Sex, Lies and Valentines (27 page)

“Excuse me,” Danita said. Her words were quiet, but their effect was explosive.

Maya gave a tiny jump. She covered it well with a cough, then an easy smile. But her nerves were evident in the way she twisted her fingers together.

Tobias simply sighed. Gabriel lifted his chin as if ready to take a blow.

The only person at ease was Cynthia Parker.

“Ms. Parker? I’d like a word, if you don’t mind.”

“I prefer being addressed as Your Honor, but no matter. You’re practically family now, dear.” The mayor’s forgiveness came complete with a curious arch of her brows and polite smile. Then she looked around the room, noting the serious attitudes and tense faces. “What is it? Are you and Gabriel having a problem?”

“Actually,” Danita said, “this isn’t about Gabriel and me. This is regarding the criminal activities here in Black Oak.”

“Indeed?” The older woman’s lashes fluttered briefly before she pulled that careful smile back into place and glanced at Caleb. “I would have assumed that the law is being upheld just fine by my own nephew. If you’re considering settling into Black Oak, you’ll be quite safe and well taken care of here.”

Danita had to hand it to her, the woman was queen of the doublespeak.

“I have every confidence in Caleb’s talent to keep the law in town. You should be informed that with his cooperation, we’ve taken steps to ensure the continued safety and care of everyone in Black Oak.”

The mayor’s eyes darted around the room, a frown forming between her brows. “Who are you, exactly? What have you done?”

“Ms. Parker, I’m with the FBI.”

The woman’s face stiffened, but she didn’t drop her smile. She really was made for politics.

“We’ve just arrested nine men who were staying at the Black Oak Manor, Your Honor. The primary charges include possession with intent to distribute drugs, illegal weapons and conspiracy.”

“That’s quite a list,” Cynthia said, her eyes wide with feigned concern. Danita could see her pulse racing in her throat, though. The woman was scared.

“You might be interested in knowing we also arrested your lover, Hamilton Bollinger.”

“My what?” she gasped with nicely feigned outrage. “I cannot believe you’d have the nerve to make such an accusation.”

“Upon his arrest, Mr. Bollinger confessed to the relationship between the two of you.”

Fury, then fear flashed across the mayor’s stately face. Her eyes darted around the room, fingers trembling just a little as she pushed back her hair. Then she seemed to pull it all together, giving Danita a regal tilt of her head in acknowledgment.

“I do prefer to keep my private life private. But if we must label it, I prefer the term gentleman friend,” Cynthia corrected with a chilly sniff of disdain.

“I’ll make sure the defense attorneys are apprised of your preference,” Danita assured her. She thought she saw Tobias’s lips twitch. His children, however, all simply looked devastated. Danita’s heart ached.

“You’re implying that I’ll need a defense?”

“Ms. Parker, you’ve been implicated in a number of crimes. Would you like me to list them or would you prefer to engage counsel first?”

“You dare…” It was like someone had flipped a switch. The curtain of civility flew off for just a second as the mayor jumped to her feet and sucked in a hissing breath through her teeth. Glaring at Danita, she slapped both fists on her ample hips. “Are you arresting me, young lady?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Danita said with a slow nod. The apology on her face wasn’t for the mayor, though. It was for the roomful of people she’d hurt by doing her job. A job she’d thought was everything to her. Until now.

“This is ridiculous,” Cynthia snapped, starting to pace the room. Her hands jerked as she gestured wildly. “Do you have any idea who I am? The power I command? Perhaps you have evidence, trumped-up, no doubt, against Ham and his cohorts. But I’ve yet to hear where I factor into this little conspiracy theory of yours.”

“If you’ll take a seat, ma’am,” Danita said quietly. As much to keep Cynthia from accidently—or not so accidentally—smacking someone with one of those flying hands as to bring some semblance of control back to the discussion.

“Fine,” the mayor snapped, perching on the edge of her chair. “Now explain yourself.”

“In an effort to both convince the kingpin that he was serious about ousting his father and stepping into a command position with this new conglomerate, Gabriel acquired a large amount of cash.”

“You’re telling me that my nephew is involved in these criminal activities? Is he behind it all?”

Danita almost lost it when Cynthia gave a sad shake of her head as if to say she wasn’t surprised. Would this woman throw her entire family under the bus?

“No, ma’am.” Danita gave Gabriel a quick look. At his infinitesimal inclination of his head, she informed his aunt, “The cash that he offered as a bribe was counterfeit. Completely traceable.”

“Count…” Now the mayor looked scared. She shot a vicious glare at her nephew, then pressed both hands to her forehead for a brief second. With all the police presence in town, Cynthia must have forgotten that the money was counterfeit.

“Ma’am,” Danita continued, wanting to get this over for everyone. “We obtained a search warrant for your home and office. We found the same counterfeit currency, as well as the receipt showing that you paid to have napkins with your slogan printed for Caleb’s wedding, along with five large flower arrangements in your campaign colors.”

The mayor licked her lips, looking around as if an explanation was painted on one of the walls.

“We also checked your campaign account. This morning, you transferred forty thousand dollars into the account as a personal contribution.”

“You’re mistaken,” Cynthia said, her words a hoarse whisper.

“No, ma’am. I’m not. I’m sorry, but we’re going to take you into custody now.”

Unable to hurt these people she’d come to care about any further, Danita tossed aside pride and cast Hunter a begging look. He stepped forward to take the mayor’s arm.

“If you’ll come with me, ma’am,” he murmured, turning her toward the exit.

“Get your hands off me,” Cynthia snapped, wrenching free with a hiss of anger. “How dare you? How dare all of you? You’re obstructionists is what you are. Trying to end my political career. This isn’t going to work. You’ll see. I will bury you.”

Danita watched in growing concern as the older woman’s words rose and fell, fury fueling hysteria. Accusations flew, words like jealousy, paranoia and collusion tangling in a big ugly knot of emotional blackmail.

“Why?” Maya asked, her tear-filled words stopping the angry rant. “Aunt Cynthia, why did you do it? Why would you associate with criminals? Bring them here, to Black Oak? And why would you use all of that to frame Dad?”

As though she’d just hit a wall of ice, Cynthia froze. She gave her niece a long, hard stare as she considered the question. Danita held her breath, waiting. But unlike the rest, she didn’t expect a response. The woman was going to mount a defense, so admitting her motivation at this point would be crazy.

“I’m not saying I did any such thing,” she told Maya slowly. “But if I did, so what? Your father is a common criminal himself. He’s a thief. A liar. He’s the man who ruined my Celia’s life.”

“Mom was happy,” Caleb interjected quietly. Brows drawn together, he gave his father a supportive look. “She loved Dad. Loved all of us.”

“She could have had anyone. Anything. But she was taken in by the lies.” Cynthia turned to face Tobias, arm outstretched as she pointed an accusing finger. “You conned her out of her life just like you conned thousands out of their money. Because of you, she’s gone.”

Danita met Hunter’s gaze with a worried frown. Celia Black had died of leukemia. Did Cynthia really believe her own words? Or was this the groundwork of her defense?

Hunter gave an infinitesimal shrug and moved to take Cynthia’s arm again. Clearly, he was ready to end the show.

Cynthia wasn’t, though. She pulled away, facing her niece and nephews again as big crocodile tears slid down her cheeks.

“You’ve all been a delight to me, because you come from my sister. But you can’t deny that your father’s blood runs through you. All of you. You’ve emulated his habits, his life choices. I thought you had a chance when you all left him. But you came back. Why didn’t you just stay away?”

“Was it easier to set Dad up if we weren’t here?” Caleb asked. “Did you think we wouldn’t care?”

“I wanted you away from his influence. Living good lives.”

“Politically correct lives, you mean?” Caleb corrected. “Why? Dad’s career is long and checkered. It’s not like making us into pillars of society would distance you from that.”

“Oh, please,” she dismissed, her usual verve back in place. “If I couldn’t spin a criminal in-law into a platform, I didn’t deserve to be elected.”

“But Dad reformed,” Gabriel said slowly. He shook his head as if trying to deny his own words, then lay a hand on the back of his father’s chair. “A reformed con artist isn’t much of a platform. But a criminal mastermind whose arrest you conveniently oversaw? That’d play great with the media.”

She gave a dramatic sigh and shook her head, like her nephew had just stabbed her in the heart, exactly as she’d expected. But she didn’t say a word.

“And then there’s the sad fact that it costs a pretty penny to play the political game. Doesn’t it?” Gabriel gave Caleb a questioning look. “What’d you say? Kill two birds with one stone? Rake in the illegal cash while pointing the finger at the house of cards she built around Dad?”

Cynthia’s gasp was just a smidge overdone. Even Tobias, who’d been so silent it was almost like he wasn’t there, cringed and shook his head in dismay.

“I’ve obviously failed Celia,” Cynthia said in a tone so hurt, Danita was surprised there wasn’t blood leaking all over the floor. “I will be vindicated from this ridiculous accusation. And when I am, you’ll regret giving your loyalties to Tobias rather than me.”

“It shouldn’t be a choice,” Caleb said quietly. “If you loved Mom, you’d accept that she loved Dad. If you loved us, you’d accept our loyalty to our father. The only person putting conditions on love is you.”

Touched, Danita’s eyes met Gabriel’s. Did he believe in unconditional love? Was that yet another of those gifts of his heritage? She wanted, so much, to believe it was. And wanted even more to have that for herself.

Needing to get this over with, she stepped forward. Hunter joined her.

“It’s time to go now, Ms. Parker,” she said, taking the mayor’s arm. “Because of your standing in the community, we’ve arranged for you to be under house arrest rather than in the town’s jail until Monday. Two agents are waiting for us there.”

Cynthia didn’t go quietly. Accusing them all of trying to undermine her political career, Danita and Hunter had to practically drag her to the door.

Unable to stop herself, Danita glanced back. Maya curled at her father’s feet, her head on his knee while tears poured down her cheeks. Caleb and Gabriel flanked Tobias’s chair.

Danita met Gabriel’s eyes. Her lips trembled but she didn’t know what to say. Heart shaking at how he must be feeling, she mouthed the word sorry before turning away.

This had started as a simple job. Babysit a conman while bringing a crime kingpin to justice and quite possibly bringing down a con artist who’d evaded capture for four decades.

And then it’d turned all upside down. She couldn’t even claim that Gabriel conned her out of her heart. Because that, she’d handed to him on a silver platter.

The question was, was it worth her job to get it back?

14

“I SHOULDN’T BE HERE,” Danita muttered, smoothing a nervous hand over her long lavender silk skirt. She’d been offering Hunter the same argument all morning and, as he’d done all morning, he kept right on ignoring her. “The case is over. The Black family hardly wants the woman who nearly ruined this wedding playing guest.”

Gabriel, especially. If he’d wanted her, he’d have found her. She’d waited, all night, at her room at the inn, hoping he’d show up. That he’d want to resolve things between them, now that the case was over. Before she left.

But he hadn’t.

“Relax. You have an invitation and are as welcome here as anyone,” Hunter murmured right back as he escorted her down the aisle toward the front of the church. He gave her hand a pat that was more an order than a comfort, followed by “You only have to stay through the toast.”