Tender Touch (29 page)

“Good. That’s exactly what we’ll need to say
when we get dragged before a legislative committee,” Eddie said. He
seemed resigned to rough times ahead.

“Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that point.
But if it does, we’ll be ready.”

“Bev could definitely give us pointers on
that score. Her courtroom skills have saved me many a day. The
woman has nerves of steel—which comes in handy with our little
rascals.” Eddie laughed.

Seeing the soft light of affection on
Eddie’s face as he spoke of his wife made Damon think of Jade. What
was her role in all of this? How much did she know? Damon silently
chided himself for the small prick of suspicion. Of course she had
nothing to do with Lang’s crooked dealings. There was no reason to
think Jade and Bill Lang were involved in wrongdoing together. None
at all. Still he could not resist asking.

“Anyone else in the department mentioned in
the talk you heard?” Damon tried to keep his voice neutral. “Mike
Testor or...”

“Or Jade,” Eddie finished for him. “No, at
least not by name.”

“What do you mean?”

“Listen; don’t get yourself worked up over
this. It’s all DHH scuttlebutt. It could mean nothing.” Eddie tried
to sound convincing and failed.

“Eddie, you wouldn’t waste time on gossip.
Now tell me.” Damon wondered if he really wanted to know even as he
spoke the words.

“My friend just said that there are
questions about how Lang’s office has been handling things. His key
people will be asked to provide explanations on some recent
rules.”

“And Jade is one of his key people,” Damon
said in a low voice. His jaw muscles worked.

Damon tried not to think of Jade and Bill
Lang linked any way. Yet they did work together. Jade would somehow
be painted with the same broad brush if a scandal broke.

Eddie squirmed under Damon’s gaze. “Look, I
wouldn’t even mention this, but...well, it’s fourth hand ‘he
say-she say’. I mean, people are always running their mouths.”

“Tell me.” Damon sat very still.

“They say Lang and Jade are extremely close.
She’s got a lot of power because of Lang. They work a lot of late
nights and— look, man; this is all probably a bunch of garbage.”
Eddie tugged at his tie.

“What else have you heard?” Damon wanted to
hit something. He wanted to pound the table in rage. But he pushed
down the visceral reaction to Eddie’s words. “Are they having an
affair?”

“Supposedly that’s how she got the job
without much experience at such a high level. They say she’s very
ambitious.” Eddie tried to lessen the impact of the ugly gossip.
“Look, people are always saying things.”

Damon thought of all the evenings Jade
worked late, how distracted she’d been. Was it just pressure at
work, or was she bored with him? Maybe he’d been only a welcome
diversion. And Jade herself had talked about wanting to move up to
make a difference. Could he have misjudged her? The memory of
touching her, making love to her rushed back. It was true that
nothing mattered when he was in her arms. Which meant he could have
seen what he wanted to see, not the real woman. And she was working
late tonight. No, it had to be just vicious gossip.

“It’s all lies,” Damon said with force.

“Sure. Besides, Lang may have done nothing
wrong.”

“Bill Lang has always loved beating the
system. I wouldn’t put anything past him.” Damon felt his dislike
of the man crystallize into loathing. “If he’s made even one
suggestive remark to Jade or involved her in his scams—”

“Hold on, my brother.” Eddie looked worried
at the menace in his quiet assertion. “Don’t go off on him before
you know he’s guilty.”

“Bill Lang hasn’t changed one bit. Making
the center lose out is one thing—but if Jade gets dragged through
the mud because of him, he’ll be very sorry. I’ll make sure of
that.” Damon gazed ahead with a look of cold, hard
determination.

* * *

“Goodness, your new lady friend seems to be
having a bit of a problem.” Marlene turned down the sound on the
television newscast. She brushed back her hair. It was cut in a new
style that made her look younger.

“Mother, the report was about the department
she works for, not Jade.” Damon felt as though a tender spot had
been touched.

“She’s Bill Lang’s top assistant. Seems they
are very close.” Marlene spoke in a quiet voice. She glanced at her
son then away. “Well, I’m sure it’s nothing.”

“Nothing at all,” Damon said in a strained
voice. That was all he could manage.

He hated the pictures that came to mind,
that had been rolling around like the reel of an old movie for the
last few days. Bill and Jade. Damon saw her at odd times, but she
still worked late much too often.

“You’ve been seeing quite a bit of her
lately. Isn’t that nice.” Marlene seemed to be clairvoyant. She
studied his face for a long time.

Not nearly enough was the first thought that
sprang to his mind, but he was not about to voice it. “Yes, we
have. Listen, is Dad around?” Damon said to change the subject.

“Yes, I am. Hello, son.” Oliver came in and
gave Damon a pat on the back.

“How are you feeling?” Damon was worried at
the grayish tinge to his dark skin.

“Tired. I went to the store in Lafayette
this morning. Gave the manager hell for letting those salespeople
lounge around like they’re on vacation.” Oliver eased down into his
favorite chair.

“Don’t push it, Dad. Just because the doctor
said—”

“The doctor advised me to keep active. Okay,
that’s exactly what I’m doing. Look at this.” Oliver flexed his
right hand to show the side most affected by his stroke was
stronger. “I’m doing fine. You better keep an eye on Tessier.” He
pointed a finger at Damon.

“Yes, sir.” Damon respected his father’s
judgment. He’d take a closer look at the store manager. “Dad, what
did you think of the marketing ideas?”

“Good solid information. Son, I built my
business on being able to change with the times. Go for it.” Oliver
nodded.

“Rachelle did the work for you? How
wonderful. And she is looking lovely as ever these days,” Marlene
put in.

“Yes, those figures mean the home renovation
should be on solid ground as soon as a year from now.” Damon
sidestepped mentioning Rachelle directly.

“You know, she still cares a great deal for
you.” Marlene spoke before her husband could reply.

“Rachelle cares a great deal about Rachelle,
Mother. Look, I have to go.”

Damon made a quick exit before his parents
could start on their old familiar theme. The last subject he wanted
to explore was his ex-wife and failed marriage. For the rest of the
evening, he fought hard against troubling questions about Bill
Lang. And Jade.

* * *

“Told you it would be a breeze.” Lang smiled
at Jade.

“You were right. After three days Dumaine
was satisfied with our documentation.” Jade was relieved and happy.
“I just wonder why he decided to investigate our section.”

“Who knows? Dumaine seems to randomly select
agencies to scrutinize. But since we have nothing to hide, we don’t
care how many documents he asks for. Right, number-one assistant?”
Lang gave her a pat on the shoulder.

“You got it, chief.”

“And I’ve got a treat as a reward for all
your hard work. A trip to Hawaii.”

Without bothering to look up, Jade gave a
short laugh. “Yeah, sure. When will the limo pick me up?”

“I’m not kidding.” Lang came to stand beside
her. He held a brochure in front of her face. “See for yourself.
Four days with plenty of time to see the sights.”

“Oh, gee, I don’t think...” Jade was
uncomfortable with the implications of this. She took the brochure
and glanced through it. “A conference on community-based care for
troubled children. Who else would go?”

“Just you and I.” Lang went on despite her
small frown at this. “It’s going to be great. Hawaii has
implemented a coordinated care system across disciplines. There is
a single point of entry, which means the family of a child who has
multiple problems only has to call one number to have all his needs
addressed.”

“Sounds very interesting, but I’m still
shoveling through the paper that collected on my desk while we were
in D.C.” Jade moved away from him.

Bill followed to stay close to her. “The
conference isn’t for another three weeks. June is a great month in
Hawaii, Jade. The colors are so vibrant, and the waterfalls are
magnificent.”

“Maybe some of the others should go this
time. I don’t want to hog all the plum trips,” Jade said with an
uneasy smile.

“The state doesn’t reward the way corporate
America does. It’s one of the few perks you get being at this
level. Take advantage of the chance.” Bill went back to sit behind
his desk. “Besides, the secretary is very interested in moving DHH
toward the same kind of system.”

“Yes, I know.” Jade could not deny that Dr.
Chauvin had made breaking up centralized service delivery one of
his priorities. “He feels strongly about placing decision making at
the local level.”

“And we’re expected to take a very active
role in making such changes. This isn’t an excuse to hit the
beach.” Lang wore a charming smile. “Hawaii happens to be
lagniappe. Now are you feeling better about it?”

Jade felt reassured the more she thought
about it. “Sure thing, boss.”

“Good.” Bill kept his voice light. “All you
have to do is pull out those island outfits you wore on
Barbados.”

“Listen, Bill, about that—”

He held up a palm. “We’ve been over this
more than once. We didn’t have one problem while you were
gone.”

“So you don’t need me around here?” Jade
chuckled.

“Of course we do. But you’ve got my office
so well organized, we both can be away for a few days, and the
well-oiled machine keeps going.” Bill tapped a manicured fingernail
on the blotter of his desk. “Knight’s business must be run just as
well for him to be gone.”

“He’s got great managers.” Jade felt a rush
of pleasure at the thought of Damon.

“Yeah, he’s got one impressive set of
stores. I hear he’s branching out into home remodeling soon. He’s a
smart businessman.” Bill watched her closely. “And lucky to have
you.”

“Thanks.” Jade felt shy at the vague
reference to their relationship.

“Anyway, let’s get that meeting set up for
Tuesday if we can. Oh and here are some more policy changes.” Bill
shifted into business mode again.

Jade worked with him for another hour on a
host of pressing issues that had to do with funding cuts. When Mike
Testor knocked, they were finishing a memo to the managers of each
of the major programs.

“Hi there, Jade.” Mike ignored the sour
glance his chummy greeting brought from Bill.

“Hi, Mike. How are you?” Jade gathered up
her notes. She wore a friendly expression. Jade had decided he was
okay, at a distance. He could not help it if he was less than
charismatic.

“Fine now that I’ve had a breath of fresh
air from a pretty lady.” Mike did a bow.

“Aren’t you the charmer this morning, or
should I say afternoon.” Jade turned to Bill. “I’m going to lunch
with a friend. Text or e-mail if you need me.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t interrupt a much
deserved break.” Bill waved her out.

“Lucky friend,” Mike called after her as she
went out.

“Give it a rest, Mike.” Bill glared at him
when the door shut. “Or I’ll encourage her to file sexual
harassment charges.”

“Just being sociable, nothing more. What
about your motives for being so nice to Ms. Pellerin?” Mike’s dark
eyebrows went up to form arches above his eyes.

“You don’t know me that well.” Bill pointed
an index finger at him.

“Hey, don’t get so wound up about it. Take
it easy, Bill.” Mike lifted both shoulders. “I’m sorry.”

Bill sat back in his chair, but still wore a
tight expression. “Well, what about the hearing?”

“Scheduled for the week of June tenth like I
thought.”

“Good.” Bill nodded.

“Representative Roubique will ask for
information on the community centers. When that hits the papers,
you know what will happen.”

“Certainly, advocacy groups will make plans
to pack the committee room. Are you sure those centers we talked
about are included?” Bill stared out the window.

“Yeah. Listen, Damon Knight will be pissed
off to say the least. He’ll be there for sure to tell the
legislators what he thinks.” Mike poured coffee into a paper
cup.

“Yes, indeed,” Bill said. He turned his
leather captain’s chair around to get a full view of the state
capitol building in the distance. “I’m sure he will.”

Chapter 12

Jade, Lanessa was just telling me she’s got
a chance at a much better job.” Clarice gave Lanessa a proud look.
“That’s my girl.”

Lanessa gave a shrug. “I need more of a
challenge. I’ve mastered everything there is to know down in the
documents section. I’m bored.”

Jade sat down on the large sofa in her
parents’ den. She threw her purse onto the matching ottoman. “What
job, Nessa?”

“In the Secretary of State Office Archives
section. They take care of important materials, some dating back to
the Spanish colonial governors.” Lanessa gave a sharp flick of her
wrist. “Pay is right, and I will pretty much work on my own.
Perfect.” She leaned back and stretched.

“Sounds like it. Congratulations. When do
you start?” Jade could only marvel at the way Lanessa's skill at
finding cushy jobs.

“Not soon enough. I told that witch Jeanne
all about it.” Lanessa chuckled. “The look on her face was
priceless.” She made a face with eyes wide and her mouth hanging
open.