The Angels' Share (The Bourbon Kings Book 2) (19 page)

“Four mountain ranges. Four beautiful, pristine mountain ranges—”

“That were on the verge of being strip-mined.”

“I would like to give them to the Commonwealth in my father’s name and endow the acreage as a park that will be forever wild.”

Dagney actually looked down at the table for a moment. “This is …”

“My father has hunted all his life. Deer. Dove. Duck. His favorite thing was to get out and be in the natural environment. There is meat in my freezer right now that he brought home to his family, and I grew up eating what he provided us. He can’t … he is not able to do that anymore, but I assure you, his heart is still out in those woods.”

Mountaintop removal was an efficient and cost-effective way of accessing the coal so frequently found in the hills in the eastern counties of the Commonwealth. And the coal industry employed many people in areas that were so poor, families starved in the winter and couldn’t get good health care. She understood all of that reality; the coal industry was a complicated issue that wasn’t as simple as it being environmentally evil. But her father did love the land, and this way she knew at least those four mountains would remain exactly as they had been for millennia.

And actually, she had negotiated with the seven families who owned the land over a period of months—and even with the millions and millions she had given them, it was nothing compared to what the coal companies had offered. But the owners had wanted exactly what she had promised to give them in addition to the cash—and she was making good on it right now.

Forever
wild. Forever as the good Lord made ’em, as her father, Reynolds, would say.

“So,” she said with a smile, “do you think the state will pay for a plaque if I give you all those acres?”

Dagney leaned over to her and touched her arm. “Yes, I believe that can be arranged.”

For a moment, she could have sworn that his eyes lingered on her lips—but then she thought, no, she had imagined it.

Damn you, Edward.

The party broke up shortly after that, with Georgetow leaving with a five-million-dollar check in his pocket and the reverend with an appointment with her lawyers.

Dagney stayed behind as the others went down the front walkway, got into their cars, and drove off.

“So,” she said as she turned to him. “It’s going to be hard for me to follow this up with any kind of encore.”

“Your family has always been so generous, both here in Charlemont and in the Commonwealth at large.”

Sutton watched the last set of brake lights fade down the hill. “It’s not to be grand. Not in this case with me and my father. I’ve got all this … emotion … and I have to do something with it. I can’t hold it inside, and there’s nothing to really say about the feelings because they’re too much to …” She touched her sternum. “They’re too much here.”

“I know exactly how that is.” Dagney’s face got tight. “I’ve walked that path myself.”

“My father hasn’t died yet, but I feel like I’m losing him by inches.” She focused on the treetops off in the distance, measuring the curving outline of where the fluffy branches met the velvet darkness of the night sky. “Seeing him diminish further day by day isn’t just about the current suffering. It’s a reminder of the pain that’s coming when he dies, and I hate that … and yet every moment counts with him now. He’s as good as he’s going to be right this moment.”

Dagney closed his eyes. “Yes, I remember how that is. I’m so sorry.”

“Well.
” She wished she hadn’t been so open. “I didn’t mean to go on.”

“Talk as long as you like. Sometimes it’s the only way you stay in your own skin. Being the one left behind is a special kind of hell.”

Sutton glanced at him. “He’s all I have.”

“You’re not alone. Not if you don’t want to be.”

“Anyway.” She smoothed her hair and hoped her laugh didn’t sound as awkward as it felt. “Next time you’re just getting dinner.”

“And when will that be?” he said softly. “I’m happy to be patient, but I hope I won’t have to wait for very long.”

Sutton felt her brows rise. “Are you … asking me out?”

“Yes, ma’am. I do believe I am.” As she shifted her eyes away, Dagney laughed. “Too much? I’m sorry.”

“No, I, ah … no, I just …”

“Yes, I’m afraid my intentions were honorable, but not necessarily platonic, as I came here tonight.”

Damn you, Edward
, she thought again.

And abruptly, she became aware of the three state police officers who were standing at a discreet number of yards away. As well as the fact that she was blushing.

“I didn’t mean to complicate things,” Dagney said as he took her hand. “And if I’ve made this difficult, we can forget I ever crossed that line.”

“I, ah …”

“We’re just going to forget this, okay?” the governor concluded without any edge at all. “I’ll chalk it up to experience and move on.”

“Experience?”

He rubbed his jaw with his thumb. “I haven’t asked a lot of women out. Since my Marilyn died, that is. And you know, statistically, this increases my odds of a ‘yes’ at some point, and since I’m an optimist, I’m taking that positive away from this evening—along with those four mountains.”

Sutton laughed. “So other people have told you no? I find that hard to believe.”

“Well, actually … you’re the first one I’ve asked. But as I said, I’ve gotten
a rejection out of the way and lived to tell the tale.” He smiled and reached out to her face. “Your mouth has fallen open.”

“I am just surprised.” She laughed. “That I’m your first—I mean, oh … crap.”

The governor laughed back and then grew serious. “It was so hard when I lost Marilyn, and it’s been a long time since anyone else registered, to be honest. And even though this will not make me look like a stud in the slightest … it’s taken me two months to get the courage up to ask you.”

“Two
months
?”

“Remember when I saw you at the capitol building in March? That’s when I decided I was going to ask you for a date. And then I chickened out. But you invited me here tonight, and I decided to go for it. Do not feel bad, though. I’m a big boy, I can take it—”

“I’m in love with someone,” she blurted.

The governor recoiled. And then cursed softly. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were with anyone. I would never have disrespected your relationship—”

“We’re not together.” She waved her hand. “There’s no relationship. It’s not anything that makes sense, actually.”

“Well …” Dagney stared into her eyes. “Edward Baldwine is a fool, then.”

Sutton opened her mouth to deny it, but the man in front of her wasn’t an idiot. “There’s nothing going on between us, and I guess I still need to get that through my head. And also because of my new role, it’s not a great time for me.”

“At the risk of being forward, I just want to say that in the future, I’m willing to be your rebound.” He laughed. “Yes, that is desperate, but I’m way out of practice with all this, and you are a very intelligent, very beautiful woman who deserves a good man.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Me, too.” He put out his palm for a shake. “But at least we’re going to see a lot of each other, especially with this new job of yours.”

“Yes, we will.”

She
left his hand where it was and stepped in to embrace him. “And I look forward to it.”

He held her briefly and lightly and then eased back. “Boys? Let’s go.”

The state police escorted the governor over to the two black-on-black SUVs, and a moment later, the motorcade formed, a pair of police motorcyclists falling in line.

Sadness closed in on her from behind, giving a chill to the balmy night air.

“Damn you, Edward,” she whispered to the wind.

T
he
following morning, Lane stepped out of his bedroom suite at Easterly in a good mood. But that didn’t last as he looked down the hall, and saw luggage outside his grandfather’s room.

“Oh, no, you don’t.”

Stalking over to the stacked bags, he didn’t bother knocking on the partially opened door. “Jeff, you are
not
leaving.”

His old college roommate looked up from a prodigious pile of papers on the old desk. “I have to get back to New York, buddy—”

“I need you—”

“—but I’ve made sure I have everything ready for the Feds.” The guy indicated various printouts and held up a flash drive. “I’ve created a summary of—”

“You’re miserable on Wall Street, you realize.”

“—the withdrawals that I’ve found. It’s all right here. Just give them this drive, actually, and they’ll know what to do. They can call me with questions. I’ll leave my card and my cell phone number.”

“You have to stay.”

Jeff cursed and rubbed his eyes. “Lane, I’m not some magic talisman that’s
going to make this all go away. I’m not even the best man for this kind of thing. I also have no official role at the company and no legal authority.”

“I trust you.”

“I already have a job.”

“That you hate.”

“No offense, but my paychecks are huge and they don’t bounce.”

“You have more money than you need. You may live in a modest Midtown apartment, but you’re sitting on a fortune.”

“Because I don’t do stupid things. Like leave perfectly good work —”

“
Miserable
work.”

“—for a forest fire.”

“Well, at least you’ll be warm. And we can toast marshmallows. Wassup.”

Jeff broke out laughing. “Lane.”

“Jeff.”

His friend crossed his arms over his chest and pushed his metrosexual glasses up higher on his nose. In his white button-down oxford and his black slacks, he looked like he was prepared to go to his office directly from landing at Teterboro, N.J., airport.

“Tell me something,” the guy started.

“No, I don’t know the square root of anything, I can’t do that
pi
thing to the nth degree, and if you ask me why the caged bird sings, at the moment, I’m feeling like it’s because the damn thing has a gun to its head.”

“Why haven’t you called the Feds yet?”

Lane went on a wander, heading over to the bank of windows that overlooked the side gardens and the river. Down below, in the morning sunlight, the Ohio was a gorgeous, shimmering pathway to Charlemont’s business district, as if those glass-and-steel buildings were some kind of nirvana.

“There were crimes committed, Lane. Are you protecting your father even though he’s dead?”

“Hell no.”

“So drop a dime.”

“We’re
a privately held corporation. If there was malfeasance, my family are the ones who were damaged. It’s our money that was lost, not that of thousands of shareholders. It’s no one else’s problem or concern.”

“You’re kidding me, right.” His old roommate stared across at him like there was a horn growing out of his forehead. “Laws were broken because improper disclosures were filed with the state attorney general and the IRS. I found discrepancies in your mandatory annual reports. You could be brought up on federal charges for collusion, Lane. Hell, I could, too, now that I know what I do.”

Lane glanced over his shoulder. “Is that why you’re going?”

“Maybe.”

“What if I said I could protect you?”

Jeff rolled his eyes and went over to a duffel on the bed. As he zipped the thing closed, he shook his head. “You entitled motherfuckers think the world revolves around you. That the rules are different just because you come from a family tree with some money.”

“The money’s gone, remember.”

“Look, either you call in law enforcement, or I’m going to have to. I love you like a brother, but I’m not willing to go to jail for you—”

“Down here things are taken care of.”

Jeff straightened and cranked his head around. He opened his mouth. Then shut it. “You sound like a mobster.”

Lane shrugged. “It is what it is. But when I say I can protect you, it includes against things like the government.”

“You’re crazy.”

Lane just stared at his old friend. And the longer he met those eyes behind those glasses, the paler Jeff became.

After a moment, Jeff sat down on the bed and braced his hands on his knees. Staring across the elegant room, he said softly, “Shit.”

“No, not shit. You stay here, find out everything that happened, and I will deal with it privately. That’s the course we’re going to take.”

“And if I refuse?”

“You’re going to stay.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Of
course not. You’re one of my oldest friends.”

But they both knew the truth. The man was going nowhere.

“Jesus Christ.” Jeff put a hand to his temple like his head was pounding. “If I’d known what kind of rabbit hole this was, I never would have come down here.”

“I’m going to take care of you. Even without the money, there are too many people who owe my family. I have plenty of resources.”

“Because you’re going to coerce them, too?”

“It is what it is.”

“Fuck you, Lane—”

“Let’s play this out, okay? You finish what you started, maybe it takes you another week, and then you’re free to go. No harm, no foul. It’s like you were never here. I’ll take it from there.”