Tracie Peterson (27 page)

Her mind wandered down the hall to where Harry would sleep. He fit in well with her family, and having lost his own
parents at an early age, Cara thought he more than welcomed the mothering of Hazel Brown.

“Marry me,” he had insisted, taking the Hays exit from Interstate 70. She’d only smiled and kept her mouth shut. It was exactly what she’d told Harry she’d do until some of the more complicated matters in her life were worked out. It didn’t seem to discourage him from asking.

Brianna sighed and rolled away from her, leaving Cara with an empty feeling. It wouldn’t be long before Brianna was grown and gone. For years she’d pleaded for a baby brother or sister, and for just as long, Cara had insisted they were enough family for each other.

“I’ve cheated you out of some of the very best things in life,” Cara whispered, stroking back long brown strands of hair from Brianna’s face. “You didn’t ask for much. A father. A family. I thought I could be everything to you, but I was wrong. I’m sorry.”

Cara thought of how their lives had changed because of her involvement with Kerns. She was working at a job she hated, caught up in a lifestyle where she felt like a foreigner, and everyone she loved was in danger because of the slash-and-burn tactics of the governor. Anger overwhelmed her. This had all happened because Kerns had threatened HEARTBEAT and Suzanne Milken.

Thoughts of Suzanne made her believe her choice had been the right one. Their baby boy had arrived safe and sound just months after Cara had turned the ministry over to Joe. But instead of a comforting thought, this only made her angrier. Kerns didn’t care who he destroyed. It didn’t even matter if he knew the people involved. If he wanted something, he took it. Whether it was a person’s livelihood or their life.

Teri and Jamie Davis came to mind. They were both so young and innocent, but again Kerns had seen a way to take something precious and corrupt it. No longer able to lie beside her daughter and feel so angry, Cara got up and paced the room. Throwing on a robe, she decided to go outside for some air.

It was nearly midnight, and because their farm was well away from Hays proper, the night held nothing but the chirping of crickets and the occasional lowing of milk cows from her father’s barn. Walking out past the barn and livestock pens, Cara’s thoughts were consumed with her anger.

Kerns. Kerns. Kerns.
Her feet seemed to march in rhythm as she moved farther away from the soft glow of the porch light. This was Bob Kerns’ fault and Bob Kerns should pay.

Overhead, moonlight brightened the pathway to the pond. Cara had swum here as a child, enjoying long lazy summer days. Now she just wandered aimlessly, no purpose, no direction. Pausing by a collection of farm debris, she picked up a rock from the path and threw it at the water’s silky reflection of trees.

“I hate you!” she yelled and threw another rock and then another.

Soon she was reaching for whatever she could find. Rocks, branches, old rusty buckets, and pieces of pipe. Wherever something appeared to have collected, Cara pulled it from its peaceful rest and threw it as hard as she could.

Splash! Crash!
The sounds alternated, depending on whether she hit the water or the rocky ledge beside the pond.

“This is all your fault!” At one point she knew that she’d cut her hand, but she didn’t care. Somehow, someway she had to get Bob Kerns out of her mind. She had to let go of the anger within or go mad.

“Cara?”

Turning around, Cara could see the outline of Harry’s silhouette. Kerns had even ruined this for her.

“No, I won’t marry you. I can’t marry you or anyone!” she declared to the imagined question. “Bob Kerns would just kill you or force you into some sort of hardship.” She picked up a wooden crate they’d used for sitting to fish and heaved it into the water.

“Stop it, Cara,” Harry said, coming forward.

“Make him stop first!” she said, sounding like a preschooler fighting over toys. “You make him stop.”

She reached down for something else but found nothing. By this time Harry had crossed the distance between them and encircled her with his arms.

“Make who stop?” he asked softly.

Cara struggled against him but knew it was no use. Finally tiring of her fight, she grew still in his arms. “Kerns,” she said in a whimper.

“Is that what all this is about?”

She nodded. “He’s cost me so much. I know it may sound stupid, but I couldn’t sleep beside Brianna knowing that I put her in the path of danger.”

She was calmer now, so Harry dropped his hold. Reaching down, he rubbed her cheek with his thumb. “So quit your job. Resign the position.”

Cara looked at him blankly. “It isn’t that easy.”

“Why not? Kerns can’t want anything else from you. You got him into office, and now that he’s beginning to have more trouble than he’d planned, what’s to stop you? Kerns certainly isn’t going to want you to go public with accusations of inappropriate behavior.”

“What if he threatens me? What if he threatens Brianna?”

“Take witnesses. Make a public declaration first, without telling him. Call Melissa and get the press together and announce that because you’re marrying Harry Oberlin and moving far, far away to raise a large family, you can no longer continue with the duties of lieutenant governor.”

Cara smiled. “You just never stop, do you?”

Harry grinned and pulled her gently against him. “I’ve been called determined. I mark a course, set my sights, and follow it.”

“And you’ve set your sights on me, I suppose.”

Harry kissed her slowly and very gently. It was almost as if he knew that to present too harsh a force would cause Cara to run, even from him. She allowed herself to be lost in his touch for just a moment. Perhaps Harry was right. Perhaps the only thing to do was walk away while she still had something to salvage.

Pulling away first, Cara said, “I’ll do it. We’ll go back to Topeka tomorrow. If I wait, I might not go through with it.”

“Good girl,” Harry said approvingly. “You’ll announce your resignation at a press conference?”

“Yes.” Cara was beginning to feel some control return to her life.

“And what about the rest?” Harry questioned.

“The rest?”

His lopsided grin was enough to warn her. “About marrying me and moving away to raise a large family,” he said rather innocently.

Cara pushed at him with her hands and would have quipped something sarcastic, but the moonlight revealed that she’d just smeared something across his white shirt. Looking closely at her hands, Cara gasped to realize it was blood.

“What’s the matter?” Harry asked, taking her hand in his. Holding it up to the light, he could see the problem for himself. “Nasty cut there, Lieutenant Governor. I guess I didn’t guard you well enough.”

“I got blood all over your shirt,” she said, pulling back her hand.

Harry would have no part of that and held her fast. “The shirt will wash, but we need to see about this first. Are you up-to-date on your tetanus shots?” he asked, taking her down the path toward the house.

“Yes, and I can take care of this myself, Harry.”

“Sorry, ma’am, it’s my job to see to your well-being.” He tried to take on the airs of a serious state trooper, but he couldn’t hold the pose without chuckling. “Come on, I promise I won’t use the stuff that stings. Just let me practice on you, and you’ll see how good I can be with real children.”

Cara sobered. “I already have,” she murmured, remembering him with Brianna.

Harry caught her serious tone. “And did I pass inspection?”

Nodding, Cara replied, “Most definitely, Lieutenant. Most definitely.”

****

With a promise of a quick return to Hays, Cara and Harry left the Brown farm and made their way back to Topeka. It was a straight shot on the interstate, and Harry calculated they could arrive in little more than four hours.

“If I use my siren we can be there in even less time,” he teased.

When they were less than an hour away from the capital, Cara turned the radio on and was surprised to hear Kerns’ voice.

“It has been a difficult decision to make. . . .”

Cara glanced at Harry in surprise. “It’s Kerns,” she said, then turned the volume up.

“Debra and I appreciate the show of support from those around us, and we know our friends will continue to offer us encouragement in the days to come.”

The news commentator came on at that point and said, “That was Governor Kerns announcing the family’s decision to seek medical treatment for First Lady Debra Kerns. Debra has suffered from years of alcohol abuse, and in his speech the governor bravely related that the family will stand by her as she undergoes treatments at Menninger’s.”

Cara turned the radio off and stared at the highway as it stretched out in front of them. “He’s getting rid of everyone,” she finally spoke. “One by one, anyone who’s crossed him is being eliminated.”

“Debra’s had a problem for a long time, as I hear it.”

“You would, too, if you were married to Kerns,” snapped Cara. “Sorry, Harry, I didn’t mean to . . .”

“I know,” he said, reaching to hold her hand.

“It’s just that he manages to come out smelling like a rose. It isn’t just the campaign or Teri Davis, or even this. Bob has systematically arranged for the demise of all complications in his life.”

“Well, you’ll be out of it soon enough.”

Cara knew that Harry was trying to ease her concern, but it only served to further her worry. “But who else will he go after?”

“It’s not your problem, Cara. Think of Brianna and even of HEARTBEAT. You’re needed elsewhere. Don’t give Kerns and his games another thought.”

“I can’t do it, Harry.” She made the statement without considering the consequences.

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I can’t resign my position. Not now. Don’t you see? Bob would want me to resign. He knows I’ll stand up to him eventually. He knows I’m only here because he pulled the right strings. But now with Russell gone, and Bob slowly taking out any competition to his will, there won’t be anyone to stand up to him.”

“It isn’t your battle, Cara. Resign your position and let God deal with Kerns.”

“But what if I’m the way God intends to deal with him? Don’t you wonder why I got caught up in this in the first place?” Cara shifted as much as the seat belt would allow her. She looked hard at Harry’s tight-lipped expression. He wasn’t happy with her decision, and she felt that somehow she had to convince him to see things her way. “Before, I could never see a reason for me being forced into this campaign in the first place. But now . . . just maybe . . . I do.” She waited a moment for the words to sink in before continuing.

“Bob Kerns is used to dealing with people as if they were commodities to be bought and sold. He uses them one by one, until he uses them up, and then he casts them aside for something or someone new. Debra drinks to forget what he is and to ignore what she’s become with him. Even his daughter, Danielle, slinks around in silence, trying to be whatever it is she can be in order to please him. He hardly even notices that she’s alive.”

“But, Cara, think about last night. Think about your own losses because of Kerns. He’s keeping you from Brianna.”

“No,” Cara said firmly. “My
fear
is keeping me from Brianna. I haven’t trusted God on this, Harry, and He’s straightening me out about it even as we speak. I’ve let Bob Kerns run my life, not God. I’ve let Bob Kerns dictate my attitude and environment, but no more. If I don’t stand up to him, who will?”

“There are bound to be others who feel just as you do,” Harry offered, glancing at her for only a second before turning his attention back to the road.

“Yes, but others won’t be in the position I am.”

“Which is?”

Cara drew a deep breath. “I’m the lieutenant governor of Kansas. I can cite Kerns for inappropriate activities and behavior if I’m there to witness them. I’ll have to get proof, but once I do, I won’t have anything to lose in using it against him.”

Harry said nothing for several minutes, and Cara knew he was trying to deal with her decision. Reaching out, she put her hand on his arm.

“Harry, we have to let God work through us, but He can’t do that if we run away from our responsibilities.”

“Yeah, I guess Jonah in the Bible proved that,” Harry said unwillingly. “I just don’t like worrying about you and knowing that you’ll be putting yourself into the thick of things.”

“But you’ll be there to protect me, won’t you?” She smiled at him, hoping that he’d understand her need to see this through.

“You’d better believe it,” he assured. “And when this is all over with, you’re going to marry me, right?” He grinned at her to let her know all was well between them.

“I’ll think about it,” she replied, crossing her arms and looking ahead.

Thirty-Eight

With a minor exception to the seasonal change, Topeka looked no different than it had when she’d left eight months earlier. Outside the Capitol, carefully tended flower beds displayed a variety of roses and the air hummed with the sound of lawn equipment. Harry dropped Cara off at the tunnel entrance on the south side.

“I’ll be right up,” he told her.

“Meet me in my office,” she replied. “I’m going to see Kerns first and let him know that I’m back.”

“Be careful.”

Cara’s heels clicked against the highly polished floor as she made her way to the governor’s office. Kerns wouldn’t expect her until next week, and she hoped that by catching him off guard, his defenses would be down. What Cara found instead was an empty office and a noncommittal Serena Perez.

“I really have no idea when Bob will be back. He wasn’t expecting you until next week, you know.”

“Yes, I’m quite aware of that,” Cara answered and glanced at her watch. “Look, I’ve got something else to take care of, but I’ll be back. If Bob calls, tell him I need to talk to him right away.”

Serena flashed a smug smile, suggesting that if it wasn’t too inconvenient she’d pass the message along.

Cara turned to head out the door just as the telephone rang. Pausing outside, she heard Serena answer brightly, “Governor Kerns’ office.”