9781631054631ChoiceAffairsSalisbury (14 page)

“Caitlyn,
sweetie.
I’m so glad to see you’re out and about. Feeling better today?” She
bussed
my cheek, while the other loomed beside
her.

“Mother,
what a surprise.
Thanks for your concern, but I’m feeling just fine.
Never better.”

“Well, a mother can
never be too concerned
about her children.”

Oh my God! The nerve!
It was all for show.
All about her.
But I was going to turn the tables. “I
talked to
Pop
this weekend. He said he misses you
terribly and can’t wait for you to come back to Ireland.”

“Oh,
poor thing.
He must have
been confused, Caiti. He knows my plans
don’t include returning to Ireland in the near future. He realizes I need to be
here near you, right now.”

I was trying to think
of a comeback, when Delpheine spoke up. She extended a hand, and as graciously
as a sn
ake, she introduced herself to my two dining
partners. “Hello, ladies. I’m Delpheine Bouvier. I was Apolo’s fiancé while he
was recovering from the horrible accident that caused the loss of his leg. I’ve
been so proud of him and how he was able to overcome
his disability.”

All of a sudden, I was
feeling ill
from
all the bull shit
that was raining down around me. “Thank you, Delpheine, and you too
,
Mother
,
for stopping by. Mother, don’t forget, call Pop.”

I immediately tried to
ignore the two and finish my l
unch. I glanced at my
phone, which had been sitting beside me. It was time to go, anyway. One thing
Apolo told me was to never over extend your stay. This was a first meeting, and
in spite of some very weird goings on, it was time to end it.

I waited until
Mother and Delpheine finally left. Then, I graciously
thanked my two dining companions, leaving the door wide open for future
discussions.

As soon as I got in
the back of the Bentley, I asked Bo if he’d heard anything back from Jacob. He
hadn’t, but it wa
s probably too soon. I looked at the
time, and decided to text Apolo.

Very productive meeting.
Imagine my surprise seeing Mother and Delpheine having lunch there. Bo was to
advise Jacob. Should I also?

I waited, but figured
he was probably in the middle
of something.
Surprisingly, he responded almost immediately.

Glad to hear meeting was success. Text
Jacob!

I did just that. I
wasn’t going to question Apolo. I’m sure he had his reasons. He always did.

Did Bo get w/you?
My mother/Delpheine at restaurant
.
Coincidence?
I don’t think so. Please respond.

I didn’t have to wait
long for his reply, either.

Bo said he delivered you to restaurant.
Mentioned diners.
Three of us need to meet.
ASAP.
Nothing to worry about.
Private chat.
Inform senator I will pick
the two of you up @ 7. Say
nothing.

I quickly messaged
Apolo, giving him the scoop and telling him I was pulling up to the apartment
building.

Be home sixish. Love A

Six o’clock wouldn’t
come soon enough. Until then, I had enough to keep me busy. If all
this cloak and dagger was a part of politics, I didn’t
want it. But again, what choice did I have? I smiled at the pun I had made and
walked across the lobby to our private elevator.

* * * *

Apolo

I hate that my sweet
Caitlyn has to be put in the middle of all this drama. I try to keep as much of
it away from her as possible. However, that being said, she knew when she
agreed to marry me what she was in for.
Especially with my position as senator.
S
o far, she’s
been a trouper, taking it all in stride.

Neither Jacob nor I
think any of this drama has anything to do with my becoming a senator. If I’d
declined the seat, I’m sure it would have found its way to Atlanta in one form
or another. Politics just
give it a life of its own.

This evening promises
to be interesting. Jacob wants the three of us to meet, but not at our
apartment. Instead, a last minute change was made. Rather than him pick us up
in the Bentley, I’m going to take Caiti, and the two of u
s will drive to an out-of-the-way restaurant to meet him.
Paranoid?
No.
Cautious.

I quickly changed
clothes upon arriving at home, slipping into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. I
had been brutally quiet since arriving home, but had my reasons. I suspect my
lovely bride picked up on those reasons after I’d put my
finger to my lips a dozen times.

As soon as we drove
off, I turned on the radio to make noise.

“What the hell is
going on, Apolo? I thought Jacob was picking us up.”

“He was. Change of
plans.” We pul
led up to a red light. I bent over and
whispered in her ear, “House may be bugged.
Car, too.”
I
raised
back up in time for the light to change. Out of the corner
of my eye, I could see the look of disbelief set on her pretty face.

She nodded, turning to
lo
ok out the window at the passing landscape. I
reached across, took her hand, and squeezed. She squeezed back. My beauty
understood.

A short time later, I
pulled the Audi into the parking lot of a waterfront restaurant. I came around
the car and helped Cait
lyn out. Fortunately, she
smiled, letting me know she was fine. She put her hand in mine, and we walked
in to meet Jacob.

He was waiting at the
bar for us, an untouched beer in front of him. He nodded to a waitress, who
quickly found us a booth tucked away
in a corner. I
ordered a beer and Caiti a glass of wine.

“Okay, Jacob. Cloak
and dagger stuff aside, why meet here?”

“I think your place
might be bugged. Any chance I could convince the two of you to perhaps spend
the night, say, in a hotel, while I go in
and check?”
He sipped his drink as a server approached, leaving us with menus.

“What I want to know
is—how could someone get in and bug the place. The security factor was part of
the reason I chose it.”

“Well, think about it,
Apolo. There’s been moving pe
ople in and out of
there.
The people doing the
inspection for you.
Any one of them could have done it easily enough.”

“What about the sign
in? Have you checked that?”

“Yeah.
Nothing out of the ordinary.”

Caitlyn took a sip of
her wine, placing the glass ba
ck in front of her.
“The three of us are the only ones who have the elevator key and password,
right?”

“That’s right,” Jacob
replied, picking up his menu. I could see the wheels spinning as he tried to
see where she was going with this.

“Isn’t the key and
code for the security personnel to use to take up
deliveries kept in a safe?”

“Yep, and only two
people have access to that safe. So, if someone wanted to access your place
while you weren’t there, and either of those two folks weren’t there, they
wouldn’t
gain entrance.”

“Well someone has,
damn it, and I want to know who,” I demanded, in a low but firm voice.

“That’s why I want to
see if your place is bugged or not. I thought I’d go up in the morning.
Off day, Saturday.”

“And if it isn’t, that
means we hav
e a mole.”

Caitlyn moved her
glass so she could study the menu, but quickly put it down.
“Who?”

Jacob set his aside,
as well. “I have my suspicions, but I need more concrete evidence first.”

“Speaking on a similar
topic, any leads on Don Turner or his
cohorts?”

“As a matter of fact,
I was going to sit down with you before this mess came up. I know where they’re
staying, Tom and Tony.
The other?
Nothing has changed.”

“So, my brother is
living in Atlanta? All this time, we’ve thought he was in California
supposedly working. Lies, all lies.”

The waitress came to
take our order. Caitlyn shook her head. Obviously, the news was distressing
her. I quickly eyed the menu and ordered for both of us. The one thing I was
not going to stand for was her getting sick o
ver all
this.

“What do you make
about Caitlyn’s mother, Delpheine, and the senator?” I asked Jacob, after the
young woman left.

“The only thing I know
for sure is that Caitlyn’s mother met the senator about a year ago.
Around the time that the two of you s
tarted seeing each other.
How Delpheine and Susan met, I’m not
sure. But I’m sure the senator might be the answer. Anyway, Delpheine
transferred here recently. She’s got her own place in Fairfax, close enough,
and closer to her office.”

“I don’t see what m
y mother thinks she’ll gain associating herself with that
woman.”

I looked at Jacob for
answers. He was shaking his head. He had more. I quietly nodded back. Whatever
it was, my angel didn’t need to concern
herself
with it, quite yet.

“I have a forensic
accountant ready to start immediately. I’ve instructed that
he be given his own office space and is to be left alone. No one is to know who
he is.”

“And if someone, like
say Don Turner, asks, what are people to be told? Because you know Don’s going
to be r
ight in the middle of it.”

“As far as anyone is
concerned in Atlanta, the man is working on a parcel of property north of
Atlanta I’m interested in purchasing. He’s doing all the preliminary workups.
That’s all anyone needs to know.”

“What about if someone
asks what he’s doing looking at certain files?”

“Then, tell that
person he has clearance to be there.”

Our meals in front of
us, a thought crossed my mind. One I couldn’t share in front of my bride. I
hoped that was all it was—a thought.

Chapter
Nine

Whatever Jacob had
found at our home must have been something huge. Apolo Choice may think he can
mask his emotions, but it was easy for me to see right through them. He knew
it,
too, because when the call came in, he
went and locked himself in the bathr
oom, turning on
the shower.

The idea of our home,
the place that was supposed to be our private sanctuary, being listened in on
and, perhaps watched by strangers, made my skin crawl. I wasn’t sure I could
ever feel at ease there again.

Apolo and I had left
after having dinner with Jacob. He had suggested we spend
at least the night out while he checked for anything that shouldn’t be there. I
wondered now if this meant we would be staying tonight, as well. Quietly, I
paced the floor of our suite, waiting for
Apolo to
emerge.

When he did a short
time later, his expression was serious. Something was amiss, and I quickly
sucked it in, knowing he needed me to be strong. Not some wimpy, sniveling
mess. “So, tell me,” I began. “What did he find? And don’t say ‘noth
ing,’ because your face gave you away.”

“Jacob was right. The
apartment was bugged. He’s called in a crew to come in and take care of it.” He
sat down beside me, taking my hand.

“Does he trust these
people?”

“Yes, we’ve used them
before. But I’m afraid it
means we’re going to have
to stay here until tomorrow, possibly even Monday.”

“And how, pray tell,
did they go in and do whatever they did and no one was any wiser?”

“Caitlyn, I don’t want
you to worry about this, about the details. Jacob’s been with me
for a long time, he knows what to do. We’re going to try
and contain this incident, but if anything else happens, I’ll be forced to go
to the authorities.”

I looked at him. I
knew he was right, but as much as I trusted his instincts, I didn’t want to be
le
ft out in the cold. “I can’t believe we’ve only
been here a week, and something like this has happened. Who are they, and what
do they want, Apolo? I mean, there are people trying to do who knows what at
Choice Enterprises, and now this?”

“I understand you
r concern and frustration, Caitlyn. We knew going in that
taking this senate seat might not be easy. Let’s just enjoy the weekend as best
we can. Come Monday, everything should be back to normal.”

“Don’t put a ‘we’ with
this senate seat. I knew nothing, st
ill don’t, of
what sort of mess your predecessor might have left you. I support your decision
to take the seat, but I’m not that politically savvy to know the inner
workings.” I tried to soften my tone as I finished my statement. The last thing
I wanted wa
s for this to become a fight. Apolo and I
had never had a serious argument, and I was damn sure I wasn’t going to allow
outsiders to be the reason for the first.

“What do you want me
to do, Caitlyn? Quit one week in?” He stood up, walked across the room, s
topped, and turned to look at me.

“Of course, I don’t. I
would never suggest it. I’m just frustrated at everything that has happened.
All I want is for us to have some sort of normal life.”

“You knew that wasn’t
happening before you married me. It’ll settl
e down, I
promise. Just please, don’t worry. Jacob and I have everything handled. The
last thing I want is you knowing every sordid detail and making yourself ill.”

I sat for a moment. I
knew him well enough to know that part of that was coming off the cuf
f, the other was not. “Okay, fair enough. I’ll leave it to
you and Jacob to decide what you do or don’t want me to know. Just don’t leave
me out of the loop completely.
Especially
where members of my family are concerned.”

“Done.”
He stood there, still watching me. “How
about we blow this joint? If we need to stay out again, we’ll find something on
our own. What do you say we do a little exploring?”

“That sounds like the
best idea I’ve heard in the past two days. Do you have someth
ing in mind, husband?”

“Yes, I do, but I’m
afraid we’ll have to wait for that.
As
far as a destination?
Why don’t we head up toward Baltimore?”

“What
about—?”

“If Jacob needs me, he
has my number. I already told him we were going to do a little sightseeing
. He won’t disturb us unless it’s important.”

“I know he won’t. He’s
very good at that sort of stuff.”

“Come.” He reached for
my hand. “Let’s pack up our stuff, check out, and head north.”

I wrapped my arms
around his waist and pulled myself close to his w
arm,
masculine body. “Thank you,” I said, reaching up to kiss him.

“For
what?”

“For
trying to make all of this crap a lot easier to deal with.”

“You don’t need to
thank me, Caiti, I’m your husband. It’s what I do. Make sure the ones I love
are safe.”

* *
* *

Apolo

Though it is quite
unnerving finding out one’s home is electronically bugged, it’s more so to
discover that hidden video cameras were set up as well. I’ve dealt with this
before.
Part of the territory.
There are always others that want what
you
have, or want to see if you harbor some hidden
secret you don’t want the world to know.

When Jacob told me
what he’d initially found, I had to take the conversation out of Caitlyn’s
range. This is not something she needs to hear. I’ll have to tell her at
some point, but I’ll wait until Jacob’s gotten the place
swept and thoroughly gone over.

“So, what you’re
telling me is you found cameras as well as listening devices throughout the
house.”

“Yep, the place is
pretty wired, Apolo. Whoever did this
had
to ha
ve done it between the time you took ownership
and the time you came back from your honeymoon. That’s the time period I’m
focusing on right now.”

“That would make the
most sense. We weren’t there immediately after I took possession. It would have
been a pe
rfect time. Our things were moved from
Atlanta, stuff Caitlyn bought for the place before we arrived.”

“Like I said, I’m
working that time period. I’ve got a crew here. It’s probably going to take
until tomorrow to do this properly.”

“That’s fine. I’ll tak
e Caitlyn on a sightseeing trip or something.”

“Good. Sorry you two
are having
to do this, but it makes it easier if
there’s no one there while they’re doing their job.”

“You’ll get no
argument from me. Just answer me this—in your initial sweep, did you fi
nd anything in the master bedroom?” I sat silently,
waiting, with just the sound of the shower running.

“Yeah, I did, Apolo.
Video and audio.
In key locations, I might add. Sorry.
The whole house was pretty well wired, like I said.”

“Now, we wait for the
o
ther shoe to drop. If whoever it is who did this,
are they going to use something intimate for blackmail, or were they looking
for something. Trying to find out some piece of information?”

“You want to go to the
authorities on this?

“No,
not yet.
Let’s see
what plays out over the next week. Until we
make that decision, I want someone close to Caitlyn at all times. Understood?”

“Absolutely.
I think that’s smart. And she doesn’t
need to know why.”

I couldn’t help but
laugh. There was no way of keeping this
from my
darling wife. She was much too astute to tell there’s nothing wrong. She’d see
through that farce in two seconds. “Somehow, Jacob, I think she’ll figure it
out. The woman is more in tune to things than either of us realize.

“Yeah, I suppose
you’re
right.”

“While I have you—is
the forensic accountant making any headway? And how is Don acting?”

“He said so far
everything is clean, Apolo. That’s why I haven’t made mention of it. He did say
he found a couple of things he thought were odd that he’s going
to check out this week. Wouldn’t tell me what because he
said he needs to dig a little deeper. I’ll let you know as soon as I know.
As for Don.”
He chuckled. “I doubt he even knows the
guy’s there.”

“How’s that possible?
The man seems to have sense of the
se things.”

“Because I’ve put our
accountant in the one place Don would never think to look.”

“And where’s that?”

“I stuck him in that
unused office you tried to give me once. He comes and goes. Don will think the
guy’s some new security person I’ve hired.
”

“Excellent.
Smart thinking, Jacob.”

“Thanks. Oh, and I’m
still working the angles with Caitlyn’s mom, the senator, and Ms. Bouvier.
Nothing so far.”

“Well, keep digging.
You’ll find something. You always do. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d better show
my f
ace or Caitlyn’s going to barge in here wanting
answers.”

He chuckled again.
Damn infuriating, how men who aren’t married think that once you are, you’re
chained down. That certainly isn’t the case with Caitlyn and me. It just so
happens
that she’s smarter
than most women.

“I’ll be in touch as
soon as this team finishes up. Give you the all clear. And I’ll have a
preliminary report then, as well.”

I could still hear the
smugness in his voice, as though he was one up on me.
“Very good.
Thank you, Jacob. You’
re getting quite a chuckle out of all this, aren’t you?”

“Out
of what?”

“The
fact that I’m married now, and that there’s more than just me that goes into
the equation on any given matter.”

“It does make things
interesting, or should I say, it keeps me on
my toes.
She’s smart, and like you said, she’s in tune to what goes on around her.”

“Yes, she is, that’s
one of the things that attracted me to her.”

“Well, you’ll get the
hang of it all. Give it time. You’re learning.”

“I’ll be awaiting your
call, mister.
I’m not going to be some ball and chain
to any woman.”

His chuckle became
more of an uncontrollable laugh.
Blasted
man.

I hung up the phone,
turned off the blasted shower, and sat for a few moments, trying to decide how
I was going to handle Caitlyn. This
won’t be easy,
either. She’ll figure out what I don’t tell her. Still, smarter not to tell her
until it’s absolutely necessary.

* * * *

We were driving back
to D.C. late Sunday afternoon from Baltimore. We’d spent a marvelous time
exploring the old town
and its historic sites. Then,
the rain decided to set in, and Apolo figured since we didn’t know the roads
that well yet, we needed to head back.

My phone
pinged
, letting me know that I had a message.
I looked at it, puzzled. “That’s weird.”