The smell of bacon and eggs lured me like a sea siren to my seat in a small nook by a line of casement windows. I would have bet I wasn’t hungry.
Jane brought me a cup of coffee and said, “Food’ll be ready in a few minutes.”
I took her hand. “I owe you for this. Thanks very much.”
She leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. “Well, look at it this way, Dev. You gave me the most memorable night of my sheltered life.” She took her smile back to the stove and finished up our breakfast.
We went over everything again, of course. She still thought I should have called the police. But now that I was awake I began focusing on what Donovan had actually said about doubling the payment, and by eight o’clock tonight.
Jane said, “I wonder why Donovan came after you.”
“I left my card with his girlfriend yesterday. He obviously thinks I’m the point man now — that I’m acting for Natalie.”
“I keep wondering how Natalie’s going to take it,” she said. “You know, when you tell her Donovan wants another payment.”
“I’m wondering the same thing.”
“Do blackmailers usually do stuff like this?”
The conversation amused me suddenly. “Well, I looked it up in Blackmailing for Dummies and they said that it’s always a possibility.”
“Blackmailing for Dummies. You must have quite a library.”
“I hope you get a chance to see it sometime.”
“Boy, is Natalie going to be pissed. If I didn’t love Susan so much, I could almost enjoy seeing Donovan treat Natalie like this.”
Just then a jagged slice of pain cleaved my skull. I must have winced because Jane said, “Let me get some Tylenol.”
I didn’t argue.
When she came back, she served us breakfast and I swallowed the capsules. French toast, eggs, and bacon. I allowed myself to feel fat and lazy for a few minutes. But then the pain reminded me that I had things I needed to do.
“I need to go, Jane. The food — everything...” I rose and took a few steps toward her. I took her hand. “Thanks. I really owe you.”
“You’re leaving now?”
“It’s almost five-thirty. I want to get ready to go see Natalie and Wyatt.”
“Nuts,” she said. And laughed. “My mother said that I was a very spoiled child and that that was my favorite word whenever I didn’t get my way.”
I took the linen napkin, dipped the edge of it in her glass of water, and then wiped away a tiny button of egg yolk on the side of her lovely mouth.
“Oh, great,” she said, “I’ll bet that looked sexy, whatever it was.”
I raised her gently to her feet. We were both in pajamas. As we kissed I felt her warm yielding body shifting against mine. I think we were both in a kind of trance as she led me back through the house. When we passed one door she said, “That’s the master bedroom. Where I had to sleep with you-know-who. The guest room all right?”
“Fine.”
And it was fine indeed.
I walked into the headquarters’ office at 6:47. Ben was already there drinking coffee from a large McDonald’s container and studying his computer screen with enough concentration to levitate it. Without looking up he said, “Couldn’t sleep. Kristin called me late last night and said she was at a club where a reporter told her there’d be a big story about internal problems in our campaign.” Then: “By the way, you’re off the hook. She told me she met this guy last night and she’s in love.”
I took my own McDonald’s coffee container to the desk I’d been using. “I take it the story ran.”
“Yeah and it’s long. I haven’t finished it yet.”
I logged onto the newspaper Web site and started reading. I was only a quarter of the way through when my head started pounding again. Words could hit just as hard as Donovan’s brass knuckles.
“I wonder how long this guy has been dating Duffy?” Ben said, referring to the reporter.
“It sure as hell reads like that, doesn’t it?” The bastard had done a good job. The infighting between Susan and Natalie, how Natalie treated her staff, and citing four well-known and embarrassing moments from Susan’s past.
“It doesn’t get any worse than that,” Ben said.
“The hell it doesn’t.”
I gave him a quick version of what had happened last night and Donovan’s demand for a double payment. “The son of a bitch might do anything, Ben. That’s the hell of it.”
“He’s a sadistic bastard.”
I was on my feet again. “Now I have to go talk to Byrnes and Natalie.” I walked over and picked up my coat.
“You remember any prayers?”
“Yeah.”
“If I had to face Natalie, I’d say a whole lot of them.”
Part three
Chapter 15
The grass on the endless lawn of the Cooper mansion glittered with frost that was only now beginning to dry off. As I pulled closer I could see that the flower beds had been covered. Except for a border collie sniffing at the base of a tree I didn’t see anything moving around the place. As I passed the garage I noticed that all four of the doors were closed. I parked in front and took my time getting to the door. The cold air felt good, though the weather report said rain was expected by mid-afternoon.
Winnie answered the door. “They’re just finishing breakfast. I’m sure there’ll be plenty for you.”
“No thanks. In fact, if you wouldn’t mind, I wish you’d let me sit in the study and tell Wyatt I’d like to talk to him at his convenience.” I’d decided to talk to Wyatt alone first. He’d never studied drama.
“You look very serious this morning.”
“This is important, Winnie. All I can tell you is that the whole campaign is starting to come apart. I need to talk to Wyatt.”
Behind her I heard Natalie’s voice. “Winnie, why is the front door open? There’s a draft in case you hadn’t noticed.” I could see past Winnie into the morning shadows of the hall that ran through the center of the house. Natalie was somewhere back there. “Did you hear me, Winnie? Now close that goddamn door.”
“We have a caller, Natalie. Mr. Conrad is here.”
“Here?” she snapped. “What the hell’s he doing here?”
She came into the light like a heat-seeking missile, ready to hit her target. She wore a black dressing gown that had a train like a wedding dress. She came up to me like a punk ready to fight. She looked perfect. “Do you have any idea what time it is? And we don’t receive visitors unless they call first.”
Winnie had stepped aside as if afraid of violence.
“Natalie, I could give a shit about your rules. I want to talk to Wyatt in the study, and I don’t want you in there with him. And I don’t want you listening at the door.”
I moved so fast she had to back up. She made noises that were not exactly words. Finally she shouted, “Wyatt! I want you to call the police!”
A few seconds later Byrnes appeared, walking fast. He wore a Western shirt and jeans. His feet were bare. Before he reached us he said, “What the hell’s going on?”
“I want him arrested.”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Natalie, what the hell are you talking about?” To me he said, “Why’re you here so early?”
“Have you read the paper this morning or gone online?”
“No, why?”
“They’re moving on us. Right now they’re just talking about internal squabbling with our campaign. But obviously somebody in our camp is talking to this reporter. I’m pretty sure it’s going to get a lot worse.”
“You bastard,” she said. “This is all your fault. You and Ben. I don’t know why I ever hired you. You’re the most incompetent people I’ve ever worked with.” She stabbed a finger in my direction. “You’re a fucking joke!”