advantage of the dirt on people he had accumulated—he knew where a lot of the bodies were buried. He pushed pressure points where and when he needed them. Kendrick had worked with the man to navigate many of those deals that were somewhat on the shady side. Now he needed payback.
“I appreciate everything you did for me when I was the victim of political jealousy,” he went on. “I was—”
“Ha!” Kendrick barked an interruption. “Political jealousy? Victim? Is that what you call it?”
“That’s what it was to me. Regardless, the situation is about to get worse. Did he think getting drunk and running two people down would make his problem disappear? What does his wife have to say about all this? She can’t be too happy.”
“Owen refuses to involve her in this.” Kendrick wanted to bite his nails. “I tried to make him see that she’s already involved just by being married to him.”
“And he didn’t understand that?”
“When she and Owen married, I was delighted. The perfect wife for the perfect politician. That’s when I began to lay the groundwork for everything. I never dreamed he would fall into a hole like this and threaten everything I’ve worked so hard for.”
“Hollister’s wife surviving the accident has created a dilemma.” Sulzberger shook his head then took another sip. “If she regains consciousness, we have no idea what she’ll remember. More importantly, she was the one who took the pictures that started this ball rolling in the first place. If she starts telling people about Hayden Kellerman and Owen’s connection, we’re fucked.”
“It’s not as if I had any control over that,” Kendrick snapped.
“Let me think about that. You stay away from it. If something were to happen to her, they’d be looking at everyone and anyone who even said hello to her. And from what you tell me, even dead she could be a problem. Her sister is determined to find answers and isn’t about to let go. If Brianne Hollister dies, I’m damn sure she’ll ramp up her efforts to find answers. She’ll keep pushing and pushing until something cracks. You’re damn lucky that the three firms she approached owed you and called you to see if you had objections to them taking the case.”
“And thank god they did.”
Sulzberger’s lips pressed together in a thin line. “But unfortunately, it didn’t end there. Which is why I’m sitting here with you. Because there’s another problem. Right?”
“That’s correct.” Kendrick massaged his throbbing temple with his fingertips. “I thought we’d killed any investigation, but now I learned, just yesterday, she’s hired some people we know nothing about who have an office in a plane, for god’s sake.”
“How the hell did you even find out about it?”
“By accident. I thought I should put in an appearance at the hospital to check on Brianne Hollister. I was just outside her room when I heard her doctor talking to her sister, who spends a lot of time there when she’s not trying to make trouble for us.”
“What did you hear that’s got your panties in such a twist?”
“I heard the doctor telling the sister about his brother and an agency of sorts he owns with some others, all former military. Said this was right up their alley.”
Sulzberger shrugged. “Sounds like just some rogue thrill seekers looking to make a quick buck.”
“No.” Kendrick shook his head. “The doctor mentioned a couple of things they’d handled. These people are the blackest of black ops and the stealthiest of anyone else she could find.”
“If so, this could be an even bigger disaster, Peter.”
“You think I don’t know that?”
Kendrick forced himself to breathe evenly. This whole situation wasn’t good for his blood pressure. If he hadn’t already spent months, even years, laying the groundwork for his son’s career in politics, he would have dropped him off someplace where no one could contact him. But now he had no choice. The campaign to create a political presence for Owen was about to kick off. He’d been grooming his son for this since the day he could talk.
God damn it.
If only there was an easy and acceptable way to kill the whole political career train right now.
Somehow, he should have figured out what was going on with Owen and the gambling and found a way to stop it before it all blew up. He’d known something was wrong. His son had been edgy and uneasy, but he’d chalked it up at first to pressure from the workload. He’d given him cases to handle