Tread Softly (19 page)

She was staring
sightlessly down at the pieces of pencil in her hand when the phone rang.
"Yes?"

Todd
Leacock spoke in her ear. "Have you got what we want, Cady?"

"I
need more time." She tried to moisten her dry lips with her tongue.
"Rafe will be suspicious if I tackle him with this all at once. I have to
move slowly or he'll know that something is wrong. I can't hurry Rafe into
changing his mind on the bill." She held her breath.

"All
right, Cady." Todd's voice had a surly tinge. "But you don't have too
much time. My friend tells me that some congressmen have already caucused on
the environmental bill. Time to get moving, Cady."

And who else but
Bruno would tell you that, you rat, Cady thought, feeling her face twist with
anger. She took a deep breath. "All right, I'll work on him."

When she replaced the receiver, her hand shook. She hadn't
realized it was possible for her to feel as much venom against another person.

Bruno was
jealous of Rafe! It was as though a light had gone on in her head. He hated
Rafe because of the money and prestige that were Rafe's and could never be his!
She could recall with great clarity the way Bruno had always looked at her
husband—that hooded cobra look. Bruno's great chance had been when Rafe had had
the accident. She felt sure now that Bruno would at some time have tried to run
for Rafe's seat, with Emmett's backing. Bruno hated Rafe now, because he was
well and Bruno couldn't take over his Senate seat. Cady pressed her hands to
her mouth, feeling sick.

When the phone
rang again, she jumped, staring at the instrument as though it had turned into
a tarantula. "Yes?"

"Cady?
It's Rob." His voice seemed to have an excited lift to it. "Cady, I
think I hit pay dirt. It seems Greeley has been getting pretty desperate. He
has a great deal of his own and his friends' money riding on the defeat of the
environmental bill. He's really turning on the pressure on the Hill and has
tried to put the screws on Emmett Densmore. Emmett balked at that, but it seems
that Bruno Trabold is hand in glove with Greeley on this."

Cady
nodded as she listened, then proceeded to tell Rob what Trock had told her
about the meeting of the two men at the Battle of Manassas marker and the
pictures he took. She also told him about her conversation with Todd.

"Cady,
I think we're going to get them on this." Rob sounded almost gleeful. Then
his voice changed. "If Rafe should find out, if somehow your marriage is
jeopardized by all this, remember you always have me. I love you, Cady. And I
think you could care for me."

"Of
course I care for you, Rob..." Cady looked up as the library door swung
open. Her husband stood there, his eyes steel-blue and murderous. "Rob, I
have to go."

"Is it Rafe?
Is he there? Cady, will you be all right?"

"Yes, yes,
I'll be fine. Good-bye." Cady replaced the receiver, not taking her eyes
from her husband. "It's not what you think."

"And
what do I think?" The quiet menace in Rafe's voice filled the room. "I
said once that I would never keep you if you decided that you wanted to
go." The words fired from his mouth like bullets. "I've changed my
mind. You're my wife and I'll see you and your lover—"

Cady slapped the
leather desk mat in front of her with both hands and jumped to her feet.
"I don't have a lover!"

"—in
hell first. Now you damn well stay away from Rob Ardmore or I'll go to his
office and take him apart in front of the whole House of Representatives."

"You...
you hooligan! How dare you threaten a congressman! Who the hell do you think
you are, anyway?"

"I'm
your husband!" Rafe shouted, anger propelling him further into the room as
he threw down his coat and slammed the door in one angry motion.

"All
of a sudden you remember that!" Cady shouted back, wondering why they were
doing this again. "What about all those times you left me alone to go to
those damn parties? What were you then? A loving husband?"

"You
sent me to parties alone. You refused to accompany me. What did you want me to
do?" he grated.

"I
sure didn't want you acting like the sultan of Washington, going from bed to
bed to bed." Cady's voice cracked she was so angry.

"Cady."
Rafe seemed to swell. "How dare you say such a thing to me? I was never
unfaithful to you."

"Liar!"
Cady roared. Then she could have bitten off her tongue, longing to call back
that hated word.

"I
never lied to you." Rafe's face was the color of putty, his lips rock hard
as they formed around the words. He spun on his heel and left the room.

"Rafe...
oh Rafe, don't go," Cady whispered as she heard him take the stairs two at
a time.

*  
* *

Cady had another sleepless night. Twice she rose and went
to the door between their rooms, wanting to tell him what happened. Twice she
reached the door, leaned against it for a few moments, then retraced her steps
to bed.

The
next morning she felt as if she'd just placed last in a marathon. She stumbled
out of bed and into the shower. Only when she was gasping and beginning to turn
blue did she step out and dry herself. She sighed as she dressed in lavender
corduroy jeans and vest and went down for coffee. Hopefully she would hear more
from Trock today. She had the uneasy feeling that she couldn't put Todd off for
too long.

She
stopped open-mouthed when she walked into the morning room and saw Rafe still
at the table, the paper in front of him, a coffee cup in his hand. He leaned
over and filled her cup from the silver pot, then rose to hold out her chair,
his face impassive.

"Sit down,
Cady."

"I thought
you would be gone."

"No doubt."
Rafe shook his paper, then lifted the coffee cup to his mouth. "We're
invited to Durra for dinner tonight. I accepted for both of us." He held
up his hand as she glowered at him. "Before you tear into me, let me
explain that it's just the family. It's not a political gathering of any kind.
My father pointed out that we haven't been to Durra since my recovery. He feels
it's about time we all had dinner as a family."

"I
see." She took a sip of the scalding brew, burning her tongue. She reached
for the water glass, trying to soothe the pain. "And will Bruno be
there?"

Rafe
frowned at her. "I don't know. Maybe." He shrugged. "You
shouldn't let Bruno bother you. He has nothing to do with us anymore. Ignore
him."

"Bruno
is rather hard to ignore," Cady muttered, wishing she could tell Rafe
just exactly how hard it was. She had a horror of her husband ever seeing the
box of pictures locked away in her file cabinet.

Rafe
pushed his plate aside, making Cady's brow crease as she noticed how little he
had eaten. When he lit one of his cheroots, the crease in her forehead deepened.

"Trock
doesn't like you smoking those."

"Trock—I
haven't seen the man in a couple of days. Where has he been? I looked for him
in the gym last night and again this morning."

Cady
stared at her husband, feeling her neck redden. "I suppose he must have a
life of his own."

Rafe
gazed at her through the curl of smoke. "I suppose. I haven't seen Graf,
either. Did Trock take him along?" He looked down at the sleeping Hobo lying
at his feet and missed the start that Cady gave at his words.

"Ah.. .he
could have. The dog likes to ride in the car."

"Yes,
I suppose." He pressed the cheroot, not even half-smoked, into the ashtray
and rose to his feet. "So I'll assume that we'll be going to Durra?"

"Ah...
yes."

"Well,
then... have a good day." Rafe stopped next to her chair.

Cady
looked out the window, afraid if she met Rafe's eyes she would dissolve into
tears, sink to her knees, grab hold of his legs and beg him not to throw her away
when he saw the horrible pictures of her. "You have a nice day, too."

She heard him
smother an oath as he left, and she began to tremble.

CHAPTER
EIGHT

Cady
dressed that evening like a somnambulist. Even the cold shower she had stood
under for fifteen minutes didn't lift her spirits.

Todd had called
her that afternoon. His demands had increased. Now they wanted Rafe to throw
his weight behind more defense spending. It hadn't taken Cady long to see
through that ploy, since she knew Emmett and Bruno and their friend Greeley had
oil interests in the Middle East and Africa. Speculation drilling on the Dark
Continent was expensive, not just the equipment but also the mercenary army
they felt they must maintain to protect themselves against insurgents who
attacked them at every turn. If they involved the United States government in
their quarrels, it would certainly lessen the personal expense. She wanted to
scream at Leacock that she knew whom he was working for and what they were
after. Somehow she had managed to keep cool and not show her fury at his
attempted manipulations. Somehow she had managed to fob him off again with
excuses that Rafe had to be handled with kid gloves or he would discover what
they were doing and have no compunction about bringing the whole sordid mess
into the open.

Rafe
was late coming home that night, but that wasn't unusual these days. It seemed
he spent a great deal of time avoiding her.

Cady
looked in the mirror, surprised to see that she was dressed and had all her
makeup on. She studied the deep gold silk dress whose antique finish was only
one hue deeper than her hair. With it she decided to wear the amethyst necklace
and earring set that Rafe had bought for her when they had returned from their
honeymoon twelve long years ago. The settings for the pale purple drop earrings
were an antique gold almost the shade of her dress, a sheath with no adornment
except its dramatic, almost off-the-shoulder neckline. Her heels were a light
tan kid with medium heels and sling backs. She had a change purse in matching
kid hanging from a chain. This she slung over her shoulder.

She stiffened when she heard Rafe moving around in his
room. It wasn't until she could hear the shower that she left her own room and
descended to the library. She knew it was childish, but the less she saw Rafe,
the less guilt she felt about the pictures and the underhanded methods she,
Rob, and Trock were employing to set things right.

She
walked to the hidden bar in the bookcase, pressed the switch, waited for the doors
to swing open and the light to come on, then poured herself some Riesling over
ice cubes. She was sipping the sharp wine when the phone rang. The buzzer
sounded twice, signaling that it was for her. She picked up the desk phone.

"Cady?
I hope this isn't a bad time to call, but I've discovered something that might
help us."

"Just
a moment, Rob." Cady set the phone down and closed the door. "There.
I won't be able to talk long. Rafe will be down in a minute. What is it?"

"The man I have
digging into things has come up with a little item that will interest the
voters of New York. It seems our friend Bruno Trabold is equal partners with
one Silas Greeley—our lobbyist Greeley—on a land deal on the Hudson River. They
stand to make a great deal of money if a proposed nuclear power plant is built
on said site."

"The
rat! The double-dyed rat," Cady muttered into the phone. "That
Judas." She took a deep breath. "I wonder if my father-in-law knows
that his fair-haired boy is feathering his own nest."

"My
informant sees no evidence that Emmett is involved in this, and I asked him
specifically if there was a connection." Rob seemed to be reading from
something. "Cady, if you can just hold them off for a few more days, I
think we may be able to nail the whole nasty bunch. If we're lucky, we'll be
able to do it without those damn pictures ever having to surface."

"I hope so,
Rob. Thank you so much for everything. I don't know what I would have done
without you."

Cady
replaced the phone as her husband pushed the door open wide.

His
face was a gray mask of fury. A muscle jumped under his left eye; his hands
clenched and unclenched. "You tell Ardmore for me that if he calls here
again, I'll break his damn neck. And you stay away from him." His voice was
like sandpaper rubbed on slate.

Cady
lifted her chin, hoping her face gave no hint that her insides had turned to
jelly. "Rob is a friend of mine— a good friend. If you don't like my
friends calling me here at your home—"