his lawyer said sharply and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Lie back down.”
Robert shoved his lawyer away and instead leaned toward Kelsey. “Is he involved? How do you know about him? Is he why they attacked John? Tell me.”
Kelsey stared back at Robert. “I’m not at liberty to tell you anything.”
He eased down on the bed and jabbed at the buttons until he was sitting up another few inches.
Kelsey mostly watched Robert, but she didn’t miss the bewildered glances his lawyer gave her.
“Everyone, get out,” Robert said, then pointed at her. “Except you.”
His lawyer placed a hand on the bedrail. “Is that—”
“Get out,” Robert snapped.
Kelsey glanced at Evan. “Go. I’ll be fine.”
Evan glanced at Felecia. The two of them shared a private kind of smile.
Immediately jealousy sank its teeth into Kelsey.
She wanted that. With Logan? Was it possible?
The others filed out while she rolled those thoughts around in her head. Both Kelsey and Robert watched the door a moment longer after it clicked shut.
She moved first, blowing out a breath and turning to face Robert.
“No recordings,” he said sharply. “I’ll talk, but you won’t record me. Not until I have a deal.”
“I can’t guarantee that,” she cautioned.
Robert stared at the ceiling. “I don’t care. I told him. I told him if push came to shove, I’d talk. I told him. I won’t have this on my soul.”
Kelsey held her breath. What did he know?
“Can I take notes?” she asked.
“You should. Hand me that water over there?” Robert nodded at a cup on the rolling table next to him.
She circled the bed and gave him the water.
Kelsey pulled the table between them and laid her phone down. “I’m using my phone to take notes. I’m not recording.”
She was tempted to. But she’d err on the side of caution, especially if he was going to tell her everything he knew.
“Skilton. That rat,” Robert muttered.
“When did he come into the picture?” she asked.
Robert glanced at her. “When? He was there before me. Before all of it.”
Fuck.
“I never wanted to know, but from the way John talked, Skilton funded most of John’s political career. Not directly, mind you. He’d bring people to John, and they’d funnel money through them. I tried to stay out of it.” Robert closed his eyes and breathed a heavy breath. “You want to know when John started to do the other stuff.”
“What do you mean by, other stuff?” she asked.
Robert turned his head and stared at her. “Don’t play dumb with me.”
“Alright. I know John has strong ties to a human trafficking ring. I suspect he has other endeavors. What can you tell me about the trafficking?”
“Jesus.” Robert closed his eyes. “Yeah. Okay.”
“If you don’t agree with this stuff, why stick with him?”
“I didn’t know. Or more accurately, I didn’t figure it out until I was in too deep. Then, it was a decision between do I stay and keep going or do I bail and probably end up dead? I guess... It was greed. Not money. I take no part in getting paid the way John does. I signed on to work for John because I believed he was presidential material. I wanted to ride that pony all the way to the Oval Office so badly I put blinders on.”
Kelsey couldn’t understand that mentality, but this wasn’t her story. She jotted notes, documenting his words but also his disposition.
“John, he’s not very good at subterfuge. When he realized I wasn’t interested in the money, that I was only focused on one thing, he tried to keep that stuff separate. Eventually, though, we came to an understanding. I’d ignore it and he could do that business around me, but I wouldn’t say anything. I warned him, though. I told him that if he ever got caught, I wasn’t going to cover for him.” Robert’s face creased. “He probably thinks I was joking. Look, a lot of people are taken by John. You’ve seen him in action. He’s got this way about him. That never worked on me.”
“Because of your blinders? You had a goal, and nothing—not even John’s charisma—could get you off that path,” she said.
“That’s a nice way of saying it.” Robert picked up the cup again and took a drink.
“How does it work? What is it John’s doing?”
“It started with Skilton. This was before, when I still didn’t know everything. I remember that night. Vividly.” Robert set the cup down and lay back, staring at the ceiling. “I knew of this Skilton figure. Hadn’t met him.