Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Ty pulled into the spot next to Lydia’s by the ice cream stand, grabbing the folder before he got out. He met her at the hood of her SUV, breathing in her subtle flower and vanilla scent. “So, where should we do this?”
“That bench over there,” she said, walking off, not bothering to wait for him.
He followed, sitting down next to her under the shade of a big maple tree as children played on the playground a couple hundred yards away.
Lydia crossed her legs as she crossed her arms, slightly turning her body away from his. “Let’s get this over with.”
He pulled a picture from the folder. “Do you know these people?”
She looked at the image of her cousin talking to another man at The Tap Room, a popular sports bar in the heart of downtown Boston. “Obviously, I know Will, but I have no idea who that is.”
He took out another picture of Will smiling and shaking the same man’s hand on the sidewalk outside the same sports bar. The men wore different outfits, signifying a meetup on a different day. “You’ve never seen him before?”
She shook her head. “But Will has several clients and friends that I’ve never met.”
He took out two more shots of Will talking to the same man, both times at the same sports bar.
Then he took out a picture of Will and Senator James Monroe standing in the parking lot at Monroe House, the family’s nonprofit organization that helped families in crisis, laughing with the same stranger.
“Who is he? This man?” Lydia tapped on the guy’s image.
“Richard Russo. He has ties to organized crime.”
Lydia’s gaze flew to his before she adamantly shook her head. “No. Uncle James and Will have nothing to do with organized crime. They wouldn’t. That’s not how my family does things.”
Ty raised his brow. “So, the Monroes are the one family in DC who does everything on the up-and-up?”
“Yes,” she said without hesitation.
“That’s na?ve, Lydia.”
Her jaw clenched. “That’s Ms. Monroe to you.”
“Right.”
She handed the pictures back as she turned her body more toward his. “What do you want?”
“For you to get me onto the compound.”
She huffed out a humorless laugh. “Forget it.”
“You spend a month there every summer. You’re going to take me with you.”
She shook her head. “No. The compound is the only place where my family has any privacy. I don’t bring friends with me. I never have.”
“So, you’ll bring your serious boyfriend.”
She gaped at him. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m dead serious.”
“You want me to date you?”
He nodded. “For pretend.”
“How does someone pretend to date?” Her laugh had more humor to it this time as she pressed her fingers to her forehead and closed her eyes. “This is insane. You’re insane.”
He shrugged. “I’ve been called worse.”
She shook her head again. “No. Absolutely not.”
“It’s only for a month. And the next few weeks. I’ll be out of your hair by the end of the summer.”
“That’s a hard pass.” She stood. “There’s another explanation for your pictures. Good luck with your witch hunt.” And then she walked away.
This wasn’t going well. At all. He hurried up next to her. “I need access to your family.”
She shook her head as they approached her SUV. “I’m calling my uncle. Then I’m calling Will.”
“Then I’ll be slapping cuffs on you and arresting you. Interference in a federal investigation is a big deal, Lydia.”
She stopped abruptly as they reached the hood of her Telluride. “How dare you do this. How dare you put me in this position.”
He sighed, fully understanding that he was putting her in a hell of a spot. “Look, I’m doing my damnedest to handle all of this discreetly. Currently, this is an inquiry to figure out if your uncle’s situation requires further investigation.”
“It doesn’t. There’s another explanation.”
“I need to figure out what that is. Political corruption is a serious offense, especially when there are rumors of a possible presidential run. The Department of Justice has their ears perked up on this one.”
“I can’t help you,” she said as she turned toward her vehicle again.
He snagged her by the wrist, knowing that this was probably his last shot at getting Lydia’s cooperation. “This investigation is happening. It’s full steam ahead.”
She faced him again, pulling her arm away.
“You can help me quietly. We can control the narrative as much as that’s possible, but once I leave here, that scenario goes away.”
She stared down at the grass that they stood on. “You’re talking about my family. You’re asking me to betray my family.”
“I know. I wish I didn’t have to.” And he meant it, but this was the situation they were in. He had a case to work, and she was caught in the middle.
She met his gaze again. “You see politicians. But that’s my aunt and uncle. My cousin and his wife and their children. My grandmother.”
“So, protect them as much as you can.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I need to think. I need a few days to figure this out.”
“I can give you until tomorrow.”
She frowned. “Tomorrow? That’s not enough time.”
He shrugged, wishing he could be sorry that he was turning up the heat, but she was on the fence, and he needed her on his side. “That’s what I can give you.”
She pressed her fingers against her temple this time. “This is a huge decision.”
He nodded, trying his best to ignore the unmistakable vulnerability in her big hazel eyes. “It is, but this is where we’re at.”
She sighed as she shook her head.
“If we’re moving forward, we have just over three weeks to establish our cover. That’s not a lot of time.”
She swallowed as she shook her head again. “This is really happening.”
He nodded. “With or without you. My team and I will find a way in. This is the easiest.” He reached into his pocket for his card, handing it to her. “Call me when you’ve decided. One way or the other.”
“Okay.”
He walked away, knowing that she had a lot to think about. Lydia had some hard choices to make.
Lydia stood by her bedroom window, staring up at the half-moon as sleep eluded her for the second night in a row. It was well after one, and she was exhausted, yet she couldn’t lie still long enough to close her eyes.
Everything was suddenly a mess. Everything was suddenly different.
Out of nowhere, her peaceful, perfect life had changed.
The abrupt departure from her normal had been glaringly apparent when she’d foolishly packed up her raspberry crumble bars and headed off to book club like everything was still the same.
Her friends had laughed and talked about their summer plans while she’d struggled to keep up with the various conversations.
Instead of celebrating her first full day without her students, her mind had raced while she occasionally glanced out Camille’s living room window, knowing that Special Agent Corddry had followed her again.
He’d kept his distance on the drive over, but she’d known that he was there, which she imagined he’d done on purpose. It was becoming clear that he wasn’t going away, and neither were her new problems.
She glanced at the card he’d handed her at the park, flicking at the corner of the cardstock with her thumb as she contemplated her options, none of which were good.
Betray her family by helping Ty and the FBI gain access to Will and Uncle James or betray her family by keeping her mouth shut while she knew that the FBI was investigating them.
She’d been tempted to call Grandpa Roger and ask for his advice, but he and Grandma Gail were enjoying Europe for the summer. Plus, she’d worried that explaining the situation might constitute impediment to the investigation.
Grandpa Roger was an attorney. So was Will. Wouldn’t she be protected by attorney/client privilege?
It seemed like she would, but ultimately, she didn’t know, especially when Grandpa Roger had long since retired and Will himself was under investigation.
Nibbling at her lip, she stared at the card again.
She could take her chances and let Uncle James know what was going on.
If the FBI arrested her, she could easily afford the best defense available, but if the media got wind of what was happening, it would cause serious problems for Uncle James’s campaign.
Because he did indeed plan to announce his run for the presidency next spring.
“Damn,” she said as she sighed, knowing she was truly damned if she did and damned if she didn’t.
You can help me quietly. We can control the narrative as much as that’s possible…
She exhaled another long breath as Ty’s voice echoed in her head, loathing everything about him, but then she remembered how Grandpa Beau always used to say that when you were doing what was right, you couldn’t go wrong.
In this situation, helping Ty seemed to be the most right option when all of them were bad.
“Keep your enemies close,” she whispered as she picked up her phone, dialing the number on the card, closing her eyes as her heart thundered while it rang.
“Yeah,” Ty said after the second ring, his voice deep and sleepy.
“I’ll—I’ll help you.”
He cleared his throat as she heard a lamp twist on in the background. “Okay, good. This is good. Let’s meet tomorrow—or I guess that would be later on today—and we’ll talk some more. Wherever you want. We could meet at the park again.”
“No. Meet me at Moby’s Bar and Grill. At five. If I’m entering a life of duplicity, I’m not doing it where my students play.”
“Okay. I’ll see you at five.”
“Fine.” She hung up, hating everything about this awful situation, detesting that she was stuck.