“No. I considered it a private matter.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
“Just keep in mind, Senator, someone intends to ruin your reputation if they can with that same report.”
The senator rubbed a hand across his face. “I haven’t forgotten. And, Braxter, please hold my calls for a while. I want to go through this report immediately.” He checked his watch. “It’s almost closing time. You can go on home if you’d like.”
Braxter shook his head. “There’s something I need to work on. I’ll be out front if you need me.”
“Thanks.”
“Oh, yeah. On Sundays I always buy newspapers from major cities in Texas to see how well you’re doing in the polls. This article appeared in the society column of a Houston paper and caught my attention.” He handed the newspaper clipping to the senator. “I thought you might be interested.”
The senator scanned the article that announced Texas attorney Clayton Madaris’s engagement to fellow New York attorney Syneda Walters. The wedding was planned for June of next year.
“It seems Syneda Walters will be marrying Jacob Madaris’s nephew,” Braxter said, breaking the silence in the room.
Senator Lansing took a deep breath. “Yes, it appears that way, doesn’t it. I’ve known Clayton Madaris a long time. He’s a fine young man and an outstanding attorney.”
Once Braxton left, closing the door behind him, the senator pulled the papers out of the packet and began reading.
Laying aside the packet that had just been delivered to her, Celeste stood and walked to her bedroom and sprawled out in a chair next to her bed. She raked a hand through her shoulder-length hair, wondering why she felt so awful.
The job was completed. She was sure the packet in her living room contained information Senator Harris would be eager to get his hands on. Although Emery Fulton, her friend from college who had done the investigative work for her, hadn’t told her exactly what was in the report, he had said it contained some information on Senator Lansing that if released to the media, could be damaging.
Standing, she walked back into the living room and picked up the packet. She should call Senator Harris and let him know that she had the information he’d paid her to get. But for some reason she couldn’t make herself pick up the phone and do that.
For the past two years she had cultivated a pretty good life for herself. It was a life she enjoyed with the material things she had always wanted as a child but never had. Thanks to a mother who ran off and left her with an alcoholic father at the age of twelve, she had learned to survive without help from anyone. And she had never wanted or needed anyone.
She had met Senator Harris a couple of years ago when he had come into her travel agency to arrange a cruise for him and his wife. It didn’t take long for him to figure out that in her profession, since she came in contact with a lot of people, especially by planning trips for those in political circles, she could be an asset to him.
At first he had only been interested in inside information on some of his supposedly close friends. She had passed information to him about Senator Mat Williams’s affair with a woman young enough to be his daughter, Senator Paul Dunlap’s daughter’s abortion, and Senator Carl Booker’s son’s drug addiction.
He had paid her well for the information she had obtained with Emery’s help. But this assignment involving Braxter had been the first that she had gotten personally involved with to the point of going so far as to sleep with someone to get information. And since the day Braxter had discovered the truth, her life had not been the same. Somehow his pain had become hers, especially knowing she’d been the cause of it.
She picked up the phone to make the call to Senator Harris and then slammed it back down. She just couldn’t do it. The amount of money he had paid her no longer mattered. She would pay back every penny of it to him.
She went into the bedroom and slipped into her coat. Going back into the living room she picked up the packet, grabbed her purse, then walked out of the door.
Nedwyn Lansing leaned back against his desk chair as he released a long-drawn breath. Suddenly all the anger he had ever felt in his entire lifetime hit him with the force of a tidal wave.
How could this have happened? How could such a mistake be made? How could Jan’s child be turned over to the authorities when her father was very much alive and would have wanted her had he known about her?
He shook his head to calm his temper. There was no doubt in his mind that Syneda Walters was Jan’s child. The report clearly named Jan as Syneda’s biological mother and gave the reason she’d been placed in a foster home after Jan’s death. Her father had not come to claim his child.
He picked up the phone knowing the one person he had to call immediately. He paused when there was a knock on his door. He then remembered that Braxter had not yet left.
“What is it, Braxter?”
Braxter opened the door and came in. He immediately noticed the intense expression the senator wore. “I just got a call from security downstairs. Clayton Madaris is here to see you.”
“Clayton Madaris?” The senator shook his head slowly, glancing down at the report before him. He sat silently for a moment before saying, “Have security send him up.”
Clayton frowned when he stepped into the senator’s office and saw the other man standing there. “I was hoping to get a chance to speak with you privately, Senator.”
The senator nodded. He then proceeded to introduce the two men. “Braxter is my top aide, Clayton, and we can talk openly in front of him. Besides, it’s about time I let him in on what’s going on, since I have a pretty good idea as to why you’re here. Let’s sit down.”
Once everyone was seated, Clayton began. “I’m sure by now you’re aware someone is trying to ruin your political career, Senator.”
The senator’s gaze didn’t flicker from Clayton’s. “Yes, I’m aware of it. What I would like to know is what’s your connection, and how do you know so much about it?”
Clayton breathed an annoyed sigh but calmly contained himself. Although he had known the senator a number of years due to the senator’s close relationship with his late uncle Robert and his uncle Jake, Clayton understood his need to be cautious in certain situations. This was one of those situations.
“My connection is the woman I plan to marry. Someone is planning to use her as a weapon in an attempt to destroy your credibility with the people. The reason I know so much about it is because I hired a private investigator to find her father for me.”
“And you think you’ve found him.” It was a statement rather than a question.
“I know I have.”
The senator took a deep breath and stood. He paced the room several times before coming to a stop in front of Clayton. “And you believe I’m your man, don’t you?”
Clayton’s gaze never left the senator. “No. I know for a fact that you’re not.”
The senator raised a surprised brow. “Do you?”
“Yes. My investigator is a very thorough man who loves putting together puzzles. The only reason I came here before going to see her father is to get some answers about a few things.”
“If you’re going to ask me if he knew about her, the answer is a definite no. There’s no way he would have known and not claimed his child. He was too deeply in love with Jan. In fact, he still loves her. Her dying changed nothing. The second week of May of each year, on the date they met, he tortures himself by first visiting her grave, then later he tries to erase the pain by drinking himself to death for two days. And he’s not a drinker. I’m the only one he’ll let see him that way. And I make it a point to go visit him every year in May to help him through that painful period.”
Braxter had been sitting quietly listening to Clayton and the senator, trying to follow along and piece together what they were talking about. The only thing he understood was the explanation for the senator’s mysterious trips each May.
“Excuse me,” he interrupted the two men. “I’m tr
ying to follow the two of you here.” He turned to the senator. “Are you saying that report I gave you from the investigator indicates you’re Syneda Walters’s father?”
“After reading it, one would assume that, yes.”
“But you’re not?”
“No, I’m not.”
Braxter shook his head. “I don’t understand. Why would anyone assume you’re her father if you aren’t?”
The senator went over to the window and looked out. He could see the Lincoln Monument in the distance even in the dusk of night. He turned back to Braxter. “Most people thought Syneda’s mother, Jan Walters, and I dated exclusively during our senior year of college.”
“But that wasn’t the case?”
“No. We just wanted people to think that we did.”
A look of ungoverned confusion shone in Braxter’s eyes. “Why?”
Sadness shone in the senator’s gaze. “Because society wasn’t ready to accept what they considered as forbidden love.”
When Braxter looked even more confused, Clayton decided to intercede by asking him, “Have you ever heard the term ‘jungle fever’?”
“Yes, of course.” Braxter stared first at Clayton then back at the senator when understanding dawned. He paused for a moment before finally asking, “And just who is Syneda Walters’s father?”
The senator hesitated briefly before saying quietly, “Syntel Tremain Remington.”
Braxter was shocked into silence. “S. T. Remington of Remington Oil?” His voice was filled with disbelief.
“Yes, and I need to talk to Syntel as soon as possible. He knows nothing about any of this. The shock may be too much for him. Arrange a flight that will take me to Austin tonight.”
“I’m going with you,” Clayton spoke up.
“I think this is something he needs to hear from me personally.”
“I agree, but I intend to be there when he hears it. Like I said earlier, there are a number of questions that I want answered. My main concern is Syneda and how she’s going to handle all of this. For years she assumed her father abandoned her. Now from what I understand that’s not the case. I want to know if he knew his father had intercepted a phone call meant for him and paid the caller good money not to give Syntel’s name to the authorities as Syneda’s father.”
“Is that what happened?”
“Yes. We were able to find the woman, and she told us everything. She even admitted taking the money.”
The senator shook his head. “He will never forgive his father for that. He loved Jan deeply.”
At that moment there was a soft knock on the door.
“Yes, come in,” the senator called out.
The door to the senator’s office swung open and Celeste walked in.
“What are you doing here?” Braxter snapped. He was both surprised and upset to see her. His chest heaved with outrage at the sight of her. “Who gave security the approval to let you in here?”
Celeste nodded to the other two men in the room before answering Braxter. “I deliver travel packages to occupants of this building all the time. Security is used to seeing me.”
“What do you want?”
She placed the packet on the desk. “I came to give you this and to say I’m sorry. I hope one day you’ll forgive me for what I did.” She turned to leave.
“Excuse me, miss,” Clayton said, putting together what was transpiring between the two individuals. “Who hired you to get information on Senator Lansing?”
Celeste turned back around. She remembered Clayton from the party at Whispering Pines. She bit her lower lip. It had taken every scrap of courage for her to come here tonight to make amends. But she had to come. She had to do the right thing.
Her gaze left Clayton, then went to the senator, before finally coming to rest on Braxter. She knew he hated her and would never forgive her. The piercing dark eyes staring back at her did not show any signs of forgiveness.
She knew at that moment why she hadn’t been able to go through with passing the report on to Senator Harris. She had fallen in love with Braxter. Her eyes closed momentarily, shielding his angry glare from her. When she reopened them, she shifted her gaze back to Clayton. “The person who hired me is Senator John Harris.”
She then turned and quickly walked out of Senator Lansing’s office.
Chapter 24
“Are you sure he’s going to be here?” Clayton asked as he and Senator Lansing stepped into the elevator of an elegant apartment building near downtown Austin.
“I’m pretty positive,” Senator Lansing replied, keying a special code into the elevator door panel box. “During the week, Syntel stays here instead of commuting back and forth to the ranch. And he seldom goes out in the evenings.”
Clayton nodded. Since discovering Syntel Remington was Syneda’s father, he had begun searching his mind for whatever personal information he knew about him. It was a known fact that he had never married. He also remembered reading somewhere that he had taken over the running of Remington Oil fifteen years ago, upon his father’s death.
Clayton’s thoughts came to an end when the elevator door opened and they stepped into a plushly carpeted hallway and walked toward the only door on the floor.
The door was opened on the second knock. A surprised expression lit Syntel Remington’s face. He moved aside to let the two men enter. “Ned, I didn’t know you were in Austin.” He then turned questioning eyes to Clayton. “Madaris, this is a pleasant surprise.”
For the first time since meeting him over a year ago, Clayton looked deeply into Syntel Remington’s eyes. They were eyes so much like Syneda’s in color and shape that he couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed them before. But then he hadn’t been aware that the man standing before him was her father. He also noticed that Syntel and Syneda shared similar smiles and the same well-defined features.
“I just arrived in Austin less than an hour ago,” Senator Lansing said. “I flew in from Washington. We both did. There’s an important matter we need to discuss with you, Syntel.”
Syntel Remington’s brow lifted. “This sounds serious, Ned.”
“Trust me, it is.”
“Let’s go into the study. I was just about to settle down and get some reading done.”
He led them to a brightly lit room where bookcases lined both sides. He gestured for them to take a seat. He then took a seat behind a large oak desk.
“All right, Ned, what is it? What’s so important to send you racing to my door from Washington with one of Texas’s most dynamic attorneys in tow?” he asked, managing a wobbly smile. He was confused and concerned with the expression his best friend wore.
The room fell silent, and a few moments later Senator Lansing spoke. “It’s about Jan.”
Syntel Remington’s eyes suddenly became distant and pained. “What about Janeda?”
The senator’s lips lifted in a faint smile. Janeda had disliked her birth name and in college she had shortened it to Jan. No one got away with calling her Janeda. No one except Syntel.
Syntel Remington stood, crossing his arms like a protective shield. Clayton couldn’t help but note it was something Syneda did occasionally.
“Ned, I asked you, what about Janeda?”
The room fell silent once more and before Senator Lansing could respond Syntel spoke again. “All right, I think I get it now. If the two of you are here to warn me that you’ve gotten wind that one of those slick and sleazy tabloids have somehow dug up information about my relationship with Janeda and plan to print it, don’t concern yourselves with it. I will never deny ever loving her. You should know that, Ned.”
Nedwyn Lansing nodded. “Yes, I know, Syntel, but that’s not it. That’s not why we’re here. There’s something else, something you should know. And I think you should sit back down before hearing it.”
Syntel looked for a moment like he wasn’t going to take the senator’s suggestion, but then he took his seat again. “What is it, Ned?”
“Jan had
a child. Your child.”
Clayton watched the color drain from the man’s face with Senator Lansing’s words.
“What did you say?” Syntel’s lips barely moved when he asked the question.
Senator Lansing forced himself to respond calmly. “I said Jan had a child. Your child. A girl.”
Syntel jumped up out of his seat, nearly knocking a plant off his desk in the process. His face was filled with rage. “Who told you that lie, Ned? How could you believe such a thing?”
“It’s true, Syntel. I checked it out myself. If you remember, Jan disappeared right after you’d left for the Air Force Academy. I think she did it because she knew she was pregnant.”
“If what you say is true, why wouldn’t she have told me? She knew I loved her. There was nothing I would not have done for her.”
“I think she knew that, and that’s the reason she left without telling you. She didn’t see a place for her in your life. You and I know that society would never have accepted a marriage between the two of you. At least not back then. She knew it, too, and left.”
Syntel slumped back down in his chair. He buried his face in his hands, shaking his head. “No, I don’t believe it. I refuse to believe Janeda would give our child away.”
“She didn’t give the child away. She raised your child alone as a single parent until her death.”
Syntel’s head snapped up. “Are you saying I have a child somewhere? A daughter?”
“Yes. She was ten years old when Jan died.”
Syntel shook his head as if dazed with disbelief. “What happened to her?”
“Because the authorities assumed she didn’t have any living relatives after Jan died, she became a ward of this state and was placed in a foster home.”
“No!”
Clayton watched as Syntel Remington’s entire body jerked as if it had been struck. His face filled with rage. “Are you saying my child was raised by strangers?”
Clayton spoke for the first time. “That was the only recourse under the circumstances. But I can tell you that the Phillipses were good people and she was treated very well.”
Eternally Yours Page 24