his cousin’s full attention, which was difficult because Richard’s eyes were drifting back to the TV. “I’m going to threaten your livelihood.”
The effect on Richard was instantaneous, but CJ pressed on before his cousin could do more than snap upright in his chair.
“I’m sure you’re aware that my brother is starting the last leg of his campaign,” he said. “And he really wants my help. Until now, I didn’t think I was going to be able to.” He paused then, making sure that Richard was tracking with him. “But what if I suggest to him that I’d find it a whole lot easier to show up in Albany if a certain prison guard no longer had a job?”
“You can’t do that,” Richard said, yet his voice lacked conviction.
“I can. And he can. He’s a state senator, after all. How hard do you think it would be for him to put a bug in the right person’s ear?”
He could see Richard processing the possibility that things might play out just like that. CJ turned his attention to the movie, letting his cousin know the ball was in his court.
“It’s not right to choose against family,” Richard tried.
It was a pathetic thing to say, and for some reason, hearing it made CJ’s anger build.
“You’re not family, no matter your bloodline,” CJ said, his voice hard. “You’re a bully who likes to hit women. And I’d like to see you get stuck in a jail cell without your club or Taser and let some of the people you so ably serve get a crack at you.”
When all that followed was silence, CJ added, “Without that job, you’re nothing. So if I were you, I wouldn’t take a chance.”
He didn’t wait for Richard’s answer but rose from the couch and saw himself out. As he reached the front door he saw Abby sitting in the dining room, and it seemed she was staring blankly at the wall. She didn’t move as CJ opened the door and walked out.
On the way back to his apartment he thought about her, but by the time he parked the car he’d let it go.
Chapter 13
Daniel was seldom surprised by anything, especially when it came to politics. He’d worked more than one campaign in which the candidate had a skeleton or two in the closet, and it was not his job to pass judgment. It was, rather, his job to either see that the skeletons remained hidden, or to mitigate the risks they posed. It was something he was good at.
What made Graham’s skeleton so unforeseen was that he was a friend. One expected to uncover secrets when delving into the pasts of strangers, not when investigating the childhood of a college roommate. And to make matters worse, the skeleton wasn’t the only thing they had to deal with; there was also CJ.
Daniel found Graham in the study, where he was going over his speech for the hundredth time.
“If you don’t have it down by now, you never will,” Daniel said.
“I’m voting for never,” Graham Jr. said.
Daniel hadn’t seen the boy in the comfortable corner chair— the reading chair, Graham called it—where the ten-year-old was playing a video game.
“Hey, sport,” Daniel said.
“He hasn’t done anything all day but read that dumb speech,” Graham Jr. complained. “He promised he’d play with me.”
“Is that true?” Daniel asked, giving the boy a conspiratorial wink and then frowning at his friend. “Did you promise to play with your son?”
Graham looked suitably chagrined. “You’re right,” he said, addressing Graham Jr. “I’m sorry. But this speech is very important.”
“And if you stress over it too much, you’ll screw it up,” Daniel admonished. “Relaxing a little will probably be more helpful than obsessing over something you’re going to nail anyway.”
Graham looked from Daniel to his son and back, an amused smile on his face.
“I guess I can’t win when I’m being ganged up on,” he said.
“Teamwork,” Daniel said, giving Graham Jr. a thumbs-up. “Why don’t you step out for a few minutes, sport. I want to talk about a few things with your dad and then he’s all yours, okay?”
“Okay,” Graham Jr. said. The men watched him go, and Daniel closed the door after him.
Graham set the loose pages of his speech down on the desk and stretched. “Is everything set for tomorrow?”
“Everything should run like clockwork. We’ll have the speech on the steps of the capitol followed by a Q and A. I’ve got reporters from the Times, the Buffalo News, and the Post-Standard in