Smoke and Sin

by Shayla Black

  “It’s a slang term for the police.” Gus had spent a lot of time in England over the years. She’d come to know a bit of the local dialect. “Though that’s usually used more north of here. Don’t you have to be back in meetings with Zack in the morning?”

  “He’ll survive a few hours without me. He thought I was staying overnight in the first place. That was the plan before…” He fell silent, the thud of the tires against the road and the gentle rap of the rain as it began to fall the only sounds in the car.

  Before…what? Then the truth clicked in her brain. Naturally he’d had to change the rules of the game when he’d realized there was a new player. “You needed to get back to London so I wouldn’t know you’d been gone.”

  “We’ve been over this,” he said, tone grim.

  They had—about a million times. There was nothing left to say.

  She turned the focus back to the case. “Did you get the police report on the nurse’s death?”

  “In my briefcase. You’re welcome to look, but I didn’t see much information. The police didn’t have much to go on. The nurse lived by herself in a cottage on the edge of town. No nearby neighbors to witness anything. She was known to take a walk every evening when the weather was nice. She was found dead just off the roadside two days after her daughter reported that she wasn’t answering her phone.”

  Gus thumbed through the file. “No CCTV cameras out here in the country. And it’s a charming little village that relies on tourism, so it’s not as if any single stranger would stand out. That must have been a frustrating investigation.”

  “I don’t know. It seems like a fairly thin one to me. And that doesn’t surprise me at all. Here’s the site of Constance’s crash.” Roman nodded in the general direction. “There is absolutely nothing out here. I’m not sure anyone would have seen the accident unless they happened to be coming or going from the hospital. The village is a mile back and the accident happened after midnight.”

  The road definitely wasn’t a main thoroughfare. And Roman was right. Nothing about it looked particularly dangerous or remarkable. “My main question is who would have signed her out? And why would the hospital allow her to leave so late at night? I can’t remember… How long had she been at Homewood?”

  “Almost nine months,” Roman replied. He stared out the windshield as though contemplating exiting the car and wandering out into the rain. “I remember Zack worrying…”

  Of course he had. Gus’s heart ached for him. She knew exactly what it was like to lose a parent under mysterious circumstances. “It wasn’t her first time in such a place. There were two other stints in rehab, as I recall. But she stayed here the longest.”

  “Yes, her previous stays in facilities in both the States and France were far shorter, maybe a month.” She could figure out why, given when the stays had occurred. “Did Franklin shove her in rehab so she could make campaign appearances for Zack?”

  No one had really talked about it. It had been the dirty little secret of the Hayes family. But she wondered if Constance’s problems had run much deeper than her love for vodka.

  He sighed. “Yes. If Franklin cared about her alcoholism at any other time, I never saw it. And I spent a lot of time with Zack, so I should know. The two short stays occurred during Zack’s runs for the senate. Franklin would sober her up, and she would be okay for a few months. Then once the election was over and Zack was victorious, she would go right back to the bottle.”

  “No one really knew what a problem she had.”

  “Franklin kept her at home so she didn’t embarrass anyone.” Roman stared out straight ahead. “I advised him to, especially after the spectacle she made at Zack’s wedding. We couldn’t have her in public, making waves. And yes, I know that sounds harsh, and you’re probably thinking I’m some kind of a monster.”

  Gus watched him carefully. He got a tic above his right brow when he was really upset. It surfaced now. She wondered if he’d had it all those years ago. She’d only noticed it once they’d begun to work together. Now when he was angry, he didn’t yell. No, Roman went deadly quiet. That vein in his forehead would twitch as if he was reining in an imminent heart attack.

  It looked as if Roman had dealt with too much for one day. If she wanted to go it alone tonight, it would be so easy to start a fight with him now. If she got him good and mad, he would let her have her own room, and she wouldn’t have to sneak away. All she had to do was plunge in a few well-placed knives, and freedom would be hers.

  He dragged in a deep breath, jaw clenched. He gripped the steering wheel like a lifeline, trying so hard to keep his shit together. Gus couldn’t stab him.

  Instead, she leaned in and slid her hand over his. “No. I see a man who was doing his job, one he’s been obsessed with since he was a kid. You’re extraordinary, Roman. What you and Zack have accomplished is nothing short of legendary. You are single minded, something you must be to achieve the things you have. She wasn’t your mom.”

  “But she was a human being.” He fell quiet again. “I haven’t talked to my own mother in months.”

  “You have a complicated relationship with your parents,” she allowed.

  “We don’t all get the perfect parents,” he replied, flipping his hand over to hold hers. He brought it to his lips and then held it to his chest. “Or even good ones.”

  “Mine weren’t perfect.” Though she’d loved her dad, she’d eventually learned about his flaws. “But if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that there are always two sides to a story. Don’t make yourself out to be the bad guy. You were there to protect Zack’s interests. Joy tended to Constance’s. Joy watched out for her, spent a lot of time with her, even when she and Zack were just dating. So Constance had someone in her corner.”

  “There’s something I have to tell you. Maybe I shouldn’t but…”

  She gripped his hand tightly. “What is it?”

  “One of the things we’ve uncovered is that Joy’s death was no accident.”

  Gus froze. “What do you mean?”

  “Whoever pulled the trigger that day wasn’t trying to kill Zack. He didn’t miss. The assassination wasn’t botched.” Roman swallowed. “He was trying to kill Joy.”

  “How can you know that?” she asked, feeling cold all over.

  “One of Lara’s friends dissected video of the last three rallies we attended. He managed to isolate the appearance of a laser sight on each one. To most, it would have looked like a blip on a screen or a temporary camera malfunction. But all three marks occurred at the same time in Zack’s stump speech, and every time they were pointed directly at Joy’s chest.”

  The implications crushed Gus. Someone had planned to kill sweet, selfless Joy? “So…I was right. All these deaths are related. And you’re saying that whoever is behind them killed Joy, too.”

  His hand squeezed hers. “Yeah. We didn’t know until recently.”

  “Why would anyone want Joy dead?”

  Roman frowned, hesitated as if he debated the wisdom of answering. “We think they killed Joy to swing the election. It was close, but we were going to lose. I knew it. Zack knew it. The honest to god truth is, there was something almost freeing about that. I had made plans for my life after the campaign. Zack was going to finish out his term in the senate, then we’d talked about practicing law together. It sounds stupid now, but I was almost happy.”

  Of course he had been. Because if he’d lost, Zack likely would have divorced Joy to pursue Liz. Gus had always felt the attraction and the bond between those two. That would also mean Joy would have been available to become Roman’s ideal wife.

  What would the world look like now if that had happened?

  “Augustine, are you ever going to forgive me for our past?”

  “You’re forgiven.” She watched out the window because she couldn’t look at him; she couldn’t stand knowing that he’d been thrilled to hustle Joy to the altar. The only place Roman had ever been thrilled to hustle
Gus was to bed.

  She squashed the thought, looking out at the landscape, so hazy and lush and green. There was no green quite as verdant as the land here in England. She’d thought often that when she retired, she might move here and write her memoirs, adopt cats, and drink tea. And watch the rain.

  He released her hand and made a U-turn. “I wish I believed you.”

  “I forgive you, Roman. I just don’t know where we go from here,” she said sadly, pivoting her thoughts back to Joy again. So fucking complex. Joy had been her friend…and her rival. She’d been soft and sweet, and yet on those rare occasions when she dug her heels in, there had been a whole other side to the woman.

  He turned to her, looking weary, almost lost. “Let’s go have dinner and a drink. In the morning, you’ll talk to some of the villagers, then we’ll return to London. Right now, I can’t think past that.”

  And that was one of their problems. He could never see a future with her. But they had a few more days together until she had to let go of their past.

  * * * *

  “I expected you to fight me more,” Roman said as he locked the door to the room they would share tonight.

  Gus set down the small bag of items they’d purchased before the shops closed. They’d spent the early evening in the village. Since she’d planned to head back to London, she hadn’t come prepared to spend the night.

  She certainly hadn’t intended the rest of the evening to be so pleasant. They’d had tea and talked to a few locals. They continued on to some of the stores, poking about and asking members of the community subtle questions while they shopped for a few necessities.

  “About spending the night with you?” Gus asked, pulling out the toothbrush she’d bought.

  “Staying in the same room. And yes, spending the night with me.”

  She could guess what he was really saying. “No, we’ve done that plenty of times. What you really meant was having dinner and shopping in public while holding your hand.”

  He’d done the latter incessantly. He’d told her it was best if everyone in the village saw them as a couple—less suspicious—but he’d done it even when no one was around. Roman’s mixed signals were making her crazy.

  “All right…I guess so. Yeah. It was nice. Spending time together without talking business felt surprisingly good.”

  It had felt good. They’d talked about their past—not the heartbreaking parts, but some of the good times. He’d reminded her that before their falling out, they’d had a lot in common, shared a similar sense of humor. They also shared a lot of memories—the teenage antics of the Perfect Gentlemen. Gus had managed to get her brother’s friends out of a scrape or two, as well.

  “You may not see it, but I always thought of you as the original girl in the gang.” A smile played at Roman’s lips as he crossed to the small desk and laid his briefcase on it. “You know we were all kinds of intimidated by your big attitude in the beginning. Well, everyone but Connor.”

  “Connor spent summers with me. He viewed me as a big sister, nothing else. The rest of you were horny boys, and I was just the queen of all of your teenage fantasies.”

  “I will not deny that.” He opened the tiny closet and hung up the slacks and blouse they’d found for her. Not her usual designer stuff, but it would do. She should be able to sneak into tomorrow’s afternoon meetings without raising brows. “But I like to think we were also friends.”

  “I was your bail-out girl,” she corrected, trying to keep the conversation light. “You know I charged Dax interest, right? Ten percent. It was a good business model.”

  Roman eased out of his suit coat. “You did not.”

  “Oh, I did.” The memories played through her mind. “I also charged him mileage. It wasn’t an easy trip from my university to wherever the hell you guys got caught. And then I usually had to bribe someone to keep your stupidity out of the press.” She gave a little gasp. “Holy shit, Roman. I was already working publicity for Zack, even back then.”

  He chuckled, the sound warm and inviting. “You were, and you were absolutely the person we called when we were in trouble. I think we all missed you during our years apart.”

  She placed the toothbrush and other sundries in the small and thankfully private bathroom. The B&B was a charming old English manor house. It looked like Roman had rented out the Lord’s suite since it was much larger than she’d expected.

  But once she was done arranging her temporary things, Gus had nothing left to do but stare at the clock and try not to think about why they’d missed her. Because she’d been foolish enough to give her heart to one of them. He’d merely thought of her as a fuck buddy.

  Gus sighed. “It’s been nice watching the guys finally get their shit together. I never thought Bond would find a woman who could handle him.”

  The air of sadness that had briefly loomed over Roman evaporated, and he smiled again. “Oh, Everly can. When we first met her I couldn’t believe Mad had hired her as his security chief. I thought it had to be one of his jokes. Or hookups. Of course, at the time, we didn’t know she was his half sister.”

  “I would love to have seen Mad handle his sister falling for his best friend.”

  “You know what you really should have seen? Everly basically handed your brother his ass when she decided she wasn’t taking Gabe’s shit anymore. Unfortunately, she nearly walked into a sea of reporters, so Dax had to force her back inside. She did not accept their manhandling well. Connor had to take her down.”

  Oh, she wished she’d been there to see her big Navy captain baby brother get a verbal smacking down by Everly. “I like her. I like Lara, too, and Holland is everything I could have wanted for my brother. He just handled their relationship like a dumbass when he first met her.”

  “He did. But even when your brother was at his stupidest, you watched over her. You knew how much he cared about her and you sent someone to protect her,” Roman mused as he fiddled with the big fireplace. He found a switch and it poofed into life.

  That embodied Roman’s whole existence. No taking hours to start a roaring fire. He merely found the right switch and it stoked to life for him. It was why she sometimes forgot that he was merely a man, with all their insecurities and troubles. “I knew something was going on, that Holland had put herself in a bad position. I merely sent in backup.”

  “You’re a remarkable woman, Augustine Spencer. I don’t know if I really understood that until recently.” He found the crystal decanter of Scotch the hosts had left for them and poured two drinks.

  Gus sank to the comfy couch, the fire already warming her. “You’re larger than life yourself, Roman.” Now was the time. She didn’t want to fight with him, but he’d bent a lot this evening. She should probably return the favor. Since they were warm and getting along…and she only had two more hours before she was supposed to meet Deep Throat. If she didn’t tell Roman about the meeting now, it would be too late. “You handle everything that gets thrown at you with reason and intelligence.”

  Gus hesitated. If she told him about the meeting now, how fast could he get a helo up here? Zack didn’t have Marine One at his fingertips in the UK, but Gabe had some pretty serious connections in the aeronautics field. And he knew lots of billionaires.

  Roman stood over her, two glasses in his hand. He’d chucked his tie and opened the first two buttons of his dress shirt, giving her an intriguing glimpse of what she knew to be a spectacular chest. He looked yummy and sexy. And very suspicious. “Reasonable? That is not a word you usually use to refer to me.”

  “An oversight on my part.” She took the glass from his hand and wished she wasn’t about to ruin the companionable state they’d found. The old Gus would have blurted it out, ripped the bandage off, and told him what she was doing. Her younger self had been a bit of a reckless bitch. Now she wanted some peace with this man. “What do you think about the lady who said she remembered Constance and a woman hanging out at the pub?”

  He stared for a moment, the
n sank down on the couch beside her. “Is that what she said? So hard to tell…”

  He really did struggle with English country dialects. “Yes. She said she remembered seeing Constance in town a few times because she was always dressed up.”

  “Posh,” Roman recalled. “She said Constance was a posh snob.”

  “Nob,” she corrected. Seeing powerful, always-in-control Roman out of his Beltway element was almost cute. She wished they could go to Paris so she could watch him depend on her to order food and navigate the city because he didn’t speak a lick of French, which she’d mastered long ago. “It’s slang for a wealthy person. And for a tiny penis. But I think we can safely say the elderly lady we were talking to was using the word in the former sense, not the latter.”

  “Probably,” he allowed. “She said she’d seen Constance with a man and a woman at different times.”

  “The man was probably Franklin. But the woman…” Gus shook her head, replaying the conversation they’d had with the local workers behind the counter at one of the shops. “She said Constance was with a younger woman, right? But she didn’t remember much except that she’d been a blonde whom Constance appeared to know well. Did Joy take any trips here to visit Zack’s mom?”

  Roman’s jaw tightened momentarily, the way it always did when she brought up Joy. “I’m sure she did. You know she and Constance were close. And I think she viewed dealing with Constance as one of her roles as Zack’s wife. When we get back to DC, I can probably find Joy’s calendars. She kept them. I think Zack boxed them up after she died and had them moved into storage, along with all her other things, since he couldn’t bring himself to give them away. And I don’t think he wants to deal with them now.”

  “Well, some of her things should be preserved for his presidential library. When we get back, I’ll recruit Holland and Sara to help me go through her things.”

  Roman shook his head. “How do you do it? How do you compartmentalize like that? You offering to do that makes you one hell of a saint.”