HER SECRET, HIS DUTY Page 13

  Duty. It had been pounded into his head by Walt and his mother since he was a child, duty to the family business and to a place in politics. As the eldest of the Winston children, his mother had encouraged him to be a good example to his younger brothers and Walt had told Trey his destiny was to do great things both for Adair Enterprises and for the country.

  And duty required difficult decisions, personal choices that were smart. And Debra definitely wasn’t a smart decision, especially now if she was in fact carrying another man’s child.

  What concerned him the most at the moment was her telling him that the car accident had been caused because her brakes had failed. It took him a single phone call to find out that her car had been towed to an impound lot.

  The next call he made was to his brother Thad. Thad answered his cell phone on the second ring. “Winston.”

  “Thad, it’s Trey.”

  “Ah, half of the new power couple in town,” Thad said dryly. “I saw your photo in the paper. Calling to try to get my vote?”

  “Actually, I’m calling you because I need a crime-scene investigator. Would you have some time this afternoon to stop by my office so we can have a discussion about something that has come up?”

  “You’ve definitely captured my attention, brother,” Thad replied. “Anything else you can tell me?”

  “I’d rather we talk in person,” Trey said.

  “How about four o’clock?”

  “Whatever works for you.”

  “Then let’s make it four o’clock at your office. And if I’m not out of there by five you buy dinner from that bistro or whatever it is where you normally order those killer sandwiches.”

  Trey smiled. “It’s a deal.”

  The two men hung up and Trey’s smile fell. He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers in thoughtful contemplation.

  There was no way he believed that the car accident had happened in any way other than what Debra had told him. She had no reason to lie about the brakes not working and it was something that could easily be checked.

  He didn’t have the resources to fully investigate what had happened in Debra’s car, but Thad did. And what good was it to have a law-enforcement official in the family if you didn’t occasionally take advantage of the fact?

  With the meeting set for four, Trey got to work on Adair Enterprises business. Saturdays were always the time he checked in with their satellite operations and with the end of the month approaching he had the usual financial busywork to do.

  The afternoon flew by both with work and thoughts of Debra. He had been so frightened last night when he’d heard she’d been in a car accident and rushed to the hospital. She had appeared so fragile, so vulnerable this morning when he’d arrived to pick her up.

  The bruise on her forehead told only part of the story of her injuries. He could tell with each movement of her feet, with every small action of her body that she ached from the near-death ordeal.

  It could have ended in such tragedy. She could have been killed. She could have killed other innocent people. It was only by sheer luck she’d survived with only a concussion and various bumps and bruises.

  He knew she was in good hands and was grateful that his mother had insisted Debra spend a few days recuperating at the estate. The thought of her all alone and hurting at her townhouse swelled a pain inside him.

  He had a feeling from what little she’d shared of her past that she’d been alone for most of her life, that she’d never had anyone to depend on but herself.

  Thank goodness she hadn’t lost her baby. He could tell by the way she’d talked of her pregnancy that she was already invested in the baby she carried, was probably already making plans for the birth and life after.

  It had been a little over two months since they’d slept together and if she already knew she was pregnant on that night, then she had to be approaching or already be in her second trimester.

  It hadn’t shown. As he thought of the vision she’d been the night before in that amazing spill of emerald green, there had been no hint of a baby bump or maybe he just hadn’t noticed.

  He kept busy until four when Rhonda announced the arrival of his brother. Thaddeus Winston was thirty-one years old and wore his light brown hair slightly shaggy. He was dressed in a pair of black slacks, a white shirt and a jacket that Trey knew hid his shoulder holster and gun. He was not just a crime-scene investigator, but had all the full capabilities and powers of a member of the Raleigh Police Department.

  “How are you doing, brother?” Trey got up from behind his desk and shook Thad’s hand. He then motioned him to the sitting area of the room. “On duty or would you like a drink?”

  Thad sank down on the sofa. “Off duty and Scotch neat would be perfect,” he said.

  Trey went to the minibar at the back of the room and poured two glasses of Scotch. He handed one to Thad and then sat in the chair opposite him. Thad took a sip of the drink, placed it on the coffee table in front of him and then leaned back, his hazel eyes filled with curiosity.

  “What am I doing here? We don’t exactly hang out on a regular basis.”

  “That was your choice,” Trey replied. Thad had long ago turned his back on the family business and definitely didn’t like anything that had to do with politics.

  Thad nodded, accepting the fact. “You mentioned something on the phone about needing my skills as a crime-scene investigator. What’s happened?”

  Trey explained to his brother about the event the night before and Debra’s car accident on the way home. As he spoke Thad listened attentively.

  Trey knew his brother had a reputation for being an intelligent, valued asset to the police department. If anyone could get to the bottom of Debra’s brake issue, it would be Thad and the strings he could pull with his police buddies.

  “Alcohol not an issue?” Thad asked.

  “Definitely not, and when her toxicology results come back they will prove that she wasn’t drinking. She’s pregnant, so she didn’t even have wine with dinner.”

  “You know traffic issues and accidents really aren’t my field,” Thad said.

  “But you know the people on the force that could launch an investigation into this. I just want to know if it was some sort of mechanical failure or something else.”

  Thad raised an eyebrow. “Something else? As in something nefarious?”

  Trey shrugged. “It just seems odd that something like that happened on the night I pretty much told everyone that I intend to run for senator.”

  Thad’s frown deepened. “And what has Mom decided to do? Has she said anything about her own political future?”

  “It’s my personal opinion that she’s going to run,” Trey said truthfully. “Although officially she hasn’t said anything yet, it’s just a feeling I have.”

  Thad took another drink of his Scotch and then leaned back against the sofa. “To be honest with you, I hope she doesn’t run. Politics has never done our family much good.”

  Trey knew his brother was thinking about their father. “Dad was a cheater first, a senator second,” he said softly.

  “It’s not just that,” Thad said, although Buck’s cheating had taken a toll on their entire family. “It’s also the idea of a national spotlight being on all of us again. It’s bad enough that you’ve gone to the dark side,” he said wryly.

  “You know that Mom is going to do what she decides to do and she’ll make her decision based on many factors, including the price we’ll all have to pay if she decides to run for president.”

  “I know, but I also know that I intend to maintain some distance from all of it. You know I love you all, but I love my job and I don’t want everyone else’s ambition to screw around with my nice, quiet life.”

  “I understand that,” Trey replied. “But as far as I’m conc
erned, running for public office isn’t just a job for me, it’s a calling.”

  “I get it, but I don’t have to particularly like it. You know you’ll win the election. You always get what you go after.”

  Trey smiled. “I hope to win, but who knows what could happen between now and the day that people actually cast their votes.” His smile faded as he thought of another subject. “Have you visited with Grandma Eunice lately?” he asked.

  “Not lately enough,” Thad admitted. “It’s been a couple of weeks. Why? Is she sick?”

  “I’m not sure what’s going on with her,” Trey replied and explained what had happened the last time he’d visited their grandmother. “Secrets and lies, that’s all she kept saying before Sassy finally gave her a sedative. Do you know any deep dark secrets about our family that might come to the surface during a campaign?”

  Thad shrugged. “Beats me. We all weathered the biggest secret in the family, that our father was a womanizer who didn’t give a crap about his wife and kids. When Mom became vice president I’m sure there were people looking for secrets and lies to bring her down, but nothing ever came out.”

  Trey knew their father’s betrayal was responsible for Thad deciding to remain a bachelor. He maintained he had no taste for family life given what they’d seen in their parents’ marriage. Thad finished his drink and then stood. “I’ll have to call in some markers but I’ll get Debra’s car from the impound lot to the police-station garage where a mechanic can take a close look at it.”

  “I really appreciate it, Thad.”

  His brother flashed him a smile. “You just appreciate the fact that I’m leaving here before five o’clock and you don’t have to buy me dinner.”

  Trey laughed and walked his brother to the door. “If you want to hang around, I’ll be glad to buy you dinner.”

  “Thanks, but I want to get right on this thing with Debra’s car. Hopefully I’ll have an answer for you by the end of the evening.”

  “That would be terrific,” Trey replied.

  Once Thad had left, Trey returned to his desk, his thoughts scattered like the seeds of a dandelion in a breeze. At least he’d set into motion obtaining some answers about what had happened to cause Debra’s accident last night.

  She might have blown a hose and the brake fluid had all drained out. Or the brakes might have failed for some other mechanical reason.

  Trey admitted he knew a lot about business and politics, but he was fairly ignorant of the workings of a car. A trained mechanic at the police garage would know what to look for and in the meantime all Trey could do about that particular issue was wait.

  He’d already spoken to Cecily first thing this morning, but he found himself wanting, needing to check in on the woman who was in the forefront of his mind.

  He called the house and Maddie answered the phone. “Hi, Maddie. I just thought I’d call and check in on our patient.”

  “Do you want me to transfer the call to her room?”

  “No, that’s not necessary. I was just wondering how she’s doing.” He didn’t want to bother her if she was sleeping, nor did he feel like it was a good idea to speak to her until he had something concrete to say. It wasn’t enough that he just wanted to hear the sound of her voice.

  “She’s been sleeping most of the afternoon, poor thing. Myra is getting ready to take her up some of her chicken soup and she’ll probably go back to sleep after she eats. It’s the best thing for her. Sleep heals, you know.”

  “I know,” Trey said with a smile. “You’ve spent most of my early life telling me that.”

  “And that’s because of you three boys you were always the most difficult to get to sleep each night,” Maddie replied. “You always had a hard time winding down.”

  “I still do,” he admitted. “Well, I just wanted to do a quick check in to see that Debra was resting comfortably,” he replied.

  “You know we’re all taking good care of her.”

  Once he was finished with the conversation, he decided to call it a day and head home. Thad would contact him by cell phone and his work in the office was done for now.

  It took him only twenty minutes on a Saturday late afternoon to get from the Adair Enterprises offices to his home just outside the Raleigh beltline.

  The six-bedroom, eight-bathroom mansion wasn’t as impressive as the Winston Estate, but it was more house than Trey had ever imagined for himself.

  It had been his mother who had encouraged him to buy it when it had come on the market a year before. It still didn’t feel like home and he knew what he was missing were the skills of a decorator and the company of a spouse.

  Sooner or later he’d need to rectify that situation. There was no question that he would be a more appealing candidate with a wife by his side, especially given his father’s reputation for being a cheating ladies’ man.

  As a single man, Trey knew the public might be more apt to tar him with the same brush. A wife was as important as a good campaign manager.

  He frowned as he walked through the front door and threw his car keys on the nearby marble table in the foyer. When had he become the coldhearted soul who would make a decision as important as marriage simply because it was politically appealing?

  The silence of the house thundered around him as he walked through the great room with its high ceilings and modern furnishings. There was just the minimum of furnishings, nothing decorative to add any warmth or personality.

  He had a cleaning service who came in once a week, but other than that he had no house staff. Most days he ate all of his meals out so he didn’t require a cook and he figured once the time was right his wife would staff the house with the help she thought was important and do the decorating that would make the house feel like a home.

  He went into the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee and as he waited for it to percolate, he stood at the windows that overlooked a lush backyard and a large patio surrounding a swimming pool.

  His head filled with a vision of a hot summer day, of the large brick barbecue pit spewing the smoky scent of cooking meat, of colorful umbrellas open against the shimmer of the sun and the taste of tart lemonade in his mouth.

  He closed his eyes and allowed the vision to play out. There should be children in the pool, laughing and shouting as they splashed and swam from one end to the other... His children.

  A sense of pride, of joy buoyed up in his chest as he thought of the children he would have, children who would carry on the Adair Winston legacy.

  And in his vision he turned his head to smile at the woman who’d given him those children, the woman who was his wife. His eyes jerked open and he realized the woman he’d seen standing beside him in the vision wasn’t Cecily at all, instead it was Debra.

  Irritated with the capriciousness of his own mind, he poured himself a cup of coffee and went back into the great room where he sank into the accommodating comfort of his favorite chair.

  Lust. That’s all that it was, a lust that he felt for Debra that refused to go away. But he certainly wasn’t willing to throw away all his hard work, all his aspirations, by following through on that particular emotion. That would make him like his father and that was completely unacceptable.

  No matter what he felt toward Debra, she was the wrong woman for him. He had to follow his goals, his duty to pick the best woman possible to see him to his dreams, to the dreams his grandfather Walt had encouraged him to pursue.

  Besides, it wasn’t like he was in love with Debra. He liked her, he admired her, and he definitely desired her, but that wasn’t love.

  Debra inspired his lust, but Cecily inspired confidence and success and encouraged his ambition. If he used his brain there was really no choice. The lust would die a natural death, but his relationship with Cecily would only strengthen as they worked together for his success. At least
that’s what he needed to believe.

  It was almost eight when his cell phone rang and he saw that it was Thad.

  “Hey, bro,” he said.

  “Trey, Debra was telling the truth,” Thad said. His voice held such a serious tone that Trey’s heartbeat reacted, racing just a little bit faster.

  “A malfunction of the brakes?” he asked.

  “I’d say more like a case of attempted murder. The brake line was sliced clean through.”

  Chapter 10

  Debra stared at Trey in stunned disbelief. He and his brother Thad had come into the bedroom just after breakfast to tell her the news that somebody had cut her brake lines. Somebody had obviously tried to kill her.

  “But who? And why?” She was seated in a chair next to the bed, clad in her nightgown and robe. She raised a trembling hand to her head, where a pounding had begun. None of this made any sense. How could this be happening to her?

  “That’s what I want to talk about with you,” Thad said. He remained standing with a small pad and pen in his hand as Trey eased down onto the foot of the bed. “We were hoping you might have some ideas for us.”

  She looked from Thad to Trey and then back again. “Ideas? Ideas about who would want to hurt me? Who might want to kill me? There’s nothing for me to tell you. I can’t imagine anyone doing something like this to me.”

  “You were lucky you weren’t killed,” Thad said, his hazel eyes hard and intent. “At the very least you could have been hurt badly.”

  “It has to be some sort of a mistake,” Debra protested, her heart taking up the pounding rhythm of her head.

  She felt as if she’d once again taken a plunge into the sea of insanity, like her items disappearing and then reappearing, like the guest list found in the freezer.

  Somehow, someway, this was all part of her craziness because it felt impossible that Trey and Thad were here to tell her that somebody had intentionally tried to kill her by cutting her brake lines.