His touch relaxed her and she gasped for air while he rubbed her back. When she straightened up, she wrapped her fingers around him for support.
“Drink some water.”
She did. After a moment, she regained her composure. “I’m okay. I can run.”
“We’ll walk this down.”
After swigging more water, they forged forward.
“You okay?”
She nodded.
“You want to tell me what’s going on?”
“I need your help with one of my cases.”
“I’m listening.”
“Not here,” she replied.
On the drive home, Maverick kept checking on her. Her pasty white complexion had improved to rosy cheeks, but he couldn’t shake his worry. In all the years they’d run together, he’d never seen her that pale.
She caught one of his glances. “I see you watching me.”
“I’m not trying to be subtle. I’m concerned about you.”
Once onboard, he filled their water bottles and sat beside her in the boat’s stern, the afternoon sun warming their skin. He couldn’t take his eyes off her, not just because he was worried, but because she was so beautiful. Her skin glistened with a sheen of perspiration and her ponytail was askew. She was makeup free, totally natural, and completely captivating. He adored her with his entire being. “Feel better?”
She nodded. “I’ve been working the cold case from the envelope Hudson found. A woman with a newborn was murdered almost forty years ago and her sister raised the child, posing as her mother.”
“Okay.”
“The woman hired my grandfather to find out who killed her sister.”
“Got it.”
“But he died before solving the case. I’ve been trying to piece together his clues, but Grandpa wrote in his own style of shorthand, so it’s been slow going. During our jog, you said something that made total sense, but now I’m not so sure.”
“Show me his notes.”
She opened his calendar to Friday, February 22 and pointed to the last entry on the page.
11:30 PM: WS w/I — bring RA photo
“I think grandpa had a late-night meeting with George Internado at the Watergate Steps.”
His eyes grew wide. “What the hell?”
“It might sound like my over-active imagination has gone off the rails, but I’ve pieced together clues that put Internado in Richmond at the time of the young woman’s death. During the time she worked on his opponent’s campaign, she became pregnant, gave birth, and was later found strangled in a motel room on New Year’s Eve. Three days later, Internado was sworn in as a freshman U.S. Senator.” She showed Maverick the picture on her laptop.
Leaning close, he studied the photo. “Is that a black eye?”
“He claimed his daughter hit him by accident. I’m not buying it. My grandfather also saw him at some donor event the week prior.” She showed him the calendar entry.
JC, DONOR EVENT
MEET GI, DC HOTEL
