Caroline felt different. Their attraction felt both natural and exhilarating. All except that one, niggling detail.
He pulled back, and the question popped out. “Why were you meeting with a criminal attorney?”
Her face chilled, and her chin rose a fraction of an inch. “Back to that, are we?”
“You clearly have the trust of the president,” he said. “I’m not looking to expose any personal embarrassments, but I need to know of potential security flaws.”
She looked exasperated. “I’m not a security threat. I have a reputation for enjoying a party and a fine wardrobe, but I’m actually quite tame in the rest of my conduct. You already know my one and only vice.”
The cigarettes. “How’s the abstinence going?”
“Sixteen days,” she said proudly.
“Good for you.”
“I almost gave in to temptation once, but do you see that man with the muttonchops talking to the papal nuncio? He’s the postmaster general, and every time he visits, the stink of tobacco is so bad that I can smell it from yards away. All I had to do was summon his image to kill the urge.”
She continued pointing out stories about the various people mingling in the room below, but it didn’t escape his attention that she had smoothly diverted the conversation from her attorney. Again.
He let her but moved a few inches away from her on the step. Kissing her had probably been a mistake. She was smart and attractive, but he couldn’t trust her. Wilkie had promised the results of the investigation into Caroline by the end of the week, and then he’d nail down what it was she was trying to hide.
Ten
It took over a week before Caroline succeeded in getting an appointment with the navy officer President McKinley had suggested could help with Luke’s case. Captain Holland had a top-floor office in the War Department with a commanding view of the White House across the street. He was a fine-looking man, with neatly groomed black hair and flawless military bearing. He rose as she entered his office.
“Miss Delacroix,” he said, curiosity rampant on his face. “I trust you are recovered from organizing the state dinner last week?”
“It was an honor.” She lowered herself into a chair opposite his desk. “It was a splendid evening I will never forget.”
He gave a polite laugh. “My wife certainly won’t! She danced such a lively jig at the ball afterward that she twisted her ankle. She had to leave early. A terrible disappointment.”
“Oh dear, I didn’t realize.”
“Not to worry. I rang for my son, who came straightaway to escort her home. All is well! She’s up and walking again.”
“Thank heaven for your son. They are both doing well?” she carefully inquired.
“Yes, both well. Now, how can I help you?”
He clearly wasn’t open to discussing his son, but alluding to him had still been helpful. Even the most successful families had prodigals who sometimes went astray.
“President McKinley said you might provide guidance on how best to navigate a tricky legal quagmire,” she began, for it never hurt to reference her connections. “I expect you are aware that my brother has landed himself in a bit of a scrape down in Cuba.”
Captain Holland’s expression hardened. “I’m aware of it.”
“I’m concerned about the conditions of his confinement. He is a civilian. It doesn’t seem right for a civilian to be held in a military—”
“He committed treason in an occupied territory. That makes it our business.”
“He isaccusedof committing treason in occupied territory.”
“He pled guilty.”
This wasn’t going well. Her goal wasn’t to prove Luke’s innocence, but to get him transferred to a jail in the United States. She needed the ability to see him regularly and try to talk sense into him. If she could get him out of the hands of the military, she could hire lawyers to slow the proceedings. Otherwise Luke could find himself in a hangman’s noose before the end of the year.
“I confess my brother’s case looks dire, but as a citizen, he is entitled to a presumption of innocence, and I want him to be transferred to the United States for trial. I want him to have decent living conditions and the benefit of a sound attorney.”
“He’ll get a fair trial in Havana, which is the proper place for it.”
