Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Gary turned right off West Street and drove along Under Mountain Road.
“I think this is a reasonable enough hour, don’t you?
” He’d called Senator Cain first thing Thursday, insisting that he meet them at the house in Lenox the following day.
That hadn’t gone down well, not when he’d only seen them there a week ago, but Gary had stressed the importance of their visit.
Dan said nothing. He’d said little while Gary made breakfast and poured coffee, and he’d been quiet for most of the two-and-a-half-hour trip. Gary had a good idea of what lay at the heart of his silence.
He doesn’t want to believe the senator was involved in Cheryl’s death.
Gary was having a hard time believing it himself.
“Maybe he did love her,” Dan murmured. Gary glanced at him, and Dan shrugged. “And if he did, there’s no way he could have done that to her.”
Gary was inclined to agree. “But he didn’t tell us the truth. We need to know what else he might be hiding.”
“If I touch his hand, I’ll know.” Dan stared through the windshield. “I’d rather he told us, instead of having to resort to my gift, but that’s the only way we’ll be sure that he’s leveled with us.” His chin dropped to his chest. “I can’t believe he killed her.”
Gary took a left onto the long, winding driveway. “We’ll have more answers soon enough.”
As they pulled up in front of the portico, the door opened.
“Oh God,” Gary muttered.
Mrs. Cain stood there, her eyes like flint.
“I told him there was no need for her to come too, not when they have all the family staying with them,” Gary muttered.
“Maybe she insisted again,” Dan suggested. “All I know is, I’m going to feel awkward as hell bringing up his infidelity with her under the same roof.”
Gary switched off the engine, and they got out of the car. Mrs. Cain’s lips were a thin line as they approached. She didn’t move, and they were forced to come to a halt in front of her.
Lord, she looked pissed.
“My husband is waiting for you in his office,” she said tersely. “And I don’t care how important this visit is. As far as I’m concerned? This is starting to feel like harassment.” She pointed up the staircase to the left. “I believe you know the way.”
And with that, she left them standing in the hallway and walked stiffly toward the kitchen.
They climbed the stairs, the strains of classical piano music growing louder as they reached the top step. Gary paused at the door.
“It doesn’t matter that he’s a senator,” Dan said in a low voice. “That doesn’t put him above the law.”
“We don’t know if he even broke the law,” Gary remonstrated.
They were about to find out.
Senator Cain sat at his desk, writing. He glanced up as they entered, and reached over to hit a button on the music system, plunging the room into silence. He stared at them, his forehead creased.
“Another visit, gentlemen. I really don’t appreciate being asked to break my vacation yet again to meet with you.
” His frown deepened. “The only reason I agreed to do so is because you made it sound almost… urgent. And also in the hope that this would be the last of such visits.” He closed his notebook.
“Although I don’t see what more help I can be to you.
I’ve already told you everything I know.
” He grabbed a small jar and opened it, and a faintly medicinal smell filled the air. He rubbed white cream into his palms.
Gary couldn’t help but notice the senator didn’t offer them a seat.
He walked over to the desk and stood in front of it, his back straight. “There was something you forgot to tell us when we were last here, Senator.”
Dan joined him, reaching into the leather bag slung over his shoulder.
The senator arched his eyebrows. “Really? And what was that?” He put the lid back on the jar.
Gary looked him in the eye. “You left out the fact you were having an affair with Cheryl Somers.”
Senator Cain blinked. Blinked again. “What are you talking about?”
Dan held up the photo of them in bed. “This is you, isn’t it?”
The senator stared at it, his mouth opening and closing. Then he sat straight in his chair, his chin held high. “No, it isn’t. And frankly, I’m shocked you could even think such a thing.”
Dan took a step closer. “Look again, Senator. Because that’s definitely your ring in this photo.
” He pointed to the senator’s right hand.
“That ring. The same one you’re wearing in your portraits.
” His breathing caught. “Did you care so little for her that you feel comfortable lying about what you shared?”
Silence fell, broken only by the creak of a floorboard beyond the office door.
Senator Cain swallowed, and suddenly it was as if something broke inside him. He crumpled before their eyes, sagging into his high-backed chair. “Where did you find that?”
“Cheryl hid it in a book.” Dan tilted his head. “You didn’t know of its existence, did you?”
Senator Cain shook his head.
“And you’re not going to deny your feelings for her, are you? Because that would be an insult to her memory.”
Another shake of his head, his Adam’s apple bobbing sharply.
Gary looked around and went over to where two chairs stood against the wall. He drew them closer to the desk, and they sat.
“Lord, I need a drink.” The senator got up, went to the bookcase, grabbed the bottle of whiskey sitting there, and poured a couple of fingers of it into a squat chunky glass. He took a long drink from it, his throat working as he swallowed.
He returned to his chair and sat heavily, placing the glass on the varnished surface. For a moment he said nothing but simply stared at it. Finally he raised his head and gazed at them. “What do you want to know?”
He sounded exhausted.
Gary removed his notepad from his pocket, then sat back, his pen poised. “When did the affair begin?”
Senator Cain rested his head against the back of the chair.
“ In 1989, shortly after that bastard assaulted her. She came to me.” He sighed.
“She was such a mess. And I’m not just talking physically.
I got her to calm down and made her tell me the whole story.
It wasn’t until later that I learned she’d kept something back.
” He paused to take a drink. “Cheryl said her father wanted her to go to the police, but she couldn’t face them.
I persuaded her. In fact, I took the two of them to the police precinct.
I was determined Reynolds should not get away with it. ”
“This was someone you’d known since her birth,” Dan observed.
The senator nodded. “And somehow, the assault brought us closer.” He met Dan’s gaze.
“We… we’d always shared a bond. We’d talked about art ever since she was old enough to pick up a pencil.
But suddenly she was twenty-five, and I was seeing her in a whole new light.
” His face glowed. “I watched her blossom, watched her confidence grow, saw how beautiful she was inside and out…. She blossomed as an artist too, and the more time I spent around her, the more certain I became that she was something special.”
“And you fell in love with her.” Dan’s voice was soft.
Senator Cain nodded. “I encouraged her, supported her, and I loved her with all my heart. What seemed so incredible to me was that she loved me back. She didn’t want her father to know—I was a married man, after all, and she knew he would disapprove—so we did our best to keep it a secret from him.
And when we’d been together about four months, she finally broke down and told me the whole story of the assault. ”
“What hadn’t she told you?” Gary asked.
The senator’s face tightened. “How Reynolds had worked out she was trans. I saw a solution, but I hesitated to suggest it.” He sighed.
“I didn’t want her to think I was trying to fix her—not that she needed fixing, you understand.
And because she knew me so well, she saw through me and demanded to know what was wrong.
So….” He lifted his chin. “I asked if she’d ever considered breast implants and offered to pay for the surgery. ”
Gary remembered the silicone pouches found with her body. “I’m guessing she liked the idea.”
“Liked it? She couldn’t contain her excitement. I told her I’d been reluctant to suggest it because I said I didn’t want her to think I was… building my own girlfriend.”
“How did she react to that?” Dan asked.
Senator Cain’s expression softened. “She looked at me and said, ‘Don’t you think I know the man I love by now? You want to do this because you want me to be happy, because you love me too.’” He stared into his whiskey glass.
“What we had…. Yes, it was intensely physical, but it was more than sex. She….” He closed his eyes.
“She shone when we were together.” Pain contorted his face.
“When her father came to me with the news she’d been identified as the body in the tunnel, I wept. ”
Gary’s heart went out to him. “At least now we know why you pushed the police so hard to find out what had happened to her.”
“I had to do something. I felt so useless.”
“You’d lost someone you loved, and you couldn’t tell a soul about it.” Dan frowned. “But what about your wife? Did she know?”
Gary had a feeling that would explain the hostility Dan had noticed when they first met Mrs. Cain at the house. Maybe that wasn’t so much due to her opinion of Cheryl as a trans woman, but as a love rival.
The light died in the senator’s eyes. “Yes, she knew.”
“And how did she react?” Gary asked.
Senator Cain took a sip of whiskey. “She tolerated it.” He bit his lip.
“Maybe this is where I should tell you ours is not a… regular marriage.” He expelled a long breath.
“The way I felt about Cheryl? I’d never felt like that about Della.
And yes, I know that makes me a bad husband, but I couldn’t help it.
I had no idea where our love would take us, Cheryl and me.
Both of us grabbed every moment we could to be together—and then she was snatched from me. ” His voice quavered.