Betrayal of Trust by J. A. Jance Page A

head on a platter. The party will drop you like a hot potato. Just you wait, the next time you’re up for reelection, the party bigwigs will be backing someone else in the primary. If Josh and I leave now, before this all hits the fan, we might be able to do some damage control.”
    â€œYou’re not leaving,” Marsha said firmly. “Neither one of you is leaving.”
    There were steps on the stairs—heavy steps—that were definitely not Zoe’s.
    Garvin McCarthy poked his head around the end of the archway. “You shouldn’t be talking to these people,” he said curtly, addressing the governor. “You shouldn’t, and neither should your husband.”
    I didn’t like it that he spoke about the First Husband rather than to the First Husband when Gerry Willis was right there in the room. Subtract two points from Mr. McCarthy, although, being a criminal defense lawyer, in my book he was already in negative territory to begin with.
    â€œCall me at the office,” McCarthy added. “Or on my cell. You have them both.”
    Marsha nodded.
    â€œDon’t bother showing me out,” he added gruffly. “I know the way.”
    â€œHe’s an arrogant bastard, but he’s also the best money can buy,” Marsha said, turning to Gerry. “He’ll do what needs to be done.”
    This time Gerry was the one who nodded. For the first time, he looked ill. His skin color had faded. Obviously Marsha was right and this was too much for him.
    â€œI think I need to go back to bed for a while,” he said.
    Marsha jumped to her feet. “Are you okay? Should I call the doctor?”
    â€œNo,” he said. “Don’t call the doctor, and you don’t need to come with me. I just need to lie down for a while. I believe I overdid it.”
    He rolled himself out of the room while Marsha subsided onto her chair. She waited until Gerry was out of earshot, then she turned to Mel and me.
    â€œJust you wait,” she said. “If this kills him, I’ll strangle that little shit with my own two hands, and you may quote me on that.”

Chapter 7
    B efore leaving the governor’s mansion, we each gave Marsha Longmire our business cards loaded with the full collection of contact information. She looked at the cards and nodded. “I’ll be keeping a very close eye on Josh,” she said. “He won’t be going anywhere or doing anything without my knowing about it.”
    What was it my mother used to say? Something about locking the barn door after the horse was already gone. I decided against passing that bit of folk wisdom along to the governor.
    â€œGood idea,” I said.
    Once outside, I loaded the evidence boxes into the backseat of Mel’s Cayman. “Next stop Todd Hatcher?” she asked.
    I nodded.
    â€œDo you have an address?”
    â€œI’ll call Ross’s office and get it.”
    While we had been in the governor’s mansion, we’d had our phones turned off. Two of the missed calls on my phone were from Katie Dunn, Ross’s secretary. One of the missed calls on Mel’s phone was also from there.
    â€œYou wanted to talk to us?” I said when Katie came on the phone.
    â€œMr. Connors would like to see you both,” she said. “He’s in a meeting right now and has another one early this evening. He was wondering if you’d mind stopping by his house later this evening, sometime around eight.”
    â€œWe’ll be there,” I said. “Meantime, we need the physical address for Todd Hatcher. I know where he used to live, but I understand he’s moved.”
    Katie gave me the necessary information, a rural address outside Oakville, half an hour away. I relayed the message and the information to Mel. While she set off in what constitutes rush-hour traffic in Olympia to get us there, I sat back to enjoy the ride. When Mel is making like a Formula One driver