The Face of Deception (26 page)

“Don't talk to me about cruelty. You had Gary and Gil killed. Joe almost died.”

“Are you satisfied now?” Lisa asked. “Christ, you're hard. I was actually feeling sorry for you.”

“You mean because you intended to kill me? Because you never expected to let me leave here?”

“I told you to arrange a drop. I knew I couldn't let you stay alive if you gave me the opportunity— It's my
job
.” She jerkily turned toward Timwick. “We're leaving, James. Take care of her.”

Timwick slowly rose to his feet. “You want me to kill her?”

“No, I don't want it, but it has to be done. So do it.”

Timwick looked at Eve. Then he turned and walked toward the helicopter.

“James!”

“Screw you.”

Lisa went rigid. “We agreed it had to be done.”

He opened the helicopter door. “And did we agree that Fiske would take me out too? When was it going to be, Lisa?”

“I don't know what you mean.”

“The list. You gave Fiske another list. I saw it. He combined your list and mine. I know his handwriting.”

“How could you see something that doesn't exist.” She moistened her lips. “If there was a list, it certainly didn't come from me. You know he often had his own agenda.”

“He wouldn't kill the hand that was feeding him. Not unless another one was feeding him too. You thought you didn't need me any longer.”

“Nothing can be proved. Fiske is dead.”

“You'd find someone else to put me down.”

“You're making a mistake.” She started toward the helicopter. “Listen to me, James.”

“I'm through listening. I'm out of here.”

“They'll catch you.”

“Not if I have a head start. That was part of the deal. I'll call Camp David and tell them we're on the way. That should give me enough time.” He got into the helicopter. “Burn in hell, bitch.”

“Timwick!” She reached for the door. “It's a trick. It's a lie. Don't give up all we've worked for. Kevin will appoint you—”

The helicopter lifted off and Lisa fell to the ground.

Eve watched her struggle to her knees.

Lisa Chadbourne gazed at Eve across the clearing. “
You
did this.”

“Actually, you did it. You're the one who told me Timwick was in a panic. A man in a panic will snatch at any straw.”

“You set me up.” There was still a thread of disbelief in her voice.

“It was my plan. But it was Logan who approached Timwick with the list.”

“But when I suggested bringing Timwick with me, you objected.”

“I knew you'd want to bring Timwick. It was the smart move and you're a very smart woman. If you hadn't suggested it, Timwick would have persuaded you it was the thing to do.” She smiled without mirth. “But he didn't have to convince you, did he?”

“All this won't do you any good. I can work around having Timwick—” She froze. “Oh, my God, you're wired, aren't you?”

“Yes.”

“And you showed me Ben's skull to deliberately shake me up.”

“I hoped it would. Most people find skeletons frightening. Particularly their victims.”

Lisa was silent, obviously thinking back over their conversation. “Very bad but not completely damning. In court any transcript can be interpreted to mean any—”

“Logan also arranged for three witnesses to hear the transmission. Peter Brown, a reporter on the
Atlanta Journal and Constitution
, Andrew Bennett of the Supreme Court, and Senator Dennis Lathrop. All highly respected men. After we made the decision, Logan got moving. He had almost a full day to convince Timwick that he was your next victim.”

Lisa turned pale and suddenly looked twice her age. She sank back on her heels. “How . . . clever. I told Timwick in the beginning we had to be careful of you. The electronic monitoring was obviously bogus, but I saw the infrared so I assume we have a little time before Logan gets here.”

Eve nodded.

“Good. I need a few minutes to pull myself together. It seems impossible it's all gone down—” She swallowed. “I thought I had you. I thought your Bonnie was the key.”

“She was the key.”

“But you gave up the chance to—”

“The stakes were too high. You hurt people I cared about.”

“I was going to do it, you know. I was going to keep my promise about finding Bonnie. Keeping my word about her would have made me feel better.”

“I believe you.”

Eve tensed as Lisa rose to her feet.

Lisa shook her head. “I'm not going to try to hurt you. I'm the one who's the walking wounded. You've—destroyed me.”

“You destroyed yourself. Where are you going?”

“I dropped Ben's skull when I ran for the helicopter.” She fell to her knees beside the skull. “It's so . . . small. It surprises me. He was such a big man. In every way, Ben was larger than life . . .”

“Until you killed him.”

Lisa acted as if she hadn't heard her. “He was so smart. He had such dreams. And he would have made them all come true.” She stroked the left cheekbone. She whispered, “What an incredible man you were, Ben Chadbourne.”

Lisa's touch was almost loving, Eve realized with shock. All the horror, all the terror was gone.

Lisa's eyes were glistening with tears when she glanced up at Eve. “The tabloids are going to want photographs of him. They always like the shots that are the most morbid and ugly. Don't let them take a picture of Ben like this. I want everyone to remember him as he was. Fight them. Promise me.”

“I promise. No pictures except the ones entered as evidence at the trial. After that, I'll see that he goes home.”

“Home.” She was silent a moment, and when she spoke again there was wonder in her tone. “It actually matters to me. But it wouldn't matter to Ben. He always said it's what we leave behind that matters, not what we become or where we go after we die.” She stared down at the scorched skull and tears welled in her eyes again. “God, this
hurts
me, Ben. I didn't think I'd have to see you. You told me I wouldn't have to see you.”

Eve froze. “What did you say?”

Lisa looked at her. “I loved him,” she said simply. “I've always loved him. I always will. He was kind and caring and extraordinary. Did you really think I could kill a man like that?”

“You
did
kill him. Or had Maren kill him for you.”

“I persuaded Scott to prepare the shot.” She lowered her eyes to the skull. “But Ben took the hypodermic from Scott and injected himself. He didn't want Scott to have the responsibility. That was the kind of man he was.”

“Why?”

“Ben was dying of cancer. He found out a month after he was inaugurated.”

It was a moment before Eve recovered enough to ask, “Suicide?”

“No, suicides are cowardly. There was nothing cowardly about Ben. He just wanted to spare—” She stopped for a moment to steady her voice. “He planned it all. He knew that all his dreams were going down the tube. We'd worked for fifteen years to get him into the White House. What a team we were. . . . He had to choose Mobry as vice president because we needed the South, but he always said I was the one who should have been on the ticket. I didn't care. I knew I'd be there to help him. Then to find out that he was going to die before he could accomplish what he needed to . . . It wasn't fair. He couldn't stand it.”

“
He
planned it all.”

“He chose Kevin Detwil. He told me how to handle him, what to tell him to make him most effective. He knew I'd need Timwick. He told me what bait to use to get him to cooperate.”

“Timwick knew about his illness?”

“No, Timwick thought it was murder. Ben believed he'd be more controllable if he thought he was an accomplice to the murder of the President. He was right.” She smiled bitterly. “He was right about everything. Everything was going well. We all had our jobs to do. Mine was to control Kevin and work behind the scenes to make sure that Ben's bills passed. I managed to get seven through Congress this term. Do you realize how hard I worked?”

“And what was Timwick's job?” Eve asked grimly.

“It wasn't meant to be killing. He was just there for protection and to make it easier to deceive everyone. He got scared. He panicked and I couldn't control him.”

“Then your Ben evidently wasn't right about him.”

“He would have been right if everything had gone as planned. If Donnelli had done what he was supposed to do. If Logan had never entered the picture.” She looked at Eve. “If you'd decided to mind your own business.”

“If no one else became suspicious.”

“What were the odds of that happening? Ben's plan was almost foolproof. Do you realize what you've destroyed? We wanted to bring compassion and order to government. We wanted only to help people. It wasn't fair that we weren't going to get the chance.”

“You committed murder. Even if you didn't kill your husband, you ordered Fiske to kill.”

“I didn't want— I didn't mean— It all went crazy, I don't know how. But I promised Ben I'd see it through. It was my job. I had to do it. Don't you understand? One thing just flowed into the other, and suddenly I was caught up in—” She stopped. “I'm behaving very badly. I should have a little dignity. Particularly since this is probably all still being taped.” She straightened, threw back her shoulders, and suddenly a brilliant smile lit her face. “You see, I can get through this. I can get through anything. I'll smile and be sincere and they won't believe those tapes.”

“Oh, I think they will. It's over, Lisa.”

She lifted her chin. “Not until I've fought the last fight.”

“Would Ben want you to fight? A scandal of this magnitude will disrupt the government for months and tarnish everything you've done for him.”

“I'll know the moment to quit and step aside . . . just as Ben did.” She was silent a moment and then shook her head. “It's rather ironic that you set up our meeting at Camp David. Did you know that FDR called Camp David Shangri-La?”

“No.”

“Shangri-La. A lost dream . . .” Her gaze shifted to the edge of the trees. “They're coming. I believe I'll go to meet them. Boldness is always best.”

Eve watched her move gracefully across the glade toward the place where Logan and three other cars had pulled to a stop.

The gun.

Lisa had stopped beside the gun that Timwick had tossed away and was looking down at it.

“No!”

“You've destroyed everything Ben and I have worked for. You think I'm a murderer. I could pick that gun up and prove you right. I don't think I'm in range of your friends over there. Are you afraid of dying, Eve?”

“No, I don't think so.”

“I don't believe you are either. I think you're afraid of living.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I would have found your Bonnie. You'll have to live with that knowledge. Now you may never find her. I hope you don't.” She gave the gun a little kick to one side. “You see how nonviolent I am? Rejecting the opportunity for revenge, going forward to meet justice.” She smiled. “Good-bye, Eve. Maybe I'll see you in court.” She started back across the glade. “And then again, maybe I won't.”

“She thinks she can get out of it,” Eve told Logan as she watched Lisa get into the back of the car with FBI agents. “She just might do it.”

“Not if we keep her separated from Kevin Detwil. They're going to try to isolate her for the next twenty-four hours. It's going to be difficult as hell considering who she is. Chief Justice Bennett is going directly to Detwil and play him the tape.”

“You think he'll fall apart?”

“Probably. He's always needed her to bolster him. If he doesn't crumble immediately, there's always the list. That should do it.”

“But why was Detwil's name on the list too? I can understand Timwick. He was becoming unstable and threatening her plans. But she needed Detwil for another term.”

“I doubt if he was an immediate target. She probably put his name on the list to intrigue Fiske. What more difficult target than the President?”

“But she would have done it eventually.”

“Oh, yes, Detwil was living proof. I imagine she would have had Fiske set up some DNA-destroying accident. Maybe the explosion of
Air Force One
.”

“There are a lot of people who travel with the President on
Air Force One
.”

“Do you think that would matter to her?”

“Yes. No.” She shook her head. “God, I don't know. Maybe.”

He took her arm. “Come on, let's get out of here.”

“Where are we going?”

“You're letting me choose? How refreshing. After bulldozing me into trapping Lisa Chadbourne, I was sure you'd have some plan.”

She was all out of plans. She was all out of energy. She felt drained. “I want to go home.”

“Not yet, I'm afraid. We're going to Senator Lathrop's house and stay there until the first uproar is over and we're officially cleared of suspicion. They don't want some gun-happy government man shooting us by mistake.”

“How kind,” she said ironically.

“Not kind. We're very valuable material witnesses. We'll be under strict guard until this is over.”

“When can I go home?”

“A week.”

She shook her head. “Three days tops.”

“We'll try.” His brow lifted. “But remember, we are, after all, dealing with the overturning of a presidency.”

“You deal with it, Logan.” She got into the car. “Three days. Then I'm going home and see Joe and Mom.”

TWENTY-THREE

WASHINGTON, D.C.

“It's a madhouse.” Eve turned away from the lace-curtained window. “There must be hundreds of reporters out there. Why the hell don't they go bother someone else?”

“We're a big story,” Logan said. “Bigger than O.J. Bigger than Whitewater. Bigger than Clinton's pecca-dilloes. Get used to it.”

“I don't want to get used to it.” She was prowling back and forth across the senator's library like a restless tiger. “It's been five days. I need to get home. I need to see Joe.”

“You told me your mom said Joe was getting better every day.”

“But they won't let me talk to him.”

“Why not?”

“How the hell do I know? I'm not
there
.” She stopped before his chair, hands clenched. “I'm cooped up here in this . . . this place. I can't go out without getting mobbed. We couldn't even go to Gil's or Gary's funerals. And it's not going to stop, is it?”

Logan shook his head. “I tried to tell you. The minute Detwil broke down and confessed, it triggered a frenzy.”

And they had been in the center of that frenzy, Eve thought. They'd been kept virtual prisoners in the senator's house, watching the explosion of events on television. Kevin Detwil confesses, Chet Mobry sworn in as president, Lisa Chadbourne imprisoned.

“It's going to go on and on,” she said. “It's like living in a fishbowl. How will I work? How will I live? I can't
stand
it.”

“The media will lose interest eventually. After the court case is over, we'll be yesterday's news.”

“That may take years. I think I may strangle you, Logan.”

“No, you won't.” He smiled. “Then you wouldn't have anyone to share your misery with. Company is important at a time like this.”

“I don't want your company. I want Mom and Joe.”

“The minute you go home to them, they'll be targets too. They won't be able to move without a camera fixed on them. They won't have a life either. Do you think your mother's relationship with her new beau will withstand that kind of stress? What about Joe Quinn? How will the Atlanta P.D. react to a detective who can't take two steps without being on TV? How about his marriage? Will his wife like—”

“Shut up, Logan.”

“I'm trying to give it to you straight. You're the one who told me always to be honest with you.”

“You knew it would be like this.”

“I didn't think of the media repercussions. I suppose I should have considered them, but I just wanted her brought down. That seemed the only important thing.”

He was telling the truth. She wished he weren't. She was so frustrated, she needed to blame someone, anyone.

He added quietly, “And I believe in the end that was the only thing important to you too.”

“Yes.” She went back to the window. “But it shouldn't be like this. We brought her down and now we're drowning with her.”

“I won't let you drown.” He was suddenly standing behind her, his hands lightly resting on her shoulders. “Not if you let me help you, Eve.”

“Can you give me my life back?”

“I intend to do that. It just may take a while.” He was massaging the taut muscles in her shoulders. He bent and whispered in her ear, “You're too tense. I believe you need a vacation.”

“I need to work.”

“Maybe we can combine the two. Did you know I have a house on an island just south of Tahiti? It's very secluded besides having excellent security. I go there when I need to escape for one reason or another.”

“What are you saying?”

“I'm saying that you need to escape, and so do I. It would take a very enterprising reporter to follow us that far.” He added roughly, “And look at you. You've been through hell and I'm to blame for most of it. Let me try to make amends. You need to rest and heal. It's boring as the devil on the island. Nothing to do but walk on the beach, read, and listen to music.”

It didn't sound boring. It sounded like salvation. She slowly turned to look at him. “I could work?”

He made a face. “I should have known that was coming. I'll have a lab built for you. Margaret will do it right this time.”

“Will they let us go?”

“The judicial powers that be? I don't anticipate any problem as long as they know where we are and that we aren't going to disappear permanently. The last thing they want are leaks or testimony compromised by the media.”

“When could we leave?”

“I'll check and make sure, but possibly early next week.”

“I could stay there until I'm needed?”

“As long as you like.”

She gazed out the window at the horde of reporters across the street. They looked hungry, but she knew they'd never get enough. Some of them were probably kind, but after Bonnie had disappeared she could remember an occasional reporter saying something deliberately hurtful so they could catch the pain in her expression. She couldn't go through that again.

“You'll do it?” Logan asked.

She slowly nodded.

“Good. And you won't mind if I'm there too? You're not the only one who needs to escape. It's a big plantation house and I promise I won't get in your way.”

“I don't mind.” Peace. Sunlight. Work. She wouldn't mind anything if it meant getting away from all this uproar. “Once I begin working, I probably won't know you're around.”

“Oh, I think you will. You have to surface sometime and we'll be fairly isolated.” He moved toward the door. “I'll be pretty hard to miss.”

“Ten minutes.” The head nurse frowned as she stared over Eve's head at the crowd of reporters being held back by hospital security. “We can't tolerate this disruption. We've had enough trouble keeping the media away from Mr. Quinn. He's a sick man.”

“I won't disturb him. I just want to see him.”

“I'll run interference with the reporters,” Logan said. “Take as long as you need.”

“Thanks, Logan.”

“And do you suppose since we're going to go to a desert island together you might call me John?”

“It's not a desert island, it's a tropical island, and I don't think I could get used to another name now.”

“Ten minutes,” the head nurse repeated. “Room 402.”

Joe was sitting up in bed and she stopped inside the door just to look at him.

“I didn't expect— You look . . . wonderful. How long have you been sitting up?”

He scowled. “You'd know if you'd bothered to call.”

“I did call. Every day. There was some foul-up. They wouldn't let me talk to you.”

A flicker of undefinable expression crossed his face. “You called?”

“Of course I called. Do you think I'd lie to you?”

“No.” He smiled. “Then I suppose I'll have to permit you to come over here and give me a hug. Gently, of course. They just let me off my back yesterday and I'm not going to make waves. These nurses are tough.”

“I've noticed. I've got only ten minutes.” She walked over to the bed and hugged him. “But that should be long enough, since you're being so surly.” She sniffed. “And you stink of antiseptic.”

“Always complaining. I give my life's blood for you, and do I get any appreciation?”

“No.” She sat down on the bed. “You were stupid and I'd have never forgiven you if you'd died, Joe.”

“I know. That's why I didn't.”

She took his hand. It felt warm and strong and . . . Joe. Thank you, God. “I sent Mom a copy of the tape from the wire and told her to play it for you. I hope she got through that army of nurses. Logan had to promise the Justice Department the moon to get a copy of it.”

“She got through. You seem to be the only one having trouble getting through to me.” He laced his hand through hers. “And that tape nearly gave me a heart attack. Why the hell did Logan let you do it?”

“He couldn't stop me.”

His lips tightened. “I would have stopped you.”

“Bullshit.”

“Did you have to go rushing in? Couldn't you have waited?”

“She killed Gary.” She whispered, “And I thought she might still kill you.”

“So I'm to blame.”

“You bet you are. So stop yelling at me. I couldn't wait for you to rise from the dead and help me. I had to do it myself.”

“With Logan's help.” He scowled. “But not enough help, damn him.”

“Lisa held out an opportunity, but it was for me, not him. Logan helped big-time. He set up the scenario to reel in Timwick. He had your friend at the newspaper contact Timwick and show him the list, and then arrange for Logan to see him. Do you know how dangerous that could have been? What if Timwick hadn't been as desperate and frightened as we hoped?”

“Have they caught Timwick yet?”

“No, he seems to have dropped off the face of the earth.”

“No one can disappear without leaving traces.” His brow was creased in thought. “He has to be caught. He's an end that has to be tied up or it will bug you for—”

“Not you, Joe.”

“Did I say I intended to go after him? I'm only a wounded crock of a man. Why are you worried? Timwick fell apart. He's no threat.”

“You corner a rat and you get bitten.”

“Then why did you set up that meeting with Lisa Chadbourne and Timwick? You pushed her to the limit. There was no telling what her reaction was going to be. Someone should have been there to back you up.”

“It wouldn't have been logical for Logan to be at the meeting.”

“Screw logic.”

“You know I'm right. Lisa Chadbourne would have known Logan would never agree to my giving up that skull for Bonnie. In order to ring true, I had to pretend I'd taken the skull and run.”

He was silent a moment. “And did it ring true? Just how close did you come to going along with her?”

“You know the answer to that.”

“Tell me. How close?”

“Close.”

“Why not all the way?”

She shrugged. “Maybe I didn't trust her. Maybe I doubted she could do it. Maybe I was too angry about what she'd done to you and Gary.”

“And maybe it's the first step.”

“What?”

“Nothing.” He squeezed her hand. “But no more of this shit until I'm up and strong enough to keep you in line. Logan's doing a lousy job.”

“He's smart enough not to try.” She paused. “And actually he's being very kind. He's going to take me away to some island he owns in the South Pacific until all this media frenzy is over.”

“Oh?”

She didn't like the sound of that. “It's a good idea. I can work there. You know how impossible it would be for me here. It's almost worse than— It's really a good idea, Joe.”

He was silent.

“Joe?”

“I think you're right. You need the rest and you need to get away. I think you should go with him.”

“You do?”

He grinned. “Don't look so stunned. You told me yourself what a good idea it is. I'm just agreeing.”

“Good,” she said uncertainly.

“Is Logan here with you?”

She nodded. “We're leaving for Tahiti as soon as I say good-bye to Mom.”

“When you leave, will you tell him to come in and see me for a minute?”

“Why?”

“Why do you think? I'm going to tell him to take good care of you or I'll toss him into a volcano. Does Tahiti have volcanoes?”

She chuckled, relieved. “His island is actually south of Tahiti.”

“Whatever.” His hand tightened on hers. “Now, shut up. I figure I have five minutes left and I want to spend it looking at you, not listening to you gush about Tahiti.”

“I don't gush.”

But she didn't want to talk either. She just wanted to sit there and feel the peace and well-being she always felt when she was with Joe. In a world where everything was turned upside down, he really hadn't changed. He was alive and strong and would get stronger every day.

It was good to know that when she came back, everything would be exactly the same.

“You wanted to see me?” Logan asked warily.

Joe gestured to the chair next to the bed. “Sit down.”

“Why do I feel as if I've been summoned to the principal's office?”

“Guilt?”

Logan shook his head. “Don't play that game with me, Quinn. I'm not buying it.”

“You accused me of deceiving Eve and you're doing it yourself. She thinks you're being kind to her.”

“I will be kind.”

“You'd better be. She needs it now.” He added deliberately, “And if she so much as calls and tells me she's broken a fingernail on that island, I'll be there.”

“You're not invited.” He smiled faintly. “And, for your information, there are no volcanoes on the island.”

“She told you?”

“She was amused. She was relieved that you didn't give her any arguments. I was a little relieved myself, but, after I thought about it, I realized that it would have been a wrong move on your part. You don't make many wrong moves, Quinn.”

“Neither do you. You handled Eve very smoothly. She honestly thinks you only want to make amends and help her get her life together.”

“I do want to help her.”

“And you also want her in your bed.”

“Absolutely.” He paused. “But I also want her in my life for as long as I can keep her there.” He smiled. “That shook you. You don't mind the idea of a sexual interlude, but you don't want me to become committed. It's too late. I am committed and I'm going to make a damn good stab at making sure she becomes committed too.”

Joe looked away. “It won't be easy.”

“I have time and solitude on my side. She's a remarkable woman. I don't intend to let her go. No matter what you do.”

“But I've no intention of doing anything.” Joe's gaze shifted back to him. “Right now. I want her to go away with you. I want her to go to bed with you. If you can, I want you to make her love you.”

Logan lifted a brow. “How generous. May I ask why?”

“It will be the best possible thing for her. She needs it to come back to life. She made a break-through when she gave up the chance to get Bonnie back. You can help her take another step.”

“So you're prescribing me as therapy?”

“Call it what you like.”

Logan's gaze narrowed on Joe's face. “But, God, you hate it, don't you?”

Joe didn't answer the question. “It's the best thing to do. You can help her right now. I can't.” He added, “But if this experience doesn't prove as good for her as I hope, believe me, I can always find a volcano.”