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“Why? Who would pay the ransom?” Trevor demanded, his lips curling bitterly.

“Ashley, please. Can I talk to you alone?” Claud was beginning to sweat. Tiny droplets formed on his forehead and there was a note of desperation in his voice.

“Forget it.”

“I can speak for myself,” Ashley intervened, but Trevor would hear none of it. He leaned forward, pushing his body closer and more threateningly toward Claud.

“While we’re on the subject of kidnappings, why don’t we discuss what happened to my father,” Trevor suggested, his voice low and demanding. “I have an idea that you know just what went on ten years ago.”

Claud lost all his color. His bravado was dismantled and he suddenly looked like a very small and frightened man. Nervously, he toyed with his mustache.

Movement caught Trevor’s eye and he looked from the scared face of Ashley’s cousin through the window behind Claud. “It looks as if we have more company—”

“What?” Claud’s gaze moved to the long drive and he saw the police car driving toward the house. “Oh my God . . .” Turning frantic eyes on Ashley, he whispered, “You can’t let this happen. Daniels is trying to frame me for something that I had no part in. Ashley—for God’s sake, you’re my cousin, can’t you help me?”

Ashley’s throat was dry. No matter how miserable Claud was, he was still her own flesh and blood. The doorbell rang impatiently just as she answered. “I’ll call Nick Simpson.”

“Jesus Christ, Ash, I need more than an attorney!”

“Then I suggest you start talking, and fast,” Trevor insisted, “if you want to save your miserable hide.” Trevor was convinced that Claud wouldn’t do anything harmful to the one person he felt would save him. “Stay where you are,” he warned as he left to answer the door.

Claud nearly leaped across the living room, so that he was close to Ashley. “I need to get out of here. I just want a little time, show me the back way out—”

“You can’t escape like they do on TV, Claud. This isn’t ‘Magnum, P. I.’”

“But I haven’t done anything—”

His words were cut off by the entrance of two policemen.

“Claud Stephens?” the taller of the two asked.

Claud made one more appealing look in Ashley’s direction before straightening and finally finding his voice. “Yes?”

As Ashley sat in stunned disbelief, the officer read Claud his rights and escorted him outside to the waiting police car. For several minutes she sat on the couch, trying to quell the storm of emotions raging within her.

“Was that really necessary?” she asked, her eyes searching the harsh angles of Trevor’s face once he returned to the living room.

“I wish it weren’t,” he admitted, “but whether you believe it or not, Claud can be dangerous.” He noticed that Ashley had paled. She was still wearing her coat, but looked as if she were cold and dead inside.

“I don’t think we should go anywhere, not for a while.” He came back to the couch and wrapped comforting arms around her. “Come on,” he said, squeezing her tightly, “I’ll get you a drink.”

“I . . . I don’t think I want one.”

“It’s been a rough couple of days, and it’s bound to get worse,” he cajoled.

“Then I think I’d better keep my wits about me.” She ran her anxious fingers through her blue-black hair. “And there’s no reason to put off going back to the house, now that the police have Claud.” She forced her uneasiness aside and tried to concentrate on Trevor and her love for him. Regardless of anything that might come between them in the future, she felt secure in his love.

“I don’t think it would be wise—”

Ashley placed a steady finger to his lips. “Shhh. If I’m going to be your wife, Senator, I’d better learn to cope with crises, wouldn’t you say?”

“It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

“But that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it—for better or for worse?”

“You are incredible,” he said with a seductive smile.

She slapped him on the thigh and stood up, filled with renewed conviction. “Let’s get a move on. I wouldn’t want to miss the reporters when they get here.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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