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“I can come by in an hour or two. I have anothersituationright now.”
“This is a ‘life or death’ one,” I grumble. “If you catch my drift.”
Ned chuckles, “Oh, yeah? Seems to be a lot of thosehappening this morning. Are you and Ms. Taylor all right?”
“Depends on what your definition of ‘all right’ is,Ned.”
“Down, tiger. What do you need? A doctor? Someone to handle PR? I can send whoever you need.”
“Not sure yet.” I shake my head, and begin pacing, raking my hand through my hair. “We need to keep this between us for now until we figure out what to do. What time can you be here?”
He grunts, and there is a loud thud through the phone. “I can call a guy to wrap up for me here and be up to your room in about fifteen minutes.”
Fifteen minutes?
“Are you here? At the hotel?”
“You know, I cannot confirm or deny that,” he laughs. “See you in fifteen, Mr. Blake.”
I keep Jaclyn tucked into my side for the next twelve minutes, stroking her hair and praising how well she’s doing with everything, all the while trying to keep my own emotions stuffed down. I don’t know how I’ll tell my parents or what we’ll tell the world, but right now, my only priority is making sure my wife is all right. I can fall apart later.
Chapter 42
Jaclyn
There’s a knock at the door, and Alex kisses my temple, whispering, “I’ll be right back, I promise.”
He slides my legs off his lap and answers the door to a tall man, with dark hair wearing all black, who I can only assume is Ned. As he enters, Alex whispers something to him, and he blows out a long, exaggerated breath, shaking his head. Once Ned spots me on the couch, he crosses the room and takes a seat on the coffee table in front of me, elbows on his knees and hands steepled. I do my best to rein in my emotions, but the tears still track down my cheeks.
Ned’s voice is quiet and reassuring when he speaks to me. “Ms. Taylor, I’m Ned Collins. All of this has to be incredibly scary for you. Rest assured, I’m here to help. I’ve worked with more than half of Washington, including your family, and when someone is in a bit of a pickle, theycall me. I know it’s a lot to take in, but consider me your personal genie; your wish is my command.”
“He’s dead,” I croak.
With a sad smile, Ned nods in solidarity and reaches out his hand. I take it and he envelopes mine with both of his. “I heard. There are a few options for us at this point since resurrection isn’t my specialty.” My lip tilts at his attempt at humor. He releases my hand and sits back, ticking his pointer, middle, then ring finger as he rattles them off. “We can move Christopher and stage his death elsewhere; call the police and tell them the truth; or my personal favorite, have him go missing for a month until a random person finds him in the Alaskan tundra.”
“What happens with each option?” Alex chimes in. His tone is void of all emotion and I’m not sure what to make of it.
Ned glances over his shoulder at Alex, then back to me. Bouncing his gaze between us gives me confidence that this is really a joint decision—I don’t have to do this alone, and neither does Alex. “If we make his death an accident somewhere elsewhere, the country will mourn, but ultimately, everything will go back to normal. If he goes missing, his name will be in the news for weeks, maybe even months. So, as fun as that one is, you’ll be on edge until the body is found. And if we call the police, well, you risk being a murder suspect. Though you’re not guilty… You’re not guilty, right?” I nod. “It won’t matter. Even the idea that you could be will put off voters.”
“We should move him. Give him a dignified death,” Alex replies confidently, but I know him. He doesn’t sound sure of himself, looking to me for strength.
“Yes, we should move him,” I agree, and Alex gives me a small lopsided smile.
“I’ll warn you; the country believes you’re married to Christopher. So, there’s a good chance you could be appointed as the new Senator of Florida until the next election. You and the other Mr. Blake will never be together.”
Alex’s jaw is tight, eyes full of pain. He’s lost his brother, and now he’s about to lose me. As he rubs the back of his neck, he lets out a short, humorless laugh. “Well, princess, welcome to the Senate.”
“No.” I shake my head vigorously. “I don’t want it. I mean… I do, but not like this. If I’m serving our country, I want it to be because the voters wanted me.”
Ned chuckles. “No wonder Finn and Mickey like you. There is one more option, but it’s risky, and we would need President Blake and President Taylor’s buy-in. Both of them need to support it for it to work, but it means you two could be together like a fucking romance novel.”
“We’re piling lies on top of lies here,” I sigh and wave my hand dismissively. “So, sure, what is this risky option?”
I pull my robe tightly around me as Ned says the words I never expected. “Alex dies.”
“What?” Alex and I bark in unison.
“Alex dies,” he repeats. “We move Chris and put together an incident report that Alex died in some heroic effort. Pick whatever feels more on-brand. Saving a child from being hit by a bus? Falling to his death when climbing Mount Kilimanjaro? I don’t care what story you go with, but we kill Alex. Then, we bury Chris as Alex.”
