Free 9781631054631ChoiceAffairsSalisbury by Jamie Salisbury

I inquired, uncappi ng my own bottle.
    “Go look. How she
managed to snap those pictures with no one knowing…” He shook his head.
    I touched his arm and
headed toward the couch. Sitting down, I took a drink of beer before studying
the scene my mother had caused. “I won’t say the usual.”
    “Which is?”
    “How?”
    “I don’t know. Yet. I will find out. I’m going to put a
call into my attorney in Atlanta. And
to Jacob.”
    “It’s Friday evening,
Apolo. We’re leaving for Atlanta tomorrow.”
    “No
matter. The attorney is kept on a hefty retainer, and I need
to put Jacob on notice, if he hasn’t seen this mess already.”
    I sighed loud enough
for him to hear. “Well, don’t be long, we have all that crab to eat.”
    “How about while I’m
tending to business, you set out some newspaper and bring me another beer? That is, if you don’t mind.”
    “Of course, I don’t
mind. Just don’t take too long, please. This is our last evening here. The next
time we’ll be here semi-permanently, your time will not be your own.”
    “Has it ever been?”
    “You’ve done
remarkably well making sure our honeymoon has been
private. Both on the island and
here, and I thank you for that. Now, go make your phone calls, before I
get riled up about my mother and try to find her.”
    He flashed me an odd
look before he walked past me.
    “On
the phone, Apolo. On the phone. Though seriously, I’m so mad at her
right now, nothing would suit me better than for you to sic your dogs on her.”
    He laughed as he
exited the room. “I won’t be long, I promise. And don’t forget my beer, Caiti.”
     
    * * * *
     
    Apolo
     
    The time I’ve shared
with Caitlyn these past weeks have been some of, if not the best, times of my life. For the first
time in years, I’ve been able to relax and let my guard down. Not that I hadn’t
already let my guard down with Caitlyn. But to be able to take her to the island and act uninhibited was pure magic.
    Though I did get
caught doing business, we made an unofficial truce about how I would handle
that while on our honeymoon. However, the further we got into our time away,
the less need I saw to do business of any sort.
    Until
we got back to Washington…
    We’d gone there to
make sure things were getting moved into our new home. I also wanted to explore
the area with my new wife. I knew once I began my new job as senator our free
time would not be our ow n. There would always be
something, whether it be a fundraiser, a picnic, or so on.
    Then, the last
afternoon, I’d gone into the liquor store, and there it was at the checkout. One of those weekly gossip rags, with
none other than Caitlyn and myself on the cover. We were the main story, and where the
photo came from…well, I had my ideas.
    Fuming, I tried
desperately not to bellow like a raging bull. Instead, I tossed my bride the
magazine and, immediately, she knew who’d planted the photo. The woman had no
sh ame.
    With Caitlyn taking
care of our fresh catch at home, I got Jacob on the phone. I needed to find out
what, if anything, he knew. And I was quite sure he was on top of the matter.
    “Jacob, everything set
for us tomorrow?” I decided rather than start out ranting,
I’d at least make sure our flight was still on schedule. I’m quite sure the old
boy didn’t need me treating him as though he were incompetent.
    “Yep, everything’s
right on target, just like you asked for.”
    “Good.”
    “But that isn’t the
entire reason for your call. You’ve seen the
magazine, I take it.”
    “Yes, and I want to
know how she did it. I’m afraid I’m going to have to get tough with her,
legally. Perhaps then she’ll cease.”
    “Or go screaming to
the press that her billionaire son-in-law wants to en force
a gag order or whatever melodrama she can fabricate.”
    “You’re right, of
course. Damn her! Haven’t you still got someone on her?”
    “We did, Apolo. She
snuck right by them. Don’t ask me how, I just got