Читать книгу The By Request Collection - Kate Hardy - Страница 40

Ten

Shit. This was the last thing Roman needed. He rose from his seat, which was just as uncomfortable as it looked, and told Agent Crosswell, “I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.”

The agent leaned back in his chair, nonplussed. “You may want to rethink that.”

“Why?”

“Because as far as we know, she could be involved. She could be hiding evidence.”

No way. Knowing Grace the way he did, Roman didn’t believe that for a second. Besides, he’d gone down this road before and he’d lost the only thing that mattered to him. He would not take that chance again. “She would never do that. If she does have evidence, I’m betting she doesn’t know it.”

“An undercover operative learned from a source that she may be in possession of files that would prove the misappropriation of funds and even the bribery we suspect him of.”

If they had undercover people working this, it was clearly a serious investigation. He didn’t want to see Gracie implicated. She had been through enough in the past few months. “I can tell you right now that she isn’t hiding anything. She worked on his campaign because she believed in his politics. She would never knowingly hide evidence. Going after her would be a waste of your time.”

“She may not know that she has the evidence, but we’ve learned that the senator thinks she does and that she may know something she shouldn’t. If she isn’t working in collusion with Senator Caufield—and that’s the theory we’re leaning toward—our concern is that he will do anything to get them back from her, and keep her quiet if necessary. Meaning that she could be in serious danger.”

The idea of Gracie getting hurt made his heart beat faster. If she truly was in danger he had to listen to what Agent Crosswell had to say.

Roman reclaimed his seat. “You’re sure about this.”

Crosswell nodded. “Without a doubt.”

“What do you need from me?”

“We need to get to those files before the senator can. Do you have any idea where they might be located?”

With a shrug, Roman said, “Not a clue, but I can ask her.”

“No. Absolutely not. If she suddenly drops out of sight, Senator Caufield will know something is up. We can’t take the chance of the investigation going public. We have too many man-hours invested in this to blow it. The senator cannot know that we’re investigating him. Whatever you have to do, Miss Winchester cannot know about it.”

“And if I tell her?”

“I can charge you with impeding a federal investigation.”

Great. It was his past coming back to bite him in the ass. If Gracie was truly in danger his first instinct was to take her as far from Chicago as he could, if that’s what it took to keep her safe. But there was no way Gracie would agree to that. Not without knowing why.

Dax had obviously had Gracie completely snowed. Then Roman thought of something that nearly made his heart stop altogether. “The senator has been trying to set up a meeting with her.”

“We know. You can’t let that meeting happen. If she gives him the files, our investigation is over. Or worse, she could be charged as an accomplice.”

Jesus, how did he keep getting into these impossible situations? “This is emotional blackmail.”

“I know. And I’m not unsympathetic.”

His sympathy wouldn’t stop his and Gracie’s relationship from crashing and burning. “I can’t lie to her.”

The agent leaned forward, his expression serious. “Mr. Slater, if it’s her life on the line, can you afford not to?”

* * *

Gracie came home from work early after a surprise call from Roman that afternoon. Though they typically didn’t see each other on weeknights, he’d said he missed her and offered to bring dinner over. The truth was, she missed him, too, and seeing him only on the weekends just wasn’t cutting it anymore. And it would give them an opportunity to talk about their relationship.

There was no question in her mind that she loved him, and she wanted them to be together. And she was fairly certain that he wanted the same thing if it felt as right to him as it did to her.

She had just gotten out of the shower and was still wrapped in a towel when her sister Nora called. With her wedding barely a week away she was scrambling to make last-minute preparations. Normally Gracie would have helped with the arrangements but she had just been too busy with work, and the proposed date had been too close for Gracie to arrange for time off. But Nora, sweet as she was, had been understanding.

“Reid and I took Declan for the final fitting on the tuxes,” Nora told her. “He looks so adorable.”

Declan, Nora’s son from her first marriage, was a precocious two-year-old with curly ginger hair, adorable freckles and striking blue eyes. Nora’s fiancé hadn’t been open to taking on another man’s child at first, which had worried Gracie and Eve, and especially Sutton. But Reid proved himself to be an amazing father and the three couldn’t be happier.

“I wish there was something I could do to help,” Gracie told her. “I know you have your hands full.”

“I’m fine. For once in your life I want you to just enjoy a family event instead of feeling like you have to run it.”

But that was what Gracie did. She helped people. She sacrificed her own time to make the lives of others easier. “Well, if there’s anything you need me to do—”

“There isn’t,” Nora insisted. “You are a guest at this wedding and I want you to act like one. Which reminds me, are you planning to bring a date? I’d like to have the final list ready by tomorrow. And I’ve heard a thing or two...”

Of course she was talking about Roman.

“Would it be a problem if I brought someone?”

“Honey, of course not.”

Gracie frowned. Maybe she just didn’t understand who Gracie would be bringing. “Seriously, I can bring anyone?”

Nora laughed. “Why are you beating around the bush? If you want to bring Roman that’s fine. I think it’s better than fine.”

Huh? “You do? After what he did to our family...”

“That was a long time ago, and Eve explained that he had nothing to do with this last scandal. He’s human, Grace. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone deserves a second chance. And it’s obvious that he makes you happy. There’s a light in your eyes that I haven’t seen in ages. I’m not saying that he doesn’t have to prove himself, but I do think he has potential.”

Her relief at hearing that left her weak in the knees. “I’m in love with him again.”

“Again?”

What was her sister implying? That Gracie hadn’t really been in love with Roman before? “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“I’m curious, Grace. How many men have you dated seriously in the past seven years? Just a rough number.”

Nora already knew the answer to that. Gracie had used work and her charity obligations as an excuse to avoid dating, but the truth was, no man had come along whom she’d been interested in dating more than once or twice. She always compared them to Roman.

“None,” she told her sister.

“Exactly.”

She wasn’t sure what her sister was trying to say. “Meaning what?”

“Is it possible that maybe you never stopped loving him?”

Leave it to Nora to speak her mind and tell it like it was. And of course Gracie had considered that. “At this point, I’m not really sure. I just know that I feel good when I’m with him. We just...fit. The thought of letting him back in then losing him again terrifies me. Maybe it’s not so much that I don’t trust him. Maybe I don’t trust myself.”

“I know all about loss, honey, believe me. When I lost Sean I thought I would never recover.”

Nora’s husband and childhood sweetheart, Sean O’Malley, had died fighting in the war in Iraq. He’d given his life saving other soldiers. Gracie hadn’t forgotten how devastated Nora had been to lose the love of her life. The only thing that had kept her going was her son, Declan. And she’d sworn that she would never give her heart to a man again. But here she was, now happily engaged, deeply in love and about to get married. People did get second chances.

Maybe it was now meant to be, and seven years ago just hadn’t been their time.

“Your only other option is to not try,” Nora said. “Is that what you want?”

No, not trying wasn’t an option at all. They had something good. Something special. “I can barely imagine my life without him in it. I’ve never been able to talk to anyone the way I can talk to him. He accepts me for who I am. He sees past the Winchester name and appreciates me for me. He always has. In a couple of weeks he’s gone from being my mortal enemy to my best friend. How do you give up on something like that?”

“Simple. You don’t. You give it your all, and you fight for what you want. And you don’t stop until you have no fight left in you.”

Nora was right. Gracie needed to fight for them. And the truth was that so far, she hadn’t even had to fight all that hard. Everything just seemed to be falling into place. It was almost too easy. But easy was good, and she planned to enjoy it.

“Yes,” she told her sister. “I’m bringing Roman to the wedding.”

Nora sounded genuinely pleased when she said, “Wonderful! I’m so happy for you, Grace.”

Her doorbell rang. “Speak of the devil. Roman is here. I have to go.”

“If I don’t talk to you before then, I’ll see you next Thursday. Love you!”

“Love you, too!” Gracie hung up, slipped a robe on and scurried to the door. Roman was early. He wasn’t supposed to be there for another half an hour, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t wait to see him.

She pulled the door open, ready to throw herself into his arms, and was surprised to find not Roman standing there, but Dax Caufield.

Before Gracie could say a word, Dax walked right in without invitation, and for a second she was too stunned to say or do anything. He’d been blowing up her phone and nagging her assistant since Friday, after Gracie had seen him at the restaurant. But to show up uninvited at her home?

“Dax, what are you doing here? And how did you get in?”

He avoided her question entirely. With a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, he shrugged out of his coat and said, “You’ve been avoiding me, Grace.”

She instinctively pulled her robe tighter around herself. She’d always felt comfortable with Dax. He’d been to her place a dozen times before when they’d worked on the campaign and she’d never thought twice about it. But something about this surprise visit, and the vibe she was getting from him, felt very wrong. She made a mental note to have a serious talk with her doorman. She didn’t care if it was the president there to see her, he should have called up. “As I told you the other night, I’ve been very busy.”

He took a seat on the couch, making himself comfortable. “You don’t look busy now. Let’s talk.”

Who the hell was he to tell her if she was or wasn’t busy? Why was he acting like this? “This is not a good night for me.”

“I won’t take too much of your time,” he said. “I promise.”

He already had taken too much time. And he was making her uncomfortable. She didn’t like the way he was looking at her, and the fact that all she had on was a thin silk robe.

“You could offer me a drink,” he said, crossing one leg over the other, settling back as if he was planning to stay a while.

He was trying to intimidate her, she realized. He was bullying her. She’d seen him do it before, never to her but to his political enemies during the campaign. She hadn’t cared for it then, and she really didn’t like it now.

“Dax, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

With a sigh he leaned forward, clasping his hands together. “Grace, I can’t do that.”

She went from uncomfortable to downright uneasy. He was actually refusing to leave her home?

“Grace, I have a problem and I need your help.”

“What kind of problem?”

“There are people out to get me. They’re trying to ruin me, Grace.”

Well, of course there were. He was a politician and it was a cutthroat business. And what did he think she could do about it? “Who is trying to ruin you?”

“People who don’t like my politics. Who think there’s no place for a straight shooter in the senate. They tried to buy my vote, and when I refused they set out to ruin me.”

Unless he had something to hide, it shouldn’t have mattered who was after him. “How can they do that if you’ve done nothing wrong?”

“That’s why I need all the files you have from the campaign. It’s the only way to prove my innocence.”

That made no sense. “You have copies of everything.”

“You’re going to have to trust me on this, Grace. I need you to hand over everything you have.”

That was the problem, wasn’t it? She didn’t trust him. Not anymore. He wasn’t acting like himself, and it was scaring her a little. “Dax, I’m sorry, but I don’t have backups of anything.”

“Grace,” he said, rising from the couch. “We both know that’s not true.”

She took a step back, not just intimidated, but actually scared. “Dax, you have to leave right now.”

He took a step toward her. Casually, but there was a darkness in his eyes that made her heart beat faster and her breath hitch.

“I really need your cooperation. It’s a simple request.”

She held her ground, but her knees had started to knock. “I can’t give you something I don’t have.”

“We can do this now. You can hand over the flash drive and we can be done with it, or I can send someone to get it for me. And my colleagues are not as patient as I am. It’s up to you, Grace.”

Colleagues? He was threatening to send someone to do what? Rough her up?

Who the hell was this man?

“If you don’t leave now I’m going to call the police,” she told him, squaring her shoulders, struggling to hide the tremble in her voice, wishing she had her cell phone. If she could record his threats...

“That’s not advisable, Grace. You would be wise to cooperate.”

Screw that, and screw him. With a surge of courage that came from somewhere deep inside of her, she walked past Dax and grabbed the cordless phone off the coffee table. She punched in 911, and with her finger hovering over the button to connect the call, said firmly, “Get. Out.”

Dax shrugged and shook his head, as if he were disappointed in her, then grabbed his coat. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

He strolled to the door, casually pulling his coat on, and without looking back, walked out. She ran to the door and locked it behind him. That was when the reality of what had just happened hit her full force, and she started to shake from the inside out. What could ever possess Dax to treat her that way? To bully and threaten her.

She felt betrayed and used and so stupid for not seeing sooner what he was really like.

And why were her copies of the files so critical? They were no different from his. At least, they shouldn’t be.

Something was up, and she had the feeling that it had nothing to do with his innocence. If people were out to get him there must be a damned good reason. And she wanted to know why.

She collapsed onto the couch and sat there for several minutes, trying to calm down, stuck somewhere between grief and fear and hurt. The sharp rap on the door several minutes later nearly had her jumping out of her skin. Was that Dax’s colleague already? Was he there to rough her up?

It took all her courage, but she got up and with shaky knees walked to the door, checking the peephole this time.

It was Roman. She went limp with relief. She threw the door open, hurled herself into his arms, knocking the bag of food he’d brought right out of his hand, and started to cry.