The Waterfall by Carla Neggers Read Free Book Online Page B

healthy woman.” She grabbed up his hand. “Jack, I’ve been there.”
    â€œNo one could ever think you were off your gourd.”
    She smiled. “I have two cats. I’ve been known to feed them off the china.”
    He saw the twinkle in her eye and laughed. That was what he treasured about Sidney most of all. She made him laugh. She was quick-witted, self-deprecating, irreverent. She didn’t take her job, herself, or life inside the Beltway too seriously.
    But Jack couldn’t shake a lingering sense of uneasiness. “There’s still something about Barbara.”
    â€œThen there’s something about Barbara. Period.”
    â€œI see what you’re saying—”
    â€œFinally!” Sidney fell back against her chair, as if his denseness had exhausted her. “Now, can we change the subject?”
    He smiled. “Gladly.”
    She gave him an impish grin. “Let’s talk about my cats.”
    Sidney didn’t stay the night. They both had unusual Saturday meetings, but Jack knew that really wasn’t the issue. “I’m just not ready to hang my panty hose in a senator’s bathroom,” she said breezily, kissing him good-night.
    He remembered her counsel the next morning when he arrived in his office at eight and Barbara Allen, as ever, was at her desk. Before he could say a word, she gave him a bright smile. “Good morning, Senator.”
    â€œGood morning, Barbara. I thought you were still on vacation.”
    She waved a hand. “It was a few days off, not a vacation. I always planned to be back for this meeting. I know it’s important.”
    He smiled. “Well, then, how were your few days off?”
    â€œPerfect,” she said. “Just what I needed.”
    She flipped around in her chair and tapped a few keys on her computer. She looked great, Jack thought—relaxed, polished, professional, with none of the wild desperation that had made them both so uncomfortable the week before.
    Relief washed over him. A little time away had done the trick. He would follow Sidney’s advice and pretend nothing had happened. It wasn’t just a question of doing Barbara a favor—he was doing himself a favor, too. He needed her efficiency, knowledge and competence, her long years of experience.
    He headed into his private office. Thank God, she was back to her old self.

Three
    â€œB astian Redwing saved Daddy’s life?”
    Madison sighed at her brother with exaggerated patience. “It’s not Bastian. It’s Sebastian. And he saved Dad and Grandpa. Some other guy saved the president.”
    J.T. frowned. “How come I don’t remember?”
    â€œBecause you weren’t born.”
    â€œMadison doesn’t remember, either,” Lucy said. “It happened before your dad and I were married.”
    â€œI read the articles,” Madison reminded her mother.
    J.T. kicked the back of her seat. They’d rented a car when they’d arrived in Jackson yesterday, and this morning Lucy had dutifully met with the western guides, who were wonderful and all but told her outright she had no business trying to expand out west. No surprise there.
    Afterwards, she’d almost talked herself out of following her hotel desk clerk’s directions to see Sebastian. Almost. She still had time to turn around and go back to Jackson.
    â€œWas it an assassination attempt?” J.T. asked. “Tell me!”
    Madison was horrified. “Mom, how does he know something like ‘assassination attempt’? That shouldn’t be in a twelve-year-old’s vocabulary.”
    J.T. snorted from the back seat. “Oh, yeah? Then how am I supposed to know about Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King? And President Kennedy and Julius Caesar?”
    â€œJulius Caesar?” Madison swung around at him. “You don’t know anything about Julius Caesar.”
    â€œHe was stabbed in the