Big Easy Temptation (The Perfect Gentlemen #3)(105)

“Because they want Zack to be president. My guess is that they want him to expend his political capital doing something for them while he has power,” Dax explained. “And the second time around, he’ll be a lame-duck president. Because he can’t run again, he can do whatever the hell he pleases. It makes sense. The Russians want some political favor. Maybe this is how they intend to blackmail Zack into giving it to them.”

“Like you said, he doesn’t have to run. He can make an announcement tomorrow that he won’t seek reelection and then no one has anything on him,” Holland pointed out.

“But a Russian-mob bastard brother could ruin his legacy. And he does care about that. These people probably know it. They will make a move in the next few months, as the election cycle is in full swing—if we don’t find a way to hit them first.”

She finally got the complexity of this insidious scheme. “We have to unweave whatever web they’ve got Zack caught in.”

“Yes, and it’s about forty years’ worth of conspiracy. If I’m right, Sergei didn’t start this. His parents did.” Lara sat. “We have to figure out a way to stop them. To do that, we have to reach them.”

“We start with Peter Morgan. He knows someone involved with the Russians.” Holland would bet on that. “How long was he your father’s aide?” Something about the whole uniform thing bugged her. If the admiral hadn’t been the man in the video, then who and how had he gotten hold of the admiral’s jacket?

“Four years, but they were friends before that. My father trusted him implicitly,” Dax explained. “I’m not convinced he’s worthy of that trust, but I also haven’t been able to look through his records. They were classified when he took that new assignment after my father’s death.”

“Could Zack find them? No one has better clearance than the president,” Holland reasoned.

Even Lara laughed at that. “Zack has to be careful. If he starts putting his fingers in Navy affairs, he could stir up serious trouble. It would be even worse since everyone knows he’s close to Dax.”

“It could look like he was trying to find a way to cover up my father’s crimes,” Dax finished. “We have to protect Zack.”

They also had to find justice. “Zack isn’t the only one involved in this.”

Dax reached for her hand. “Zack is like my brother. I loved my dad. I love my mother and my sister and Zack means as much to me as they do. He’s my family, Holland. He’s gotten my ass out of hot water more times than I can count and he’ll be beside me to my dying day, so don’t ask me to hurt him in any way.”

“Not even if it meant justice for your father?”

Dax grew grim. “No.”

She’d always known he was loyal to his friends. Still, his willingness to sacrifice amazed her. “All right. Then we figure this out without Zack’s power.”

“I didn’t say that,” Dax replied. “I merely said we leave him out as much as possible. Connor said you figured out where Peter Morgan is living these days.”

Freddy was back to staring at his screen. “And if anyone is wondering, Peter Morgan totally fits the torso-to-leg ratio of the man in the video if he was wearing lifts. Which I think he was in order to appear as tall as the admiral. He would have had access to the jacket, and he’s never been married. I take tips, if anyone wants to leave one. Or tinfoil. Either works.”

“We’re going to find that little shit and I’m going to make him talk.” Dax took Holland’s hand again. “Let’s end this.”

Her heart sank because once this was finished, so were they.


*

Dax pulled up the narrow drive that led to Peter Morgan’s bayou home. He’d killed the lights and had to go very slowly because the foggy gloom made it tough to see the crappy dirt road.

“It’s a little farther up,” Holland said. “He really decided to go off the beaten path. I think he wanted to be as far from New Orleans as he could without leaving his mother. I’m sure once she’s gone, he’ll completely disappear.”

“Yeah, we got lucky.” Dax wasn’t feeling lucky. He was feeling shitty because he needed more time with Holland. If Peter gave them the answers they needed, she could walk out of his life as soon as tomorrow. She would file all her paperwork, kiss him good-bye, and walk off to find her happy life without him.

He couldn’t let that happen.

“It’s nice to know that even bad guys love their moms,” Lara said from the backseat.

“Yes, though it’s not going to save him,” Connor muttered beside his wife, pounding on a laptop. “I’ve completely lost my signal. Why can’t these assholes hide out in urban environments? I really need the Internet right now.”

“Save him?” Lara asked. “Save him from what? Connor, I expect you to follow the Geneva Conventions rules about treatment of prisoners.”

Holland snorted beside Dax, something she did when she was caught off guard and thought something was humorous. “Um, I don’t think Sparks got that memo.”

“I’m sure that Connor is very thorough yet gentle with his interrogations,” Lara said primly. “He understands that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.”