Page 56 of The Ruling Class

Keyes wants Pierce to get the nomination.My mind raced. I thought about the photo on my phone. William Keyes had been there—wherevertherewas—with Pierce and Vivvie’s father. My hand curled tighter around the door handle.

“I never agreed to anything,” Ivy told the older man calmly. I wondered if she suspected him of being involved. I wondered ifAdamsuspected him.

“You were supposed to get your president in line.” Keyes clearly meant those words as an indictment.

“He’s your president, too,” Ivy replied.

“No,” Keyes barked out. “He is not, nor will he ever be,mypresident. You’re the one who put him in that office.”

“He won both the electoral college and the popular vote.”

Keyes scowled. “Yougothim the electoral college and the popular vote!” He balled his hands into fists. His index finger escaped, and he pointed it at Ivy. “I taught you everything I knew, I lifted you up from nothing, I treated you like adaughter, and you thanked me by putting a man I despise in the White House.”

Ivy adopted an icy countenance. “We came down on the opposite sides of a primary, William. You’re the one who told me not to come back if I left. You don’t get to come here now and ask me for favors.”

“I damn well do!” Keyes shook his fist, like he was pounding a phantom table.

A car door slammed nearby, and they turned in unison.

“The front lawn?” Georgia Nolan stopped several feet from them, flanked by Secret Service. “That’s the location you choose for this discussion? Really, William?”

For a moment, William Keyes was struck silent. His gaze lingered on Georgia. I craned my neck, trying to get a look at her face.

They know each other.It was there, in the way he looked at her.They know each other very well.

“We both know the Judiciary Committee will look more kindly on Pierce than some of his contemporaries.” Keyes recovered his voice. It was quieter than the one he’d used with Ivy, but just as authoritative.

“Thank you,” Georgia said, her tone dripping honey, “for your advice and counsel. We will certainly take that into consideration.”

That was a dismissal, as clear as if Georgia had ordered him off the lawn.

Keyes straightened his tie, then issued a parting shot. “It’s a pity about the doctor,” he said. “When a man kills himself over being removed from his position at the White House, that doesn’t look very good for the administration.”

“It is a tragedy,” Georgia said tersely. “Our thoughts are with Major Bharani’s family.”

I felt the blood rushing out of my head. My hands went numb.It’s a pity about the doctor.

“Major Bharani is dead?” Ivy said. “When?”

Neither the First Lady nor Adam’s father answered. Their eyes were locked on to each other.

Vivvie’s father is dead. He killed Justice Marquette, and now he’s dead.

Keyes finally ripped his eyes from Georgia’s and turned to Ivy. “You never did have the stomach for this business,” he told her.

Then he walked away—past her, past Georgia, past the car.

I leaned into the car door, pushing it open. One second I was inside the car, the next, I was standing beside it, separated from William Keyes by the body of the sedan and nothing else. When his eyes landed on me, they opened wider.

He hadn’t realized I was here.

Neither had the First Lady.

“Tess, dear,” Georgia started to say, but my gaze was locked on Keyes.

“How did he die?” The words came out in a whisper.Vivvie’s father killed Justice Marquette, and now he’s dead.My hand tightened around the door, like my grip was the only thing keeping me vertical.

“William,” Ivy and Georgia said in one voice, Ivy stepping toward me, Georgia toward Keyes.