Deceptions (14 page)

A shudder ran over Wesley's whole body.

“How did you do it?” Elizabeth asked. “How did you set up your own son's murder?”

Wesley's gaze whipped toward her. “What? No, no, I didn't!”

“Wesley!”
Evelyn grabbed his arm and yanked him away from the desk. “You're being set up!” She gave him a hard shake. “These people must be reporters—they're trying to destroy us! Don't say another word.” She pointed toward the door. “I want you all out of my house right this moment. If you don't leave, I will be calling the cops.”

“The cops sound like a great idea to me,” Celia said, nodding. “And they're already on their way. I had to contact the right ones, of course, a few detectives I know who weren't particularly impressed by your husband's position.” She leaned forward and said, her voice hushed but carrying, “They didn't vote for him in the last election.”

Evelyn's cheeks flushed a bright red. “You were supposed to be his ally! You came into our lives with the highest recommendation! You were CIA—”

“I came into your lives because you were already under investigation,” Celia fired back. “There were some financial discrepancies that had been brought to my boss's attention. I've been watching the governor for quite some time. My boss wanted me to investigate, and then when the McGuires contacted me, well, let's just say that vanishing money suddenly made a whole lot more sense. When you're paying off a hit man, it takes a lot of cash, doesn't it? It's not like he'd be the type to accept credit.”

“What are you talking about?” Wesley stumbled toward Celia. “I haven't hired any hit man! And I certainly never arranged for Nate's murder!” His voice dropped. “My son...
my son...
”

“Shut up,” Evelyn ordered. “They'll use this against us! It will be in every tabloid in the country, and we will never sit in the White House!”

Wesley cut her a quick glance then nodded.

“Get out,” Evelyn ordered again. “If the cops really are coming, they'd better have a warrant or they won't get past my front door.”

Sullivan collected the photographs.

Celia inclined her head. “If that's the way you want to play it...”

Wait, were they really all just going to leave?

Elizabeth rushed toward the governor and she grabbed his arm. “Nate was a good man.”

He blinked at her.

“He loved me.” She'd never doubted that. “He had a beautiful smile and big dreams. And I know that all of his dreams would have come true. He was
good
,
” she said again. “I saw him empty his pockets to help someone else that he thought was worse off than he was. The whole time I was with him, he never complained about
anything.
He just talked about the good things that were coming.” Her heart was breaking all over again. “He didn't get any of those good things.” Tears slid down her cheeks. “Because you had him killed. You had your own son killed!”

“No!” His voice was hoarse. “I didn't... I didn't even find out about him until he was dead. I didn't know, I swear!”

“I'm calling security,” Evelyn announced as she marched toward the desk and reached for the phone there. “You got past the team at the gate because you fed them your lies. They'll drag you all out now.”

Mac stepped forward. “If you didn't kill him, Governor, then why won't you talk to us? Why won't you answer our questions?”

“This is Evelyn,” the governor's wife snapped into the phone. “I need security at the main house right now. We have intruders here that must be escorted off the property immediately.”

“Like this is the first time we've ever been kicked out of a place,” Sullivan rasped, a rough grin sliding over his face.

Elizabeth glanced away from Sullivan and back at the governor. He was staring at her with wide eyes.

“I...know you,” Wesley said. “I saw you at Nate's funeral.”

Her heart slammed into her ribs.
This is it!
“Yes, you did.”

“Did you...did you really love my son?”

Elizabeth nodded.

Mac was silent, watching. The only person in that room who
wasn't
silent was Evelyn. She was barking orders, screaming for the security team to get there.

“I wish I'd known him,” Wesley confessed. “I—I got his letter to me, saying that he was coming, but he never showed up.”

And she remembered what the hit man had said,
Look what happened to Nate! He should have just kept driving! Another hour and I never would've been able to touch him, but he screwed up.

“He was coming to see you,” she said, struggling to put the puzzle pieces together. “But then he met me.”

Wesley shook his head. “I don't—”

“He told me that he'd let his past go the day that he met me.” She swiped at her cheeks. “He wasn't going to ruin your career! He wasn't going to create some kind of scandal. He let it all go.” Pain squeezed her heart. “Why couldn't you let it go, too?” It hurt to stare into eyes so like Nate's. “Why did you have to kill him?”

The governor's hands latched around her shoulders, holding tight. “I didn't!” He shook her. “I didn't!” His voice rose. “I would never—”

Mac grabbed him and tossed the guy back against the desk. “You don't hurt her.” His hands were fisted and ready to attack. “You don't put your hands on her, you understand? Try it again and you'll see just how violent I can truly become.”

Even Evelyn was silent.

“I'm sorry,” Wesley said as he pressed his hands to his eyes. “It's just—seeing those pictures. Seeing him like that.” His hands dropped, and he tried to meet Elizabeth's stare, but Mac stood in front of her, shielding her with his body. “Did he suffer? Did he cry out? Did he say anything at the end?”

Elizabeth bit her lip so hard she was surprised she didn't taste blood. “He screamed,” she told him starkly as she moved to Mac's side. “He told me to run. With his last breath, he was saving me.”

The lines on Wesley's face seemed to deepen. “I didn't know. I found his letter
after
he was already gone. I had an assistant back then. She'd opened it and thought it was some kind of blackmail threat. She didn't even tell me about it. Not until it was too late.”

He was really going to stand there and lie to them?

“I don't believe you,” Elizabeth said flatly. “You hired that hit man to kill Nate. And then you hired the same man to come after me in Austin.” Her pounding heartbeat shook her chest. “He's dead now, by the way. Your
Fixer
was killed when he tried to escape from police custody.”

“He...came after you?”

Mac was still standing protectively close. Did he think the governor was going to attack her?

“You've been the governor here for so long. People love you.” Disgust twisted her lips. “But they don't really know you, do they? Yes, the killer came for me. And he also came for a reporter named Steve Yeldon. I was lucky. I lived, thanks to Mac and his brothers.”

Mac caught her fingers in his.

“Steve wasn't so lucky,” she continued. “The Fixer stabbed him in a dirty alley and left him to die.”

Wesley's body shuddered.

Evelyn put the phone back down. She hurried to her husband's side. “His heart is weak! He doesn't need this stress.” She wrapped her arms around him.
“Get out
.
”

Elizabeth turned for the door. She'd wanted a confession. Wanted proof. She'd stared the monster in the eyes and she'd seen—

Pain.
Pain
had stared back at her.

The governor must be one fine actor, because that grief and horror on his face had looked real, too.

She heard the front door crash open, and a thunder of footsteps raced toward the study.

“That would be the guards,” Sullivan said, voice wry, “coming to drag us out.”

Sure enough, the guards burst in. One immediately grabbed for Celia.

Sullivan lunged forward. “You need to watch that.” His voice was lethal. “That's no way to handle a lady.” His fingers flexed, as if he was getting ready to deliver a punch.

“Don't hurt them,” the governor ordered. His voice seemed low, weak. “They were just leaving.”

Like she wanted his protection. Elizabeth strode for the door, but then she glanced back at him. “Did you kill his mother, too?”

The governor stared at her in confusion, but beside him, Evelyn's mouth dropped in shock. For just an instant, she let go of her husband's arm.

“Nate's mother. She was killed in a hit and run when he was just a little kid.” Now she was going with her gut. “Another job for the Fixer, huh? I guess he's been on the payroll for a long time.”

Mac's shoulder brushed against her. “That Fixer of yours talked to the cops. Got real chatty with Detective Ben Howard. Trust me, you won't be getting away with anything that you've done.” He gave a mocking salute. “We'll be seeing you again real soon, Governor.”

The guards were all around them, all dressed in black and glancing a bit nervously at the governor and his wife.

The guards didn't touch them again, not as they slowly walked out of the mansion. Elizabeth didn't hear the shriek of any police cruisers approaching, so she wondered if Celia's story about the cops had just been BS to stall while they questioned the governor.

“That was certainly interesting,” Celia murmured as they neared the SUV.

Sullivan caught her arm. “Did he hurt you?”

She laughed. “Really, Sully? You know it takes a whole lot more than that to
hurt
me.” Her voice sharpened. “You—of all people—know that I don't break.”

Mac opened the SUV's passenger door. Elizabeth started to climb in.

“Wait!”

The desperate cry had Elizabeth glancing back. Evelyn was running toward her, her gown tripping up her legs, and her face a frantic mask. “Wait! Miss— I didn't even get your name!”

Elizabeth turned toward her. “Elizabeth Snow.”

The woman staggered to a stop in front of her. She glanced nervously at the others then said, “We have to talk. You and I...alone.”

“The hell you do,” Mac said immediately. “If you've got something to say, then just say it right here in front of us all.”

Evelyn's gloved hands twisted together. “He's...he's got a temper, you see.” Her breath heaved out. “I lived with him all these years...
I've
witnessed it.” And she didn't look so confident and cold any longer. Instead, her face had twisted with fear, and her eyes held dark shadows. “That boy's mother...you mentioned that you thought my husband had killed her, too?”

And Elizabeth remembered the way Evelyn had pulled away from the governor when she'd dropped that particular bombshell.

“We sure think that's a possibility,” Mac said grimly. “A very strong possibility.”

“Was her name—” her eyes squeezed shut “—Gloria?”

Elizabeth's heart stopped. “Yes! Yes!” Elizabeth stepped closer to the other woman. “He told you about her?”

“She...she was one of his mistakes.” Her lips trembled. “So many over the years, but I remember her because one night...he was having a nightmare. He screamed her name. When I asked about her, he told me later that...Gloria was a problem that he'd fixed.”

Her heart was racing again, but it sure seemed as if a cold wind had just wrapped tightly around her. Elizabeth shivered.

Evelyn glanced over her shoulder. “I've lived with him so long. He
was
a good man, once...” Her voice trailed away.

“You need to come with us,” Elizabeth said immediately. “Come with us to the police, and you can tell us everything you know.”

But Evelyn backed up. “I can't turn on my husband.”

Mac swore. “He's a killer! So his hands didn't get dirty, so what? He ordered those deaths! And how do you know that he won't decide to do the same to you?”

Evelyn shook her head. “No, you're wrong—”

But Sullivan had joined them, and he brutally asked, “If you're no longer useful to him, how long do you really think he'll keep you around?”

The guards spilled out of the house. “Ma'am? Is there a problem?” one of them called.

Her eyes were stark as she backed away. “No problem. They're leaving.”

“Evelyn,” Elizabeth said, “help us.”

But Evelyn turned away and headed back into the house.

Chapter Twelve

“Where was the backup?” Sullivan demanded when Celia pulled the SUV up in front of a small hotel. “I thought you said detectives were coming in, riding to the rescue.”

Mac noted the edge in his brother's voice. Sullivan didn't have his normal control in place, not by a long shot. But then, where Celia was concerned, the guy never did.

“You guys didn't give me enough evidence to bring in any detectives.” Celia killed the engine. “I was hoping we'd rattle the governor enough for him to slip up.”

They all exited the vehicle, but no one moved to approach the hotel. It was a small place, one of those little spots that most people passed right by as they headed on to look for something bigger and better.

“He did slip up,” Elizabeth said, voice subdued. “He admitted he was at Nate's funeral. He got a note from Nate. He thought Nate was blackmailing him.”

When a tremble slid over her, Mac wrapped his arms around Elizabeth and pulled her close.

“No,” Celia said, sighing, “he was careful. He just said that his
assistant
thought Nate was working some kind of blackmail scheme. The governor did a good job of looking shocked and horrified, but he didn't give us anything to actually use against him.”

Elizabeth slid a bit closer to Mac. “The wife is our key. She knows so much more than she's saying. We just have to get her to open up to us.”

Sullivan nodded. “We have to get the woman to turn on her husband.
Not
the easiest task. Because when he goes down, her world will explode with him.”

“Crash and burn,” Mac muttered. But yes, that was exactly what they would have to do—they'd have to get Evelyn to expose the governor.

“Who knows a man better,” Sullivan mused as he stalked closer to Celia, “than the woman he's sleeping with?”

“Sully...” Mac warned. “Watch yourself.”

Sullivan stopped.

“I'll go get some rooms,” Celia announced. “Be right back.” Then she was hurrying off—nearly running—for the little check-in office and its bright vacancy sign.

Sullivan watched her go. It was dark out there, with the stars partially obscured by clouds, so Mac couldn't see his brother's expression clearly.

“What happens next?” Elizabeth asked. “We came all this way... What do we do? I can't just walk away from this.”

No, and he didn't expect her to do that. “Next, we sleep. We rest. Then when the sun comes up again, we're going to start working on that weak link.”
On Evelyn.
He turned Elizabeth in his arms so that he could face her. “This isn't over, not by a long shot. You need to believe me on that. I'm not giving up.”

“I do believe you.” Her hand rose and slid against his cheek. Her touch was so soft. Meanwhile, he had rough stubble on his cheeks. He always felt too rough around her. “Thank you.”

He turned his head and pressed a hot kiss to her palm. “Any damn time.”
I'd do anything, for you.

Sullivan was silent, but Mac could practically feel his brother stewing over there. He was sure that, as soon as they were alone, Sullivan was going to have plenty to say.

Yes, I brought in Celia. Yes, I know you think I just screwed up your whole damn life.

Celia ran back to them. “They only had three rooms.”

Not a problem. “Elizabeth and I can share.” They
would
share. Because he needed her in his arms again. Needed to feel her go wild beneath him. He liked it when Elizabeth let her control go. Hell, he liked everything about her.

Celia tossed a key to Elizabeth, then she threw one to Sullivan. He caught it easily, his fingers clenching around it.

“Our rooms are right next to each other,” Celia told him. “Hope that's not a problem.”

“Not a problem,” Sullivan gritted. But he sure sounded as if it was the worst problem ever.

“I'll grab the bags,” Mac said. “Celia and Elizabeth, why don't you two go ahead and see just how crappy the rooms are...” Mostly, he needed them to slide ahead so he could give his brother a warning.

He waited until the women were clear, then he closed in on Sullivan. “You need to watch yourself,” Mac began.

Sullivan whirled toward him. “You don't even know what you've done.” Each word vibrated with fury. “I tried to stay away from her. And
you—
you just brought her right back to me!”

As if that was a crime? “You need her—”

“Too much. That's the problem. You saw what I did to us both before. What the hell am I supposed to do now?” He stared down at his fisted hands. “How am I supposed to just let her walk away again?”

Mac hated his brother's pain. “Maybe you don't let her walk. Maybe you hold as tight to her as you can.”

Sullivan's head shot up. “The way you're holding on to Elizabeth?”

The way I'm trying to hold her.

“Didn't you hear the way she talked about Nate?” Sullivan suddenly demanded. “How are you supposed to fight against that?”

Mac's stomach tightened. “Don't go there.”
Because yeah, I heard.

“She loved him. Loved him so much that years later, she's willing to risk her life to give him justice.”

Mac could feel battle-ready tension sweeping through him.

“How do you handle that, Mac? How do you fight a ghost? You want her, but she loves
him
.”

Too far. Mac grabbed the front of his brother's shirt and yanked the guy toward him. “Just because you shut yourself off, it doesn't mean that everyone else did, too.”

“You're hooked on a woman who can't love you.” Sullivan shoved at him, but Mac didn't let him go. “Is that some kind of punishment you're giving yourself? A new game of torture? Don't get closer to her. Don't give her any more of yourself.”

Mac wanted to shake him. “You don't know what you're talking about.”

“Yes, I do! Because I've been right where you are.” And Sullivan tore away from Mac. “You love her, but she doesn't love you back, and it will
destroy
you if you let it. Pull back. Pull back before there is nothing left of you.”

You love her.
Those words hung in the air.

And so did Elizabeth's soft gasp.

* * *

T
HE
GUARDS
WERE
GONE
.

Evelyn Sutherfield walked slowly toward the study. The house was so quiet. Such a big, giant house. A place like that probably should have been filled with dozens of children.

She and Wesley had never had children.

Her gown trailed behind her as she paused at the entrance to Wesley's study. He loved that study. He often spent hours and hours locked away in there.

Wesley was in that study, right then. Sitting at his desk.

Evelyn wiped away the tear that slid down her cheek.

A gun had fallen to the floor beside her husband's favorite chair. And her husband's head—a bullet had slammed into it. His eyes were closed, his body slumped back and blood poured from the great, gaping wound that had been left behind.

She should call someone. She should do...
something.

But Evelyn just stood there and stared at her husband's dead body.

* * *

S
HE
KNOWS
.

“I—I came back to help with the bags,” Elizabeth said, her voice hitching a bit as she stepped forward.

Sullivan swore. Then he glanced around a bit frantically. “Is Celia with you?”

“She went on into her room.” Elizabeth was only a few feet from Mac. “Can you give us a minute alone?”

Mac needed more than a minute. He had to figure out a way to smooth things over.

“Sure thing.” Sullivan hurried away, but then he paused and glanced back at Mac. “Sorry,” he said stiffly. “You know I'm a jerk and I—
Just don't make my mistakes, man.
You don't want that hell.”

Mac grabbed the bags from the back of the SUV and locked the vehicle. Then he turned and found Elizabeth right in his path.

“Do you love me?” Her question hung between them.

Mac tightened his hold on the bags. “Let's get inside.”
And let me think of some way to handle this.
He didn't want Elizabeth to run from him, and if the woman figured out just how obsessed he was...hell, yes, she might put some distance between them.

Elizabeth didn't speak again, not when he dropped Celia's bag off at her door and or when he tossed a backpack at Sullivan. But as soon as they entered the room they were going to share...

“It was a simple question, Mac. You can respond with a yes or with a no.” She locked the door and faced him. “Your brother seemed to think that you did love me.”

“As my own brother admitted...” Mac dropped the remaining bags. “He can be a jerk. And Sullivan doesn't know nearly as much as he thinks.”

She rocked back on her heels. “So you don't love me.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “I thought you—”

He stalked toward her. Elizabeth stopped talking and stared up at him with her wide, gorgeous eyes. Deliberately, he put one hand up on either side of her body, caging her between him and the door. “You really want to know how I feel?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “That's why I asked.”

“Be sure, because there won't be any going back. You won't be able to pretend you don't know, and I won't be holding back with you any longer.”

“I don't want you to hold back.”

Damn but she was beautiful. “You loved him.” Sullivan's words had burned, because the accusation about her loving Nate? Yeah, he knew it was true. “Will you ever get past that?”

A faint line appeared between her brows. “Nate was the first boy who touched my heart. He made me happy, and yes, I did love him.”

Right. His hands shoved harder against that door.

“But that doesn't mean I can't love someone else.” Her hand rose and pressed to his chest, right over his racing heart. “It doesn't mean that I don't already love someone else.”

He was supposed to be confessing. But she—

“I don't want to go back. I want to go forward, with you.” Elizabeth rose onto her toes, and her lips brushed against his. “You helped me to come alive again, Mac. You scared me, and you excited me and you—you trusted me.”

Her hand was still over his heart, and that heart was sure drumming out of control.

“I don't know when I started to love you,” Elizabeth said, her lips curling in that slow smile that always got to him. “I just know that I do. And I can't imagine my life without you in it. I don't want to imagine it.”

His mouth crushed against hers. Euphoria rolled through him so fast and so hard. And—

Sully could be such an idiot.

He wasn't his brother. She wasn't Celia. And they would not be making the same mistakes.

“I can just be me with you. You accept me, just as I am.” Her mouth brushed against his again. “How could I not love you?”

And how could he not love her? He was
insane
for her, and Mac scooped her up in his arms. He kissed her frantically, the desire in him surging to the surface. They fell on the bed, a tangle of limbs on those saggy mattresses, but he didn't care. He kept kissing her and touching her. He wanted her clothes off, and Mac wanted to be in her.

The here and now—that mattered. Their future together—
that
mattered.

He grabbed her T-shirt and yanked it over her head. The perfect mounds of her breasts pushed against her bra, and he kissed his way past the edge of lace. She arched toward him, and he slid his hand under her back, reaching for the clasp of that bra. He needed—

“Mac!”
Sully's hand pounded on the door that connected their rooms. “We've got to go! Now!”

Now?
Now?
Mac looked up at Elizabeth's face. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes glittering, her lips red and swollen from his kiss. He had her under him on that bed. There was no other place in the world that he wanted to
go
to right then.

“The governor's wife just called Celia—she wants us at the house. Right now.” Sullivan's fist hit the door. “What the hell are you doing, man? Come on!”

Elizabeth's breath whispered out. “You think she changed her mind and decided to turn on him?”

He pushed away from her. Because if he didn't get away from her, Mac knew he would be taking Elizabeth. Simple fact. His hands were shaking with the effort of holding back, so he clenched them into fists. He sat on the edge of the bed and tried to yank back his control.

The bed dipped as Elizabeth moved closer. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his neck. “This is a pause. We'll talk to the wife. Get her to help us stop the governor. And then we can be together again. Only there won't be anything else to interrupt us, nothing to stop us.”

He caught her hand in his. “Nothing.” He turned his head and met her gaze.

Elizabeth smiled at him.

Sullivan pounded on the door. “We're leaving! The woman was frantic, okay? Saying that we had to get there right
then.
Are you coming?”

“Remind me to kick his butt later, okay? Just for fun.”

Her smile widened. “I'll remind you to make love with me later, just for fun.”

Elizabeth.

She slid away from him, yanked on her shirt and hurried toward the connecting door. She pulled it open just before Sullivan could pound again.

Sullivan glared at Mac as he sat on the side of the bed. “What in the hell, man? What were you—”

Mac lifted his brows.

“Oh.” Sullivan cleared his throat. “Right. Let's go.” Then he hurried back into his room.