The Proviso (105 page)

“I wouldn’t have believed you,” she admitted. “I’ve
been thinking about that, wondering why you didn’t and—” She
shrugged. “It was too out of the realm of possibility. I needed to
figure it out for myself, the way you make the CEOs you work with
figure it out themselves.”

His mouth pursed in thought. “That’s just the way I
do things. It brings a better long-term result.” He sucked in a
deep breath. “I knew I wanted to have children with you, Eilis, and
obviously I got what I wanted. You were the first woman I’ve never
worn a condom with, the first person I’ve ever wholly explained my
faith to, such as it is, the first woman I’ve ever made love to as
Sebastian Taight, who hid behind Ford because I— I never knew how
to talk to women and Ford didn’t have to talk at all. All the
women, every last one—that was
Ford
, who never said the
wrong things, who never mumbled and fumbled and tried too hard in
an effort to find the one woman who’d talk to me. You loved
me
, Sebastian. You chose
me
over Ford and
I
have never made love to anyone but you. I promise you everything,
Eilis. My love, my fidelity, my children.”

Eilis’s heart thundered and her breathing came hard.
Joy, so vibrant and warm, raced through her until she thought she
might not be able to catch her breath at all.

“Hi,” he finally whispered. “My name’s Sebastian
Taight and I fix things for a living. Who are you and what do you
do?”

Eilis’s chest collapsed with the wonder of this
man’s love for her, his heartfelt confession.

“I’m Eilis Hilliard Logan,” she murmured. “And I’m
Sebastian Taight’s wife.”

* * * * *

99:
PRICELESS!

NOVEMBER 2007

Justice was late. Again. Knox’s yelling at her for
being late was an obligatory ritual for everybody. Nobody paid
attention, not even Knox, who was apparently resigned to the
situation, but couldn’t give up his habit.

This day, Eric met her at the courthouse door. “You
need to take a long drive. Right now. And don’t come back until
Knox calls you.”

She took a step away from him, alarmed at his tone.
“Why?”

“Fen’s here.”

Her breath stuck in her chest and Eric took her arm
to lead her away from the courthouse and they walked in the frigid
November morning air.

“What does he want?”

“You.”

Justice’s mind fuzzed up a bit. “Me? Does that mean
he found out I’m married to Knox?”

Eric shook his head. “He thinks if he can get your
endorsement, that’ll make up for the money he doesn’t have and
can’t get. He figured out where you were, so he’s trying to get
Knox to turn you over to him for his campaign as his publicist. As
far as I can tell, the
only
thing he knows is you’ve
endorsed Kevin and he wants you to change sides and help run his
campaign.”

“That makes no sense whatsoever on about seventeen
different levels.”

“I don’t understand his rationale, either. Knox is
stalling for time so I can send you away, and it’s a damn good
thing you picked today to be late. Fen must
not
see you and
your red hair.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

His gaze bored into hers and he very deliberately
said, “Knox likes redheads. A lot. He has never dated anyone
not
a redhead. He’s
famous
for his taste in
redheads.”

She swallowed. “I didn’t know that,” she
whispered.

“On the other hand, Knox also has a reputation for
his taste in older women.”

Her nostrils flared. “Richard told me that a while
back.”

“Oh, don’t get pissed off. He married you. Be
grateful you’re atypical for him. It’s possible Fen will assume—the
way the rest of the county has—Knox hired you because of the
political and PR coup of having you in this office. Add to that the
fact you’re so much younger than he is and no one’s blinked an eye.
But he still doesn’t want to take the chance.”

Her mouth tightened then and she wrapped her gloved
hands around his arms. Her voice hard, she said, “Eric, I’ve spent
the last six months standing Knox down. I’m not going to wilt
now.”

Eric’s mouth dropped open. “Don’t you dare. Knox
wasn’t ever going to kill you, which you have
always
known.
Fen will—and you came back knowing that. He’s murdered two people
and he’s taken out two hits on Mrs. Kenard.”

“And yeah, I get it. I’m not her.” She glared at
him, not bothering to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

Eric paused. “Justice, have you been comparing
yourself to her all this time?” She looked away, saying nothing and
he sighed. “Don’t. If he’d wanted her, he’d have married her years
ago.”

“That’s not why,” she grumbled.

“Whatever. Just stop it.
She
doesn’t have a
national audience who adores her.”

“I have a trial,” she murmured finally. “I need my
things.”

“I’ll get them for you.” He turned to walk back to
the courthouse.

“No,” she said sharply and he stopped. She marched
back toward the courthouse. “I’ll do it myself. I have a gun. This
is why.”

He started. “Uh, no, you will
not
. He’ll kick
my ass.”

“Knox has been kicking your ass since you were
seventeen years old and you regularly thumb your nose at him,” she
said as they jogged up the stairs together.

“Yeah, I’ve never thumbed my nose at him when it
involves his
wife
and her
safety
.”

“As long as you keep doing his job so he can stay in
the courtroom, nothing’s going to happen to you.”

Eric chuckled, though reluctantly.

Knox stood in the middle of the open area talking
heatedly with the man she knew to be Fen Hilliard. She would have
recognized him in any case because Knox looked so much like him;
she vaguely wondered if Fen was really his father as well as
Eilis’s, but her heart thumped so loudly in her ears she couldn’t
concentrate on that or anything they said.

She calmly strode across the office as if Knox
yelling at someone in the middle of it was an everyday thing—which,
actually, it was. She went to her desk, dumped her messenger bag
and purse, hung up her coat on the coat rack, and sat down at her
desk to prepare for that day’s testimony.

“ . . . tell you what. She’s right there—” Knox
pointed at her and she looked up; he was furious and he was furious
with her for defying him. “Ask her your owndamnself.”

“Um, no asking me anything right now,” Justice said
and buried her nose in paperwork, completely dismissive of Fen
Hilliard. “I’m late and I’m due in court.”

“Young lady, do you know who I am?” asked Fen in a
tone of voice that said if she didn’t pay him proper and immediate
obeisance, she was going to be sorry.

“Yes, I do, Hilliard,” she said without looking up.
“You’re a dilettante politician.”

Justice could hear the jaws dropping on the floor.
Knox and Eric barked surprised, disbelieving laughs. Richard and
Patrick chuckled and leaned back in their chairs to watch the show,
tongues in cheeks. She tried to squelch her answering laugh,
because she did so like to make them all laugh, most especially
Knox, whose rich guffaws warmed her heart and soul.

She stood then and threw files in a banker’s box,
then picked it up and headed for the door, brushing past Fen
without so much as a blink. At the threshold, she turned and looked
him straight in the eye, and eyebrow cocked. “Do you know who
I
am?”

There was no change in Fen’s expression, but she saw
the flush that stained his face and felt animosity radiate from
him. In response, she felt power emanate from her body, her eyes,
her face, and she could tell when he began to feel it, too. He
rocked back on his heel just the slightest bit. Oh, oh,
yes
,
she could get used to that.

“You’re Justice McKinley. I’m here to see you.”

She raised one eyebrow. “You
do
understand
I’m a conservative, right?”

“Yes.”

“And you
do
understand I’ve already endorsed
Kevin Oakley, right?”

“Yes. I was hoping I could change your mind.”

Justice shifted her box and rested it on one hip,
put her hand on her other hip, and said, “You know, an
endorsement’s kinda like virginity. It’s a one-dude-only deal and I
gave mine to Kevin. You’re okay taking sloppy seconds off him
now?”

Everybody in the office, attorney and random deputy
alike, howled with laughter. Knox laughed so hard, he was wiping
tears out of his eyes. Justice somehow managed to keep a straight
face, though Fen was clearly livid.

“You’re not only wasting your time and mine, but
you’re stupid. I endorse who I want to and I certainly won’t
endorse a profligate spender of other people’s money. Please bear
in mind I have more influence than you do.” She paused and
pretended to think for a second, just for effect. “Oh, wait. You
know that already, which is why you’re here to grovel and beg for
my endorsement. So since you’re going to make me spell it out for
you, no. You can’t have it. See ya.”

Then she walked out the door with her box and
clicked down the stairs with the raucous laughter of an office full
of men following her all the way down.

She smiled.

The rest of the morning went well. The extra
adrenaline boost was quite nice, very brightening to her day. Her
power, the power that had come from nowhere, surged through her,
recycled, surged again. The case she was trying kept that
adrenaline level ramped and she was on her game.

After lunch, Fen came into the courtroom to watch
her. Knox came in and leaned back against the back wall, his arms
across his chest. There was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary
about her boss observing her in the performance of her job, though
she didn’t kid herself that Fen didn’t know exactly what he was
doing.

To anyone watching, it was very plain who had
trained Justice to try a case; Knox was stamped all over her. While
Justice didn’t feel the need to dumb down her language or
exaggerate the country twang she had, same as everybody else in the
county did, she figured that there were worse things than having
been trained to look and act just like Knox Hilliard in a
courtroom. It gave her as much cachet in the legal world as her own
work gave her in conservative politics.

In fact . . .

She started and her eyes widened. She stumbled over
a few words and forgot what she was saying for an instant before
she smiled to herself and went on.

Fen’s presence should’ve frightened her, but it
didn’t. She had a cool calm that came through in her voice and her
gestures, minor fumble notwithstanding

After the epiphany she’d had that settled so much of
what had been troubling her, she actually forgot about Fen and
immersed herself in the thrill she always got trying a case.

At 4:15, the judge adjourned for the day and Justice
stood to clean up her table. Knox stood in her periphery, talking
with Richard and Eric. Patrick was on the other side of the
courtroom talking to a deputy. All guns were clearly visible and
easily reached.

She nearly choked up. They were
all
here for
her, to protect her.

“Miss McKinley,” came Fen’s voice from behind her,
and she tensed. “I’m afraid we got off on the wrong foot.”

Taken out of the moment and truly exasperated, she
turned around to spear him with a look. “No, we didn’t, Fen. I’m
right of conservative and you’re left of liberal. I’ve already
endorsed who I like. What can you possibly think I’m going to do
for you?”

“Most people will do anything for a price.”

That pretty much blew Justice’s mind and she stared
at him as if he’d lost his. “I’m sorry. I must’ve misunderstood.
Did you just attempt to
buy
me?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t call it that. People give up good
jobs to go to better ones all the time.”

“Which part of ‘no’ don’t you understand? I do what
I want and I say what I think. I can’t be bought.”

His eyes narrowed. “I doubt that highly. What if I
made it known that you work in the Chouteau County prosecutor’s
office? That would send your credibility down the tubes—along with
Kevin’s. And you might find yourself sitting with Sebastian, Knox,
and Kenard in front of a Senate panel.”

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Knox
stiffen, but she didn’t hesitate. “Knock yourself out, Fen, but
think about it: Every year, hundreds of people compete for a
residency with Knox Hilliard and I got a spot.
Why
would so
many people risk being investigated by the FBI, risk their careers
and possibly their lives, to be trained by Knox Hilliard—that
murdering, racketeering, money-laundering bastard? Do you
really
not understand how prestigious his name is? No, my
credibility won’t go down the tubes. It’ll shoot through the roof
and so will his, if my name’s attached to it. That’s how highly
he
is regarded as a teacher and that’s how influential
I
am in conservative politics.”

The muscles in his jaw twitched. “Then perhaps you
could be persuaded a different way?”

Justice sucked in a long breath, her eyes widening
before narrowing to a predatory stare. Never in her wildest
imaginings concerning Fen Hilliard did she think he’d threaten her
for her
opinion.
He must’ve gotten a taste for killing when
he couldn’t get his way. Since he’d gotten away with it twice and
would casually allude to it within the confines of a circle of
players who couldn’t prove it, he must think he was immune to legal
retribution. She leaned forward, her face hard and her voice cold,
ringing through the courtroom, echoing, bouncing off the walls.

“I’m going to tell you this once and only once,” she
declared in a rapid staccato, poking her finger in his sternum.
Hard. “You threaten me again and I’ll have you arrested so fast
it’ll make your head spin. And then I’ll write about it. If there
is one person in this world a senatorial candidate should not want
to piss off, it’s me.”