“No, I couldn’t do that.”
“Why not? I did!” He cackles, cracking me up.
Even our laughter is the same.
“It’s fine,” I assure Carter. “Come on.”
Together, we head downstairs and to the West Wing. I have Leo summon the photographer again, and after Carter fixes his tie and collar, we take more pictures. Alone once more, Carter seems to have anuncanny…accuracy.
“Something you need to talk about?” he asks.
“Yeah.” Except…he is Benchley’s son-in-law. Maybe he’s not the best person to talk to.
I study him for a moment, long enough he speaks again. “Look, Shae, this isus. You know about our secrets. We trust you. I don’t want to know the nuclear codes or anything, but if you need to talk, I’m here.”
That’s true. It’d be mutually assureddestruction if he betrayed me, and he knows it. I also remember what Benchley said about Carter protecting his loved ones at any cost. That means he wouldn’t hurt Susa or Owen or their children by revealing this information.
I take the letter out of my desk, where I’d stashed it earlier when I was here with Benchley, and hand it to him. He sits on one of the sofas to read, his face transforminginto an inpenetrable mask as he does.
I don’t have to connect the dots for him.
“Holy shit,” he whispers, the mask shattering as he processes it.
“Yeah.” I sit across from him. “I guess that makes you my brother-in-law.”
He carefully folds the letter and returns it to the envelope before handing it back to me. I wait for him to speak.
“Are you going to tell your men?” he asks.
“Kev probably.Chris…I don’t know. I think I’m going to have Kev bring me down here later tonight for a little…stress relief.”
He sits back and studies me for a moment. “Do you want me to tell Susa and Owen?” He sounds like that’s not his preference.
I shrug. “I don’t know. I hate that I have a sister I can’t claim, and a dad I can’t publicly acknowledge. And I hate that revealing it would hurt Michelle, soI don’t think we can tell them.” I also hate that I’m close to crying again. “I always wanted a dad, and now I’ve got one, and no one can find out. Not to mention, there’s an old…liability I don’t want uncovered or questioned.”
He chuckles, and in that moment, Iknow. He knows something, maybe not about this, but there’s something else.
“What?” I ask. “We’re in the weeds now, Carter. We’ll keepit in the trust box.”
He leans forward, his elbows on his knees, hands clasped together. “Let’s just say that Benchley’s morals are incredibly strong and praiseworthy. But, as you’ve seen, his ethics are, in some very rare and very extreme cases—where a vulnerable person’s safety is at risk—extremely…flexible.”
“Flexible?”
“Think jumprope.”
“I don’t want Michelle to know,” I repeat. “Becausethis would hurt her.”
“Then we probably shouldn’t tell Susa. Not right now.”
I’m torn between wanting to spill everything to Carter and holding my cards close. “He told me Momma was the only time he was ever unfaithful to Michelle.”
He nods. “As far as I know, that’s accurate.” He slyly smiles. “And, believe me, I spent countless hours in the past looking for dirt on that man to use againsthim and keep him in line when I was helping Owen run for office.”
“What kind of dirt?” I ask.
“Anykind.” The smile vanishes. “If it means anything, I’ve never heard anyone say a bad word about him in that respect. In fact, I’ve had people tell me they hate him and his politics, but they respect he was so dedicated to Michelle and Susa. I honestly hope we lose him first, because if he losesMichelle, it will kill him. I mean, he wanted to go on to run for governor, and he would have nailed it.
“That was the actual freaking plan. He was going to run for governor, and Owen would run for state Senate, Benchley’s old seat, then Owen would run for governor while Benchley ran for US Senate, and then Susa would run for state senate. Lather, rinse, repeat. When Benchley had the heart attack,Michelle told him no more, he was done once his term ended, and he didn’t argue with her. Which, if you know anything about Benchley, that’s saying alot.”
