Chapter 4
Cindy maintained a facade of calm as she strolled out of the building. Rumors about Ethan Howell's impending troubles had reached her ears, and initially, she dismissed them as baseless. She knew Ethan personally and he wasn’t the kind of man who would let his little parties get out to the public.
However, after her brief visit to her irritating brother, she needed to reevaluate. Gary, the bastard, knew something, and his refusal to share only heightened Cindy's suspicions. And her concerns!
She’d pretended nonchalance in her brother’s presence, but as she walked out to her car, her stride indicated an undercurrent of tension, a silent acknowledgment of the potential explosion if the activities at Ethan’s parties ever became public. If Ethan were to ever…no. He wouldn’t. Would he? She bit her lip as she pulled her key fob out and pressed the button to unlock her sedan. Surely Ethan wouldn’t…! The potential for career suicide had Cindy’s fury riding the edge of an eruption.
Behind the calm facade, her thoughts churned with furious speculation as she paused with one hand on the roof of her car while she looked back up at the house. Gary, the pompous ass, held a key to the puzzle, and Cindy wanted to know what he knew. She understood that the stakes were high, and the explosive nature of the information he potentially possessed made it a dangerous game.
As she turned back to her car, Cindy's fingers drummed nervously on the roof, a subconscious manifestation of the turmoil within. The mere thought of the enigmatic Ethan Howell made her skin crawl. The man was a perverted sadist whose empire might be crumbling. And that could be catastrophic. She shot another glare up at the house, but in reality, Cindy couldn't blame her brother for keeping silent. If she held information of such magnitude, she would guard it with the same secrecy. The unspoken understanding between she and her brother hung in the air, a silent competition that had never lessened over the years. The opposite, actually. They competed on nearly everything, but kept up their family-friendly smiles whenever they were out in public.
But Howell had that video, the one of her and…what was his name? He was in the opposite political party. And since Cindy was determined to win the election against her brother next fall, Gary would love to get possession of the video of her naked and doing the deed with the enemy. That was probably the most tame of the stuff Ethan had on her. There was more, but she wasn’t sure how much Ethan knew about her private activities.
She didn’t really care about the actual issues in the election. Cindy wanted the power. She wanted to be governor so that she could find out all of the state’s secrets, have business leaders bow down to her and beg for state grants.
Because she’d always planned to gain more power, Cindy never waited around for people to agree with her plans. Oh no! She’d spent the last several years as a reporter and news anchor making sure that she knew everything that happened in this state! She already had a whole electronic file filled with blackmail videos and photos of friends and foes. But Ethan Howell was the only person who had blackmail videos that he could use against her .
Yeah, she was fully aware that Howell had been doing some sketchy stuff down in Todras. The man was a creep, but he was an expert at knowing exactly how to manipulate people, what their deepest, naughtiest desires might be. And that was probably why the man had been able to get away with…whatever the hell he’d been doing in his private little corner of the world. The guy could spout bible versus and use their messages to control, shame and manipulate people. Cindy had never believed that the man was a religious leader. Howell merely used the guise of religion to keep his little cult members under control.
So, what was actually going on?
Picking up her phone, she dialed a number. “Hey Mike!” she greeted the mayor of Todras. They chatted for a few minutes, reminiscing about the parties that Howell had thrown over the years. Then she got down to business. “Hey, have you heard any rumors floating around town about Ethan?”
There was a heavy silence, and Cindy’s smile widened. Bingo!
Now it was time for her to protect herself. “Never mind. I must be wrong.”
Cindy wasn’t wrong! Her anger dissipated as her instincts went into hyperdrive. Something big was definitely happening. How should she play it? If Ethan was in trouble, would he release all of his video files?
No, he wasn’t that stupid. Ethan would hold them back but he’d most likely use them if he needed help later on. But Cindy wasn’t in a position to help him if he was arrested. However, she would be in a position to temper the news cycle for him! Or…even better…she could be in a position to release the salacious details to the world first, thereby controlling the narrative.
Yes, that’s what she would do. Control. Power. That’s what she craved. And money! Which always came along with the control and power. It was…seductive.
She dove into the driver’s seat of her car and called her team. “Meet me in Todras,” she told her producer and her cameraman. “I think something huge is about to hit and I want to be the first to report it.”
Her guys agreed and she sped out of the parking lot. As she drove away, Cindy wondered about the look in her brother’s face when she’d left. Something was definitely up, she thought, gripping the steering wheel tightly as she tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together. She also thought about how this report, if it was as big as her gut was telling her, would play out for her campaign. She’d announced that she was running for governor against her brother, but she had yet to leave her current role with the local news station in Frankfort, Kentucky. Perhaps this investigation would be her last. If it was big enough, it could be her jumping off point to get her campaign really going.
Of course, she’d have to figure out the most beneficial position on the hot-button issues. Cindy didn’t really care about the major topics one way or another. She just wanted the power and the attention. And being on the opposite side of her brother during debates would be fun and exciting. The sibling rivalry aspect of the political campaigns would give her extra air time. If she lost, then Cindy would just go back to being an investigative reporter, but the news agencies would fight to hire her. With the additional exposure, she’d demand a significantly higher salary. Maybe she’d even get offered a position with the national news agencies.
And if she won…well, then the news agencies would have to fight to interview her. As far as she was concerned, it was a win-win.