A Primary Decision

by Dr. Kevin Leman

  “He’s a good man,” Sean had told her quietly. “You won’t find a better one.”

  The look in her brother’s eyes had been unsettling then. Recalling it now unsettled her even more. Had she blown something she could have had with Jon Gillibrand just because . . .

  Because you’re too hotheaded sometimes, she chastised herself. You couldn’t just listen to his side first. You had to go all crazy on him. You really need to apologize.

  Then, in the midst of the tumult, the still, small voice spoke. Be patient. Wait.

  She exhaled. Patience wasn’t something she was naturally good at.

  Maybe Jon was giving her time to regroup. After all, she’d basically thrown him out of her place. The memory of the time she’d done that at the hotel in D.C. smarted too.

  She winced, remembering both scenes. Jon didn’t deserve any of it. At the very least, she needed to text him two words: I’m sorry.

  Sarah poised her fingers over the keypad of her phone.

  The voice spoke again. Wait.

  As hard as it was, she did. She knew from past experience that the still, small voice was always right.

  Turning her thoughts from personal matters, Sarah refocused on the area where she could make a difference—the next steps of her political campaign. With her campaign manager gone during his honeymoon, the rest of her team had stepped up to help fill in the gap. She’d only missed the few days she’d been in Chautauqua for the wedding and the day of her return. But even that small lapse in her schedule meant the remaining time until the national conventions would be intensified.

  She only had a couple of days coming up that weren’t scheduled in the next several months. She looked forward to them.

  A SECURE LOCATION

  “We now have some specifics about Stapleton’s visit to the White House in regard to the bombing,” the caller reported to the man. “Our inside source says Stapleton went into the Oval Office and the president kicked even his closest aides out. Stapleton was only in there for five minutes or less, but the two were alone.”

  “What did Stapleton do afterward?”

  “Made a call. We tracked it to a contact who told us—after we put a bit of pressure on him about his unscrupulous dealings coming to light—that he owed Stapleton a favor. The contact made another call and connected Stapleton with the bomb dealer.”

  “So we were right. Spencer is involved,” the man said.

  “Yes. What we don’t know is whether he ordered it or simply knew about it.”

  “How the mighty have fallen.”

  “Only the world doesn’t know it yet.”

  “But they will,” the man stated. “It’s only a matter of time, and the right strings being pulled.”

  45

  JFK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

  Sean and Elizabeth exited their flight holding hands. A tropical flower was still tucked in Elizabeth’s hair. Their honeymoon had been all too short, they’d agreed. But they had a lifetime to take vacations in paradises far from the crowd, just the two of them. For the time being, Sarah needed Sean for her campaign, especially now that it was the critical month of July.

  Instead of the usual limo that greeted him after a flight, Sean had arranged a different mode of transportation. Elizabeth disliked the traditional fanfare that accompanied Sean’s arrivals and departures, often spotlighted in the media. Sean hoped to sidestep the paparazzi for now. So Drew had arranged for Sean’s Jeep to be parked in a quiet spot at the airport.

  The two honeymooners had gone with streamlined baggage, so it wasn’t long before they had their single lightweight bags plucked off the revolving belt and slung over their shoulders.

  They were discovered by paparazzi when they were about 40 yards from the Jeep. Tightening his grip on Elizabeth’s hand, Sean tugged her along faster to avoid the oncoming wave. It hit right after he had deposited her and their bags safely in the Jeep. He jumped into the driver’s side and revved up the engine.

  Just before he drove toward the exit, he paused to smile widely for the reporters. Then he held up his left hand, wedding ring finger visible for the cameras to capture.

  An instant later, the tires of his Jeep squealed down the curves of the exit ramp.

  Elizabeth lifted a brow. “Seriously? How old are you?”

  Sean laughed. “Have to give them something to talk about. Might as well be the truth.” He winked at her. “This longtime bachelor is off the market.”

  NEW YORK CITY

  Will had been spending most of his time with American Frontier lately, exploring the new vision of pursuing clean energy that would benefit the planet. He also had worked hard with Drew and AF’s chief operations officer to put into place a system of checks that would make it nearly impossible for investors to come to American Frontier without first going through an intense grid. All current investments and investors were also being thoroughly analyzed.

  Will had worked long hours juggling his increased responsibilities at AF with his continuing Worthington Shares leadership. He would have to continue to do so in the next couple of months to pave the path for AF’s success after being hit so hard by scandal. This was a critical time, when he would need to be involved with each of the AF department heads to ensure they were all on the same page about how AF would be run under Will’s leadership. He’d already made some difficult decisions with Drew about which department heads would need to change. More such decisions would likely be made over the next month.

  As a result, he and Laura had agreed that she alone would take their three kids to Malawi for the month of July to work with the local villagers. His family had left shortly after Sean and Elizabeth’s wedding, and he’d missed them as soon as they were on the plane. It was the first year he hadn’t been able to accompany them, even for a couple of weeks.

  However, his month while they were away would be more than full. Will was already connected with Kirk Baldwin of Green Justice and other grassroots leaders he’d met at the environmental summit. The environmental community, who had been gun-shy around Will at first—even though his brother had previously backed several of the ecological NGOs with Worthington money—now welcomed him with open arms. Sean had helped to pave the way so the leaders could see Will’s heart and the road he was passionately pursuing toward clean energy.

  The two most important steps were establishing common ground and a relationship of trust. Both were not easy between grassroots organizations and large corporations such as Will’s. An innate distrust of the other party existed. Will, though, had been able to make significant progress toward a working plan that both sides could agree on.

  At the moment, his thoughts flicked to Sean, who would be returning to New York today and soon have access to his phone. Hopefully Sean would read Will’s text before Sarah reached him.

  “Okay, now you can have it,” Elizabeth said 24 hours after their return to the renowned One Madison building that housed Sean’s penthouse, now their New York City home. She tossed Sean’s cell phone in his direction, and he made a grab for it. She laughed. “Talk about addicted.”

  Their first day back in the city had been busy with more important activities than reading text messages. They’d wanted a day all to themselves.

  But with the return of Sean’s cell, real life intruded into their bliss.

  Before he attacked his emails and texts, he trolled through the usual tabloid stories that were mostly trumped-up but often had a kernel of truth to them. Several carried front-page stories that featured various photos of Sean and Elizabeth in the Jeep from the previous day.

  He grinned at the headlines.

  Sean Worthington’s Mystery Woman Revealed

  Sean Worthington—Off the Market?

  Sean Worthington’s Secret Marriage

  Sean Worthington Ends Rumors

  All carried basically the same text: Sean Worthington was clearly taken. Rumors about why he hadn’t married yet were laid to rest. Speculation swirled about when he had gotten hitched
and who the mystery bride was. He knew the furor would continue until they’d ferreted out who Dr. Elizabeth Shapiro Worthington was. For an instant he debated making a simple public relations call to a couple of the key tabloids. Then he decided it would be more fun to watch them scramble to find it.

  He’d announce his marriage first to his Facebook and Twitter circles. Not long after that, it would leak to the paparazzi. Elizabeth would be stalked for a while when she was in New York. Thankfully, with the type of work she did, tracking her in remote locales would prove to be difficult.

  That was fine with Sean. He was ready to take breaks from the media spotlight. Once Sarah’s campaign was completed, he planned on accompanying Elizabeth on many of her research trips. What he did for Worthington Shares would easily work hand in hand with locales that Elizabeth would visit for her work with her father.

  He grinned. Elizabeth truly was a perfect match for him in every way.

  46

  Drew entered Will’s office and quietly laid his tablet on Will’s desk. A tabloid news story adorned the screen. Sean’s cocky smile beamed back in a grainy picture. One inset photo showed the taillights of his disappearing Jeep. Another featured a blowup of Sean’s hand, with his wedding ring circled in red and an arrow pointing to it.

  Will rolled his eyes. “At least we know they’re home.”

  “With fanfare. Sean’s usual style.” Drew chuckled. “I told him coming home in the Jeep wouldn’t throw the paparazzi off for long. Have you heard from him yet?”

  “No, but you know Sean. He’ll contact me when he’s ready, and not before. At least he’s been forewarned.”

  “There’s something else you need to see.” Drew scrolled to another page of the tabloid.

  Will squinted at the page. Victoria Rich, Thomas’s wife, was pictured strolling hand in hand with her lover in front of a series of quaint boutiques. The article stated that divorce proceedings with Thomas Rich were under way.

  Sadness swept over Will. So Sean’s birth father was now experiencing the other side of his marital infidelity. Will thought of the paths the three friends chose out of university and how each step they took had impacted their lives.

  “Do the right thing,” Will said softly. “Dad’s mantra. And he did, even when it was hard. Even when it seemed impossible.”

  “Yes. Bill is a good, honorable man.” Drew leaned over Will’s desk. “So is Thomas Rich. But even good, honorable men aren’t perfect. We all fail. But it’s what happens after each failure—who we listen to and how we choose to go on—that makes the difference.”

  And there it was again—Drew’s clarifying wisdom that helped Will stay on the right path. All those years ago, when Bill was constantly on the road for business, he had known how much Will would someday need a good, honorable man like Drew by his side. Bill had chosen his right-hand man carefully—someone whose life philosophy matched his own. For over three decades, Drew Simons not only had served the Worthingtons in various capacities but had become family, as loyal and protective as if he had been born into the Worthington family himself.

  Will looked up at Drew. “Thank you.”

  Two small words that would never be enough.

  But the smile in Drew’s eyes said he understood the volumes of expression behind the scarce words.

  While Elizabeth soaked in the tub—a rarity for her when she spent so much time on board ship—Sean attacked his electronic in-box. It was cluttered with well-wishers who had already spotted the tabloid stories. His mom and dad weren’t texters and had left him alone. Sarah had sent him multiple texts, as usual.

  There was only one from Will. He checked that one first, since Will would never interrupt his honeymoon with any contact unless doing so was critical.

  Sarah knows about Thomas. But not about you.

  Sean sat back on the sofa. Life had just gone from tropical paradise to extremely complicated.

  Sarah exhaled in frustration. Leave it to Sean to be enigmatic about when exactly he was getting home from his honeymoon. But she had been sure she’d know as soon as he was, because he’d check his texts first. And of course he’d respond to his sister right away.

  She had held back, starting with sending only nice little messages:

  Welcome back to reality.

  Call me when you get a chance. There’s something I’d like to ask you.

  They had progressed to just:

  Call me. We need to talk.

  However, after seeing the tabloid stories, she knew he was home and likely ignoring her.

  Now she’d resorted to toe tapping. Will had said all he was going to, so she had determined to pry any other information out of Sean, who could usually be wheedled for details more easily. Jon was still silent, and her parents were in Australia. Sarah felt out of the loop, and she didn’t like it.

  Once again, she was the baby of the family, the one no one took seriously. The one they wanted to protect from any emotional upheaval. Will had always had their father’s respect and backing. But she couldn’t pinpoint the reason for the change in Sean and Bill’s relationship, and that bothered her tremendously.

  Or perhaps what bothered her most was that, in spite of everything she’d done in her career, she couldn’t achieve what she longed for most—her father’s respect. Yes, he’d given his nod at last to her entering the presidential race and had extended his full support to her in regard to finances and his personal and corporate network. But did he really believe at his core that she could handle such a big job?

  Asking the question, she knew, was in many ways ludicrous. She was in her midthirties, for heaven’s sake. Why did she still crave her father’s approval?

  Nevertheless, the ache was there.

  47

  Sean looked up as Elizabeth padded barefoot into the living room. She was wearing one of his shirts. They had yet to move any of her possessions, other than the light honeymoon bag she’d traveled with and the few clothes they’d purchased in the Maldives. But neither of them was in any hurry to do so. They’d keep Sean’s place in New York and also find a flat in Seattle, close to the university and Elizabeth’s work. Until then, when they were in Washington, they’d stay with Elizabeth’s father.

  She gestured around the stark living room. “This has got to change. Not homey at all. Who decorated it anyway?”

  He winced. “A high-end decorator who came with good recommendations.”

  Elizabeth lifted a brow. “Uh-huh. And you fell for that, did you? There’s absolutely nothing feminine about this place.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong.” He reached for her. “Now you’re in it. And you’re the best décor of all.”

  Finally, the penthouse wasn’t just a place for him to land. It was home.

  A SECURE LOCATION

  The real forces trying to take the Worthingtons down had been known to the contact for a long time. With the backing of the powerful man and his own growing, trusted network, he acted as the hub of information. In a game that had become more high stakes and dangerous every day, only he knew exactly where each chess piece was likely to move. He and the man had agreed on that stipulation from the beginning, as a protection for everyone involved.

  Most of the time, he succeeded in removing the threat toward the Worthingtons before it surfaced. But sometimes even he was surprised by the height and depth of the depravity that was revealed.

  He’d known about Spencer Rich’s tirade in the White House after hearing that Will was running for Senate. Will was too dangerous as a player in the Senate. Irritating New York senator James Loughlin in running against him was only a small thing compared to the shoo-in Will would be as the top Democrat candidate in the presidential race. With Spencer Rich’s ratings down and Will Worthington shining like a star after the AF fiasco, there would have been no contest.

  Stapleton had been around the block a long time as the GOP kingmaker. He had a big stake in Spencer Rich’s reelection, far more than the American public would likely know. O
n top of that, his goal as chairman of American Frontier’s board was to see that the company continued to rake in money for the shareholders, even if that meant short-circuiting critical research parameters. When Will pushed the AF board to stay out of the Arctic, Stapleton began greasing a few palms on the AF board to back Sandstrom and counter Will.

  Spencer Rich and Stapleton had agreed between them that Will Worthington had to go down. The only question was when.

  Sean was known for his public statements against Spencer Rich’s tirades and his inept administration. For Frank Stapleton, that meant walking a constant tightrope between remaining friendly with Will to stay in the Worthingtons’ good graces and make the AF board run smoothly, and dealing behind the scenes to sidetrack the Worthingtons in order to keep the American president happy. Stapleton had been playing both sides for years. As Will’s early mentor in business, Stapleton had thought he could swing another bright star his way. Instead, the bright star had gone his own way.

  Then Sarah had popped up as an additional irritant. She was, in President Rich’s and Stapleton’s eyes, a crusader who still believed in good and evil. She couldn’t be bought. After the Arctic fiasco, she determined not only to take down Sandstrom and set things right, but to take things all the way in finding out what had really happened with the Polar Bear Bomber.

  It was no wonder that all three Worthington siblings had come into the gun sights of the White House and Frank Stapleton.

  Senator James Loughlin meant nothing. He was a pompous old windbag who would soon be voted out of office or have a heart attack during one of his petty tirades.

  Jason Carson was simply a pawn who moved any direction the highest bidder ordered him to. First it was Sandstrom, until Carson saw the writing on the wall and made a play for presidential protection. That move had worked temporarily. Sandstrom went to prison and Carson got his stay-out-of-jail card. It would have been better for Carson if he had disappeared after that. But his ego and greed had overwhelmed his common sense. He’d gone to Stapleton, demanding a large monthly addition to his salary from American Frontier for his “additional services.”