by Peak, Renna
“Thank God.” Krystal walked toward me, eyeing me up and down. “You haven’t made any statements, right?”
“No.” I felt my forehead furrow. “When would I have been able to do that?” It was ridiculous to think I would have had even a second away from Brandon or any of the other guards to talk to a reporter. I hadn’t even been allowed to go to the restroom alone.
“We have to get on top of this story, Jenna. This boy—the kid from Waterville. He’s ruining everything.” She let out an exasperated sigh. “We need to control the message.”
“Right.” I kept myself from rolling my eyes. The message. I knew she meant the perception of the public—I knew how bad this looked. I finally came out of hiding after nine months and the day I did, my mother took her own life. That was the message that the press was running with right now—that was the reason I hadn’t been allowed to so much as look at a newspaper or cable news show in the past four days. It wasn’t as though I wasn’t used to people talking shit about me in the press, but this … this was something different.
“Who gives a fuck about the press.” His words came out as a low growl, and much more a statement than a question. I could see Brandon was trying not to sneer at the woman he had thought of as his sister until only a few days ago.
Krystal’s lip did curl into a small sneer at his words. “You’re so right, Brandon. Who gives a fuck about the press? I should be kneeling at your feet, thanking you for not having me executed, right? I should be thanking my lucky stars that my dear brother saw fit to save my life when he didn’t see fit to keep the mother of the woman he says he loves—“
“Shut. Up.” He spoke through his clenched teeth, his eyes narrowed almost to slits. “I swear to God, Krystal, just stop. Stop before we’re both sorry you didn’t.”
“Hmm. That sounds an awful lot like a threat. You’re not actually threatening me, are you, Brandon? Because I have the assurance of Senator Davis that there is no threat to me. He swore to me—“
He scoffed. “You believe a fucking thing that man says? After all this time? After everything you’ve seen? You’re a bigger idiot than I give you credit for, Krystal.”
It was like watching a tennis match, only the stakes were much higher than a trophy. My heart was thudding in my ears, my breath hitched in my throat. There was something missing, but I couldn’t put my finger on it right away. Something in their interaction that made no sense. I had seen their banter many times since I had known the two, and this was barely different. A little nastier, probably because the stakes were higher. But the undercurrent was the same sibling rivalry that they had always had. Not the fear that I had bubbling just under the surface of everything I said.
Not the fear. That was what I had been missing—what had been missing in Brandon’s voice and was definitely missing in Krystal’s now. They weren’t afraid. They weren’t worried that there was someone out there waiting to finish the job that he had begun with Marian.
“What am I missing here?” My voice sounded like a terrified animal might sound, trembling and low. “Someone killed Marian. And we’re really worried about what Tommy is saying to the press about me? Is that really what we should be worrying about?”
The arguing stopped momentarily. I looked between the two, the same frown forming on their faces at the same time. They may not have been blood relatives, but there were still many similarities between them.
They stared at each other for a moment before Brandon turned to face me. “Jen, all you need to worry about is getting through the next twenty-four hours. We’re done after that.”
“Like hell you are.” Krystal’s head swung from side to side and she turned to face me, too. “Jenna, if you leave with him, you’re dead. If he tells you anything different, he’s lying to you.” She let out a long breath and it seemed like she was trying to compose her thoughts. “There are things we can’t tell you right now, but you have to trust me. The best thing for you to do right now is to do exactly what I tell you. You’ll go to the services for Marian, then you’ll do a primetime interview with your father tomorrow night. We have to stay on message right now. We have to have a united front.” She turned to glare at Brandon for a moment before returning her gaze to mine. “Even him. We all have to stay on message right now. It’s the only way.”
“Bullshit.” His voice was a low growl again. “I told you, the service and that’s it. He’s not going to fight me, Krystal. You heard him.”
“Wait.” I held up my hand, almost like a crossing guard asking traffic to stop. I glanced between the two. “Back up for a second. You didn’t answer my question.” I felt my brow furrow again with confusion. “You know who did it, don’t you? Who killed her?” I turned my gaze to Brandon’s, almost pleading with my eyes. “If you know, why aren’t you telling me?”
His shoulders dropped and his lips pursed as his gaze dropped to the floor. “Not important.” He looked up at me, the same look of resolution on his face. “You said you wanted a normal life. I can give it to you, Jen. I have a few more loose ends to tie up, and we’re out.” His teeth almost gnashed together as he looked back over at Krystal. “And I have his blessing. He gave me the go-ahead. He said it would make the work the two of you need to do that much easier.” He nodded, returning his gaze to mine. His expression softened. “You can ask him yourself, Jen.”
My eyes narrowed. I wanted to believe him. I wanted to trust that he was telling me the truth, but there was something missing. It was frustrating the hell out of me, not being able to put my finger on what it was. How everything had turned on a dime in what seemed like a second. “You want me to believe that my father gave you his blessing? Are you joking, Brandon?” My head was almost spinning with the memories of what he had said in the past about the two of us ever being together. “He threatened to kill me, Brandon. He threatened to kill both of us if we didn’t end it.”
“That was before.” There was something disturbing in the look in his eyes. Something that didn’t match the words he was saying.
“Before what?”
Krystal cleared her throat. “Before he proved his loyalty.”
I glanced between the two of them again, waiting for an explanation. I fixed my eyes on his. “Loyalty? How, exactly?”
Brandon’s gaze turned to the floor. “That isn’t important.” He lifted his gaze to mine again, almost sheepishly. “Just trust that I did. For you.”
“For me.” I almost parroted the words. I knew that I couldn’t even fathom what my father would ask of someone to demonstrate their loyalty to him. I was pretty sure what I did know only scratched the surface of reality. And I also knew that the things I didn’t know about were exactly the reason I wanted out of this life. I wanted as far away from it as possible—with Brandon or without him.
“Jenna, I would like to point out that all of this is contingent upon you showing up for the memorial service for Marian tomorrow and…” She glared over at Brandon again. “And sitting down with him for the interview afterward. You don’t have to say anything. There will be questions about what you were doing for the past nine months—where you were, things like that. We’ll go over that in a little while—make sure you’re fully prepped. But you do have to do it—there is no choice in it, no matter what lover boy here thinks. It’s part of the deal he has with your father—that’s what he’s leaving out.”
My gaze narrowed and I looked between the two again. “I don’t believe either of you. I have to hear it from him—from the senator himself. I don’t believe he’s just going to let me leave with Brandon.” I quickly turned my gaze to him. “Especially if you’ve become so valuable to him while I was away. I can’t believe he would just change his mind about everything he was so adamant about before.” I turned back to Krystal. “I can’t believe no one would have told me that he had changed his mind sometime in the nine months I was hidden away, waiting for the right time to ruin his campaign.”
I could feel myself running off the rails. I could al
most sense that things were starting to spin out of control again—none of this made sense. It was like I had gone through the looking glass, everything was so different than it had been. I could almost still hear my father’s threats—the way he threatened me. The way he threatened Brandon’s life if I didn’t end my relationship with him. I couldn’t even imagine what Brandon could have done in the interim to turn everything so completely around. To so totally change my father’s mind. There were few people that my father trusted completely, and I knew I had never been one of them. Before I had tried to live my own life, he might have trusted me. But since I had seen some of the things I had seen … heard the things I had heard … I knew I didn’t have his trust. Not in the same way Brandon seemed to have now. Maybe he really had made a deal with my father—had done some terrible deed to win the right to have me as his prize.
It just sucked that I didn’t care how he had won me. I wanted to go with him. I knew I was willing to do whatever I needed to do to get away from this life forever—to get away from the disgusting life that my father led in the name of patriotism.
And it didn’t really matter what Brandon had done to “win” me. I was going to go.
5
Four Days Ago
“Did you hear what I said?” Marian cocked her head, almost as though she was concerned about my silence. “I need you to kill me.”
I’m pretty sure my jaw was somewhere around my toes. My eyes felt like they might pop out of my head—I had to have heard her wrong. “I can’t just…” I turned to glance at Cade, who was staring at me now from his position in front of a nearby bookshelf. I returned my gaze to the woman behind the desk, lowering my voice even though I knew Cade would be able to hear me even if I was whispering. “I can’t just kill you.”
She glanced up at Cade. “You told me he wasn’t an idiot.”
I heard Cade snicker behind me. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I believe I said he wasn’t a complete idiot.”
Her gaze returned to mine. “Yes, I see the difference now.” She shuffled the files, stacking them neatly again. “I didn’t mean literally, of course. You have to realize that there was a plan in place. A plan that has been taking shape over the last year or so, and your arrival in Maine today has thrown that plan into chaos.”
I rubbed at my chin, trying to read her expression. It was impossible—the woman was like an iron curtain, only showing exactly what it was that she wanted seen by anyone else. The pain in my heart was almost like I had been stabbed—she really was what Jen was destined to be if she didn’t get out of this life. It didn’t matter if they weren’t related by blood. She was going to end up exactly like her mother had—emotionless and cold.
“What I need from you, Brandon, is to give your assistance to Cade. We have most of the details worked out already and I’ll leave that to him. What we need from you is your unique ability to persuade people.”
“You’ll have to be a little more specific.” I glanced back at Cade, who was now standing almost behind me. I returned my gaze to the woman. “What’s in it for me?”
She sighed. “What’s in it for you is my personal guarantee that you will lead a quiet life in one of these properties if you should choose to do so. I’m giving you a free pass to remove yourself from the senator’s life.”
I had to force myself not to laugh. She of all people should have known that once you were in his life, there was no getting out. I was already in too deep—there was no way he was letting me out of anything. Especially not if it meant leaving the country for good with his daughter in tow.
“You won’t be able to tell her. Jenna. Not immediately. Jenna will be conflicted when she learns of my death—she won’t know whether to be happy or sad. She isn’t a good enough actress to pretend to…” She let out a long breath as her voice trailed off. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve made many mistakes in my life where she’s concerned, but that isn’t what this is about. This is about all of us getting out of this particular mess with our lives. Thanks to you.”
“Thanks to me?” I glanced at Cade again before turning back to her. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means, you ruined the plan to destroy his campaign—to end this fiasco—once and for all. And that you have put all of our lives in danger because of it.”
“I don’t buy that for a second.” I leaned back in my seat, rubbing at my chin again. “Why not put your plan in play now? Whatever it was that you were doing. Why not end all of this bullshit now?”
“Because he has time. My husband is a master of manipulation, and as we all know, if he’s given enough time he can turn any situation to his favor. There are almost four months left until the election—far too much time.”
“And how do you know I won’t just go to him and tell him what you’re planning? Tell him you’re thinking about giving it all up and moving to Caracas, or wherever the hell you’re planning to go?”
She smiled. “Because then you won’t get Jenna.” She looked down at the stack of folders in front of her, placing her hands flat on the desk before looking up at me. “What we need from you is simple. You convince the medical examiner to issue a statement that my death was ruled a suicide. Simple. Easy enough for even you to understand.”
I almost had to bite my tongue to keep from lashing out at her comment.
“We have friends in the local law enforcement offices who have already agreed to help with this. You only need to get to the new medical examiner to make sure that she finds my—“She made air quotes with her fingers before placing her hands back on the desk. “‘Death’ was not a murder. The last thing we need is the police digging around here for evidence.” Another smile flashed across her face. “You’ll keep Jenna away from the glare of the media until our friends in the medical examiner’s office agree. And once they do, you’ll get her the hell away from her father before he can get her in front of some reporter to twist the situation to his liking.”
“And how am I supposed to do that? Any of that?”
She slid the stack of folders across to me again. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way. You tell me where you want to go and I’ll see that it happens.”
“And where do you go?” I glanced back at Cade, who was fiddling with the books near where I was sitting. “I suppose I get to bring him along, too?”
“Cade will be accompanying me after my untimely death to a location that won’t be disclosed to you. Just know that because of you, Senator Davis will win this presidential election.”
“I don’t see how I have anything to do with this election or any other election—“
The shake of her head interrupted my statement. “You’re wrong. Because of you, he stands to inherit my family’s money, which is a substantial sum. He’ll have enough money to buy this election, regardless of how many votes he’s able to legitimately win.”
I hadn’t ever considered that. I hadn’t really paid any attention to the political part of what I did. I took money for jobs—that was what I told myself. It didn’t have anything to do with politics in my mind. It only had to do with money.
“You’ll need to tell Jenna that the plan is off. You can explain to her how you single-handedly ended any chance this country had of ridding itself of her father once and for all. And I’ll let you wrestle with that for the rest of your life.”
“Then why give me what I want? Why give me a way out with Jen?”
“Not for you.” She glanced over at Cade. “He really is an idiot, Cade.” She shook her head, letting out another exasperated sigh before returning her gaze to meet mine. “For Jenna. Because for some reason, you make her happy. And that is one opportunity that even the Hennessey fortune couldn’t buy me.”
“You actually want her to be happy? And you expect me to believe that is your motivation—?”
“I don’t expect you to believe anything, nor do I care what you believe, Mister … Brandon. I have no intention of explaining anything to you. I’m merely giving you an opportuni
ty to do something else—to make a different choice. The fact that Jenna will also be happy if you make that particular choice … we’ll just consider that a bonus.”
I rubbed at my jaw again, considering her offer. “And I just get to take her out of the country? Just like that?”
Cade cleared his throat behind me. “We have arrangements made for her. You’ll have to make your own arrangements, Brandon. Get yourself a new identity, a new passport.”
She drummed her fingers on the desk again. “Let’s worry about what comes first. You don’t help us, you get nothing. You go to Senator Davis and your girlfriend will end up dead. I suspect you know what he does to people who double cross him.”
Amanda. Daniel. My father. God only knew who else—that was what happened when people double crossed him.
She continued. “You’ll help us. Cade will fill you in on the details you need to know. Then you’ll do whatever it is you do to get women to do what you want—you’ll get that medical examiner to find rule the death of the body she finds a suicide. Cade’s been working on it for months, so it won’t be too much of a stretch for her. And I’m sure you know how to be persuasive.”
I could feel my cheeks burn. I hated that I still had that reputation. I had worked so hard over the last few years to leave it behind. If I could have burned it out of my memory, I would have—I hated that I had ever even played that game, and now that Jen was my only focus… I could do it for her. She was the only reason I would go back to playing that game, but this had to be the last time.
I pondered for another moment. “And where will Jen be when I’m doing all of this?”
“Jenna will be taken to a safe room. Probably this one.” She glanced around the library. “A room where she won’t be able to escape.”
“So you’ll hold her prisoner—“
She shook her head again to interrupt. “Not a prisoner. It will be under the guise of her safety, it just won’t be the safety of keeping her away from a murderer. It will be to keep her safe from her father.”
