“What about his personal life?” asked Jenene. “Was there anything there that I was not aware of?”
Jenene saw a flush enter Mimi’s face, and she could feel that anxiety start rolling through her whole system again.
Jenene pushed. “Well, what is it?” she asked. “Come on, Aunt Mimi. I have a right to know.”
“Jenene, it was rumor, you know, just rumor. They said your father had a mistress back in the Capitol area. Supposed to have gone on for years and years. There was even a rumor that there was a child. Nothing was ever said to your mother, to my knowledge, but there were times I am sure she must have at least suspected something.”
Jenene felt as though she had been hit hard in the stomach. Strange, she thought. How all your life you set your father upon that big white horse—your knight in shining armor! Now he has fallen off that horse, and you start to feel your whole world start to explode.
“Maybe it wasn’t really true, Aunt Mimi. Maybe it really was just rumor. Even so, if it were true, it wouldn’t have anything at all to do with his death, would it?”
“I am sure it wouldn’t, child,” consoled Mimi, “and the time has come for you to try to rest. Go on to your room now, and we’ll hash this out some more tomorrow.”
Jenene went back to her room, tried unsuccessfully to reach Dan, again, and finally fell into bed with a head full of jumbled theories and plans.
Silence, she thought, is sometimes golden. I wish I hadn’t asked about my father.
After tossing and turning for what seemed like an infinitesimal amount of time, she finally fell into a fitful sleep.
Chapter 10
Dan in the Lion’s Den
After his unsuccessful attempt to reach Jenene by phone when the detectives left his office, Dan decided to see how much information was out there. He began by calling for the senior partner, Jim Tobin, but succeeded only in getting his secretary. He was told that Tobin was out of the office at some meeting about the governor’s death, and Dan made an “appointment” for late morning to see him. He made a couple of calls to some contacts in the district attorney’s office, but everyone was “out.”
I am getting nowhere, fast, he thought. Maybe I should be making some personal contacts.
With that, he left his office. As he stepped into the elevator, he was face-to-face with those green eyes again. Even in the midst of all the pending events, he felt that agonizing stir in his groin again.
“Good morning, darling.” Cheri smiled coyly as she pressed closer to Dan.
His mind was in a swirl. What did he actually do last night (was it only last night)? Whatever he did or did not do, he sure wouldn’t mind doing it now! As he made a slight turn to exit the elevator, she put her arms around his neck and kissed him as no man should ever be kissed in an elevator.
As he finally broke free, all he could stammer was “Coffee with me?”
“Your place or mine?” she countered.
“Just here in the coffee shop,” he answered.
Cheri followed him to the coffee shop, and as they entered, all heads seemed to turn. Was it Cheri they were staring at, or maybe it was common knowledge that he had been visited by the detectives this morning and they were staring at him. Maybe Cheri could give him some inside information since she was a relative of Tobin and seemed to have all the “ins.” Or maybe it was simply the fact that the two of them came in together? With a stab or guilt, Dan again thought about Jenene, thinking maybe he should be more concerned about her disappearance, but as he began to talk with Cheri, all thoughts of his wife vanished. Dan was having a hard time concentrating, but he kept telling himself that this woman could, and probably would, be very important to his career, if he played his cards right.
So with a kick to his conscience, he said, “I’d better get going. I have a wife waiting at home.”
“Oh really?” she asked coyly. “That’s not the information I have.”
Dan felt a weird feeling go through him. How could she know anything about his personal life?
“Just what kind of information do you have?” asked Dan in a cold, steely voice.
“Oh, nothing, really, just over-the-water-cooler gossip that you and your wife had split and that you don’t even know where she is.”
“That is absolutely not true,” he retorted. “My wife and I are still greatly in love. It just happens that she is out of town for a little while. And while we are at it, please stop calling me ‘darling’ in public.”
“Sorry,” said Cheri, “can we go someplace that is not so public then?”
Dan chuckled in spite of himself and again felt that biological urge starting to take hold of both body and mind.
“Dinner, perhaps?” he asked.
And with that simple invitation, Dan opened up a new chapter in his life that he would hereafter look back on often and say, “If only I hadn’t . . .”
As they finished their coffee, Dan broached the subject of the governor’s death, hoping she might have some inside information from Jim Tobin. All she said basically was the same thing as Tara had mentioned—that it appeared he died from an overdose of insulin or some kind of drug.
“Guess what?” said Cheri enthusiastically, quickly changing the subject. “Uncle Jim has made me top counsel for Mr. Appleby and the new Dare Devil Hotel. I am so excited. What a deal! And he hinted that if I was as successful at that as I have been in the rest of my litigation, I would probably get the accounts for the other hotels seeking representation by us.”
Her eyes sparkled, and she seemed like a little child opening presents at Christmastime. Dan couldn’t help feeling happy with her, but at the same time, his mind kept saying, “Nepotism again. This young and relatively novice attorney getting the big, big accounts—it just isn’t fair. I should be the one getting these. Why am I being bypassed? This is getting to be a lot more complicated than meets the eye. First, the meeting with Arnie and his violent death, the threat on my wife’s life, then the governor’s unexpected death, and Cheri getting the hotel accounts. Was there a Mob connection here someplace? This is starting to sound like bad novels.”
Trying to dismiss the turmoil of his thoughts, he decided he had better make the appointment with Tobin, but this last bit of news made him even less sure of his stand with Tobin. He made the plans with Cheri for dinner, and then quickly existed.
Stopping to check his messages on his home phone, he was relieved to hear Jenene tell him she was safe. Trusting she would be back in touch soon, he headed for the Tobin meeting.
Tobin was not in his office when Dan arrived. He was, of course, supposed to be back momentarily, and Dan found himself becoming almost angry at having to wait for him.
I shouldn’t have to wait like this, he thought. I am important too. What is going on here? I get passed up for any kind of promotion, Cheri gets the big accounts, my wife has taken to the hills, and it looks like I may be charged with the governor’s death.
Just as Dan had decided not to wait any longer, Tobin came in and waved Dan into his office.
“My secretary said you sounded like it was urgent to see me, my boy. What’s this all about?” Tobin asked.