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Shane paused, and Carly said, “Keep going. What about the other two?”
“There’s Bobby. But with him it’s not unexplained wealth—just the opposite. He’s paying child support to two ex-wives, and he always seems to be strapped for cash. But I’ve known him since high school—we played football together—and I can’t believe...”
He seemed lost in thought, and after a minute of silence Carly asked, “And the last guy? Terry?”
“Terry’s the newest member of my staff, so if I had to pick one it might be, I guess I’d pick him for that reason—although it doesn’t seem fair to suspect him for that reason alone. But the other three have been with me since the beginning, when I ran for the House. Terry just came on board nine months ago when he graduated from college. I don’t really know much about his private life. He’s kind of a loner.”
Shane scoured his mind for anything else, but came up blank. “That’s all I can think of.”
“That’s okay,” Carly reassured him. “Four names. Four suspects. It could be any one of them, or it could be none of them. Turn their names and the new theory over to the FBI first thing in the morning, and let them take it from there.”
“And the agency,” he reminded her.
“And the agency,” she agreed. “Although if the New World Militia isn’t involved...” She didn’t finish the sentence, but she didn’t have to. If that was eliminated as a possibility, the agency would probably defer to the FBI and bow out of the investigation.
Carly yawned suddenly, glanced at the clock on the microwave and made a face. Shane’s gaze followed hers, and he saw it was past two. He stood and held out his hand. “Let’s go back to bed,” he invited. “There’s nothing more we can do tonight.”
She yawned again. “You’re right.” Her eyes met his, and there was contrition in those bright blue orbs. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice very quiet yet full of understanding as she rose and took his hand. “I know this isn’t something you wanted to hear.”
He wrapped his arms around her and she did the same to him. There was such consolation in her embrace, such silent caring, and all at once Shane wondered how the hell he’d ever survived without Carly in his life. She’d become the most important person in his world so quickly, he’d been blindsided.
Would he change it if he could? Hell no! He’d been alone for so long he’d almost forgotten what it was like not to be alone. Not to have to deal with life’s hard knocks on his own. He’d almost forgotten the tender comfort of a woman’s presence.
His life was now divided into two distinct parts, as if a line of demarcation separated them. BC—before Carly. And now. He wouldn’t trade now for anything you could offer him, not even freedom from the seizures and the diagnosis that had brought his world crashing down on him a week ago.
Then he wondered what the hell he was going to do when she called it quits. Because even though what was between them wasn’t just sex, even though they were far beyond casual bedmates, the bottom line was Carly had never retracted her emotional distance requirement. Which meant at some point she would be gone. Leaving him bereft...and devastated.
Carly raised her head from his shoulder, disrupting his desolate thoughts, and said, “At least now we have a deadline. And in a funny way, that’s a good thing. If you’re not dead before the vote on the pipeline bill, killing you no longer matters. You’ll no longer be a target. When is the vote?”
“Tuesday...assuming the debate ends by then, which the president pro-tem assures me it will be.” Then he added, “But even if I’m in the clear, that doesn’t mean you’ll be.” His face hardened to match his voice. “You saw him, Carly. He thinks you can identify him. Which means we have to catch him. Otherwise...”
He couldn’t fathom letting anything happen to her. He hadn’t protected Wendy fifteen years ago—he would protect Carly no matter what. Even if it meant putting his life on the line to draw the assassin out. Even if he died for it.
