Pandora's Box (24 page)

The woods around her were too quiet.
 
Not even the soothing sound of a bird chirping.
 
Madison
stiffened.
 
She strained her ears, turning her head slightly, but she didn’t hear anything.
 
At least not until—

A twig snapped behind her.

Madison
spun around, hands raised to defend herself.
 
Her eyes, wide and unblinking, took in the unexpected sight.
 
After rolling her eyes, she lowered her arms.
 
She couldn’t tear her gaze away from him.
 
He stood still, a shadowy silhouette with the descending sun behind him.
 
She didn’t know if she wanted to hug him or hit him for scaring the life out of her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.
 

DeMarco grinned.
 
“I couldn’t resist.
 
It’s not every day that Madison Grey needs help.
 
Besides, I had to give you this.”
 
He pulled a square piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to her.
 
“Boracci’s address.
 
I have the videos you asked for in my rental car, every major speech the president gave during time in the White House.
 
At least every one I could get my hands on.
 
Mind if I stay and watch them with you?”

She thought about
Tyler
’s impending reaction to DeMarco’s sudden presence and cringed inwardly.
 

“Maybe it would be better if you went to a motel, Marc.
 
The cabin holds a lot of history for us.
 
Considering the way you’ve been acting lately, I don’t think we should push it.”

DeMarco’s face tightened.
 
He began to pace back and forth between two tall trees.
 
Some kind of inner turmoil was playing across his features.
 
He opened his mouth a few times, yet hesitated to speak.

Madison
was anxious to see the videotapes.
 
She didn’t have time to hold DeMarco’s hand and stroke his fragile ego.
 

“Stay if you want,” she said.

She turned to go.

He grabbed her arm.

“Not so fast,” he said.
 
“When we broke up, I thought it was for the best.
 
But lately I’ve been missing you more and more.
 
I honestly didn’t realize how much I loved you until recently.
 
I miss the closeness we had.
 
Can you promise me one thing?
 
After your name is cleared, will you give us another shot?”

He had to be kidding.

She trusted him even less now.

“Why are you really here, Marc?
 
Did someone send you to spy on me?
 
Are you working with
them
?”

“Everybody, with the exception of me, believes you and your father were working together to bring down the president.”
 
At her shocked look, he said, “The president asked me to find evidence of your loyalty to him.
 
Why are you surprised by that?
 
No one really trusts anyone in
Washington
—and with good reason.
 
You should know I had to tell them about your father’s safe deposit box.
 
They ordered me to search your apartment.”

Madison
felt the blood drain from her face.

“You searched my apartment?”
 
Hands on hips.
 
“When?”

“I had just finished when you got home the last time I saw you.”

The night he had told her to leave.
 
The night she had thought he was going to kill her and she’d grabbed the gun in the utensil drawer.
 
She had felt weighed down by guilt after he’d left.
 
If she’d known he’d searched her apartment, she might have been tempted to shoot him.

She needed to sit down.
 
Not caring anymore if he followed her back to the cabin or not, she started to walk.
 
Her legs felt like rubber.
 
She clenched her hands into tight fists and forced her legs to move.

“I didn’t find anything,” he called out.

“Disappointed?”
 
Over her shoulder she said, “Were you trying to clear me or convict me?”

She kept moving, not waiting for an answer.
 
He lied to her so easily these days.
 
She wasn’t sure she’d believe a word he said.
 

******

A few minutes later
Madison
pushed the cabin door open.
 
Tyler
still hadn’t returned and she was glad.
 
Maybe she could get rid of DeMarco before he got back.
 
It was bad enough she’d called her former lover.
 
Tyler
would hit the roof if he walked in and found them together.

DeMarco entered a couple of minutes later with a big box in his arms.
 
He set it down just inside the door and opened the flaps.
 
It was filled to the top with videotapes.
 

“Well, here they are.
 
I didn’t have time to sort them out, so they aren’t in any particular order.”

“May I ask where you got them?”

“A female acquaintance of mine has a thing for the man in the oval office.
 
She records every speech he makes.
 
Of course she only has the televised ones.
 
I might be able to get my hands on some that weren’t televised if you really need them.”

Madison
shrugged.
 
She picked up a tape and looked at the date printed on the box.
 
She wasn’t sure what she was even looking for.
 
Hopefully she would know it when she saw it.

“Where’s your new buddy?” DeMarco asked.
 

“Leave it alone,” she warned.
 

DeMarco threw his hands up in the air.
 
“I’m sorry.
 
I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to speak.”
 
He sighed.
 
“Maddie, you have to believe I care about you and wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.
 
I’ve been trying like hell to clear you.”

“I don’t want to hear it right now.”
 
She held a hand up.
 
“Please stop.”

“We have to talk about this!”

“Not now!
 
I’m not going to fight with you.
 
If that’s what you’re looking for, then you should leave.”

DeMarco sat on the couch, looking defeated.
 
“I don’t want to fight either.”

“Then what do you want, Marc?”
 
She left the tapes in the box.
 
Placing herself between him and the fireplace, hands on hips, she pinned him with a hard gaze.
 
“Tell me.
 
You have my undivided attention.
 
Spit it out.
 
What the hell do you want from me?”

“I want another chance.
 
That’s all.”

She shook her head and walked away.
 
“You were right when you said it wouldn’t work between us.
 
We’re both addicted to the adrenaline rush of putting our lives on the line.
 
If we try to hook up again, we’ll probably come out the other end hating each other.
 
At least now we’re friends.
 
Besides, the Secret Service wouldn’t allow it.
 
You know they have restrictions on in-house dating.”

DeMarco didn’t move or speak for a long time, so she delved into the box of tapes.
 
Removing one at a time, she checked the dates on them.
 
She was hoping to find a motive for Boracci and Grainger to assassinate the president.
   

Madison
asked, “What happened to make you change your mind about us?
 
You were so sure when you broke up with me.”

“I don’t know.”
 
He looked at her through glistening eyes and his voice shook with raw emotion.
 
“My life was going fine.
 
I had no intention of getting back with you.
 
Then I took you to the charity ball and danced with you and kissed you.
 
Being away from you started to hurt.”
 
He tapped his chest with two fingers, his voice raw with emotion.
 
“It hurts so bad in here that I can hardly breathe sometimes.”

He laughed at himself and added, “I sound like one of those stupid, sappy movies you love so much, but every word I’ve said is true.
 
I just want to know that you’ll give me a second chance.”

“And what about the reasons for us not being together?
 
They’re still valid.”

“We can have our careers and each other.
 
If we can’t hide it from the service, then I’ll find a job elsewhere.
 
You are more important to me than the job.
 
I’m sorry I didn’t see it sooner.”

DeMarco leaped off the couch and charged across the room.
 
She jumped up.
 
He trapped her face between both his hands.
 
For a moment she was afraid he was going to force a kiss on her.
 
She didn’t want to hurt him, physically or emotionally, but she would.
 

Wisely he chose not to kiss her.

His eyes locked with hers and he said, “Please give me a thread of hope.
 
Just promise me you’ll give us a chance.
 
When this is over, say you’ll go out on a date with me.
 
One date.
 
That’s all I ask.
 
One chance to make you fall in love with me again.”

The passion and the sincerity in his voice and in his eyes caught her off guard.
 
She experienced a pull of attraction between them again, a magnetic force.
 
How could she say no?

“Okay.
 
One date.”
 
She held a solitary finger up.
 
“After I’m cleared of any wrongdoing and my father’s name isn’t mud in
Washington
anymore.
 
Of course, if you lie to me again or keep anything important from me, your date will be with my fist.
 
Get it?”

“Deal.”
 
DeMarco released her with a huge smile.
 
“Now, what do you say we watch those boring speeches?”

She laughed, at ease for the first time since her father had tried to kill the president.
 
Tyler
was momentarily forgotten as she reached for the first tape.

******

Chapter Eleven

Four hours later
Madison
sat on the edge of the couch, DeMarco asleep beside her as she watched yet another long and tedious speech.
 
She stifled a yawn in her hand.
 
Close to
midnight
and still nothing important.
 
If she didn’t find something soon, she’d have to give up for the night and get some rest.
 

After hours of dull speeches
Madison
saw something that shocked the breath out of her.
 
She leaped off the sofa and briefly pressed Rewind on her dad’s VCR followed by the Play button.
 

DeMarco groaned, his sleep disturbed by her sudden movement.
 
He twisted his body at an odd angle, used the armrest for a pillow, and snuggled deeper into the cushions.

The television screen showed the president behind a podium in the garden. Several rows of reporters faced him on metal chairs and a short line of important people including the first lady and vice-president stood behind him.
 
Madison
’s gaze swept over them and past the president’s shoulder to settle on his wife.

The first lady, dressed in a chic white outfit with her dark cloud of hair in a classic chignon, stared at her husband’s back with a disinterested gaze.
 
She looked away.
 
Did she just roll her eyes?
 
The vice-president looked at her and their eyes met in heated awareness.
 
It was less than two seconds but not fast enough to keep
Madison
from noticing.
 
The first lady’s cheeks flushed pink, her lips twitched as if she wanted to smile, say something or both and her eyes came to life.

The first lady was in love with the vice president!

Madison
replayed the telling moment six more times before shutting the VCR off.
 
A theory formed. The vice-president and the first lady had a motive for murder.
 
With the president out of the way, they could have each other and the White House.
 
Either one of them could have planned the assassination attempts.
 
Or perhaps they were working as a team.
 
Now that she had her suspects lined up, she’d have to assemble the evidence.