Summer Rain (Lightning Strikes Book 3) (6 page)

"So what's the real story?" Marcus asked as he started the car.

"I told you."

"That this was a random attack? I'm not buying it. You've pissed off people in recent months, like the entire pharmaceutical industry, some of whom have companies right here in Corpus Christi."

He'd thought about that fact, too, but it had been months since his book had come out. "I don't think this was connected to that story."

"Then what is it connected to? Your renewed interest in your mother's plane crash?"

"Maybe. It seems unlikely. I've asked a few questions, but that's about it. And most people I've tried to talk to have successfully avoided me."

"But not all."

"Not all," he agreed, keeping his answer vague. He'd told Marcus that he'd heard some rumors about his mom having a more than business relationship with Senator Stuart, but he hadn't gotten into any details. Nor had he told him how many more questions he had after reading the public accounts of the accident. Marcus was very close to his mother, who was his mom's sister, and the last thing he wanted to do was make his aunt unhappy or uncomfortable. So until he had some definitive information, he was going to try to keep the family out of it.

"You can't discount scare tactics. It was a low-tech assault," Marcus commented. "There was no gun, no hint that it was anything more than a mugging unless, of course, that was the way it was meant to look."

"It's possible."

"Or maybe it wasn't about your mom at all; perhaps it was about the park. There were people in the neighborhood who didn't want that park to get built. It cut into their drug territory. There has been gang violence in that area for decades. They could have been waiting for someone to linger behind after the ceremony and then make a statement. You were just the unfortunate one."

"The detective said the same thing to me," Patrick admitted. "He suggested someone wanted to give notice that the park wasn't going to be a safe place to hang out in."

"Well, hopefully the police will find your attacker."

"I don't have a lot of hope. I couldn't come up with a great description, but we'll see."

"So, let's get back to your beautiful rescuer…it's amazing that she would be the one to come to your aid."

It was amazing but it didn't feel that random to him. From the first second he'd seen Dani in the park, he'd had the strange feeling that she was important in some way. That feeling had intensified when he'd taken her hand and held on way too long.

"Do you think you'll see her again?" Marcus asked.

"I'm going to make sure of it."

Four

Dani arrived in DC after midnight. She was only able to grab about four hours of sleep before her alarm went off at six on Monday morning. Despite being exhausted from the weekend, she was happy to get back into her usual routine. She put on a sleeveless sheath dress since DC was also experiencing a heat wave and then headed out for coffee and a muffin at her favorite coffeehouse.

After picking up both, she walked down the street, feeling very much in her element with the other workers on their way to jobs in the nation's Capitol. This was her city. This was her life. She could almost forget about everything that had happened back in Texas—almost.

Patrick kept coming back into her head. She really hoped he would be all right and that whoever attacked him would be caught and punished. But as far as she was concerned, that was the end of it. She was never going to see him again. So it would be a really good thing if she could stop thinking about him.

A few minutes later, she entered the Russell Senate Office Building. Senator Dillon's suite of offices was located on the third floor. An intern greeted her from the reception desk. She smiled and said hello, then proceeded down the hall to the legislative center.

She'd been promoted from a staff assistant to a legislative assistant when she'd come to DC, and while she still had high hopes of having an impact on policy changes, so far she'd spent most of her time doing research and writing policy papers that only a few people read—make that skimmed.

The government was so bogged down with politics, it felt as if they were moving backward instead of forward most days. The staff still worked hard to influence positive changes for the constituents at home, but it was difficult to be satisfied with the effort when what she really wanted was results. But she had to be patient, work her way up. She was making valuable contacts, and for now that was enough.

"You're back," Erica Hunt said, stopping her in the hallway.

A stunningly sophisticated brunette of thirty-eight, Erica had been the senator's chief of staff for the last six months, and she was very good at her job. She was smart, savvy and a bulldog when it came to protecting the senator's interests.

"How was the ribbon cutting?" Erica asked.

"It was good," she said, not really wanting to get into it. "I let the Kanes know the senator sent his regards."

"Excellent. Let's go into my office," Erica said, leading the way down the hall.

Erica's corner office had a view of the White House that Dani hoped would one day be hers, but that day was probably years away.

"Shut the door behind you," Erica said.

"All right." Dani did as requested and then took a seat in front of Erica's desk.

"What happened yesterday?" Erica asked.

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"I mean—why were you involved in a mugging at the park where the ribbon cutting was held?"

She hadn't meant to keep it a secret, but she was shocked that Erica had already heard about the incident. "How do you know about that?"

"I have a friend in the Corpus Christi Police Department. He saw that you're a member of the senator's staff, and he gave me a heads-up. He said you were a witness to an assault. Is that correct?"

"Yes. It was after the ceremony. Everyone was gone. I realized that I'd lost my ring at the park, and I went back to look for it. I stumbled upon an attack in progress, and I helped scare the person away."

Erica gave her a thoughtful look. "I saw the report. You actually got in the middle of a knife fight. Why didn't you just call 911?"

"I acted on instinct. Patrick—Mr. Kane was in trouble."

"Patrick? The son of the congresswoman who died?" Erica asked with an arch of her eyebrow.

"Yes."

"Mr. Kane has been trying to get an appointment with the senator. Did you know that?"

"He told me that when I met him yesterday. He has some questions about his mother's plane crash. Since Senator Dillon and Senator Stuart were close friends, Patrick thought the senator might have some insight."

"The senator can't get involved in that old incident—not now—not with so many other things going on," Erica said shortly.

"I know his schedule is packed, but maybe he could carve out a few moments." She didn't want to get on Erica's bad side, but she felt she had to try to get Patrick a call back.

"He can't do that, Dani, and it's not just because he doesn't have time. Mr. Kane loves controversy, as evidenced by his recent bestseller. The last thing the senator needs is to become embroiled in some old mystery. He has more important things to do."

"I didn't think there was a mystery," she said.

"It sounds like Mr. Kane wants to make it that."

She frowned. "I don't think that's his intent. He just wants to understand what happened. And frankly, I don't think Patrick will quit too easily. He's determined to speak with the senator."

"I'll handle Mr. Kane. If he contacts you, please refer him to me."

"Of course, but I don't think he'll contact me."

"Really? It sounds like you saved his life. I'm guessing he's going to take that opportunity to say thank you."

"He already did that when I took him to the hospital."

Erica's cell phone buzzed. She glanced down at it, then said, "I need to take this."

"I'll get to work then."

As she left Erica's office, she breathed out a sigh of relief. She had trouble clicking with Erica; she'd been much closer to the previous chief of staff, Joe Gelbman, who'd been the one to give her the job in DC. Unfortunately, Joe had had health issues and had to resign. She missed his mentorship and his guidance. She knew she could learn from Erica, too; she just had to deal with the woman's colder and more ruthless approach to work.

The fact that Erica had already heard about her witness statement was a little shocking considering the incident had occurred less than twenty-four hours ago and in another state. Obviously, Erica kept close tabs on anything and anyone tied to the senator, but even so, that was fast.

When Erica had questioned her about the assault, she'd felt a little defensive, as if she'd done something wrong. But that was ridiculous. She'd saved a man's life; there was nothing wrong with that. It was Erica's job to anticipate any possible problems, but Dani couldn't see how the attack on Patrick Kane, or her involvement, would have anything to do with the senator.

Still, she had no plans to speak to Patrick again, and not just because she didn't want to get involved in whatever crusade he was on, but because he unsettled her in a much more personal way. He seemed like a man who could take over a woman's life, who could overwhelm her with his passion and his dreams, and she had her own dreams to live. So she'd focus on her job and try to put her latest Texas memories behind her.

* * *

Patrick was waiting outside her apartment building when Dani got home a little before eight o'clock Monday night. She could not believe that the man she'd decided to never see again was sitting on her steps, wearing jeans and a light-blue button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows.

He was sipping a large iced coffee that he'd obviously gotten at the coffeehouse on the corner, and there was a bag from her favorite sushi restaurant next to him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked with a frown.

Patrick got to his feet, and with the added height of the step, he towered over her. She didn't like that feeling at all. Well, she usually did like it with a man, but not with this man, who'd made her uncomfortable since the first moment she'd seen him.

"I wanted to talk to you, Dani. You didn't wait for me last night."

She moved up to the step next to him. That was better. Now he only had about half a foot on her. As she saw the purple bruise around his right eye and another on his left cheekbone, reminders of their last encounter, her heart beat a little faster. The bruises did little to mar his attractiveness; if anything, they made him look even more ruggedly sexy.

She drew in a breath, wondering why she couldn't find any air when he was around. "You were in the examining room a long time; I had a plane to catch."

"I didn't get a chance to say thank you."

"You did say thank-you—in the car—on the way to the hospital."

"I don't remember much about the trip."

"How are you? I can't believe you're here or that you're standing upright. I wasn't sure how serious your injuries were."

"They weren't too bad, thanks to you. The doc stitched me up and sent me home last night."

"He probably told you to rest and not to get on a plane and fly across the country."

A small smile played around Patrick's lips. "It's possible he did tell me to rest."

"Did the police catch the guy who attacked you?"

"No." His smile disappeared, and his dark-brown eyes turned grim. "I wasn't able to give the police much of a description. It happened so fast, and he jumped me from behind."

"I wasn't much help, either, I'm afraid. I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" he echoed, with a bemused shake of his head. "No. You saved my life. You have nothing to be sorry about. I am incredibly grateful to you, Dani."

"I just wish I'd gotten a better look at your attacker. I know I saw his face for a split second when the lightning flashed, but I can't bring it back up in my head. It's like it's too bright—an overexposed photograph. I can't see his features. I think he was young, maybe white, but he could have been Hispanic; I just don't know."

"The police will go through the neighborhood, see if they can drum up any other witnesses."

She had a feeling that was a long shot. The park was not in a neighborhood where people had a close relationship with the police. "I really can't believe you flew out here, Patrick." She paused, a sudden thought running through her head. "Wait a second. How did you find me? How did you know where I live?"

"I've gotten really good at finding people on the Internet. It wasn't actually that hard. You haven't been very careful. Your address came right up."

"Well, that's great to know."

"I'm sorry to ambush you like this, but I really want to talk to you, Dani. Will you give me a few minutes?" He grabbed the bag off the ground. "I picked up sushi. Are you hungry?"

She debated for one long second. She'd been told to stay away from Patrick, but the man was persistent, and she didn't feel like having an extended conversation with him in front of her apartment building. A lot of governmental staffers lived in the neighborhood, including some who worked in her office. Any one of them could recognize Patrick. While she hadn't been that aware of his celebrity, having read more about him since their first meeting, she knew a lot of people had read his book as well as the articles he'd written for publications like the
New York Times
,
Fortune
and
Forbes
.

"You can come inside for a few minutes," she said, leading the way into her building and up to her apartment on the second floor. After letting him in, she grabbed her half-empty mug off the coffee table, along with a stack of newspapers and magazines and waved him toward the couch. "Do you want something to drink?"

"I'm good with my coffee."

She got a bottle of water from the fridge and then returned to the living room, sitting down in the chair next to the couch as he pulled several trays of sushi out of the bag and set them on the table.

"This place got good reviews," he said. "I hope you like it."