The Gentlewoman (36 page)

“I can’t believe my stepson can’t come to Ohio,” Rory
bitched over the phone to Jackson. He delighted in it. She had started calling
Ryan her stepson after his last visit. The connection she and Ryan were
building was a source of pride for Jackson. They shared secrets about his
girlfriends, sided with each other against him and in general made Jackson
ecstatically happy about their family. He couldn’t wait to make it complete
with their actual wedding. He was hoping to pin her down on a date this
weekend.

He was on an airplane headed to Cleveland to meet her. It
was April twelfth and Rory had flown, with her Secret Service agent, to
Cleveland the night before for the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the official
opening of the Trojan Japan Cleveland Shipyard.

“He can’t miss the last ski trip,” Jackson responded. “How
about week after next?”

“Fine.” She hopped on one foot, attempting to shove her pump
onto the other. “Will you be on time?”

Jackson looked at his watch. “Should be. I’ll meet you at
the luncheon.”

Jackson had hung back in DC an extra night to take care of
some fundraising. He couldn’t wait to accompany her to a luncheon after the
ribbon-cutting being held in her honor.

After the interview, Rory had received some attention in the
form of honors and awards. This weekend the Women’s League of Greater Cleveland
was bestowing on her their 2013 Women of Courage Award. She had been reticent
at first but had eventually warmed to the idea.

She had decided that she should use the situation to do what
she could for women and victims of crime through her work in the House. To that
end she was ready to be honest with the world about her experience. Some days
she was still pale and panicky. But she handled it, as he knew she would always
have to. She and Jackson would always move forward together.

There had been no further movement on the Roan Sullivan
investigation. No further information on the leak in the classified information.
Jackson had left word for Secretary Reynolds to call him. He wanted to discuss
discontinuing their shadows.

After a month Jackson and Rory had moved back to Jackson’s
condo. They cleared her condo out and locked it up. In time they would sell
both places and buy a house. Rory had her heart set on that, which made Jackson
happy.

Jackson had followed up on his own suspicions on the leak.
He had questioned Jennifer Durand, suspecting she was exacting some sort of
revenge. Only a handful of people had access to that information. After talking
with her, he was pretty satisfied she had moved on and was sincere. She didn’t
have any ideas about the leak either. Nothing out of the ordinary had been
going on that she knew of.

Rory and Jackson had spent a weekend in Cleveland the
previous month so Jackson could meet Rory’s friends and family. They had a
great time. Rory had been so proud to show him her home.

They had arrived in time to rush through her front door to
the rear wall of glass; just in time to watch the sunset over Lake Erie. It had
been beautiful and Jackson had held her tucked under his chin. She had elbowed
him in the gut when he whispered “nice pond”. That was what the Mainers termed
it no matter how big, he explained, laughing and rubbing his rib.

Nicole’s family had been in Ohio that weekend and Devon had
given them an impromptu engagement party. Jackson was impressed with the number
of friends who had stopped in to offer congratulations. He could tell they were
all happy for Rory. Devon and the kids were great. He immediately saw why the
two women were so close. They were both so strong. It was heartwarming to see
Rory with her close girlfriends with all their kids running all over her house.

Jackson had leaned over to Rory after counting the children.
“You’re godmother to all these kids? There’re eight including Sabrina’s.”

“Nine if you count the one Nicole has in the oven, old man.”
She winked at him.

They had gone for lunch to an Irish place Rory hadn’t been
in a while. She said it had been a favorite of her father’s. She knew everybody
there too. They were all so happy to see her. They immediately stepped from
behind the bar and called out others from the kitchen. They told great stories
of when she was younger.

Jackson’s phone rang again. He answered quickly, seeing it
was Secretary Reynolds’s personal number.

“Hey, Marty.”

“Jackson. How are things?”

“Fine, just fine, thanks. Rory’s in Cleveland. I’m headed
there now. We’ll spend the weekend and be back next week. I wanted to talk to
you about the case.”

“Yeah. I’m ashamed to say it, but I think we’re officially
cold. Really chafes my ass too. I was sure I could get this handled for her.
Sure wanted to get her some peace, not to mention shut this fucker down.”

“I understand, Marty. You did what you could.” Jackson
wished he felt settled about it. Something still irritated him about the whole
situation. Really stuck in his mind like a splinter he couldn’t find.

“Marty, did you clear everybody from the team on the leak? I
still can’t make that work in my head.” He didn’t know what he was looking for.
But it felt like it was right in front of him.

“I personally cleared everybody.”

“Even the FBI guys who weren’t yours? What about Sutton?”

“Sutton left the case a long time ago. Said he had to get
back to Cleveland. Cited personal reasons. I’m not even sure he’s still on with
the Bureau.”

“When was that?”

“A long time ago, before Tagg was killed. I think it was
right before that box was delivered to Rory’s place.”

Jackson sat forward in his seat, his heart leaping. He did a
quick mental calculation. “Marty, did you guys ever give Sutton a key to Rory’s
place? I saw him the day we left for Maine. He opened her door and let the
furniture delivery guys into her condo. He was chatting them up like he owned
the place.”

“Sutton never had a key.”

“You sure?” Jackson’s blood pressure was rising
exponentially.

“I know for a fact. The only FBI I let have a key was Tagg
because I bought and paid for his ass to be on my team. I couldn’t trust those
other fuckers. I never let them in the circle. Nobody ever gave him a key
either. Nobody liked that weird son of a bitch. Jesus, he was gone before you
went to Maine.”

“Oh God, Marty. You better make some calls. I think we have
another problem besides Sullivan.”

Jackson gripped the airplane seat hard enough to pull it out
of the floor as he began sweating bullets. Thoughts of the times that Rory
found her door open, the bloody baby in the box, the man they spotted at the
Follies. What if it was all Shane Sutton?

He had to get to Rory.

Rory raised an eyebrow and shook her head at Nicole in the
audience. She stood on the podium with the other committee members. They were
on the west bank of the Flats on the Cuyahoga River, freezing their asses off.

Normally the saying “if you don’t like the weather in
Cleveland, wait five minutes” were words to live by. Except on two occasions.
Everybody knew it. The rule was if it was Election Day, it was going to rain
buckets. And if there was an outdoor event in the spring, there would be a freak
white-out. She didn’t know why they couldn’t have waited another three weeks
before cutting the ceremonial ribbon on the shipyard.

She looked down at her expensive black pumps as the snow
blew around her ankles. She remembered last April when it had been so warm she
waded in the lake behind her house.

Finally the decision was made to move the press conference
back to City Hall. Rory wondered what rocket scientist came up with that one as
they drove the couple miles to the building.

“Motherfucker,” she muttered as the car pulled up in front
of City Hall. There were picketers everywhere. They blocked every building
entrance. Rory leapt from the car and surveyed the situation.

They were from the ironworkers and electricians unions Mayor
Bruce Garrison had been fucking with. She was pissed. How in good conscience
could she cross their line and go into the press conference? What a miserable
situation. These people didn’t deserve this from their mayor.

She knew those contracts. They had been set up fairly and
planned out to be incrementally executed for years to come. Hard-core
negotiations weren’t necessary. It was all for Garrison’s ego, she thought,
wondering again why Landon had set up that miserable asshole in the mayor’s
office.

She looked at Nicole. “What the hell,” Nicole muttered.

The security guard raced out to Rory and Nicole. “Ladies,
please follow me,” he said offering his outstretched arm to clear the way. Rory
didn’t know what to do. “Congresswoman, we need you inside,” he yelled above
the voices of the picketers.

Against her better judgment, Rory followed him into the
building. She looked back outside. Her Secret Service guy hadn’t followed them
in his car. Oh well, she thought.

“How long has this been going on?” Rory asked.

“About a week now,” the security guard answered.

“I’m going to see Bruce about this,” she told Nicole.

They took the elevator up to the fourth floor. The doors
opened and they stepped into the crowded area. There were hundreds of suits
squeezed in as the media made their way to set up for the conference. She was
rushed by dozens of people. Some wanted to shake her hand and welcome her back,
others wanted a statement.

Her head spun and she tried to keep an eye out for the
mayor. She answered questions on the new shipyard and even sidestepped leftover
questions about her engagement and ill-fated interview.

She eyed Nicole through the open double doors of the press
room and squeezed by a few more people. Finally she made her way in and was
ushered onto the stage area to take a seat with the rest of the committee that
had been instrumental in the shipyard deal.

The press conference began, with none other than the mayor
himself gushing over the new shipyard and what this deal meant for the
development and continued economic stimulation for the people of northeast
Ohio. She grew angrier by the minute as she struggled to remember any meetings
that Bruce had actually attended regarding the brokerage of this deal.

Rory looked to Nicole again with a raised eyebrow. She
wondered dryly why the mayor didn’t mention the labor groups he had
double-crossed who were now picketing out front, endangering the deal and
potentially humiliating the people of northeast Ohio.

Garrison went on and on in his usual blowhard fashion. After
a while Rory stopped listening. Instead she concentrated on controlling the
impulse to cough the word “bullshit” as loudly as she could. It was almost a
relief when the loud chirping of the fire alarms shrieked, calling for an end
to the torture. She hung back while everyone else began filing from the room.

After most people cleared out, she and Nicole finally made
their way to the stairs. Knowing what they knew about the picketing
tradespeople downstairs, they knew there was no real danger. Someone had pulled
that alarm and neither of them could blame them. They were actually pretty
entertained.

Two floors down, Nicole remembered she left her iPad. Rory
looked at Prego’s growing belly and offered to run back up the steps to
retrieve it. There was no way the conference would continue, so they didn’t
expect to be back. She handed Nicole her coat and hoofed it back.

Reaching the now-empty fourth floor, she walked back toward
the media room. She grabbed the tablet and started back for the stairs.

She was almost to the exit door when she heard a familiar
voice that froze her in place. She turned toward the other end of the hall,
toward Garrison’s office suite, and stared. She cocked her head and listened,
hearing the raised voice again. Then, to her absolute horror she heard another familiar
sound. Landon’s voice was raised in argument with the other.

She stared at the door to the office suite thinking she
couldn’t have heard who she thought she did. As if entranced, she slowly moved
toward the door and pulled it open, listening for anything further. She could
hear muffled voices now. She moved through the door. Her throat was dry as she
tried to swallow.

She took three steps forward before she stopped again. It
wasn’t every day that you heard a voice from beyond the grave, a brogue you never
thought you’d hear again. Fear pierced her as she listened to the accent. Then
she recoiled in terror. She realized that in her shock she thought she was
hearing her dead husband when in reality she was hearing the identical brogue
of Roan Sullivan.

She backpedaled and as she turned to run back through the
door, she faced Lon Doward. He pointed a gun at her from two feet away.

“Well hello, Congresswoman,” he sneered. “Come. We’re going
to have a family reunion.”

Lon grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into Bruce’s
office. She was thrown to the side of the room and turned to stare into Roan
Sullivan’s surprised face.

She looked to Landon and tried to make sense of it. He
slowly rose from the desk, a look of terror on his face as he stared back at
her. She looked down and saw stacks of cash covering the desk. Her eyes jerked
back to Landon’s.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t my sister-in-law, the great
politician,” Roan sneered from beside Landon.

Every hair on her body stood to attention as her skin ran
hot and cold. Waves of panic washed through her chest.

“Roan, you really are here.” Maybe she had never really
believed Roan was the one who was after her.

“Indeed. I came to collect on a yet unpaid debt. Your great
city was so lucrative the first time my brother and I happened along.” He took
his pistol from his belt. Rory watched as he screwed a silencer on the end.