Best Kept Secrets(52)
Junior chewed on his lip and said glumly, "She probably
wants a court trial as much as we want a racetrack. That'd
be a real coup for her. It'd launch her career."
"Damn," Angus grumbled. "You know how I feel about
that. I don't like all this career bullshit. Women don't belong
in courtrooms."
"Where would you keep them? In bedrooms?"
"Nothing wrong with that."
Junior laughed shortly. "You won't get an argument from
me, but I imagine you would from millions of working
women."
"Alex might not be working for long. It wouldn't surprise
me if her career was riding on the outcome of this investigation."
"How do you mean?"
"I know all about Greg Harper. He's ambitious, sees himself
in the attorney general's seat. He likes his people to win
convictions. Now, if I've got him figured right, he's letting
Alex do this because he smells blood, our blood. If we got
our tails in a crack over this murder business, he'd get his
in the headlines and gloat every step of the way because there's no love lost between him and the governor. The governor's
nose would be rubbed in shit and so would the racing
commission's.
"On the other hand, if Alex fails to smoke out any skeletons
in our closet, Harper'll have to eat crow. Rather than do that,
he'll boot Alex out. And we'll be there with open arms to
catch her when she falls," he said, jabbing the air for emphasis.
"I see you've got it all worked out," Junior remarked
dryly.
Angus made a grunting sound. "Damn right I do. One of
us better be concentrating on more than the fine way she fills
out a sweater."
"I thought that's what you wanted me to do."
"You gotta do more than gawk and lust from afar. A love
affair would be the best thing that could happen to Alex."
"How do you know she's not involved in one?"
"Because unlike you, I don't leave things to chance. I
made it my business to find out. I've had her checked out."
"You cagey old bastard," Junior whispered with grudging
admiration.
' 'Humph. You gotta know what cards the other guy's holding,
son, or it does you no good to have a winning hand."
While the fire in the grate popped cheerfully, Junior contemplated
all that Angus had said. Then, focusing a narrow
gaze on his father, he asked, "Where would you have this
love affair lead? To marriage?"
Angus slapped Junior's knee and chortled. "Would that
be so bad?"
"Would you approve?"
"Why not?"
Junior wasn't sharing the laugh. He moved to the fire,
away from his father's touch and conniving smile. Absently,
he poked at the burning logs.
"I'm surprised," he said softly. "You didn't think Celina
would make a suitable wife for me. I remember the ruckus
you raised when I told you I wanted to marry her."
"You were eighteen then, boy!" Angus shouted. "Celina
was a widow with a baby."
"Yes. Alex. And look how fine she turned out. She could
have been my stepdaughter."
Angus's brows drew together over the bridge of his nose.
They were a dependable gauge of his temper. The steeper
the vee, the angrier he was. "There were other considerations."
Junior spun around. "Like what?"
"That was twenty-five years ago, another time, another
person. Alex isn't her mother. She's got more beauty, and a
hell of a lot more brains. If you were half the man you're
supposed to be--if, for once, you'd think with your head
instead of your pecker--you'd see how valuable it'd be to
have her standing by your side."
Junior blushed with anger. "I can see all that. I just wanted
to make damn certain before I started a courtship that you
would approve of it this time. Whether you want to believe
it or not, I loved Celina. And if I start romancing Alex, I
might just fall in love with her, too. For real. Not for you,
not for the corporation, but for myself."
He stamped toward the door. Angus called his name
sharply. Out of habit, Junior stopped and turned around.
"You resent this lecture, don't you, boy?"
"Yes," he stormed. "I'm a grown man, not a boy. I don't
need your coaching. I know how to handle Alex, or any other
woman you can name."
"Oh, you do?" Angus asked silkily.
"Yeah, I do."
"Then why did Alex leave you today and go off with
Reede?"
Upstairs, Sarah Jo eavesdropped on the raging conversation.
When Junior slunk into the living room and she heard
the clatter of glassware, she silently closed the door to her