the surface that if a person wanted anything done, and not just on The Hill, Warren Sulzberger was the man. But whoever needed it had better be prepared to pay for it.
Kendrick had never wanted a place in politics for himself. He, like Sulzberger now, liked to work behind the scenes, pulling strings. The hunger for power that he controlled consumed him. His son had been groomed from an early age to be the political face of the family and to feed that hunger. The fact that he had shit for brains and little impulse control wasn’t going to derail the train that Peter Kendrick had set in motion.
The first thing was to get whatever information Sulzberger would dig up on whoever Peyton West had hired. The next thing would be to get rid of everyone—even the sister, if he had to. But that one would require some delicate arrangements, and he wasn’t there yet.
He drained the glass and set it down on the bar.
Owen needed to clean up his act. Associating with the wrong people was bad enough. Being with them at the wrong place at the wrong time, when Dane Hollister could catch sight of him, could create a disaster of epic proportions. One more stupid, idiotic thing his son had done. Erasing all evidence of his son’s stupidity was going to take a Herculean effort on Kendrick’s part. But he didn’t have a choice. Owen Kendrick was going to sit in the White House or Peter was going to die trying. And that second option was just not acceptable.
* * * *
Peyton hadn’t eaten much all day. The situation had pretty much robbed her of her appetite. Still, she knew she had to eat at least to survive. She decided to feed her sugar craving and picked up a half dozen donuts and coffee on her way back to the hospital. As she drove, she thought over her meeting with Scott ‘Blaze’ Hamilton. He was not at all what she’d expected. When Nolan Hamilton had told her that his brother was a SEAL, a decorated combat veteran with sixteen years of service, the tall, sexy man who’d greeted her wasn’t at all what she’d expected. And despite his take-charge attitude, he’d been courteous, even gentle with her as he coaxed her story out of her.
The elegance of the plane had stunned her. When Nolan had said they held their meetings in a plane, she hadn’t known what she’d expected, but it hadn’t been this. The elegance of Galaxy’s plane put many elegant mansions she’d seen to shame. Of course, if they’d won millions in the lottery, price was no object, she guessed. But more than anything, she got the feeling that whatever the men of Galaxy set out to do, they’d get it done.
When she pulled into the huge hospital parking garage, she found herself looking out of both sides of the car as she hunted for a space. She considered herself lucky that one opened up on the third level right by an elevator. For the first time, she was nervous waiting for the elevator to arrive and the doors to open.
Damn Blaze Hamilton for making me edgy.
Yet she knew he was only doing his job. She might not have hired him to protect her, but she knew he was concerned for her safety. She probably should be, too. Whoever had done this couldn’t be happy about leaving Brianne alive. When the elevator doors opened, she hurried down the wide hallway to her sister’s room, paying attention to the people around her.
Nobody’s going to kill you in the hospital.
It sounded ridiculous when she thought it, but then so did someone running down Dane and Brianne. She’d make sure to be diligent.
When she entered her sister’s room, a nurse was standing beside the bed, checking her vitals. Peyton was relieved to see it was the same one who’d been taking care of Brianne almost every day on this shift. Her sister was just as still as she’d been for days, her body unmoving beneath the sheet and thin blanket, the outline broken by the casts on her leg and her arm. Peyton’s heart ached at the sight. The woman did not deserve this. She was a good person, smart, loving. A wonderful sister, and she’d been a great wife. Of course, Dane had been a terrific husband, and together they’d made a fabulous couple.
She swallowed a sigh, set the coffee and donuts down on the tray table