during my career.” He slowed as he approached her driveway. “Now that Friday’s here, let’s talk about the weekend.”

Drat.

She’d been hoping he wouldn’t ask about her plans. Her Saturday schedule wasn’t going to thrill him—and she was done imposing on him for bodyguard duty. But there was no avoiding his question.

“I’m giving a speech tomorrow.”

He frowned. “Why didn’t I know about this until now?”

“Because it’s no big deal. Everything’s been normal all week. Whoever left that last note must have decided not to take any further action—and as you told me yourself, Steve won’t try anything else or his lawyer will have a fit. I feel perfectly safe.”

A bit of a stretch . . . but she wasn’t going to walk around in fear either. She had a life to live—and commitments to keep.

“Tell me about the speech. Who, what, when, where, why.” He pulled into her driveway and set the brake.

“Wow. You got very official on me all of a sudden.” She grinned and nudged him with her elbow.

He didn’t smile back. “Just give me the details.”

“Fine.” In staccato fashion, she rattled off the particulars about the Young Republicans event and her keynote address.

A muscle clenched in Brent’s jaw, and he closed his eyes. “That is not what I wanted to hear.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

He looked at her. “Did you know there could be an Antifa presence at that gathering?”

“Yes. The president of the group called to tell me he’d been alerted to that possibility. I wasn’t thrilled, but he said they were beefing up security. They’re even sending a car for me. They’ll whisk me in, I’ll do my thing, they’ll whisk me out. Piece of cake. Otherwise I would have called Phoenix.”

Brent’s taut features said he wasn’t buying her assurance—and his next comment told her why. “County is gearing up for trouble.”

Despite a sudden kink in her stomach, she did her best to maintain a placid expression. “What kind of trouble?”

“We don’t know. But that’s a volatile, unpredictable group. There will be a large law enforcement presence.”

“As a precaution, right? There haven’t been real threats of disruption, have there?”