Alex stepped away from the fireplace, looked off in the distance. He wondered again how Briscoe had gotten Juliet to New York. He’d have sworn Juliet would take what he and Kent did to her to the grave. He’d never underestimate Briscoe again. Briscoe had taken Juliet to see Kent first because she’d read him, seen what he was, and she’d used Juliet to frighten the spit out of him, hoping he’d break. And there he was, sitting in Alex’s living room, a scared little boy. Alex raised his glass and toasted it toward Kent, a smile playing on his mouth. He remembered taking Juliet, seeing how pliable she’d been. He remembered kissing her hard, biting her lip, not caring if he hurt her.

Kent said, “If she did go public, it would end your campaign. You’d be blackballed at the slightest hint from her of what we did.”

Alex said, “True enough. And yes, my parents would hate that, but they’d believe what I tell them, Kent. They’d back me to the hilt, particularly my father, and he’s the one who counts. Of course there wouldn’t be a trial, there’d only be speculation, and sooner or later it would all die down. You know as well as I do my family has the power and the money to spin anything Juliet accused me of. So stop your worrying, I don’t think she’ll say a word publicly. Not the Juliet then, not the Juliet now.”

He watched Kent worry the pillow fringe some more. How could he be so weak, like a hysterical woman? Alex took another small drink of his whiskey. “Kent, think about it. Even if Juliet did accuse us, Briscoe’s paper couldn’t print anything she said except as an allegation, without proof. And there is no proof and there never will be.” Still, he had to give Briscoe credit, figuring out what happened to Juliet, but he knew the only reason she’d been able to was those damned photos. She’d somehow put it together.

He said, “Briscoe somehow managed to get Juliet down here hoping to frighten you, to manipulate you into panicking, maybe even confessing.”

“I didn’t. I told her I didn’t know what she was talking about.”

Could he believe him? Alex said, his voice very quiet now, “Good. Because they went to you hoping to turn you against me, to put us at odds. Don’t you understand? If they had any evidence, they wouldn’t have approached you. Why would they?”