The Candidate, page 8
Alex nuzzled into the woman, planting delicate kisses on her long, smooth neck, eager for a second round.
“My, my, Alex,” the woman growled. “You are a persistent one, aren’t you?”
Alex’s kisses grew more demanding, trailing down the woman’s collarbone, then down to an erect, sumptuous nipple, which Alex sucked ravenously. It wasn’t long before her mouth busily traveled south again, eliciting sharp moans with each nip and sure stroke. The naked body beneath hers predictably squirmed with delight.
But emotionally, Alex was making love to the woman by rote. Her mind had long ago drifted away—to Jane, to the campaign, to work. She’d hoped a roll in the sack would put her right again, suck away some of that loneliness, fill some of that emptiness she felt more often than not these days. But it wasn’t working. She just wanted to get on with it and go.
Kim warned you this would be trouble, you moron.
* * *
Kim waggled her eyebrows teasingly. “Must have been some night, Stud. Strolling in here at the bright hour of . . .” She made a big show of looking at her watch. “Ten a.m.”
Alex grimaced and glanced around. “Where’s Linny?”
“My dear Caroline has gone out grocery shopping. I bribed her, of course. Want some breakfast?”
Alex wasn’t hungry. Her funk had only grown, despite the distractions of her wonderful friends and the lovely piece of ass known as Gillian.
Kim stood before her, hands on her hips, worry etched onto her face. “Want to talk?”
Alex considered for long moment. “Walk with me?”
They picked their way silently through a neighboring graveyard, Alex stopping briefly at random headstones, reading the names and dates to herself and wondering absently about the life stories behind those names. When she was a kid, she would entertain herself by spending hours walking through centuries-old gravesites, her imagination easily making up faces and elaborate histories. North Carolina was fertile ground for a kid with an interest in history and an elaborate imagination.
Alex finally let out an exaggerated sigh, signaling that she was ready to talk. “I think I should ask to be reassigned.”
Kim’s jaw dropped. “Why?”
Alex hedged. “It’s just . . . I dunno.”
“What? I thought it was pretty obvious you liked working with Jane.”
“That’s just it, Kim.” Alex wished that for once she didn’t have to explain it all. She hated spilling her guts like this about something so personal, but she needed a friend’s advice right now. And Kim would understand—she always did.
Kim reached over and clutched her arm as they walked. “I see,” she said in quiet acknowledgement. “You think you can’t be a good agent unless you maintain detachment from your subject.”
Alex winced. “Something like that.”
“You know, it’s probably not that uncommon for Secret Service agents to like their subjects. Think how horrible it’d be if you hated her. It’d be even harder to do your job, don’t you think?”
“I just . . . I just wasn’t figuring on this.”
Kim chuckled. “Yeah, well, life’s full of stuff we didn’t figure on, sister.”
Alex’s mood was as dark as their surroundings. “I get the feeling you think I’m making a huge deal out of this.”
“Something like that.” Kim slowed them to a stop. “Look, Al. So you like the candidate. A lot. And why not? Sounds like she’s pretty incredible, which means another fifty million people probably feel exactly as you do.” Kim couldn’t truly understand the depth of Alex’s growing feelings for Jane. Even Alex didn’t, but at least Kim was trying. “I know I gave you a hard time last night . . . and I’m not saying you shouldn’t be careful. But I think you’ve got yourself too worked up about all this.”
Alex nodded tightly. It was true. Sometimes she felt like a coiled spring that might snap.
“If you truly think your feelings are getting in the way of doing your job, you’ll know when to ask for a transfer. You won’t even have to question it like you’re doing now. You’re too good a cop not to know if that happens.”
“You sound pretty darned sure of me.” I just hope you’re right.
“Alex, you know what I think is really going on here?”
Alex wavered between wanting and not wanting to hear what Kim had to say next. She acquiesced with her silence.
“It’s your first big protection detail. They’ve made you the number one of someone who’s incredibly dynamic, charming, smart and gorgeous to boot. Throw in the glitter and grind of a presidential campaign, and it’s no wonder you’re feeling out of your league. You gotta give it some time to get used to it all, girl.” A wide grin broke out on Kim’s face. “Hey. Remember your first fuck?”
Alex jerked in surprise. How could anyone forget that?
“It’s, like, the biggest thing that’s ever happened in your life up to that point, right? Of course it’s overwhelming at first. And you even mistake it for love. And then after awhile, you see it for what it really is—just a moment in your life. And this moment you’re having over Jane will pass, too. Pretty soon, you’ll see all her warts and you’ll deny you were ever smitten with her.”
Alex smiled and let her shoulders relax. With luck, the rest of her would relax, too. Maybe Kim was right. Any day now she probably would get sick to death of Jane and her campaign. “Kim, what would I do without you and Linny?”
“That, my dear, you’ll hopefully never have to find out.” They resumed walking, arm in arm, Kim tugging Alex a bit. “Speaking of . . . ah-hem . . . the dirty deed, how was the Republican last night?”
Alex laughed and punched Kim lightly in the arm. “You never told me how you guessed she was a Republican.”
Kim smirked. “She looked like the type who thinks her own shit doesn’t stink.”
Alex laughed again, feeling a lightness she hadn’t felt in weeks. “Sometimes, those ones are the best—” Her chirping cell phone interrupted.
“Warner here.”
Alex listened intently to Commander Harry Johnson on the other end, her body tensing with every word. It was only seeing her distress mirrored in Kim’s anxious face that forced her to calm down.
“I’ll meet you at the airport in an hour,” she said evenly into the phone, then clicked it shut.
“Anything wrong?” Kim asked.
“Maybe.”
Chapter 6
Jane’s spontaneous embrace, though abrupt, was spirited, and it made the clearly surprised Alex jump like a nervous cat. Jane secretly enjoyed seeing her put off her feet like that, and made a mental note that if boredom ever struck, she just might try something like that again.
Jane had missed Alex these last couple of days, and it only just occurred to her, like the sudden flash of remembering a dream from the night before. Now she turned her razor sharp mind to Alex, who still baffled her, in spite of their growing closeness. Alex could be so funny and warm and open one minute, then stiff and aloof the next. It was puzzling, and the only puzzles Jane liked were the ones she could solve. This one she wanted to solve. Perhaps a little emotional nudge now and again, like a hug, might go a long way in making Alex trust her enough to be more at ease.
“It’s good to see you, Agent Warner.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” A polite smile. “It’s good to see you, too.”
Jane frowned a little. She couldn’t seem to entirely break Alex of that “ma’am” thing and the syrupy, southern way it came out. Jane found it surprisingly sweet, charming even. That polite reticence was a fascinating contradiction to the tough cop persona that Alex usually wore like a uniform. But it was also one of the many little walls Alex habitually put up between them.
“Did you have fun visiting your friends, Alex?”
Alex’s face had begun turning an interesting shade of red.
“Okay, don’t answer that.” Jane laughed to hide her curiosity. “Listen, I’m sorry to have to pull you away. Apparently my mother has had a little accident and wants to see me at the family home up north.” She held up a forestalling hand. “Nothing serious. But my very bossy staff members are insisting that I go check on her, spend a couple of days with her. Okay by you?”
“My pleasure,” Alex answered automatically. “Will this be a little vacation for you as well?”
Jane grimaced. “Not if I can help it. With our first Super Tuesday next week, I’ve got a million things to do. And then some, but who’s counting?”
The two women climbed into the small commuter jet where they were met by two other agents. They were a small group because Jane’s staff was on their way back to Washington to firm up plans for the coming days. It would just be Jane, the three agents and her mother on the island, and even that was three people too many. Well, two anyway, Jane thought, stealing a glance at Alex.
“Maybe a little vacation would be a good idea, then,” Alex suggested.
“Funny, that’s exactly what my staff said, too.” Jane fastened her lap belt and looked skeptically at Alex. “Did they tell you to say that?”
“Of course not,” Alex answered quickly. “I just thought, you know, with things getting even busier—”
Jane waved her agreement. “I could use a little time to recharge my batteries.” She said it more to herself than to Alex. It felt like such a foreign idea.
The plane darted into the sky, heading north by way of the Lake Huron shoreline. The lake below, with its snow-covered icy crust, looked like a white desert.
“You didn’t happen to see my big moment at Joe Louis Arena, did you?” Jane glanced a little sheepishly at Alex.
Alex bit back a smile. “Um, well . . . Do you really want me to answer that?”
They were sitting side-by-side for the forty-minute flight to Mackinac Island, with the other agents at the back of the plane. Jane didn’t know them as well as she knew Alex and didn’t feel like inviting them to sit closer. She was rather looking forward to having Alex to herself for a little while. Their banter came much easier these days, and it pleased Jane. She let out a deep sigh for effect and summoned her most scolding tone. “You promised you wouldn’t watch, Agent Warner!”
Alex looked remorseful for all of about two seconds. “Sorry. My friends made me. But you did great. You looked like a real pro!”
Jane giggled, pleased. “Well, let’s not get too carried away, Alex.” She’d been afraid of making a fool of herself, and yet it had gone much better than she’d expected. “It was a blast, actually.”
“Hey, maybe refereeing could be, you know, your . . .”
“Fall-back job if I don’t win the nomination?”
Alex’s smile was a little doubtful, as if she weren’t quite sure she should be teasing Jane this way. Oh, Alex, you’re so damn cute sometimes.
Jane patted Alex’s knee reassuringly. “Good idea, Alex. With your connections in the hockey world, maybe you could get me some work.”
“Actually, my rec league is always looking for a good ref.”
Jane laughed, feeling unusually relaxed. Maybe she really was on her way to solving Alex. “So,” she began lightly. “Anything exciting happen on your days off?” She almost chuckled out loud at the slow, adorable blush working its way up Alex’s neck. Oh, yes, I’ve got you now, Alex!
“Nah. Nothing much.” A tiny shrug, but Alex couldn’t seem to look at Jane.
Jane was smug. So, Alex is hiding something. “You don’t kiss and tell, is that it?”
Alex let out a small gasp and did turn to Jane this time, her eyes wide with surprise.
Jane chuckled, enjoying herself. “Discretion is always a good quality, Alex. I admire that.”
In fact, in the month or more since Alex had joined her security detail, Jane hadn’t heard a single word from anyone about any exploits on the agent’s part. She was charming, handsome, bright, athletic . . . she couldn’t possibly have any trouble in the girlfriend department, and yet there had not been a peep of gossip about her. Alex had been all business on the campaign trail as far as Jane could see . . . until now, it seemed.
“At least someone’s having some fun, I hope,” Jane quipped, refusing to consider how long it had been since she’d even been on a date herself, let alone something more. Her personal life, as usual, would just have to wait.
Jane’s thoughts began to drift to work, as they always did eventually. She didn’t like taking time out of her campaign, even if it was to spend a couple of days with her mother, whom she’d seen so little of the last few months. She couldn’t help but feel there was some good-natured conspiracy afoot to force her to take a timeout from her hectic schedule. She just wished they’d all been honest about it so she could at least act like she was doing all of them a favor by taking a break.
Jane turned to Alex, determined to call the bluff, if there was one. “Alex, I really think my mother is using an injury ruse to get me to visit. And yes, a little vacation is probably a good idea, but I’m not sure that I can afford one right now.” Time off was just another sacrifice Jane was used to making without a second thought.
Alex sighed quietly but said nothing.
“I might just stay a few hours. I want you guys ready to roll on short notice.”
Alex remained silent, but her jaw had visibly tightened.
Jane leaned closer, her Spidey sense tingling. She sniffed the air like a bloodhound on the trail of a scent. “Alex, by chance is there something you are neglecting to tell me?”
Alex was the picture of wide-eyed innocence. The act was a little too good, in Jane’s opinion.
Oh, yeah, something’s definitely up. “Let me guess. My rivals have planned some big television debate and didn’t want to invite me.”
Alex chuckled. “Damn. I knew you’d figure it out. I understand they were afraid they were no match for you in front of the cameras.”
“Hah. I hope they realize they’re no match for me, period. Cameras or no cameras!”
“Good point,” Alex replied. “But I’ll bet the cameras love you.”
“Hmmm, you’re not trying to distract me by paying me compliments, are you, Agent Warner?”
“Distract you from what?” Alex asked, playing dumb, but her tone was mischievous.
“Oh, never mind.” Jane sighed. Tempted as she was to get to the bottom of things, she considered the precarious and frustrating position of being ten thousand feet off the ground in this cigar tube they called an airplane—not to mention that no one was giving her a straight answer anyway. She would let it go, let them all have their fun. For the moment.
* * *
The amount of snow on the ground surprised Jane a little. She hadn’t seen the island in winter for a few years, because usually her mother wintered on the mainland. This year, because of the campaign and all its publicity, her mother had chosen to stay at the quiet retreat.
Jane had always loved Mackinac Island. When she was a kid and her father was governor of Michigan, the family spent summers at the governor’s mansion on the island that separated the northern and southern parts of the state, where Lakes Huron and Michigan converged. Twelve years after they first started coming to Mackinac, when Joe Kincaid retired from politics, the family purchased a 140-year-old, sixteen-room Victorian mansion so that they could keep returning to their beloved island. Jane’s time there now was so infrequent—sometimes a couple of years passed before she visited—that she couldn’t help now but yield to a sense of yearning and nostalgia. It was a beautiful place, with beautiful family memories. And it was always wonderful to return, no matter what the reason. She just wished the timing were a little better.
To Jane’s surprise, Commander Harry Johnson was waiting inside a horse-driven carriage at the airport’s small parking area.
“Hello, Harry. I didn’t expect to find you here.” Jane’s voice was even, masking her growing suspicion. She watched Alex and the two other agents quickly pile luggage into a second carriage.
Harry’s smile was innocuous, his overcoat bulging where his pistol was holstered. God. She hated those damned things. She didn’t know how Alex could stand having one sticking in her side all the time.
“When they said I had the chance to come spend some time here . . .” He gestured broadly, a grin plastered on his hang-dog face. “ . . . I couldn’t pass it up. Hell, why should Alex get all the plum jobs?”
Jane smiled more hospitably than she felt. So much for a quiet getaway. And not only that, but she’d been mislead about the number of agents who would be accompanying her, for some inexplicable reason. Harry’s presence meant he’d probably been supervising an advance team.
As she, Alex and Harry climbed into the enclosed buggy, Jane realized with a pang of nostalgia how much she’d missed the sharp smell of horses. There were advantages to not having any motorized vehicles on the island, and the big beautiful beasts clomping down the streets always filled her with a sense of wonder and comfort. Though a warm car would be nice right about now, too.
The buggy threaded its way down narrow, winding streets, past the majestic Grand Hotel. The sight of the huge, ostentatious white building, its long, covered porch that, in summer, was decorated with large American flags, always awed Jane. It was only a short hop from there, on an escarpment that dropped starkly off into the straits, that the buggy came to a halt in front of the Kincaid mansion. It was one of several old Victorian homes from the nineteenth century, all of which the locals referred to as the “cottages” of the wealthy.
Few people lived on the island during winter, and it was almost ghostly in its serenity. Even the Kincaid home looked somehow lonely and sad.
Jane jumped down from the buggy and ran to her mother, who stood patiently waiting on the steps. Maria Kincaid was an elegant woman, tall and slender and beautiful, as always.
“Hi, Mom.” Jane hugged her mother tightly. E-mails and phone calls were no replacement for this, Jane realized with a twinge of regret. God. How long had it been? Jane did the mental math and realized they hadn’t seen each other in almost six months. “It’s so good to see you, Mom.”
