Kent stared at him, listened to his smooth dismissive tone, and for the first time, the curtains parted. It hurt to say the words, but he did. “What you’re saying is that Briscoe brought Juliet to me because they think I’m the weak link.”

Of course you are, you idiot. You’re only now realizing it? Alex shook his head. “You’re a good businessman, Kent. Think of this as a business crisis. You examine the facts, weigh the risks, the pros and cons, the possible fallout. Use your skills, like always, Kent.”

Kent studied his friend’s face, so arrogant, so certain he was smarter than anyone else. Was he even capable of seeing what could happen? They could both be destroyed, even end up in prison, despite all their money and influence. Kent shook his head. “No, Alex, it’s not the same thing at all. This isn’t a freaking business problem. If my father finds out about Juliet, and there’s any publicity, an official investigation, and there could be, he’ll have me removed from my position. It’s not just your bloody campaign, it’s my career, my life. And that’s not all. They’ll be looking at charging us with murder.”

“Murder? Tell me all of it, Kent.”

“Briscoe said they’re getting a warrant for our cell phone records. I remember you called Alan and we drove to Philadelphia—after—and we stayed with him that night. What if they interview him? What if he tells them we arrived with dirt all over us? Did you tell him what we’d done? Did you?”

“Of course not.” Alex gave an elegant shrug. “Don’t worry about Alan. Sure they keep cell phone records. We live in a big brother world now. So if we must, we admit that yes, we were in the area. But there’s no way they could pinpoint where we were seven years ago closely enough to help them find her body. It’s another bluff.” He rose from his chair and poured Kent more whiskey. “Drink up and relax, okay?” He remained quiet until Kent had downed his second glass, gave another little shudder. “You shouldn’t have let that bitch get to you, Kent. Sounds like she played you like a violin. Murder, that’s ludicrous. There was no murder. It was an unfortunate accident, that’s all it was.”