Smoke and Sin (The Perfect Gentlemen 4)

“It’s a slang term for the police.” Gus had spent a lot of time in England over the years. She’d come to know a bit of the local dialect. “Though that’s usually used more north of here. Don’t you have to be back in meetings with Zack in the morning?”

“He’ll survive a few hours without me. He thought I was staying overnight in the first place. That was the plan before…” He fell silent, the thud of the tires against the road and the gentle rap of the rain as it began to fall the only sounds in the car.

Before…what? Then the truth clicked in her brain. Naturally he’d had to change the rules of the game when he’d realized there was a new player. “You needed to get back to London so I wouldn’t know you’d been gone.”

“We’ve been over this,” he said, tone grim.

They had—about a million times. There was nothing left to say.

She turned the focus back to the case. “Did you get the police report on the nurse’s death?”

“In my briefcase. You’re welcome to look, but I didn’t see much information. The police didn’t have much to go on. The nurse lived by herself in a cottage on the edge of town. No nearby neighbors to witness anything. She was known to take a walk every evening when the weather was nice. She was found dead just off the roadside two days after her daughter reported that she wasn’t answering her phone.”

Gus thumbed through the file. “No CCTV cameras out here in the country. And it’s a charming little village that relies on tourism, so it’s not as if any single stranger would stand out. That must have been a frustrating investigation.”

“I don’t know. It seems like a fairly thin one to me. And that doesn’t surprise me at all. Here’s the site of Constance’s crash.” Roman nodded in the general direction. “There is absolutely nothing out here. I’m not sure anyone would have seen the accident unless they happened to be coming or going from the hospital. The village is a mile back and the accident happened after midnight.”

The road definitely wasn’t a main thoroughfare. And Roman was right. Nothing about it looked particularly dangerous or remarkable. “My main question is who would have signed her out? And why would the hospital allow her to leave so late at night? I can’t remember… How long had she been at Homewood?”

“Almost nine months,” Roman replied. He stared out the windshield as though contemplating exiting the car and wandering out into the rain. “I remember Zack worrying…”

Of course he had. Gus’s heart ached for him. She knew exactly what it was like to lose a parent under mysterious circumstances. “It wasn’t her first time in such a place. There were two other stints in rehab, as I recall. But she stayed here the longest.”

“Yes, her previous stays in facilities in both the States and France were far shorter, maybe a month.” She could figure out why, given when the stays had occurred. “Did Franklin shove her in rehab so she could make campaign appearances for Zack?”

No one had really talked about it. It had been the dirty little secret of the Hayes family. But she wondered if Constance’s problems had run much deeper than her love for vodka.

He sighed. “Yes. If Franklin cared about her alcoholism at any other time, I never saw it. And I spent a lot of time with Zack, so I should know. The two short stays occurred during Zack’s runs for the senate. Franklin would sober her up, and she would be okay for a few months. Then once the election was over and Zack was victorious, she would go right back to the bottle.”

“No one really knew what a problem she had.”

“Franklin kept her at home so she didn’t embarrass anyone.” Roman stared out straight ahead. “I advised him to, especially after the spectacle she made at Zack’s wedding. We couldn’t have her in public, making waves. And yes, I know that sounds harsh, and you’re probably thinking I’m some kind of a monster.”

Gus watched him carefully. He got a tic above his right brow when he was really upset. It surfaced now. She wondered if he’d had it all those years ago. She’d only noticed it once they’d begun to work together. Now when he was angry, he didn’t yell. No, Roman went deadly quiet. That vein in his forehead would twitch as if he was reining in an imminent heart attack.

It looked as if Roman had dealt with too much for one day. If she wanted to go it alone tonight, it would be so easy to start a fight with him now. If she got him good and mad, he would let her have her own room, and she wouldn’t have to sneak away. All she had to do was plunge in a few well-placed knives, and freedom would be hers.

He dragged in a deep breath, jaw clenched. He gripped the steering wheel like a lifeline, trying so hard to keep his shit together. Gus couldn’t stab him.

Instead, she leaned in and slid her hand over his. “No. I see a man who was doing his job, one he’s been obsessed with since he was a kid. You’re extraordinary, Roman. What you and Zack have accomplished is nothing short of legendary. You are single minded, something you must be to achieve the things you have. She wasn’t your mom.”

“But she was a human being.” He fell quiet again. “I haven’t talked to my own mother in months.”

“You have a complicated relationship with your parents,” she allowed.

“We don’t all get the perfect parents,” he replied, flipping his hand over to hold hers. He brought it to his lips and then held it to his chest. “Or even good ones.”

“Mine weren’t perfect.” Though she’d loved her dad, she’d eventually learned about his flaws. “But if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that there are always two sides to a story. Don’t make yourself out to be the bad guy. You were there to protect Zack’s interests. Joy tended to Constance’s. Joy watched out for her, spent a lot of time with her, even when she and Zack were just dating. So Constance had someone in her corner.”

“There’s something I have to tell you. Maybe I shouldn’t but…”

She gripped his hand tightly. “What is it?”

“One of the things we’ve uncovered is that Joy’s death was no accident.”

Gus froze. “What do you mean?”

“Whoever pulled the trigger that day wasn’t trying to kill Zack. He didn’t miss. The assassination wasn’t botched.” Roman swallowed. “He was trying to kill Joy.”

“How can you know that?” she asked, feeling cold all over.

“One of Lara’s friends dissected video of the last three rallies we attended. He managed to isolate the appearance of a laser sight on each one. To most, it would have looked like a blip on a screen or a temporary camera malfunction. But all three marks occurred at the same time in Zack’s stump speech, and every time they were pointed directly at Joy’s chest.”

The implications crushed Gus. Someone had planned to kill sweet, selfless Joy? “So…I was right. All these deaths are related. And you’re saying that whoever is behind them killed Joy, too.”

His hand squeezed hers. “Yeah. We didn’t know until recently.”

“Why would anyone want Joy dead?”

Roman frowned, hesitated as if he debated the wisdom of answering. “We think they killed Joy to swing the election. It was close, but we were going to lose. I knew it. Zack knew it. The honest to god truth is, there was something almost freeing about that. I had made plans for my life after the campaign. Zack was going to finish out his term in the senate, then we’d talked about practicing law together. It sounds stupid now, but I was almost happy.”

Of course he had been. Because if he’d lost, Zack likely would have divorced Joy to pursue Liz. Gus had always felt the attraction and the bond between those two. That would also mean Joy would have been available to become Roman’s ideal wife.

What would the world look like now if that had happened?

“Augustine, are you ever going to forgive me for our past?”

“You’re forgiven.” She watched out the window because she couldn’t look at him; she couldn’t stand knowing that he’d been thrilled to hustle Joy to the altar. The only place Roman had ever been thrilled to hustle

Gus was to bed.

She squashed the thought, looking out at the landscape, so hazy and lush and green. There was no green quite as verdant as the land here in England. She’d thought often that when she retired, she might move here and write her memoirs, adopt cats, and drink tea. And watch the rain.

He released her hand and made a U-turn. “I wish I believed you.”

“I forgive you, Roman. I just don’t know where we go from here,” she said sadly, pivoting her thoughts back to Joy again. So fucking complex. Joy had been her friend…and her rival. She’d been soft and sweet, and yet on those rare occasions when she dug her heels in, there had been a whole other side to the woman.

He turned to her, looking weary, almost lost. “Let’s go have dinner and a drink. In the morning, you’ll talk to some of the villagers, then we’ll return to London. Right now, I can’t think past that.”

And that was one of their problems. He could never see a future with her. But they had a few more days together until she had to let go of their past.

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