I narrowed my eyes to the point where I could barely see through them. “That is not the way to keep me happy.”
“And I want to keep my mate happy. But I want to keep her alive more, though,” Eliot argued. “I’ve given it some serious thought. I would rather have you angry and alive than happy and dead. I’m standing firm on that.”
He clearly meant business. So did I. “While I know this isn’t what you want to hear, I’m taking my own car. You can’t stop me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Eliot tipped a bag of hash browns into a skillet. “I believe you’ll find that I can stop you.”
Something about his tone set my teeth on edge. I didn’t like his smug countenance one bit. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Simply that I’ll be taking you to work and driving you wherever you need to go today. I understand that you’ll be unhappy, but we both have to make sacrifices for the greater good of the relationship at times. It’s your day to sacrifice.”
“I have to be willing to sacrifice for that to work.”
“I think you’re going to find that you have no choice.”
He was far too smug. That was generally my job. “What did you do?”
Eliot snickered. “I’m usually saying that to you. It’s kind of fun to have a role reversal day, huh?”
Not in the least. “Eliot … .” Something occurred to me and I jerked my head so I could see over my shoulder, my eyes landing on the small table by the front door where my purse rested. I got to my feet and stalked in that direction, reached my hand into my purse and searched for my keys. I didn’t keep much in my bag so I knew right away the keys were missing.
“Where are they?”
“I have no idea what you mean.” Eliot was the picture of innocence as he grabbed a spatula and began flipping the hash browns.
“You took my keys.”
“That’s a rather harsh accusation.”
“You’re not denying it.”
“I’m not.”
I glared. “I have another set of keys. They’re in the bedroom. You’re not stopping me.”
“They were in the bedroom,” Eliot countered.
My heart skipped a beat. “Eliot … .”
“Do you want cracked wheat bread for your toast or white? Stupid question. We’ll go with the healthy choice.”
I was furious as I stormed into the bedroom and rooted through the bottom drawer of my nightstand. Sure enough, the extra set of keys I kept there were gone. I hadn’t even heard Eliot rummaging inside while I slept, but he’d clearly planned this out long before telling me about it.
Eliot was calm when I returned to the kitchen. “Can you get the butter from the refrigerator?”
He was crazy if he thought I was going along with this game. “Eliot, I’m not joking here. You’re going to pick a fight that could do some real damage if you persist with this. I’m an adult. That means I can do whatever I want … and I want to drive myself to work.”
“That’s not going to happen. You were almost run off the road last night. If you think I’m going to sit back and allow something similar to happen, well, then you’re crazy.”
“I was not almost run off the road. I was tailgated. There’s a difference.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m keeping you safe by whatever means necessary. I understand that means we’re going to end up in a fight, but I have something to offer that might ease said fight.”
Hmm. The way he phrased the sentence gave me pause. “You’re doing things as I would do them.”
“I have no idea what you mean.”
“You are.” I absently scratched at my cheek. “You ordered me to do something, which you knew would infuriate me. Then you took my keys and made it so I’d have no choice but to call Uber if I wanted to do things my way.”
Eliot balked. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Ah, you clearly didn’t think about Uber.” I smirked. “I’ll keep that in mind if I feel the need to make your head implode in the next twenty minutes.”
Eliot extended a warning finger. “That won’t happen.”
“Never say never.” I felt better when I realized I could exert at least a modicum of control if it became necessary. “To finish things off from what I was saying before, you’re now dangling something in front of me to smooth over my ruffled feathers. That’s something straight out of the Avery Shaw Survival Guide.”
“So is poking a bear with a sharp stick to see what it will do,” Eliot shot back. “Your survival guide is very different from my survival guide.”
“They say opposites attract.”
Eliot shook his head. “I won’t give in because you’re cute and trying to flirt. I’m driving you to work because my truck can’t easily be forced off the road. I will find a way to get you to all the places you need to go today, and I will do it without infringing on your work.”
He made it all sound so reasonable. I knew better. “What do you have that you think you can coerce me with?”
“Coerce is such an ugly word.”
“It’s the right one.”
“It is,” Eliot confirmed. “As for what I have to offer, I found something interesting on my office computer when I stopped in to check my email this morning.”
That’s when things clicked into place. Before he showed up at the house the night before, I got on his computer to use his fancy search engines. I wanted to run a few names … and I wanted to do it without him knowing, because I was afraid he would shoot me down.
“You saw the searches,” I muttered.
“I did.”
“You then made it so I can’t see the searches, didn’t you?”
“I did.” Eliot’s grin was so wide it almost swallowed his entire face. “Before that, I looked through the information and found something that will absolutely drive you bonkers.”
Hmm. “Is it important?”
“I don’t know, but it seems odd. I’m betting you’ll think it’s important.”
Crap. He had me. We both knew it. I didn’t have much time to work with and he had important information. I was going to have to let him act as my driver for the day if I wanted to follow up on the information. “Eliot … .”
“No.” Eliot shook his head, cutting me off. “It’s my way or I’ll lock you in the house.”
“Ugh. You really have been taking lessons from me.”
Eliot smirked. “It sucks to be on the other side of them, doesn’t it?”
Oh, boy did it ever. “Fine.” I blew out a heavy sigh. “I’ll let you drive me around. What do you know?”
“You’ll let me drive you around and not complain,” Eliot clarified.
Well, that was simply cruel and unusual punishment, but I had no choice. “Fine. I won’t complain either. What did you find?”
“There was nothing on Brucker out of the ordinary,” Eliot offered. “I ran him for you myself because I was curious and could’ve told you that if you didn’t insist on sneaking around. There’s nothing out of the ordinary on Rayne either. Justice seems clean, as does Aiken. You know everything in Ludington’s background.”
“So who does that leave?” I felt emotional. “If there’s nothing we didn’t already know on any of them … .” I broke off when I remembered the last person I ran. “Honor. You found out something about Honor.”
“I did.” Eliot rested his hands on the counter. “You’d better brace yourself, because this will send you over the edge.”
I was practically salivating. “What?”
“She’s Elizabeth Justice’s daughter.”
And just like that the skies turned sunny. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“No. I double-checked. Justice had Honor with her first husband. That’s why Honor has a different last name.”
“Oh, that’s just priceless.”
“I thought it would make you happy.”
“I’m so happy I’m going to forget I’m furious with you for stealing my keys.”
I moved toward him. “Hurry up with breakfast. We need to get to town.”
“How did I know you were going to say that?”
“Apparently you know me better than just about anyone.”
“That is both comforting and freaky.”
“I’m right there with you.”
22 Twenty-Two
There was no news conference, which frustrated me to no end. I had new information and didn’t know what to do with it. Confronting Honor was a possibility, but I planned to hold that until I ran into her at the festival later. Today was the last day – they allowed it to run over from the weekend simply because of the election – and that meant everyone would be present for the final push.
“What are you thinking?” Eliot loaded the last of the dishes into the dishwasher. “I can see your mind working.”
“The Honor stuff is interesting but I’m not going to tackle that until later. I texted Fish and the sheriff’s department isn’t holding a press conference. Apparently they have nothing to add to their previous statements.”
“What does that mean?”
“I really don’t know. I doubt very much that Jake went the whole weekend without having his detectives investigate a murder. Whatever he found, though, he isn’t in the mood to share.”
“Do you think that’s because of the election?”
That was a good question. “I think that’s as good an answer as any.”
I rolled up to the balls of my feet and back down, repeating the motion several times as I tried to focus on a plan. Finally, I shifted my eyes to Eliot. “Call Fawn and tell her you’re running an errand before heading to the store.”
“Where are we going?”
“To find Tad.”
Eliot balked. “Why would we want to do that?”
“Because he’s the weak link in this entire thing. He knows I know about the documents. Most of the time he can’t keep his mouth shut. He’s my best shot of getting information this morning. The festival doesn’t start until noon, so none of the candidates will be in Mount Clemens until then.”
“And what do you expect once they’re all together and working the crowd?”
“I don’t know. It will simply make tracking them easier. I want to confront Tad away from the crowds, though. He definitely knows something.”
“Are you going to tell him that Honor is Elizabeth Justice’s daughter?”
“I don’t know.” That was the truth. “On one hand, I know it will derange him, so that’s a bonus. On the other, we don’t have proof that she’s doing anything wrong.”
“We don’t have proof, but the odds of her learning stuff about Tad and not sharing the information with her mother have to be slim.”
“I know.” I tapped my bottom lip, my mind racing. “Let’s go to Tad’s election office first.”
“I thought you said he doesn’t spend much time there.”
“He doesn’t, but I’ve changed my mind and decided that talking to Honor can’t wait. I need more information from her. I was going to wait and hound her at the festival, but it’s more likely she’ll talk in private. I can’t badger Tad to the point of no return until I talk to Honor. If I wait, I’ll have to talk to Tad twice … and no one wants that. Plus, I would rather talk to Honor when Tad isn’t around and he’ll definitely be at the festival later. Yeah … this is the best way to go.” I was mostly talking to myself, but I knew Eliot was listening thanks to the resigned look on his face.
“Fine. I said I’d be your driver. If this is what you want, I’ll hold up my end of the bargain.”
“Great. During the drive, we can talk about how you’re sitting in the truck while I’m inside.”
“I didn’t agree to that.”
“You will if you ever want sex again.”
Eliot made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat. “This is not how I saw this day going.”
“It’s looking up for me.”
“That’s what I meant.”
HONOR WAS ALONE IN the office when I strolled through the front door. The look she shot me was friendly until she recognized me, then her easy smile turned into a smirk.
“I should’ve figured you’d stop by.”
I glanced around the office. Other than the desk she sat behind and a few random signs propped against the wall, it was completely empty. The “out of order” sign remained on the bathroom door, and the mere idea of it continued to grate.
“It looks as if you guys are clearing out.”
“I’ll be here in the morning, but after that I’m essentially done,” Honor explained. “I thought I would have to attend Mr. Ludington’s victory party – he’s still convinced that’s what it will be – but he says I don’t have to go. He’s basically washed his hands of me.”
“Probably because he knows you won’t put out.”
“Probably.”
“Still, that might be good for you.” I adopted a philosophical tone. “That will allow you to attend your mother’s victory party.”
Honor’s face drained of color and her shoulders went rigid. She was silent for five full seconds, and then she recovered. “What do you mean?”
“Elizabeth Justice.” I was here for answers, so I saw no reason to waste time. “You’re her daughter. I have to say, it was an interesting twist in the storyline. You have different last names, so I’m going to guess no one questioned your placement with Tad.”
Honor opened her mouth and worked her jaw. “Um … .”
“Don’t bother lying. It’s already been confirmed. If you’re going to lie, save it for the part when you try to convince me that you didn’t share information on Tad’s campaign with your mother.”
“I don’t know what to say.” Honor rested her hands on the top of the desk. “Are you going to tell Mr. Ludington?”
“That depends on what you tell me.” I took one of the open chairs across from the desk and crossed my legs as I stared her down. “You were close to getting away with it, but I have to wonder how you were going to explain it once you showed up in public photographs with your mother. Tad may be an idiot, but he definitely would have noticed that.”
“We already figured that out.” Honor was rueful. “I simply won’t be in any of the photographs.”
“The doesn’t seem fair since you’ve worked so hard for your mother’s well-deserved victory.”
“This wasn’t planned out,” Honor argued. “I didn’t go into this planning to help my mother. The odds of me being assigned to the Macomb County commissioner race were slim to begin with. I thought for sure I’d be tossed into a local city council race or something.
“Even after I realized what race I was going to be assigned to, it’s not as if I chose to work for Mr. Ludington,” she continued. “It just happened that way.”
“I’m sure if you had a choice you would’ve opted for Aiken because he’s the frontrunner. You could’ve done your mother much more by infiltrating his campaign.”
“I don’t like that word. I didn’t infiltrate anything. Plus, it’s not as if I was privy to any information to pass my mother. I was out of the inner loop.”
“Only because Tad is a sexist pig. You didn’t know going in that he would cut you out in favor of Brucker.”
“So? I didn’t know anything going in.”
“Are you going to sit there and tell me you didn’t pass your mother information? It would be insulting to both of us if you tried.”
Honor shifted on her seat, uncomfortable. “I don’t know what you want me to say,” she supplied after a beat. “I talked to my mother about Mr. Ludington, but it was hardly helpful information. Most of what I told her had to do with the way he looked at me – and the things he said to me – and she was disgusted. She said she knew he was a pervert.”
“And yet she didn’t step up and help you out despite her desire for women to stick together,” I mused.
“She wanted to say something, but I told her not to. I wanted to get through the assignment and be
done with it. I’m so close … you’re not going to ruin this for me, are you?”
That was a good question. “I don’t know. I like you because you’re snarky.”
“And you promised everything I said was off the record,” Honor reminded me.
“I said everything from our previous conversation was off the record. This is a new conversation and I haven’t made any promises. I’m not sure I can overlook this information.”
“It’s not a big deal.” Honor was adamant. “I didn’t have anything good to pass her. I’m not saying I wouldn’t have done exactly that if I had good information, but Mr. Ludington didn’t trust me with his secrets. I didn’t help my mother at all where he’s concerned.”
I wasn’t convinced. “You had to tell her something. I want to know exactly what you passed to her.”
“Will you keep my secret if I tell you?” Honor looked hopeful.
“I can’t make that promise.”
Honor’s smile slipped. “Then why should I tell you? If you’re going to get me in trouble, why should I do anything for you?”
“Because I might be able to help. I also might decide not to tell Tad. That probably won’t happen – because I can practically see his face when he gets the information and it’s bound to be funny – but I haven’t made a decision yet. I can’t promise you something that I know I might go against. That’s not how I work.”
“Well, I’m not telling you anything.” Honor folded her arms over her chest. “You can rat on me – or not – but it won’t change anything. I’m pretty sure I can’t trust you.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Did your mother tell you that?”
“My mother didn’t have to tell me anything. You might be funny, but that doesn’t mean you’re my friend.”
“Definitely not,” I agreed. I didn’t get up from my seat, which seemingly surprised Honor.
“You can go now,” she prodded.
“I think I’ll hang around.”
“Well, I don’t want you to hang around.” Honor’s voice was shrill. “In fact, I want you out of here. You need to leave right now.”
“I don’t think I’m in the mood to do that.”
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