“I’m glad I have time to figure out a way to beat you, Madam Vice President. Perhaps you’ll treat me to some Texas barbecue before we become bitter enemies.”
Holly slapped her on the back. “You can count on it.”
“Do you have any kind words for me?” James asked, his thin lips curled into a mirthless smile.
“I’ve got words for you,” Holly said, “but you might not think them too kind. I’ll put them in biblical terms since those are the ones you seem to prefer today. It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to get into heaven. Reverend Morgan might be able to get you into heaven if you pay enough for the passage, but I’m going to make it as hard as I possibly can for you to get into the White House.”
“You’re going to need my help in the next election before you can think of mounting another campaign of your own. Even though you and Terry will be the incumbents, Democrats and independents might not be the only ones running against you. You might want to keep that in mind before you erode your firmest pillar of support.”
Holly seemed inspired rather than intimidated. “My husband is the only support I need, and I never have to worry about his pillar staying firm.” She turned away before James had a chance to respond. “Good night, everyone. It’s time I grabbed some shuteye and a shot of bourbon, not necessarily in that order.”
Reverend Morgan, the Duvalls, and the Ferrells returned to their respective cabins, leaving Taylor alone with her parents.
“Should I apologize for James’s ruffled feathers?” she asked.
“No,” her father said, “you should tell me the real reason you’re doing this. If you’re trying to gain my attention, you’ve definitely succeeded.”
Taylor frowned. “I’m not acting out, if that’s what you’re asking. My decision has nothing to do with you, Dad.”
“Perhaps it should,” her mother said. “Think about how your candidacy could affect our family. If you run as a Democrat, you would put your father in the awkward position of being compelled to campaign for your opponent. If you win Lowry’s seat, it could cost the GOP the mid-term elections. And if you lose your bid, your father would look like a heartless bully. It’s a no-win situation, Taylor, and Terry would have to deal with the political ramifications, not you.”
Taylor turned to her father. “I thought you, of all people, would be happy for me. When TJ and I were kids, you always said you wanted one of us to follow in your footsteps. Would you still be so opposed to the idea if he were the one who had decided to throw his hat into the ring instead of me?”
Her father cleared his throat. “TJ and I are members of the same party. Obviously, his candidacy would prove less problematic for me than yours.”
“Less problematic, or more palatable? In addition to being a card-carrying Republican, he’s also straight. Two things that play really well to your base of supporters, correct?”
He looked at her hard. “Are you thinking of becoming a politician because you have a burning desire to serve the public, or because you’re seeking my approval?”
Both were long shots, but one seemed to be a lost cause.
“If I run,” she said, “I would be putting my reputation on the line, not yours.”
“Your opponents might not see things the same way you do. They’ll use you to attack me, and vice versa.”
“Your opponents have been using me as a piñata for years. Why shouldn’t I be allowed to return the favor? At least this way I’ll be allowed to defend myself instead of being urged to keep quiet.”
“I haven’t tried to muzzle you, Taylor. I’ve tried to keep you safe. Above the fray. Politics can be a dirty business. One more concerned with money and power than the selfless ideals I’ve always attributed to you. If you want to wade through the mud so you can end up spending most of your day reading a script in a call center as you beg for money from your constituents instead of doing the work they sent you to Washington to perform, I won’t try to stop you. I would, however, advise you to wait your turn. This isn’t your time.”
“When is my time supposed to come? When yours is done? I can’t wait that long, Dad. If you and your cronies have your way, it could be too late by then. I have a voice, too, and I intend to use it.”
She headed for the door and pulled it open. The blast of fresh air hit her like a dose of smelling salts. She felt energized. Emboldened. She didn’t need anyone else’s permission or approval in order to follow her dreams. All she needed was her own.
“Where are you going?” her mother asked.
“Home. And I don’t mean DC.”
* * *
Robby read the contract three times to make sure she wasn’t missing some hidden loophole that made the agreement worth less than the paper on which it was printed. Everything seemed to be in order, but something didn’t feel right. The last time she had seen Candy Ferrell, she had told her off and kicked her out of the store. So why had Candy gone out of her way to put her name in Dickson Beltran’s ear?
If Robby signed the deal before her, she would be financially secure for years to come, and writing her blog could become a career instead of the dead-end hobby her family considered it to be. With a few strokes of her pen, she could stop chasing her dreams and start living them. Except she couldn’t bring herself to sign her name on the dotted line.
The intern who had brought her the contract and the promised payment glanced at his watch as if she were keeping him from something. “Is there a problem?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said, thinking out loud. “Why is Candy trying to reward me instead of paying me back for showing her up? She’s cutting me loose instead of trying to keep me under her thumb. It doesn’t make sense.”
The intern sighed and adjusted the messenger bag strapped across his body. “If someone offered me three hundred fifty thousand dollars, I wouldn’t bother asking why. I’d sign as soon as the ink dried and worry about the rest later.”
A few years ago, Robby would have done the same thing. But experience had taught her that no one in DC performed a favor unless they expected to receive one in return. Candy and her husband were trying to buy their way into the White House, but she couldn’t figure out how this move fit into their plans. Were they trying to use her to embarrass Taylor and, by extension, President Crenshaw?
“Give me a minute,” she said. “I need time to think this through.”
“The offer won’t be on the table for much longer.” The intern checked his watch again. “You’ve got fifteen minutes to make up your mind. Take one minute longer, and I’m authorized to turn that contract and this check into confetti.”
He held up the envelope containing what she had once thought was the key to her future. Now it seemed more like a key to a prison cell she could never escape. She set her pen down and slid the contract across the counter
“Please thank Mr. Beltran for his generous offer, but I’m afraid I’ll have to pass.”
The intern’s eyes widened. “Are you serious? No one’s ever turned down that much money before.” He finally dropped the bored expression he had affected since he walked into the store. “May I ask why? I mean, are you holding out for a better deal or what?”
“I have no desire to be a pawn in someone else’s game. When I make it—and I will make it—I’m going to do it on my own.”
She had accomplished every milestone in her life of her own volition. Why should reaching the next one be any different?
“This is DC, girlfriend.” He ripped the check in half. “No one gets anywhere in this town without help.”
Robby defiantly threw her shoulders back. “Watch me.”
Chapter Twenty-nine
Taylor walked along the wooded trail with her head down and her collar up. She wanted to be alone so she could finally let her guard down, but Lily and Ethan were flanking her, and Sheridan was waiting for her at Red Oak Lodge. She needed to keep it together for a little while longer. When she was behind closed
doors, she could finally allow herself to fall apart. Until then, she had to put on a brave front for whoever might be watching.
“Get the car,” she said. “I’m leaving.”
“So soon?” Ethan asked. “We just got here.”
She steeled her voice, letting him know her decision was final. “I don’t see any reason to stay. Do you?”
He seemed to be preparing a response until he realized her question was rhetorical. “I’ll be back in five.” He peeled off, leaving Lily to accompany her the rest of the way.
“Is there anything I can do?” Lily asked, her voice as gentle as the breeze that lifted a strand of hair away from her face.
“No, I’ll be fine. I just want to go home.”
She had no idea what she would do when she got there or where she would stay after she settled in, but in her heart, she knew Missouri was where she needed to be. She’d had enough of Washington and everyone in it. If she came back, it would be on her terms. She didn’t care if she won Dan Lowry’s seat in the House or succeeded her father as president one day. That wasn’t the point. She just wanted her voice to be heard. She wanted to be able to speak for the millions of people whose interests were pandered to but not truly represented during each election cycle. Tonight was the start of what she hoped would be a long journey.
“You can’t flip off everyone who disagrees with you,” Lily said.
“The people in that room will never see eye-to-eye with me, no matter how many olive branches I extend. But you’re right. I need to work on the whole ‘turn the other cheek’ thing.” In addition to brushing up on foreign policy, diplomatic relations, and all the other things she’d need to be familiar with in order to be a leader instead of a follower.
“From the sound of it, you burned quite a few bridges back there.”
“I have time to build more.” Even when her relationship with her parents was at its frostiest, it had never felt this strained. She hoped they would be able to patch up their differences one day, but she had no idea when that day might come. “Let’s back up a minute.”
“What’s on your mind?”
“I need to know what Steven asked you to look into.”
Lily rolled her eyes. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“I can tell you’re trying to keep something from me, and I have a right to know what it is.”
“I didn’t want to say anything in front of Miss Kincaid, but Miss Rawlins received a letter containing what seems to be a credible threat against you.”
“Against me? Are you serious?” If the Office of Presidential Correspondence received any threats, they forwarded them to the FBI before she had a chance to see them. She wished Robby had been as fortunate. “What did the letter say?”
“The sentiment was clear. If she didn’t stop seeing you, she would be forced to watch you die. She wasn’t sure if it was a hoax or a legitimate threat, but she brought it to Steven’s attention, and he asked me to look into it.”
“What did you find?”
“Not as much as I might like. There were no fingerprints or trace on the letter. Though the incident itself wasn’t captured on any of the surveillance cameras in the area, I was able to capture a few views of the assailant. None show his face, but I have something to build on.”
Taylor’s heart began to race. “Assailant? Robby was attacked?”
“No, the unsub bumped into Miss Rawlins on the street and knocked her down. Most likely intentionally. She wasn’t hurt. Just a bit shaken up.”
“When did this happen?”
“The night you invited her to dinner at the White House. After her driver dropped her off, she ran into our person of interest. Literally. He knocked her off her feet, made a veiled threat, and fled the scene before she could attempt to identify him or call for help.”
“Why didn’t she say anything to me?”
Lily shrugged. “That’s a question she can answer better than I. Perhaps she kept quiet because she didn’t want to worry you. And if she had mentioned the incident in her blog, she might have inspired more copycats to try something similar. She did the right thing by staying mum. It gives me and my fellow agents a better chance to do our jobs.”
“Even though you have no idea who you’re looking for?” Lily didn’t answer the question, which prompted Taylor to dig deeper. “You have a suspect in mind, don’t you?”
Lily nodded resolutely. “Yes, but I hope I’m wrong.”
“Why?”
“I’d rather have more information at my disposal before I comment on the situation, but I will say this: if my hunch is right, it means we’re looking for one of our own.”
“If you have a rogue agent in your ranks, the fallout is guaranteed to be long-lasting.”
“That’s why I’m being so cautious. The Secret Service has weathered its fair share of scandals over the past few years, but I don’t know if it would be able to survive another one. Especially one of this magnitude.”
“Since Ethan seemed to be in the dark earlier, I imagine you haven’t told him what you just told me.”
“Correct. I plan to keep everything on a need-to-know basis until I confer with Steven when he returns to work tomorrow. He’ll move the investigation forward as he sees fit, which means he gets to decide who he wants to bring into the loop.”
“Does my father know what’s going on?”
“He’s aware there’s an active investigation, yes, but I haven’t told him all the details in case my theory doesn’t pan out. As team leader, Steven will forward the appropriate information to the president when the situation warrants.”
“I warned my father he’d push his rhetoric too far one day. Now someone has apparently taken what he’s said to heart, and I might end up paying the ultimate price.”
Lily hesitated, then plowed forward. “If you don’t mind me speaking frankly, I think that’s why he’s so concerned about you running for Dan Lowry’s seat. Not because you might lose the election, but because he doesn’t want you to get hurt.”
Taylor hoped that was the case, but she couldn’t allow herself to feel too optimistic. She’d been down that road before and had nothing to show for it but disappointment. Whether at home or in the Oval Office, her father always had an agenda in mind. Unless he had decided to make an unexpected about-face, she doubted his latest plan included her.
“Careful.” Lily stopped walking and held up a hand to make sure Taylor did the same.
Taylor’s nerves were already on edge because of Lily’s story about Robby’s brush with danger. Now she felt like she was about to jump out of her skin. Had an intruder managed to slip past the camp’s seemingly impenetrable defenses? “What is it?”
Lily rested her hand on the butt of her gun. “I think I see someone up ahead. Were you and Miss Kincaid expecting company this weekend?”
“No.”
“That’s what I thought.” Lily looked around as if searching for backup, but Ethan was still MIA. “How long does it take to fetch a car?” she said under her breath as she drew her gun. “Wait here until I check it out.”
Lily crept forward. Disobeying orders, Taylor followed in her footsteps. Lily was a more than capable agent, but she couldn’t take on multiple assailants by herself. Taylor could see only one figure pacing in front of Red Oak Lodge, but there could be more. Lots more. She braced for a coordinated attack. Then she heard Candy’s voice drifting toward her.
“What do you mean she won’t sign?” Candy asked, her cell phone pressed to her ear. “Sweeten the terms of the deal if you have to. I don’t care how much you offer her. When you’re buying an election, no price is too high. Use the money in the slush fund so the transaction will be harder to trace. Whatever it takes, I want her under contract by the end of the day. Once she’s in the fold, give her plenty of leeway to start off with, then we can start to shut her down. I want her silenced by November. But I need her to sign away the rights before we make a move. I’m counting on you, Dickson. M
ake it happen.” She looked up when a twig snapped under Lily’s foot. “I’ve got to go. Call me back when you’ve got better news.”
“Are you supposed to be here, Mrs. Ferrell?” Lily asked, holstering her gun.
“No, but Taylor and I need to talk.” Candy looked past Lily and met Taylor’s eye. “Don’t you agree?”
Taylor didn’t have anything to say that hadn’t already been said, but she decided to hear Candy out. “It’s okay, Lily. I can spare a few minutes.”
“Are you sure this is a game you want to play?” Candy asked after Lily moved a few steps away to give them some privacy. “Because I feel compelled to warn you James and I are much better at it than you are.”
“I’ve always been a fast learner.” Taylor brushed past her. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to pack so Sheridan and I can get the hell out of here.”
“You and Sheridan make a lovely couple, though the voting public might take issue with the fact that you didn’t wait for your bed to get cold before you invited someone else into it. I don’t know if she’s a better lay than your last one, but she’s certainly a better catch.” Candy retreated when Taylor advanced on her. “Miss Rawlins is still a sore subject with you, I see. I suggest you heal the wound before your potential opponents smell blood in the water. Otherwise, it could be your undoing. Welcome to politics,” she said with a less-than-receptive smile. “I would have taken great pleasure in being your ally, Taylor. Now I’ll take even more in being your enemy.”
“I’ve got three words for you. Bring it on.”
“I’ve already gotten started. Try to catch up before you fall even further behind.”
Candy slowly made her way down the trail. Taylor made sure she was gone before she headed inside. Lily guarded the door.
“I take it your meeting didn’t go well,” Sheridan said.
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