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WHIT
Whit was still struggling to grasp what had happened over the past twenty-four hours. How the hell could he have been so duped? Athena, an FBI agent? Making him believe Sloane was dead. Horner being wired for their meeting. Now it made sense to him why that traitor was asking all those ridiculous questions. Whit wanted to wrap his hands around Athena’s neck and squeeze the life out of her. His face burned with fury as he played her interrogation over in his head. After he was arrested, they’d taken him to the federal courthouse in DC and stuck him in a windowless room while he waited for his lawyer. The smug look on her face infuriated him.
“You treacherous bitch,” he’d spat at her. “All those dinners and long conversations. It was all bullshit.”
Unruffled, she took a seat across from him. “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”
He glared at her. “How dare you come and live in my house and pretend to take care of my wife. Is that even legal?”
Ignoring his question, she folded her hands in front of her and leaned forward. “We’ve been watching you for a long time now. But we didn’t know for sure that you were a cold-blooded killer. We know all about kickbacks from the contractors, rigging the bid process, stealing from the American people. How can you look yourself in the mirror, knowing all the pain you’ve caused to so many people?”
“I’m not saying anything to you until my lawyer gets here.” Whit didn’t understand why he hadn’t yet arrived. He’d placed the call as soon as he’d been arrested.
“See you at the bail hearing,” she said. “There’s someone else who wants to see you.”
The door opened, and Sloane walked in as Athena left. Despite still appearing frail, she looked better than she had in weeks. She took a seat across from him, her eyes cold.
“I just want to know one thing. Did you kill Robert?”
“Of course not. Peg did, you know—”
She put a hand up. “I don’t even know why I bothered asking. Like I can believe a word that comes out of your mouth. You are loathsome, Whit Montgomery. A sociopath. That’s the only explanation I can come up with to explain how you could do all the unconscionable things you’ve done.” She narrowed her eyes. “Making me believe I was losing my mind. Dosing me with things to make me hallucinate and make my lupus worse. What kind of an evil person does that?”
“Sloane, you don’t understand.”
She stood. “You’re right. I could never understand what drives someone as depraved as you. I hope you rot in prison for the rest of your life. Do you even feel guilty about those poor people who lost their lives in that fire because your inferior contractor cut corners? It’s your fault that all of those people are dead.”
“You can’t blame me for that. I had no idea that he would screw up the electrical.”
“You don’t take the blame for anything, do you? I’m not going to waste another breath on you. I’m just glad they’ll put you away where you can’t hurt anyone else.” She stood and walked to the door, opening it. Stopping, she turned around and looked at him. “Athena tells me it’s worse for good-looking men in prison. I have a feeling you’re going to learn the meaning of regret.”
Before he could respond, his lawyer, Adrian Hodges, came into the room. “The judge is ready for you now.” The marshal escorted them down the hallway and into a courtroom. After the charges were read, Whit pled not guilty, and his lawyer asked for bail.
The assistant U.S. attorney, an uptight bitch with slick blackhair and a short skirt, gave him a disgusted look, then turned to the judge.
“Your Honor, we ask that the defendant be held without bail. Not only does he pose a serious threat to any witnesses related to the fraud and public corruption charges, he is a substantial flight risk.”
Adrian countered with his argument. “My client is a respected senator, a pillar of the community with no prior offenses. He poses no threat to anyone, and to deny him bail is a gross miscarriage of justice. He can surrender his passport and post his houses as collateral. They have a combined value of over thirty million dollars.”
The judge made a decision. “Bail is set at twenty-five million dollars, with the houses as collateral. The defendant will surrender his passport and will not leave the state.”
Short Skirt gave Whit a nasty smile. “Your Honor, none of the houses are owned by Senator Montgomery. They are in trusts, and his name has been removed from them. And considering that he tried to kill his wife, I sincerely doubt she’d be willing to put any of them up as collateral. Additionally, all assets in his name have been frozen, pending the outcome of the public corruption and fraud charges.”
“In that case, bail is denied.” The gavel came down sharply.
Whit turned to his attorney. “Do something!”
“I’m sorry, Whit. We’ll have to regroup. Nothing I can do right now.”
As he was leaving the courthouse, Athena stopped for a final dig.
“Just for the record, I was never attracted to you. In fact, being around you made my skin crawl, you malignant narcissist.” She pulled something from her pocket. “Here.” She handed him a large blue stone with a painted evil eye on it. “My turn to give you a present. Where you’re going, you’re going to need it.”
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ROSEMARY