Maybe she should mention those other things to Thad? Perhaps she should tell him that she felt like somebody was trying to gaslight her, that she couldn’t possibly be as absentminded as she’d been over the past couple of weeks.
She immediately dismissed the idea, certain that one thing had nothing to do with the other. Her absentmindedness didn’t cut her brake lines and telling him about the other things might only manage to muddle the case.
“Have you had problems with anyone? Old boyfriends you’ve ticked off?” Thad asked. “People maybe you worked with on the event that you might have rubbed the wrong way?”
“No, nothing like that,” she replied.
“There is an old boyfriend,” Trey said and Thad looked at him and then gazed back at her expectantly.
“Barry. Barry Chambers. He owns Chambers Realty, but he wouldn’t want to hurt me. We broke up weeks ago. He’s old history and in any case he’s not the type of man to do something like this.”
“Who broke up with whom?” Thad asked.
“It was a mutual thing, but he broke up with me before I got a chance to kick him to the curb.” Once again she raised a hand to her forehead, where she knew her bruise had already begun to take on the colors of green and yellow. “The breakup was quite civilized, done in a public place over dinner.”
She steadfastly kept her gaze away from Trey, who had ended that night with her in a hotel bed where they’d had wild, passionate sex. “Trust me, Barry doesn’t care enough about me to try to kill me or hurt me in any way,” she added.
Thad frowned. “That brake line didn’t just cut itself. Somebody had to have intentionally crawled under your car while you all were inside the hotel dining and dancing. That somebody had something sharp enough to cut the brake line.” He looked at his brother. “Could this have anything to do with Mom or you?”
“I don’t see how,” Trey said slowly. “But I have no clue what to think.”
“I’m just a glorified secretary, for God’s sake,” she exclaimed as horror washed over her. She dropped her hand from her forehead to her lap. “Maybe somebody got the wrong car?”
Trey’s frown deepened. “What do you mean?”
“I drive a common type of car, nothing fancy or unusual. Probably half the staff at the hotel drives something similar to my car. This has to be about somebody else. It can’t be about me. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt me for any reason.” She swallowed hard against a rising hysteria.
Thad drew a hand through his hair. “If you think of somebody, no matter how crazy it sounds, you need to contact me.” He reached into his coat pocket and withdrew a card. “Meanwhile, I’ll check out the hotel and see if the answer lies with somebody there. In any case, it’s possible somebody saw something that night that might help us find out who is responsible for this.”
“Thank you, Thad,” Debra said. He nodded and left the room. Trey remained seated at the foot of the bed, his gaze focused intently on her.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“A little shaken up, especially now that I’ve been told that somebody tried to kill me,” she replied, her voice trembling slightly. “Honestly, Trey, I can’t imagine anyone hating me enough to do something like this. I can’t imagine anyone hating me at all.”
“I can’t either,” he admitted with a soft tenderness that soothed every exposed nerve of her emotional chaos.
“Maybe it really was just a case of mistaken car identity and Thad will figure it all out. Maybe it has something to do with somebody who works at the hotel.”
She shifted positions in the chair. “You know, there is one person who kind of creeps me out and keeps asking me out on dates. I turn him down all the time, but, I can’t imagine him having anything to do with this.”
Trey’s eyes narrowed to blue slits. “And who is this person?”
She hesitated a moment and then replied. “Jerry Cahill.”
One of Trey’s eyebrows lifted in obvious surprise. “You mean Secret Service Jerry Cahill?”
She nodded and released an uncomfortable laugh. “I’m sure it’s nothing, that I’m just overreacting. It’s just whenever he’s on duty at the side entrance he always stops my car and wants to know why I don’t want to go out with him.”
“And what do you tell him?”
“That I don’t have time to date and obviously I’ll be having less time for personal relationships in the future.” It was a backhanded reference to the fact that it wouldn’t be too terribly long before she’d be juggling both her job and single parenthood.
“I’ll check it out,” Trey said, his voice filled with a simmering anger. “His job is to guard the house and my mother, not to make any of the staff feel uncomfortable.”
“I don’t want to get him into any trouble,” Debra replied hurriedly. “He’s never done anything to me except flirt, and one day I thought I saw him just standing outside my townhouse.”
“Why didn’t you mention this before?” Trey asked.
“Because I thought he was harmless. I mean, he’s a Secret Service man. They go through all kinds of security and background tests to get their jobs. They can’t be the bad guys.”
Trey’s jaw clenched. “Anyone can be a bad guy, Debra. Men have been known to do terrible things to women they feel have rejected them.”
Wearied both physically and mentally, Debra sagged back in the chair. It all felt like too much... The accident that wasn’t an accident, the crazy incidents of forgetfulness or whatever they were. She felt as if her brain was stuffed with too many strange things and she had somehow entered an alternate universe like the Twilight Zone.
Trey stood up and walked over to her. He held out his hand. “Come on, I think it’s time for you to be back in bed. It’s not even noon yet and you look exhausted.”
“Attempted murder does that to a woman,” she replied. She eyed his hand and hesitated a moment, almost afraid to touch him, afraid that a simple touch would force out all her emotions that she’d tried to keep in check.
She finally slipped her hand into his and he pulled her not just out of her chair, but into his arms. A sob caught in her throat as he held her against him, his hands lightly caressing up and down her back.
“It’s going to be okay,” he murmured, his breath a warm promise against her hair. “We aren’t going to let anything happen to you.”
She couldn’t help it, she began to cry. All of the uncertainty of the past few weeks coupled with the accident and now the knowledge that somebody had deliberately tampered with her car mingled together in a roar of emotions she could no longer contain.
She hadn’t realized until this moment how badly she’d needed to be held, how much she’d wanted strong arms wrapped around her, assuring her that she was okay.
She leaned into him, drawing in the comforting heat of his body, breathing in the familiar scent of his cologne. His heart beat against her own, a steady rhythm that slowly calmed the racing of her own heartbeat.
Her tears finally ebbed, leaving her spent and clinging with her arms around his neck, her face turned into the hollow of his throat. She wanted to kiss him, to tip her head up and feel his lips pressed against hers.
She felt loved. In his arms she felt loved as she’d never felt in her entire life. She wanted to stay in this room, in this moment forever.
And for just a crazy instant she wanted to tell him that she was madly in love with him, she wanted to confess that the baby she carried was his.
Thankfully at that moment he released her and she got back into bed, her love for him shoved down and buried deep inside her as she pulled the sheet up to cover herself.
* * *
It was unusually warm for the last few days of January as Trey drove to his mother’s mansion to take Debra home to her townhouse Wednesday morning.
He
didn’t want her to leave the safety of his mother’s place, but Debra had insisted that she’d overstayed her time at the estate and needed to go home and get settled back into her usual routine.
She’d told him she was also ready to get back to work. Haley had stepped in to take her place while she’d been recuperating, but now it was time for Haley to step aside and let Debra resume her position.
So far nothing had come out of the investigation Thad was conducting in regard to the cut brake line. Nobody at the hotel had seen anything unusual the night of the dinner and Barry had an alibi for the evening.
Thad and Trey had spoken to Jerry Cahill together the day before. Trey had found the Secret Service man slightly arrogant and completely indignant that anyone would believe he would do anything to harm a member of the family or the staff.
He confessed that he liked to tease Debra, but Trey told him in no uncertain terms that his “teasing” wasn’t welcomed and he should not bother Debra or anyone else on staff again. It was not only unbecoming, but it was unprofessional, as well.
Jerry had agreed, but Trey had seen a flash of anger in the man’s eyes that he didn’t like. Jerry didn’t know it, but he was under investigation by his bosses to make sure he wasn’t some loon who had managed to slide into the system where he didn’t belong.
Trey pulled up to the front door of the mansion and got out, enjoying the fact that no coat was needed and the forecast for the next week mentioned highs in the upper sixties.
Thankfully the long-term forecast was for Raleigh to enjoy an unusually mild week or two. That was fine with Trey, he’d prefer not to battle the cold and ice or snow, although he doubted that winter was finished with them yet.
Spring was his favorite season, the time for rebirth and green grass and lush flower gardens. He reminded himself that he needed to hire a gardener so that he would have some flower beds when spring arrived.
Maddie let him into the house and told him that Debra was waiting for him in the sitting room. He walked in and couldn’t help the way his heart lifted at the sight of her.
Her forehead bruise was still visible, although fading with each day that passed. She was seated on the sofa, clad in a pair of jeans and a pink sweater.
A medium-size pink duffel bag and her purse sat on the floor next to her. Her eyes lit up as she saw him and he didn’t know if she was happy to see him or just happy to see her ride home.
“I still think you going home right now is a bad idea,” he said as he sank down in the chair next to the sofa. “I’d prefer you stay here for a while longer.”
“I’m feeling fine and I need to go home.”
“If I were your boss, I’d insist that you stay here,” he countered.
“Thankfully you aren’t the boss of me,” she replied, “and I’ve taken advantage of your mother and the staff’s kindness long enough. It’s time for me to get back to my own home and my own routine. Tomorrow I intend to be back at my desk here as usual.”
She lifted her chin in a show of defiance, as if she expected Trey to give her more of a hard time. He knew that look of steely strength that arrowed from her eyes. He’d seen it when she’d been negotiating with the hotel. Sweet little Debra had a will of iron when necessary.
“Besides,” she continued, “if I don’t get back to work, Kate will hire Haley to take over my position permanently.”
Trey laughed at the very idea. “Yeah, like that’s ever going to happen. You know my mother is totally devoted to you. You don’t have to worry about your job.”
“All the more reason that I need to get back to work for her. I’m feeling much better, my bruises are going away and it’s time to get back to my own life.”
“That’s what scares me,” he replied. “We still don’t know who was responsible for your accident.”
“And we may never know, but that doesn’t mean I have to suddenly stop my life.” She stood and grabbed both the duffel and her purse. “My car was targeted, not me, and I still believe that somehow it was a crazy mistake and some creep cut the lines on the wrong car. Besides, why not target my house, smother me in my sleep or shoot me when I’m driving to work?”
She shook her head. “This was done in a public place. For all we know it was done by a couple of whacked-out teenagers looking to cause trouble.”
Trey stood and took the duffel bag from her. He knew she was right in that she couldn’t just stop living because of what had happened, but he still didn’t like the idea of her being all alone in her townhouse when they couldn’t be sure that she wasn’t the target of the brake failure. He definitely didn’t believe that it was the work of teenagers looking for a thrill.
“Do you really think Haley wants your job?” Trey asked when they were in his car and headed to her townhouse.
“Of course she would,” Debra replied without hesitation. “She’s bright and ambitious, but there’s no way I think her desire to have my job led to her trying to kill me, if that’s where you’re going with this conversation. I still refuse to believe that anyone tried to kill me.”
Trey hoped she was right, but just to be on the safe side he made a mental note to tell Thad to check out Haley and any of the other interns that worked for his mother.
“What are you going to do about a car?” Trey asked as he pulled up to the curb in front of her home. He knew her vehicle would be in police impound for quite some time.
“The insurance company has totaled mine out, so I’ll be getting a check in a week or two. I’m going to call for a rental later this afternoon and then maybe when the insurance pays out I’ll go car hunting. It was time for a new car anyway.”
They got out of the car and as he grabbed the luggage, she dug her keys out of her purse. When they reached the front door she unlocked it and pushed it open, then turned to him and took the duffel bag from him.
“Thanks for the ride home, Trey. I really appreciate it.”
“Not so fast,” he said and slid inside the foyer. “I want to do a check of the locks on your doors to make sure you’re secure when you’re home.”
While he did want to check her doors and windows, the honest truth was he wasn’t ready to leave her company yet. He walked through her living room and into the kitchen where he knew she had a back door.
He was intensely aware of her trailing behind him, having dropped the duffel bag and her purse in the living room. “I’m sure my locks on my doors are more than adequate and, besides, nobody has ever tried to break into my house,” she said.
He checked the dead bolt and lock on her back door and then turned to look at her. “While I’m here I wouldn’t mind a cup of tea or maybe some of that special mint hot cocoa of yours.”
Her beautiful eyes narrowed. “Why didn’t you just ask me to invite you in for something to drink instead of making up some stupid pretense of looking at my locks?”
“I did want to look at your locks,” he protested and then laughed as she gazed at him in disbelief. “Okay, you busted me. I just wanted to sit with you for a little while.”
“Why?”
He looked at her in surprise. The simple question wasn’t easily answered, at least not completely honestly. He wanted to tell her that he loved watching her, that she was charmingly uncomplicated and he found her lack of artifice refreshing. He wanted to tell her that he’d much rather spend time with her than the woman he intended to marry, but he didn’t.
“I enjoy your company,” he finally replied. “And I’m formally declaring my intentions to run at a press conference next week and I have a feeling the next couple of days are the last I’m going to see of any real peace and quiet.”
She pointed to a chair at the table. “I’ll make the hot cocoa.”
She worked with a graceful efficiency that hadn’t been present on the night he’d danced with her. He smiled to himself as
he thought of how often her feet had knocked into his in the short period he’d held her in his arms. Okay, so she wasn’t going to win a dance contest anytime soon, but he didn’t intend to enter one anytime soon, either.
To be as far along in her pregnancy as she claimed she was, she didn’t show at all. “Are you eating enough?” he asked.
She turned from the counter to look at him in surprise. “I’m eating fine.... Why?”
His gaze drifted down to her abdomen. “You don’t have any baby bump.”
A blush colored her cheeks and one hand fell to her stomach. “The baby is just fine. I’m eating fine and if you saw me without my clothes you’d be able to see the baby bump.” She turned back to the cabinets to get some cups.
It was the worst thing she could have said to him, because a vision of her naked took hold of his brain and refused to shake loose. Even with a huge pregnant belly, she’d still be beautiful naked. He clenched his fists, his short nails digging into his palms. He couldn’t think about her like that. He had no right to entertain such thoughts.
By the time she carried two cups of cocoa to the table and sat down across from him, he’d managed to banish the evocative vision from his brain.
“How are you going to manage it all?” he asked. “I mean being a single working mother?”
She took a sip of her drink and then lowered her cup. “The way hundreds of other women do it every day of their lives. I’m blessed that I make enough money that I’ll be able to hire a good nanny to take care of the baby while I’m at work. I’m equally blessed that I work for your mother, who for all intents and purposes was a single mother herself while your father was a senator.”
Trey had a difficult time arguing with her about that. When he was young, weeks would go by when his father wasn’t in the house. Of course none of them knew about the mistresses that were a part of his life.
“Do you know whether you’re having a boy or a girl? Isn’t this about the time they can tell the sex of the baby?” It was ridiculous, the little rivulet of jealousy that tingled through him as he thought of her carrying another man’s child.
HER SECRET, HIS DUTY Page 14