Dax sighed. “I think about that woman every second of every day, brother.”
Connor turned and stepped out onto the balcony. Zack was staring at the Mall in the distance. Secret Service would flip out if they knew he was on the balcony. But he’d swept the place for bugs and did a quick scan of all the windows around them. None seemed to be open so that an assassin could take a quick shot. Besides, almost no one knew the president was here.
Connor realized he wouldn’t trade for Zack’s life, not for anything in the world. “We’re going to figure this out. I know I’m watching over the women, but I’m actually pretty good at stuff like this. Though I haven’t proven it to you. I can’t tell you how sorry I am about that.”
Guilt weighed heavily on him. He should have looked deeper. He should have taken over the case himself and not given in to the pressure from the Agency to keep his name out of it. One of the good things that would come from leaving his job was not having to be so damn secretive anymore.
It struck him suddenly that Lara was his light. He’d been in the darkness for so long. She was the only one he would leave the shadows for. Not because he loved them. Not because he feared the sun. He simply knew the darkness. It was comfortable. He belonged there, but maybe with her at his side, he could make another place for himself. He could finally have a home.
“No recriminations, Connor. I’ve got enough of those for both of us. Just figure out what the hell is going on because I have no clue.”
“Your father was the ambassador for years. Have you had any contact with Russians recently?” he asked softly to ensure no one would be able to hear them over the traffic below.
“Beyond the fucker who runs the country?” Zack laughed but it was a bitter thing. “No. If you’re asking me if a member of the Bratva is blackmailing me for something, the answer is no. If you’re asking me if my father made deals with them back in the day . . . I don’t know. I have suspicions but I’ve always shied away from them. I thought it was better to leave the past in the past. My father only ever had one ambition for me, and wasn’t suffering from dementia when Joy died.”
Shit. “You think your father had Joy killed to get you elected?”
Zack turned, his eyes older than they’d been before. “When the doctor told my father I was a son based on my ultrasound, he shipped my mother back home. She was six months pregnant at the time and the doctor advised against any kind of travel. She’d had several miscarriages and her health wasn’t what it should have been. He wanted his son born on American soil because he didn’t want any questions about the place of my birth.”
“The embassy would have been considered American soil. The natural-born-citizen clause wouldn’t have held you back. You were born to two Americans.”
Zack shook his head. “McCain was born on a Navy base and they questioned him. The opposition will use anything. They couldn’t have kept me from running, but they could have given me hell about it. So my father sent my mother back to Maryland. She almost lost me and spent the rest of her pregnancy in a hospital bed, but by god my birth certificate says United States of America. My father told the doctor that if I couldn’t run for president, I was useless anyway so it didn’t matter what happened. Yes, I believe my father had the very real potential to hire someone to assassinate my wife if he thought it would win me the election.”
“Do you understand that if it’s true, your presidency is over?”
“I know. It won’t matter that I had no knowledge. My legacy and anything I’ve achieved in office will be ruined.”
Connor couldn’t imagine it. “Maybe your father didn’t do this at all. Maybe it’s some outside force and we don’t know what they want yet.”
“Either way, it all boils down to one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“I’d thought about not running for a second term,” Zack began. “Not because I don’t think I’m doing a good job. My approval rating is surprisingly high. I’ve managed to work with the opposition well. The reason I want to quit is her.”
“Elizabeth.” No one who stood in the same room as that pair could miss the fact that Zack and Elizabeth cared about each other. “Are you sleeping with her?”
“No. I wouldn’t risk it because of what the press would do to her, but if I knew I was getting out, I might. I was going to tell Roman next week and then ask her to dinner with me. We have dinner a couple of times a week, but never alone. I was going to surprise her. I’m in love with her. I’ve never been in love with anyone, but I knew the minute I saw her. That’s the horrible part. I met her a year before Joy died. I took one look at her and knew she was the woman for me. Do you know how awful I am, Connor? I had a plan. I was going to wait until after the election. If I lost I was going to offer Joy a divorce. If I won, I was going to offer her a bargain.”
What a fucking mess. “You were going to let her have an affair with Roman so you could see Elizabeth.”
“I didn’t see it as an affair,” Zack said wistfully. “It was all about timing. We couldn’t divorce while we were in the White House. Roman would have happily married her. I saw it as an anticipation of the future.” He sighed. “I deserve all of this shit, Connor. And Elizabeth deserves none of it. I’m going to fire her tomorrow. I’m going to end this so she can find a good man.”
“That’s a mistake. What are the rumors about you two, Zack?”
“That we’re having an affair. Firing her should lay them to rest.”
“And if this isn’t a dead issue? If someone other than your father plotted to put you into office so they could use you down the line?”
“Then she’s out of it.”
“Or they’ll see right through that scheme and know she’s your weakness. Then you’ll have left her utterly alone and unprotected. Until we know what’s really happening, the safest place for her is the White House under the watchful eye of the Secret Service.”
“Oh, god. They could come after Elizabeth. I hadn’t thought of that. I was just thinking of how she’ll look at me when she finds out what my father might have done.” Zack had gone pale again. “Do you think they would hurt Elizabeth to force me to do whatever they want? Likely so. They killed Joy.”
“I think that if someone wants to hurt you, Elizabeth is the easiest way. If I was the one watching you and you fired her tomorrow, I would suspect your ploy. You’re not known for being cruel. Dismissing her would be out of character, so I would take a much closer look. I was working in Afghanistan a few years back, trying to track down a certain bomb maker. The intelligence I had led me to a man who supplied both sides with weapons. He was a smart man. He wouldn’t break since he knew the men he worked for would kill him if he ever talked. This man had left his wife and small daughter back when he’d gotten involved in the arms business. Some people would have said he was callous for leaving them. I took a chance. I brought them in. You see, the timing was too coincidental. Just as he sets up shop, he suddenly decides he’s no longer in love?”
“What happened?”
“He gave me the name of the bomb maker and we don’t mourn the city of Los Angeles. He took his wife and daughter and they ran.”
“Are they alive?”
“I don’t know. Probably not, but that’s what happens when you get involved with terrorists, Zack. You can call me a monster, but I had to weigh the lives of those three people against millions of ours. What I’m telling you is that it’s too late to shove her away. Talk to her. Tell her what’s happening. I would be shocked if she didn’t stand by you. If she knows what’s coming, she’ll know to be careful. But scorned women can be reckless women. They lash out at the oddest times.”
Connor frowned.
“I can’t get closer to her.” Zack slumped down in Lara’s patio chair.
“It would be a mistake to push her away.” Connor wondered what he would do in Zack’s position. They weren’t the same, though. If Connor walked away from this case, Lara wouldn’t give up. She would keep going. She
would gather her little band of misfits around her and then they would all die. He looked down at the street below. “Even if you can’t bring yourself to tell her the truth, you should keep her close so you can make sure she’s safe.”
A motorcycle pulled up across the street from the building. Connor’s senses went on high alert. He recognized that bike, though it likely wasn’t the same since there were two people on it and one of them was wearing a skirt.
Kiki slid off the back of the bike, pulling the helmet off so her long brown hair flowed down the back of her peasant blouse. She smiled and leaned in, giving the man she’d been with a kiss.
Was that her married lover? Congressmen didn’t usually ride around on crotch rockets. Why did he have the exact style of motorcycle that their attacker had been riding?
Connor didn’t believe in coincidence.
Could the person riding the bike have been a woman? Kiki was slender but in a bulky leather jacket, in the heat of the moment, she could probably have passed for a man. Her hair would have been hidden under the helmet, her hands under gloves.
The bike sped away and Kiki pulled out her phone. She typed something in and looked up. He couldn’t miss the smirk on her face before she started across the street toward the building.
Lara’s phone buzzed in his hand.
“Is something wrong?” Zack rose to his feet.
Luckily Lara didn’t put any kind of security on her phone. He swiped his thumb across the screen and found the text from an unknown source.