Summer Rain (Lightning Strikes Book 3) (28 page)

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An hour later, Dani drove into the parking lot of the Waffle House. After taking a quick shower, she and Patrick had decided that she'd keep her plan as simple as possible and try to let Tania do most of the talking. If she needed to reveal anything, she would focus on the theories about the plane crash, and Reid's alleged boast about being involved.

Getting out of the car, she walked into the restaurant, spotting Tania at a booth in the back. She slid into the seat across from her, noting the woman's weary eyes and dark shadows. It didn't look like Tania had gotten much sleep.

She didn't quite know what to say, how to start. Fortunately, she had a second to think as the waitress came over to pour her a cup of coffee.

"Are you ready to order?" the waitress asked.

"Not yet," she said.

"Take your time," the waitress replied.

When the woman left, she gave Tania what she hoped was a friendly smile. "I'm glad you called."

"I don't know why I did. I don't even know you."

"I'm sure you looked me up online."

"Of course."

"Then you know I've been working for Senator Dillon for seven years."

"Where did you meet Reid?"

"At one of the senator's parties two years ago. I thought it was a one-night stand at first, but then he called again a few weeks later."

"Was that here in Corpus Christi?"

"It started here. Then it moved on to DC. We were together a few days before the news about his engagement to Yvette came out. I was so stupid. I'd heard about her, but I never thought he would actually marry her. But he did." She drew in a breath, trying to get into the character she was playing. "He used to talk about us being together forever. It was all lies. I wasted two years on him. I was a fool to think I wasn't just one of many."

Tania stared back at her with a bleak expression. "I wasted more years than you."

She had to fight not to react to Tania's words. Finally, she had confirmation of something. "How did it start for you?"

"It was at work."

She wished Tania would elaborate, but she left it at that.

"What do you want to do?" Tania asked.

She licked her lips, knowing she had to be even more convincing now. "I want to take Reid down. I know some things about him, things he's been doing on the side that would get him in a lot of trouble, but I need more concrete proof than I have, more than just what he let slip when we were together."

"Reid doesn't let things slip," Tania said sharply, doubt appearing in her eyes.

"That was the wrong word. You're right. He didn't let anything slip. He deliberately told me that he had the power to make people disappear, including a senator. I said I wasn't aware of any senators who were missing, and he told me that I wasn't counting those who died in mysterious circumstances."

"Why would he tell you that?"

"Probably because I was fighting with him. I made the mistake of threatening to tell people about our relationship, and he suggested I'd be very sorry if I ever went against him. He wanted to scare me. He wanted me to think that he could hurt me, and the truth is—he did scare me. He had a wild light in his eyes. He said one day everyone was going to know how powerful he was, that no one had any idea what he was capable of doing. After he married Yvette, I started trying to find out what he was talking about, what he'd been hinting at. When the news came out last year about stolen classified information, I was pretty sure he was involved, but after all the Senate hearings, he came out unscathed. I know he's guilty of something, and I want to prove it. I want to take him down. But I need help. Will you help me, Tania?"

Before Tania could answer, the waitress came back, and Dani inwardly seethed with frustration.

"I'll have a short stack," she said, picking the first thing on the menu, so she could get back to her conversation with Tania.

"Nothing for me," Tania said.

"You're not going to eat?" she asked in surprise. "I don't have to eat, either."

"It's fine. I have to go. I wanted to hear what you had to say."

"Well, don't go yet. Can you at least tell me what you're thinking—if I'm completely wasting my time hoping you'll help me?"

Tania stared back at her for a long moment, her gaze unreadable. "I'm not sure yet. You haven't been honest with me, Dani."

"What do you mean?" she asked, trying not to look guilty at the accusation.

"Your sister and brother have been part of the problems at MDT. I find it difficult to believe that you were sleeping with Reid while all that was going on."

"Our relationship ended just before all that happened. But when the news came out, I thought about the things Reid had told me. I watched him testify before the Senate committee, and I knew he was lying. But he got away with it. MDT is back in business, like nothing ever happened."

"I wouldn't say that. We lost a lot of contracts last year." Tania's gaze narrowed. "Did Reid really tell you about the senator? Or did one of your siblings tell you that?"

"Neither one of them knew anything about the senator's plane crash," she said, able to be honest for the first time. "The only reason my brother was involved in the problems in Mexico was because he was trying to help his high school girlfriend's brother. Jake isn't political; he's a pilot and Katherine is a doctor. They just wanted to save her brother, who had been kidnapped. I'm not lying. You have to believe me. I was shocked when I found out people at MDT were involved. I had no idea."

She didn't know if her earnest defense worked, but it did seem to ease Tania's tension.

After a moment, Tania said, "I don't know what to believe. Your sister Alicia also stirred things up. Why should I think you're after anything but more trouble for the company?"

"I don't want trouble for the company; I want it for Reid," she said, trying to hang on to her cover story that was quickly being torn apart. "I'm sure he would have dumped me after my siblings got involved with his company, but it happened before that, and when it did, it hurt. Can't you relate to that?"

Tania let out a sigh. "Yes. I really did love Reid, you know. He's a complicated man. He has so much charm and charisma, it's easy to forget that there's another side."

"A dark side," she murmured.

"I knew he wasn't faithful to me. How could I think otherwise? He was with me when he was married to his first wife."

"That was a long time ago."

"Our affair was the reason he got divorced, or so I thought. He told me every year that next year would be our time. He just didn't want to rush back into marriage. He didn't want his daughter to have to deal with a stepmother; he always had a reason." Her lips tightened. "I could bury him if I wanted to. The things that have come out in the press are not the whole story. There is so much more."

Dani's pulse sped up. "Then help me tell it."

"I don't know if I can trust you. I don't know if you slept with Reid for sex or love or a hidden agenda. Your family hates MDT. Why would you feel differently?"

"Because I work for Senator Dillon. I've seen more sides of the story than my family has. I know that thousands of people rely on the company for their livelihood. I'm not out to take the company down. It's Reid I want to destroy." She drew in a breath, feeling like she was fighting for her life. "You don't have to trust me, Tania. I don't have to trust you. But we can use each other to get what we both want." She could see that Tania was thinking about what she'd said, that she was tempted, so she pressed forward. "If you don’t want to be on the front line, I'll put myself there. Reid can't fire me. He can't hurt me again. All I need is some proof that I can take to the press. He won't have to know where it came from."

"He would know," she said flatly. "And you're a fool to think he can't hurt you."

"If I go public, he won't be able to touch me."

"Don't underestimate him."

Dani didn't reply as the waitress set down her pancakes. Then she said, "If you get me information, I won't say where I got it."

"I'll think about it."

Dani was disappointed that she'd gotten very little out of Tania. "Are you sure you can't tell me anything now? How did Reid sabotage the senator's plane? If you can't tell me specifics, can you tell me where to look? And if not that crash, can you point me in the direction of something else, something I could use?"

Tania hesitated, then she said, "There's a ranch about twenty miles from here. It belonged to the Carmichael family. But it hasn't been used as a ranch in a long time. You should take a look. That's all I can say for now."

"Can we talk again?"

"We'll see."

And with that, Tania got up and left the booth.

Dani stared after her in amazement. She'd gotten a clue of sorts, but what the hell did an old ranch have to do with anything? It had to be something. Tania wouldn't have given her nothing, unless—was Tania sending her on a wild-goose chase? Maybe the woman had come fishing for information. Perhaps she was as loyal to Reid now as she had ever been.

Her heart jumped as a man slid into the seat Tania had just vacated. "Patrick, where did you come from? How did you get here? I took the truck."

"And I took a cab. I didn't like the idea of you being here alone. I waited in the smoke shop across the street until I saw Tania leave." He coughed at the end of his sentence. "I may have cut five years off my life by inhaling some very potent cigar smoke, but I wanted to be close in case you needed me."

She was touched by that thought. "I appreciate that."

"What did you learn?"

"Not much. She asked me a lot of questions. She looked me up, and she tied me to Jake and Alicia and their involvement in the problems at MDT. I should have thought about that when I was making up my story. I think I covered well enough, saying that Reid broke up with me before all that happened, and that it was just coincidence."

His lips tightened. "We should have thought of that."

"I told her she didn't have to trust me; she just had to use me. She thought about it. At the very end, I begged her to give me something. She said there was a ranch that belonged to the Carmichael family that hadn't been used as a ranch in a very long time. She wants me to go there. I know it's not much, but it's something."

"It could be a good lead," he said thoughtfully. "Or not."

"I know," she said, seeing the same unease in his eyes. "I thought I was setting her up. But what if it's the other way around?"

Eighteen

Dani made a good point.
Was Tania playing them?

"Only one way to find out," he said, meeting Dani's worried gaze. "We'll go to the ranch."

"I've never heard of it. Have you?"

"No, but I'm sure we can find it. Are you going to eat those pancakes?"

She stared down at her plate as if she were surprised the food was there. "I forgot all about them. Want to share?"

"I'll order my own."

"Well, if you're ordering, get some bacon. I didn't want to go all out when Tania was sitting here."

He liked her sheepish smile. "You've got it." He motioned for the waitress and added an omelet to Dani's request for bacon as well as coffee and orange juice.

"Did Tania say anything else?" he asked, as Dani made her way through her stack of pancakes.

"She admitted to being involved with Reid. She said she loved him. She knew he wasn't faithful, because apparently they'd been together when he was married the first time around. She said she knew a lot of his secrets, but that she was afraid of him. She told me not to underestimate him."

"Probably good advice," he said, thanking the waitress as she set down his breakfast. He made fast work of his omelet and shared the stack of bacon with Dani, who gave him a guilty smile when she grabbed her second slab. "Don’t worry; I'm not judging," he told her.

"Good. I don't usually eat bacon, but when I'm out for breakfast, there's nothing better."

"I like it, too. We'll be able to concentrate better with full stomachs."

"And if we stay in public places," she said with a teasing smile. "Where we can't be alone. Where we can't be distracted."

"You distract me wherever we are," he said, as they exchanged a look of remembered intimacy.

"I could say the same about you. How is it you don't have a girlfriend, Patrick?"

"I was waiting for you."

"That's a good line."

He'd said it teasingly, but in truth it really wasn't a line; it was the way he felt. There were so many things he wanted to say to Dani, but now wasn't the time. He pulled out his phone and searched for Carmichael Ranch. "I've got an address. It looks like it will take us about forty minutes to get out there."

"I think we should go now."

"Me, too." He took out his wallet and put cash down next to the bill. Then they made their way outside. Dani tossed him the car keys and he slid behind the wheel.

They were about fifteen minutes into the drive when Dani pointed to a small airfield. "That's where my dad worked," she said. "And where my brother Jake works now."

"Looks like they fly a lot of small jets."

"Yes, and before you ask—they do fly MDT executives around the country."

"You read my mind. Has your brother been the pilot on one of those trips?"

"He's only flown lower-level management. The executives have their own planes and their own pilots."

"That makes sense. I'm surprised you didn't want to be a pilot, Dani. You ride like the wind on the back of a horse."

"And that horse is on the ground," she said pointedly.

He grinned. "My point is that you're not particularly fearful. Or did your feelings about flying change after your father died?"

"I'm not afraid to fly. It's just not something I want to do as my job. Jake loves it, though. He never wanted to do anything else."

"We're going to meet him and Alicia today, right?"

She didn't look too happy about his words. "We'll see. I don't want to dump all this on Alicia the second she walks in the door."

"What bothers you about telling your siblings?" he asked, certain he hadn't heard her real reason.