“Because as far as anyone knows, you were never here. Neither was I. Lana slipped me the key. Hopefully the senator won’t walk in on us.”
I glanced automatically at the door to the suite. “Why the secrecy?”
“Do you really think Ian drowned in that hot tub?” she asked.
I still wanted an answer to my question but I answered hers anyway. “No.”
She threw back her head and gulped her drink. “I don’t, either.”
“I think his death had something to do with testifying before your committee,” I said.
Her voice was grim. “I’m sure it did.”
“Why?”
“Cameron got pressured this morning to cancel the hearing altogether now that we don’t have a witness.”
“Pressured by whom?”
“Harlan Jennings.”
I blew out a breath. Harlan, again. Deeper and deeper. “What did he say?”
She shrugged. “Cameron didn’t go into detail, but apparently Jennings said the publicity surrounding Rebecca Natale was already making investors at Thomas Asher Investments so uptight it was affecting the markets. Did we want to be responsible for pushing things closer to the edge—or even over it—based on one person’s unsubstantiated allegations?”
“Harlan actually said that?”
“Strongly hinted would be more accurate,” she said.
“Or threatened?”
“You say tomato.” She shrugged. “He also brought up the hoopla surrounding that antique Asher’s ancestor stole from the White House. Another unflattering development. Now the news about Ian. They don’t need this on top of everything else.”
“Yeah, it wasn’t so good for Ian, either.”
She made a face. “You know what I meant. Look, our hearing would have probably merited a lousy paragraph somewhere on the federal page or what passes for the business section in the
She slugged more of her drink.
“And now you’ve decided to do more digging on your own?”
“CYA, baby, CYA. I want to know what’s going on.”
Cover your ass. I wonder if she meant hers or her boss’s.
“I can’t believe Harlan would lean on Senator Vaughn like that,” I said.
“Why not? He’s probably got Tommy Asher breathing down his neck,” she said. “Not something I’d relish. I met Sir Thomas. Once. He intimidated the hell out of me, though I have to admit he’s enthralling. A shameless name-dropper. The guy could probably talk God into leaning on Cameron.”
“Asher and Harlan go way back,” I said. “They met when Harlan’s father was the British ambassador and Asher’s was an embassy driver.”
“Are you serious?” Her eyes narrowed. “How do you know that? Don’t tell me you know Harlan Jennings personally?”
“I’ve known him for ages. He lives in Middleburg. It’s a small town. Our parents used to socialize together.”
She sat up straight and slid her feet to the floor. “Whoa, there. Hang on. Who are you, anyway? First I meet you with Ian, now I find out you and Harlan Jennings are childhood buddies. Whose side are you on, Lucie?”
“No one’s. I could ask you the same thing.”
Summer stood up and moved to the window, looking out at the view. “I’m keeping an eye out for Cameron. Until I find out what’s what, I want to keep it under the radar.”
“Why? Are you worried someone’s watching you like they were watching Ian?”
She spun around. The afternoon sunlight shining through the window cast her in shadow, making her seem somehow less substantial.
“Oh, my God,” she said. “Someone was watching Ian?”
“He thought so.” I half-wished I’d accepted her offer of a drink. Now I needed it.
“What was Rebecca Natale going to tell Ian, Lucie? What did he tell you last night?”
“I have no idea what Rebecca wanted to tell him,” I said. “But he thought Thomas Asher Investments is no more than a giant Ponzi scheme.”
Summer put her hands in front of her mouth like she was praying. “That would be a financial catastrophe.”
“No fooling.”
“Rebecca must have known if that was true,” she said.
“Apparently she didn’t believe Ian at first when he confronted her about it,” I said. “But she might have changed her mind.”
“And now she’s dead and so is he.” She paused. “Wow, that’s pretty damn scary.”
“I know,” I said. “And Rebecca is still missing. No one’s found her body.”
We both heard footfalls in the corridor and a man and a woman talking loudly. Summer went rigid, her eyes fixed on the door. The voices receded.
Our eyes met and she let out a long breath.
“Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not really after you.” Her laugh was nervous.
“You said no one knows we’re here,” I said. “Let’s try not to scare ourselves over nothing.”
She nodded and finished her drink. “How did you get dragged into the middle of this? You own a vineyard. What’s Asher Investments to you?”
“Rebecca is an old friend,” I said. “And it’s a lot more complicated than you know.”
“Meaning what?”
“Nothing I can talk about right now.”
Summer glanced at an antique clock on the mantel. “I’ve been gone too long. No one is going to believe I had my phone turned off all this time.”
“Then maybe you should get me out of here,” I said.
“We need to talk again. Will you get in touch with me if you find out anything?”
So she could cover her ass?
“Only if you agree to do the same.”
“I’ll call you in a few days,” she said. “Let’s see where we are then.”
We walked back to the Rotunda in silence and took an elevator to the basement. She led me to a doorway to the portico under the east steps to the Capitol.
“It’s less conspicuous than letting you walk down that big marble staircase,” she said. “Sorry to deny you your Jimmy Stewart moment.”
We swapped my jacket for her lanyard and the papers.
“Watch yourself,” she said.
When I turned around she was gone and I was alone in the darkened passageway with only the noise of the wind whipping past me, howling in my ears.
Chapter 16
It was just after four thirty when I crossed the visitor center plaza and headed for my car. A dark-suited man with a craggy face and snow-white hair surrounded by aides who enveloped him like a cloud swept past me. It wasn’t hard to understand the heady sense of power that pervaded this place and how it could be seductive—even addictive—if one worked here long enough. How difficult would it be not to succumb to feeling invincible or
