Part 56 (2/2)
Randolph wanted to say no. But that was one of the few things he couldn't hide. He knew Carrick had been in some photos with him. d.a.m.n the man for his incompetence.
Carrick had a.s.sured Randolph he could do the job without outside help. After all, Mrs. Ames could be no kind of threat. She hated guns. She hated violence. She was a timid mouse.
So what in the h.e.l.l had happened in his house?
He certainly hadn't expected what he'd found. A dead man in his wife's bedroom. Both his wife and son gone.
He'd immediately called his father-in-law, who calmed him down and told him what to do. Carrick would have to disappear. As would Holly ... once she was found. Immediately.
But Holly had proved more elusive than anyone had thought.
And now Carrick had been identified.
Randolph hoped he didn't look as rattled as he felt. DeWitt had just barged into his office with a breezy, ”Thought you were in Baton Rouge, Senator.”
Since that was what Randolph had told the staff to tell the reporter, he felt cornered. ”The meeting was over earlier than I thought.”
”And what meeting was that, Senator?”
The best defense is a good offense. That's one thing he'd learned well from his father-in-law. ”I didn't know you had moved over to the political beat.”
”I haven't,” DeWitt said. ”But you interest me, Senator.”
He couldn't help but be startled by the p.r.o.nouncement. ”Why?”
”Your wife, for instance. No one has seen her for a while.”
”I thought my office had explained,” Randolph said stiffly. ”She's looking after a sick friend.”
”But why is she incommunicado? Rather strange, isn't it? I mean, she is the wife of a man who wants to be a congressman. I a.s.sume she knows there are obligations.”
”I'm the candidate, not my wife,” Randolph said. ”Her private life is her own.”
”The voting public likes to know the family situation of its candidates. Now, if she's left you for some reason, I think they have the right to know that.”
”She hasn't left me.”
”Rumors say otherwise.”
Randolph recognized the trap. ”It hasn't been a problem.” Of course he'd heard rumors and had been asked about Holly's absence by members of the press, who'd had the sense to back off when he and his father-in-law stared them down while delivering the story. But he knew that all too soon they would not be appeased and he would have to come up with Holly, her death, or a more convincing story about her absence. Visiting a sick friend. He'd not done too well coming up with that old saw.
”One phone call could clear this up,” DeWitt said.
Randolph pondered the problem. He'd always had good press. He'd always courted reporters, taking them to dinner, to lunch, dropping news tips in their ears. He couldn't afford for them to turn against him now, and DeWitt was an important news figure in the city.
He could, of course, call the editor and ask why DeWitt was now covering a simple congressional campaign, but that might raise someone's antenna. Better to get a woman to call and pretend to be his wife.
”I'll try to arrange a call,” he said.
”What about right now?”
”Her friend is dying. She is distraught. I'm not going to call and have her interrogated without some warning.” He leaned forward in his seat. ”I'll tell you something off the record. Holly is shy and sensitive. She doesn't like the political life. I'm sorry to say she doesn't care for reporters and has always avoided them. The only way I could convince her to accept my candidacy was to promise she would not have to be a public figure herself, that she could continue to raise our young son with privacy. I don't intend to break that promise,” he finished righteously.
”When can I speak to her then?”
”I'll call you.”
DeWitt gave him a look that said he wasn't buying any of it. ”If I don't hear from you by tomorrow, I'll start asking some questions in my Sunday column,” he said. ”Now what about Carrick?”
”Can't say I know much about him. A friend asked me to hire him. He was my driver, nothing else. Then he disappeared.”
”When?”
”I really can't recall the exact day.”
”Perhaps your payroll records will.”
”I'll ask my treasurer to check.”
”Now?”
”He's not here now.”
The reporter stared at him. Randolph met his gaze directly. He was good at that. It was an acquired art.
”Now I have a radio interview scheduled,” he said, rising from his chair and holding out his hand.
DeWitt ignored it. ”Did you know Carrick had a general discharge from the army?”
”No, can't say I did.” He wasn't about to admit he did indeed know. ”As I said, a friend asked me to hire him, said he was down on his luck. He was a good driver.”
”Don't you do background checks on your staff?”
”He really wasn't on the staff. He was just there on an as-needed basis.”
”You really should be more careful, Senator. He was accused of rape. I'm surprised you would want someone like that around your wife.”
The d.a.m.n reporter wouldn't quit.
”I'll take your advice,” he said. ”And now I really must go.”
”Can I take you anywhere? Since you don't have a driver?”
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