He dropped his arm and faced me. His lips slid into an easy grin. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it when another voice spoke.
“Ms. Fairfax, you’ll need to come with us.”
Declan and I both turned to Carlos.
“Where are you taking her?” Declan asked.
I quirked a brow at his rush to defend me, a woman he’d only just met.
“We’re questioning everyone, sir. Trying to get everyone out of here as quickly as possible.”
I turned back to Declan. “Thank you for the offer. And for the chivalry.” I didn’t bother to tell him that there was no way in hell I was going to have a drink with him. Not now. Not ever.
“Rain check, then,” Declan said softly.
“Mmm,” was the only sound I made before I followed Carlos.
He led me to a sitting room off the foyer. Mike was waiting there, his look severe.
“Have we confirmed where the video came from?” I asked. “Is it him?”
Instead of answering, Mike said, “The director wants you involved.” There was regret in his voice. Or perhaps anger that the director would specifically ask for me.
“No.”
“He won’t give you a choice. You know that.”
I laughed under my breath, fixing my stare on Mike. “I always have a choice, Agent Donaldson. Tell him I refused. Now, may I go? Or do you have a reason to hold me longer?”
“You think I want you involved?” he asked.
“I know you don’t. So, lucky for you, I’m making it easy for you.”
Carlos stepped in front of Mike. “Brooke. Does the man you were just speaking to know who you are?”
“I don’t know why he would. We only just met.”
“We need you to get to know him.”
“You think Declan O’Roark’s involved in this?”
“It was his bourbon that killed the lieutenant governor.”
“And the cocktail server tonight,” I added.
Mike nodded. “Twenty-one-year-old from the University of Kentucky. Just picking up some extra cash working for the caterer. Other servers said that he was fooling around in the back while pouring the bourbon for the toast. According to witnesses, he threw back two shots, then laughed about how each drink cost the rich and powerful Declan O’Roark fifty bucks. Apparently it was an exceptional small batch only to be served during special derby events this month.”
“So, you think some rich guy spiked his own ridiculously expensive bourbon with poison as some form of bioterrorism? That’s ludicrous.”
“The director wants information on him nonetheless.”
“Yesterday, was the lieutenant governor the only one targeted?”
“Tests are being conducted. Everything’s being sent to the state police laboratory. Does this mean you’re willing to work with us?”
“No.”
“Then don’t expect to get answers to any more questions.”
“Tell the director I’ll be in touch.” I spun on my high heel and headed for the door.
“We need to know where you’re staying,” Mike said.
I paused only a moment before I pulled open the door and made my exit.
Three
Declan
“I’m sorry, Governor.” I stared out the window of my home office. “I will cooperate with authorities in any way I can.”
I hung up, threw back the rest of a glass of bourbon, and was two seconds away from hurling the heavy crystal tumbler across the room when another voice spoke.
“Declan?”
Aidan stood in the doorway. He was dressed in jeans and a fitted black sweater. I knew he’d been out at the Lexington bars, most likely picking up a new girlfriend after the last one hadn’t panned out. Lather, rinse, repeat.
“Thanks for coming.” I walked over to a dry bar and set my glass next to a clean one. After pouring two fingers of bourbon in each and adding a few ice cubes from the bucket, I handed him the clean glass. “Someone else died tonight. Poisoned also.”
“From our bourbon?” Aidan looked down at the glass in his hand, paused, and then took a generous sip of the same liquid that may have killed two people.
Aidan was a world-renowned horse trainer who had trained my entire stable of thoroughbreds. He was currently training On Liam’s Watch, who was scheduled to run in the Bluegrass Derby next month. But more importantly, he was my best friend.
“It would appear so.” I savored another slow sip, then turned and walked back behind my desk.
Aidan followed, standing opposite me in front of the desk. “Damn. Who died?”
“A server—college kid. Just before a hundred and fifty glasses were passed around to guests of the governor’s Derby kickoff party.”
“I’m surprised the cops didn’t arrest you on the spot.”
“They told me not to leave town.”
“What do we do?” Worry showed in the vertical lines between Aidan’s brows, and for good reason. Part owner in Elkhorn Reserve Distilleries, he was new to my life of start-up businesses. “I’m just a horse trainer, Declan. You know I don’t know how to handle this legal shit. And this is murder, man. Surely they don’t think—”
“I’ve got Jonathon and Kathryn on it.” Jonathon and Kathryn were my two best attorneys in the area. “And Maggie is already working on how to handle the media attention.” Maggie was what many in the business world called a “fixer.” She would stay on top of the investigation and spin it in the media.
“I assume the small batch has been pulled.”
I nodded, and didn’t even wince when Aidan slammed his empty glass on my desk. Our joint ownership of a bourbon distillery was a huge risk to him. I would gladly promise not to let him take a huge financial hit because of this, but I knew his pride would get in the way of accepting that offer. Still, we both knew I wouldn’t let him suffer.
“Go get some sleep,” I said. “I just didn’t want you to hear about this in the news.”
“Thanks for that, I guess.” When he looked at me, I could see the exhaustion in his bloodshot eyes. But then his eyes narrowed, and his lips quirked into a sly grin. “I had my eye on a real beauty tonight. But you had to call and ruin everything with talk of trouble.”
Leave it to Aidan to attempt to lighten a very dark situation.
I chuckled. It was beyond me how a guy who regularly woke before dawn to work with thoroughbreds could prowl nightclubs into the wee hours. “Sorry to cramp your style.”
His smile quickly faded. “I think I’ll stay here tonight.”
“Good. I’ll meet you at the track in the morning.”
Just as Aidan was out the door, my phone buzzed. “Whatcha got, Maggie?”
“FBI’s not talking,” she said. “They’ve taken over the investigation and are pretending to work with the state police.”
I pictured the two men standing at the entrance to the ballroom most of the evening. “Why was the FBI here in the first place? Why was this even their jurisdiction?”
“Not sure, but I’m working on it. I just wanted you to know that I probably won’t find out much until tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Maggie.” Just as I was about to say goodbye, I thought of Brooke Fairfax. The governor seemed to know the long-legged beauty well, and the two FBI agents had taken a peculiar interest in her after the server’s death. “Wait, can you do something else for me?”
“Of course. Name it.”
“See what you can find on a Brooke Fairfax.”
“Local?”
“Don’t think so. But she was cozy with the governor tonight. Maybe someone from his past?”
“I’ll get started on it immediately. I’ll call you as soon as I have something.” She clicked off.
After turning out the lights, I swiveled around in my desk chair and stared out my office window at the massive thoroughbred horse farm that was my back yard. Though I could only imagine what was out there in the dark at this late hour, the view was the reason
I’d bought the farm, and just one of many reasons I’d moved my life to the United States. To Kentucky, in particular.
END OF EXCERPT
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