silk blouse right here, right now?
Face buried in her shirt, the intruder drew in a deep whiff of the eggplant-colored silk. That rich floral scent of Willa’s swirled up. Intoxicating. Infuriating.
Ride the rage. Ahh, God, it felt good. Down, down, into the abyss, self lost in the fury. Ohh, yes. Come to me, sweet Willa. We’ll go down in flames, together....
* * *
If she slept at all, it was in short spurts and fitful at best. She’d never been so grateful to see the sun creep through her bedroom window as she was the next morning. She finally slept, then, waking only when Louise knocked on her door to say that the phone was ringing off the hook and Mrs. Merris was worn out dealing with it all.
After saying a short prayer for nothing important to happen on her short watch in the job, Willa dressed and went downstairs to face her first full day as a United States senator.
She stepped into her father’s office and frowned. His computer had still been running last night when she’d fled the room. Who’d turned it off? Her mother rarely came in here, and surely the police wouldn’t have messed with it. Louise wouldn’t dream of touching Mr. Merris’s computer, even if the man had been dead for weeks. She was superstitious about such things.
Willa turned it on and, while it booted up, wandered into the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee. Her mother was eating lunch with Louise at the kitchen table.
Willa kissed her mother’s cheek and asked the housekeeper, “Louise, would it be possible for Marcus to come spend a few days with us?” Louise’s son was recently returned from an overseas tour with the marines.
“I don’t know. Why do you ask?”
“I’d like to hire him as a security guard. It would be a temporary gig, but I’d feel better if we had a man in the house at night.”
Louise grinned. “You mean a big, strong, ex-marine who can chase away the boogeyman?”
Not her, too. Willa sighed in exasperation. Would no one believe her? “I swear, Louise. I saw someone in the garden.” She didn’t bother trying to convince the woman that the intruder had made it all the way to her bathroom door.
“Honey,” her mother murmured, “you’re distraught. Maybe you should go away for a few days. Get some rest.”
“I don’t want to leave you alone, Mom.”
Minnie waved a bony hand. “I’ll be fine. No one bothers anyone around here. And the police take care of everyone.”
Had Minnie forgotten her husband had been murdered less than three weeks ago? Willa made eye contact with Louise across the table, and the two women shared a private eye roll. It must be nice to own so much real estate in la-la-land and never have to deal with reality.
“I’ll call Marcus,” Louise offered.
Willa smiled her thanks and retreated to the office. She set down her mug of coffee and entered the password for the classified files from last night. She moved the mouse to click on—
Where did it go? The file labeled Senate CMA wasn’t in the list. Frowning, she checked the file directory. Not there. She tried a search of the hard disk. Nothing. What the heck?
She did a computer-wide file search. Still nothing. The file was gone.
Chapter 6
Okay, she was not losing her mind. She hadn’t imagined those files last night any more than she’d imagined that breathing outside the bathroom door. She tried every search parameter she could think of, but nothing turned up. All traces of the sinister committee had disappeared.
She picked up the phone and started to dial Larry Shore, but thought better of it partway through dialing. He’d been a complete jerk yesterday at the press conference, and he hadn’t been any better here at the house. Instead, she looked in her father’s address book and found the number for his Congressional office in Washington, D.C.
“Good afternoon, Senator Merris’s office. This is Amber. How may I help you?”
“Hi, Amber. This is, uhh, Senator Merris.”
The young aide spluttered, flustered.
“Amber, is there anyone in the office who can tell me about the Senate Committee on Miscellaneous Affairs?”
“Umm, one moment, ma’am.”
Willa waited. And waited. Finally, after nearly five minutes, a male voice came on the line. “Hi, Senator Merris. This is Larry Shore’s assistant. Committee on Miscellaneous Affairs, you say?”
“That’s correct.”
“I’m sorry. No such committee exists.”
“Would you do me a favor? Crank up my father’s computer in his office and go to his private file directory.