“Agreed.” He unbuckled a clapping Josh and lifted him free of the high chair before giving him a quick hug and depositing him on the sofa with his toys. “If she’s gone to this much trouble to reinvent herself, I can’t see her setting someone up and leaving a loose thread. She would have had the blackmail material before choosing Ames and Hall to take the fall.”
“You know,” she said slowly, as if she was uncomfortable with what she was saying. “I talked to my stepfather and mentioned that Angelica had told you about the exposé. But he still trusts her.”
Hayden scanned her face, looking for signs that there were layers to what she was saying, but couldn’t find any. She was honestly telling him that she was surprised Graham Boyle still trusted Angelica Pierce after Angelica had betrayed him. It hit him then that Lucy truly believed her stepfather was innocent. She wasn’t covering for him—she really had no idea that Boyle was behind the illegal activities at ANS. Anger simmered that Boyle could have someone with a pure heart like Lucy in his life and risk dragging her into his sordid work. He should have kept Lucy away from ANS, away from a company that would likely leave her tarnished. Lucy deserved better.
He sank back into his chair at the desk. If he shared his thoughts with her, she wouldn’t believe him. She’d continue defending Boyle with more loyalty than the creep deserved, so instead he simply said, “Angelica’s ability to make people trust her is what’s gotten her this far.”
She reached into her hold-all bag and came out with a pale yellow muffin. She broke a large chunk off and handed it to him. “Lemon and poppy seed. I bought it on the way over.”
He took the chunk and bit in as he looked back at the images on his laptop. Angelica seemed to be holding all the cards. Everything came down to her, but they didn’t have one shred of evidence. Yet.
Brushing her hands, Lucy turned to him. “So what do we do next? We can’t just wait for her to slip up.”
“I’m heading to Fields, Montana. The president’s birthplace is where this whole debacle started, and I’d lay down money that it’s where Angelica started her hacking on this story. If I can get the evidence that she did, I can catch her.” Fields had been the place where Ted Morrow had gotten Eleanor Albert pregnant, the place from which Eleanor and their baby, Ariella, had disappeared. Journalists had been crawling over the town since Morrow declared his bid for the presidency, and since the story about Ariella Winthrop had broken, investigators and police had joined in, and their discovery of phone taps had sparked the congressional investigation. But they had focused on Ted Morrow’s and Eleanor Albert’s friends and families. Hayden had been through all that evidence and one thing still bugged him—why were all the hackers looking for a baby in the first place?
In the video that captured Hall and Ames hiring the hackers, they’d specifically asked for confirmation there had been a baby. What had sparked the idea to search for that? And who had found those first glimmers of the story? It was time to widen the circle of his investigation to cover more residents of Fields. Lucy’s overheard conversation about Nancy Marlin, friends of Barbara Jessup, was his strongest lead, and the place he’d start.
“How long will you be gone?” Lucy asked.
“A couple of days.” Which was a couple of days too many to leave Lucy alone in D.C. unprotected. He’d been serious about Angelica being a potential threat, and he wasn’t willing to take a single chance. He cupped her shoulders with his hands and found her gaze. “Come with me.”
Eight
Lucy looked at Hayden, her head and heart at war. Now that he’d shared her bed, a couple of days apart seemed an eternity, so going with him to Montana was tempting on that factor alone. But there were unspoken words in his tone that made her think there was something else behind the invitation.
She stood to give herself some distance and took a few steps away. “Why do you want me to come?”
“We’ve been working together, so it makes sense.” He casually shrugged his broad shoulders and leaned back in his chair. “Can you get the time away from work?”
She was sure she could, since Graham wanted her to focus on the exposé, so the more time with Hayden, the better. Still, Hayden’s expression was too serious, too concerned.
“A few days ago you were angry at me for not being honest about doing the exposé. You said you’d been up-front. So, do it again now—be straight with me.” She crossed her arms under her breasts. “Why do you want me to come to Montana?”
He pushed his chair away from the desk and stood, but he didn’t come closer, as if respecting the distance she needed for this conversation. “I don’t want to leave you in the same town as Angelica when I’m not around. I don’t trust her, and she’s fixated on you.”
“I’d been in the same town as Angelica for years before you came along.”
He shook his head. “That was before. Her visit here a few days ago showed she’s on edge. She knows the walls are closing in.”
“You think you need to protect me,” she said, voice flat.
“Of course I should protect you.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s my investigation that’s pushed her. It’s my responsibility to make sure you’re safe.”
Responsibility? There was that word again. Her stomach hollowed out. The last thing she wanted her lover to see when he looked at her was someone to be responsible for. Would he think that if they didn’t have a ten-year age difference? Would he see a woman his own age as able to look after herself?
She straightened her spine. “I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can, Lucy. But if I’m right about Angelica, she’s capable of things worse than we already suspect her of.” With hands around her shoulders, he pulled her close and whispered in her ear. “Did I mention Josh will be staying in D.C. with the nanny? And that I’d book two suites in a new spa hotel—one for us and one for appearances. The one for us would have a hot tub built for two.” He placed several damp kisses on the shell of her ear, then pulled her lobe into his mouth, making her blood sizzle.
“Hayden...” she said on a sigh as she melted into him.
“I could make you very glad you agreed to come.”
Oh, yes, she knew he could. That fact wasn’t in question. What she needed to decide was whether she should go. Hayden’s hands slipped down to her waist and, nudging the edge of her blouse up, found bare skin just above her skirt. The delicious heat started to rise, and all reservations about going away with him evaporated.
“Okay,” she said, swaying against him. “But no more telling me what you think I want to hear. Promise you’ll just say what you mean.”
“Promise.” His lips moved across her cheek and captured hers in a kiss that was as much a vow as his word had been.
* * *
As the check-in receptionist at the Fields Chalet handed over the keys to her suite, Lucy smiled and thanked him, then moved aside so Hayden could check in to his suite. A buzz of excitement had been building deep in her belly since they’d left D.C. On the flight, and at both airports, she and Hayden had acted as if they had only a professional relationship, a charade they were keeping up for now.
She glanced around the foyer, all thick wooden poles and soaring glass panes showing the spectacular mountain view beyond. She’d been to Fields to ski in the past, but had always stayed in her aunt’s villa on the mountainside, which was kept fully stocked, so she hadn’t strayed into town. Since Hayden needed to interview people in the old township, they’d booked into this high-end chalet on the main street. Its grand opulence could have seemed out of place a few doors down from the feed store and across the road from a sawdust-and-peanut-shells tavern, but the chalet had landscaped the area between the road and the front door to create a buffer between the two worlds of Fields.
In the years the president had gone to school here, it had been a sleepy town of ranching families and local businesses, but over time that had changed. The rest of the country, including Lucy’s own aunt Judith, had di
scovered the stunning skiing and snowboarding location and development had soon followed. Now Fields was a hybrid of the charming old town and shiny new developments.
Hayden came up behind her and she could feel the warmth emanating from his body. Not touching him during the trip had been a special kind of torture.
“Would you like me to help you to your room?” he asked politely, taking her carry-on suitcase.
“Thank you,” she said in the calmest voice she could muster. “That’s very kind.”
They set off for the elevators, her body vibrating with the need to feel his skin under her fingertips, his mouth on hers. Hayden hit the button for the elevator, and in the partly secluded alcove, he dared to let the desire in his gaze flare to life.
“I hope you don’t have plans once you reach your room, Ms. Royall,” he said, his voice low.
A shiver raced across her skin. “Something in mind?”
“Hell, yes,” he said as the doors whooshed open.
As soon as they’d entered and the doors closed out the world, she turned to him. “Hayden—”
Before she could get any other words out, he’d pushed her against the wall, his hips pressed against hers, and claimed her mouth. Everything inside her melted and she dropped her handbag to the floor so she could use her hands to touch him—shoulders, biceps, neck, wherever she could reach. Under her fingers, his body shuddered, which only made her belly tighten even more, made her want him more. She arched her back, bringing her hips into closer contact with his, and was just considering pulling his shirt from his trousers when a chirpy bell sounded and the doors opened.
Hayden groaned as he pulled away. “I couldn’t wait another second.” He thrust a hand in front of the closing door to keep it waiting for them. “That trip was far too long—being so close, but not being able to kiss you.”
She swallowed, trying to get her voice to work. “And now there’s the walk from this elevator to our rooms. Yours or mine?”
“Your room, my room, I don’t care.” He cupped her chin and gave her bottom lip a butterfly-light caress with his thumb. “As long as it’s a room with a bed.”
She trembled with anticipation. “Then my vote is for the closest one.”
The corner of his mouth quirked. “Race you.”
He stepped out of the elevator, holding the doors open until she’d picked up her handbag and followed, then he strode down the hall, carrying both the bags, faster than her legs could keep up with. She caught him as he stopped to open the door with the key card. He grabbed her around the waist, pulling her through the door with him and nudging his carry-on bag through with a shoe.
The heavy door shut behind them and she had a few seconds’ glimpse of the opulent room with a gas fireplace and a majestic view of the mountain before Hayden dropped her bag and took up their kiss where they’d left off in the elevator. This time she wasn’t wasting any time and, as his tongue moved in her mouth, she undid his belt and slid it out of the loops on his trousers before throwing it as far across the room as she could.
When she reached for his zipper, Hayden pulled her hands back and wrenched her shirt over her head. “I need to feel your skin, to taste it.” His mouth came down on her shoulder, his tongue moving, teeth scraping across to her collarbone.
She moaned and felt for the wall behind her, taking a small step back, using it to help her stay upright. Hayden followed, pinning her against the cool wall as he found her mouth again. She pulled his shirt from his trousers as she’d wanted to do in the elevator, and he broke away for the seconds it took to grab it from the back and yank it over his head. When he came back to her, the feel of his bare chest on her sensitized skin made a sob rise in her throat. The dark, crisp hair brushed against her cheek while she tried to catch her breath, the muscles moving under her fingers as he kept moving, unzipping his trousers and kicking them away, divesting himself of his boxers, then sliding her skirt up her thighs and moving on to her panties.
“Condom?” she asked with what was probably her only remaining brain cell.
He held a foil packet up between his fingers. “I threw a couple in my pocket in case of an emergency.”
“This certainly qualifies as an emergency,” she said and took it from him, ripped it open and rolled it down his length, luxuriating in the solid feel of him.
The instant she was finished, he lifted her and brought her legs around his waist. She pushed against the wall at her back to give her traction and slid down onto him, all the breath leaving her body in a ragged sigh as she did.
He stilled and looked at her with such hunger, such raw need, that her pulse spiked even higher. “You know there’s a bed about ten feet away,” she whispered.
“Too far,” he said as he moved inside her, and all thought stopped. All she could do was feel—feel his hot mouth on her throat, the building wave inside, the frantic need that grew with every touch, every movement, until it was too big to contain and it reared up and crashed down over her, through her, and she was helpless to do anything but hold on to Hayden with every last bit of strength she had. Within moments, he rasped her name and shuddered, and she gripped him even tighter, panting, never wanting to let him go. Never.
Never.
Her skin turned cold. Never? This was a fling. Of limited duration and purely physical. She unwound her legs and slid down his body, and let him lead her over to the bed. Had she left her heart unguarded? Hayden pulled her down and under the covers, then wrapped her in his arms. Squeezing her eyes tight, she ignored the fluttering in her belly and let herself enjoy him for the time she had left. She’d deal with the fallout of a bruised heart when—if—it happened.
* * *
A couple of hours later, Hayden pulled the rental car up in front of a little cottage with bright pots of flowers and plants clustered on the porch and the paved walkway that led from the front gate. A little painted sign on the mailbox proclaiming “Jessup” showed they’d found the house of the former maid to the president’s family. His gut told him this was where Angelica Pierce’s phone-hacking odyssey had begun.
Lucy undid her seat belt and turned to him. “What are we looking for?”
Hayden straightened his tie, reconsidering the wisdom of bringing Lucy. His main thoughts had been about getting her out of D.C. while he was away, and keeping her safe from Angelica, but when he’d been trying to convince her to come, he’d implied she’d be helping with the investigation. Unfortunately, he hadn’t thought much past her safety till this morning.
“Hayden?”
“Tell me I’ll be able to trust you in there,” he said gruffly.
Her cheeks flushed pink. “You’re doubting me?”
“I’m acknowledging your split loyalties.”
“I’ve already proved you can trust me several times, including not telling Graham about Nancy Marlin when you asked me not to.” Her gaze was unwavering. “I’m on the side of truth, Hayden.”
His shoulders relaxed a fraction as he accepted her words. “Okay. But just so we’re clear, this interview is confidential.”
“Not a problem. I’m actually looking forward to seeing you interview someone else.”
“I usually run interviews alone, but if you have something to ask, let me know.”
“Which one am I—good cop or bad cop?” Her eyes twinkled with humor and suddenly he had to clench his hands on the wheel to stop himself reaching for her and feeling that curving mouth under his own.
“Barbara Jessup hasn’t done anything wrong, so we can probably dispense with the bad-cop role this time. Though if you’re still in the role-playing mood when we get back to the chalet—”
She laughed as she opened her door and said over her shoulder, “Let’s just deal with this meeting first.”
Barbara Jessup was an older woman with neatly pinned-back white hair and a welcoming smile. Hayden made the introductions when she met them at the door, and explained that Lucy was an ANS employee who was working as a consultant on this cas
e. When she brought them into her living room, there was a plate of homemade cookies and a pot each of coffee and tea. He’d already spoken to her on the phone and she’d been keen to help, so after only a few minutes of small talk, they were able to jump to the heart of the matter.
Hayden placed his small recorder on the table and turned it on, then picked up his notebook and pen. “You spoke to Angelica Pierce, a journalist at ANS?”
“Oh, yes. A couple of times. The first time was back when President Morrow was just a senator. I always knew that boy would go far,” she said, pride filling her features.
“Then you spoke to her again more recently?”
Barbara picked up the plate of cookies and offered them around as she spoke. “About the time he was elected. Ms. Pierce said she had a few more questions.”
Hayden took a raisin-and-nut cookie but put it on his plate, keeping his hands free for taking notes. “Did you tell her about Eleanor Albert and the baby?”
The older woman squirmed a little in her seat. “In the first interview, she was asking about his school days and his friends, wanting to know if there were any left living here she could talk to. I gave her a few names, and when we came to dear Eleanor, I said I didn’t know where she was now and hadn’t seen her since she moved towns after giving up her baby.”
Just as he’d suspected, Angelica had stumbled over the information that had started the story. “Did you mention the baby might be the president’s?”
“Of course not!” Her teacup clattered into its saucer. “I’d never betray the family that way, even if I did know the truth.”
“I’m sure they appreciate that,” he said with a genuine smile. He liked Barbara Jessup. “When Angelica Pierce came the second time, did she ask about the baby again?”
Barbara sniffed. “She certainly did. But I told her I didn’t know anything.”
“And did you know more than you told her?”
“I know a lot of things about a lot of people, including about that baby. That doesn’t mean I’ll tell a journalist.” She looked pointedly at Lucy.
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