“Yes.” The older man who answered the door resembled the pictures he’d found of Banner’s campaign manager, Robert Dooley. He looked Tank over from head to toe, his eyes lingering on his blue jeans. His mouth puckered like he’d just tasted something sour.
“Tank Marshall to see Mr. Banner. I sent him an e-mail message earlier today.”
The man’s expression got colder if it was at all possible. “Mr. Banner isn’t here.”
“Tell him it’s about Hope. I’m sure he’ll want to know, Mr. Dooley.”
The eyes widened a fraction at Tank’s use of his name. “A moment, please.” The door shut in his face.
Tank leaned against the doorframe and waited. He wondered if Old Sour Face was really going to deliver the message. Then he heard it. A raised voice and the sound of a scuffle.
A few minutes later, Sour Face was back and holding the door wide. “Mr. Banner will see you now.”
You bet your ass he will, Tank thought. Can’t have anyone finding out about the dirty laundry.
He was led to a living room that was bigger than Tank’s apartment and took a seat on the sofa. Someone with an eye for fine things would probably appreciate it more, but to Tank it just looked like the kind of stuff you weren’t supposed to actually sit on. He took a mental note of everything in the room. Eli would definitely ask. What did you see? Who was there? Thorough was his boss’s middle name. Usually, anyway. He’d been different lately. Distracted.
He wasn’t sure what had happened to his boss over the past few weeks, but he hadn’t expected to be going in alone. Eli was usually a pretty scary SOB, so it was a huge deal that he trusted Tank to handle this interview alone. But he’d seemed different lately. More open. More human. He supposed the right woman could do that to you.
He liked Kaylee, too. She was a nice girl. He liked the way she looked at Eli. So he really wanted to get this right for her sake, as well. If this guy was the one threatening her, then Tank wanted a part in taking him down.
“Mr. Marshall. I wasn’t expecting you.” Timothy Banner emerged from the bedroom connected to the suite. Tank stood.
“I know, but there are some things better said in person.”
Banner inclined his head and then sat on the couch across from him. “I agree. I just don’t know what more needs to be said. I don’t have contact with Kaylee or… our daughter.”
Interesting, Tank noted. He either didn’t think of Hope as his child or he was purposefully trying to distance himself from her in his mind. Tank decided to go with the direct approach. He was a pretty good judge of character and could usually tell when someone was lying. If Banner had nothing to do with the threats against Kay, hopefully he’d be able to tell so they could move on.
“There have been some developments recently. Someone has been threatening Kay. She received a package recently containing something stolen from her apartment.”
Banner leaned forward. “That’s terrible. Is she all right?”
Tank dipped his head slightly. “She’s fine.”
At Tank’s continued silence, Banner sat back with a knowing smile. “I’m beginning to see why you’re here. I have no reason to hurt Kay. Things ended badly between us and that was entirely my fault. I was going through some things. But I’d never want to hurt her.”
“I understand, Mr. Banner. I’m not here to cause trouble. On the contrary, I’m here to prevent it. All I want is to be assured that you mean Ms. Wilhelm no harm. With your move into politics, you have motive to want her silenced. Especially running as a conservative.”
“What I’m about to tell you isn’t public knowledge.” Banner stood, adjusting the lapels of his jacket. “I’m running as an independent, but my platform is a conservative one. So it’ll be something of a shock to some that I’m running as the first openly gay conservative.”
Tank leaned forward. “Say what now?”
Banner gave him a thin-lipped smile. “I’m not worried about my image. Not in the way you think. I never planned to hide that I’d fathered a child. People who are scandalized by sex outside of marriage aren’t going to vote for me anyway.”
“Huh.” Tank couldn’t think of anything else to say.
Banner took a seat on the couch across from Tank. “Look. I’m sorry for how things ended with Kaylee. But her mother made it clear when I signed away my parental rights that they didn’t want anything from me and would prefer it if I stayed away.”
“I see. That’s all I needed to know. Thank you for your time.” Tank rose and Banner stood, too.
“If you see Kay, would you tell her I’m sorry about the way things ended and that if she needs anything, feel free to call.”
Tank nodded but didn’t make any promises. He wasn’t sure how Eli was going to feel about this visit. It was good to know that Banner wasn’t a threat, but that conversation had just wiped out their best lead.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
KAY WALKED BACK and forth across the floor of the small bedroom for what felt like the hundredth time, Hope whimpering softly in her arms. Tank and Matt had been at the house, clustered around the dining room table with Eli for most of the day. Even Carly had come by with stuff for Eli from the office. Tank had left for a few hours and then come back again. Every time she entered the room they’d stopped talking, so she could only assume they were talking about her case.