“Luke, he resigned from the Senate four days ago. He’s out.”
“Christ, are there more guys?” Underage Georgetown freshmen and Eastern European escorts paraded through my brain as I imagined what could be so awful that he’d finally resign.
“Not technically,” Evelyn began. “The whole premise Barnes maintained to stay in office was that none of the men he slept with were working for him concurrently, thus no quid pro quo and no misuse of funds. He was adamant no taxpayer money financed anything related to his affairs. An oversight committee’s been auditing his office since the scandal broke, and they finally found something. He neglected to use his personal credit card for a Tampa hotel room at the RNC in 2012—”
“No, I was with him at the RNC.”
“Hisotherhotel room,” Evelyn said hesitantly, but I should have expected it. He’d apparently stolen to the other room between meetings while I juggled the kids. I remember him “needing quiet” to practice his speech, the one defending each state’s individual right to determine the definition of marriage. It had been ages since he’d consulted me on speeches, and I was too consumed with Wallace starting to walk to disapprove beyond a grunt while he opined about paying the piper, the tax of our lives due once again, the cries of hypocrite inevitable.
And the storm… Hurricane Isaac delaying everything by a day. As the winds kicked up, we’d lain in bed, the kids asleep between us, and he’d said with a tired smile, “Even better than our first hurricane.” Then he’d leaned over our children to kiss me softly on the lips.
But mine weren’t the only lips he’d kissed, according to the corroborated statements of the three men he’d recruited for group sex in the room six floors below our own.
“One receipt and down came Humpty Dumpty,” Evelyn concluded. “He resigned after it became public this past weekend.”
“Thisweekend?! The kids were with him when this broke?” I asked, rage born anew.
“His shithead lawyer said the kids had to stay with Barnes until theusual drop-off time, unless I wanted to go to court to alter the temporary custody agreement,” Jenny answered, her tone savage now. “The kids came home sobbing. I couldn’t get a word out of them before Evelyn was calling with a message from the shithead that Barnes had left the country for a ‘confidential opportunity’ and ceded full care of the kids to me until his return inlate June. Pretty obvious where he’d gone.”
He’d left them. He’d abandoned our children, both their parents gone now. I could have slaughtered him. “How are the kids? Did he tell them where he was going?”
Jenny might as well have vomited the response her disgust was so thick. “He told them he was bringing you home.”
I should have quit the second I hung up with Jenny. I should have run, middle fingers in the air, and caught the first plane to DC before the cameras captured even one more frame.
Which is why it was a stroke of genius for Ecklund to revealno onewas going home, given Camdon’s exit and the addition of Barnes. Shawn and Melange would continue with us to New Zealand, a reprieve Troy obviously devised to trap me. Moreover, PB was yet again proven correct. As the crew filmed us in tight close-ups, Ecklund confirmed it was indeed now an individual game, and I’d never pretend single-handedly winning $5 million wouldn’t be life-changing, no matter how livid I was about the uninvited guest I’d endure in the interim.
Troy had shrewdly vanished, Keyser Söze already off to New Zealand, by the time Zara and I returned to the imbroglio. But I wasn’t quitting. I was too furious. Just the sight of Erika’s expectant face as I stormed back was enough to guarantee I’d never let Barnes chase me off. This was my show, my people, my world. And I’d evict him from it the first chance I got.
As Zara herded us toward vans for the airport, I finally corralled Shawn, who still appeared dumbstruck. “Don’t leave me like that again,” I said, harsher than I intended. “We can’t give him an inch, do youunderstand? Pretend he’s not here.” Obviously this was laughable, but Shawn could probably tell this was the worst moment to disagree with me.
In an unprecedented move—no doubt concocted by Troy—the cameras lingered at the airport, poised to catch even the slightest interaction between me and Barnes. Shawn and I poked at appetizers with Erika in the first-class lounge, silently rotating dumplings through soy sauce while Imogen and Melange guarded the three of us like stone-faced assassins. Barnes sat across the room, his back to me. Greta had him to herself, no doubt thoroughly briefing him on me and Shawn. As we made to depart, the sound guy finally took our mics, allowing me to corner PB unrecorded in the bathroom.
“So, how’d you keep yourself off the bribery tape before slipping it to Troy?”
His eyebrows rose. “I didn’t give Troy the tape… Who said he has it?”
“You expect me to believe that? It’s how they engineered Camdon’s exit.”
“Luke, you know I lost the tape recorder. Maybe Troy found it?”
“Wow, convenient.”
“Come on, not even I’m that good. Besides, you think Barnes benefits me? He’s been here five hours, and you’re a human tornado.” He frowned. “Seriously, are you okay?”
“Please quit the buddy act—”
“No, we can fix this. I’ll go in a Trial and boot him. Just put me to work.”
“Stop,” I answered coldly, leaving him at the sink. “You’ve caused enough trouble.”
Halfway into the flight, Imogen and I at last managed to meet alone by the flight attendants’ kitchenette, launching into triage while the others slept. “You cannot target Barnes,” she said firmly. “You’ll become the vindictive spouse, which does you no good. Especially with the kids. They don’t need a video diary of you two reenactingKramer vs. Kramer.”
“So how do we get rid of him?”
“If anyone makes a move, it’s me or Erika. God knows we both have enough reasons. But you stay clear.” She regarded me warily, clearly not convinced I could. I wasn’t either.
We sailed over the equator, and I didn’t sleep once. Hours later, Shawn and I disembarked first alongside Zara, who halted us at the sliding doors out of customs. “Troy just texted. He sent the local crew to film your arrival,” she warned, and I doggedly grabbed Shawn’s hand, bracing myself. Except it wasn’t justEndeavor’s cameras waiting…
