Read The Waterfall for Free Online Page B

Mowery knew more about her than she realized. She had to remember the kind of work he did, remain on her guard.
    Slowly, her shivering subsided.
    â€œDid you fuck the son,” he asked, “or are you just making that up because Jack doesn’t want you?”
    She remained calm, practicing the restraint she’d learned in twenty years as Jack Swift’s most trusted aide. “Men like you don’t understand loyalty and service, true commitment.”
    â€œDamn right we don’t.” He grinned, deeply amused by his own wit. “Well, it doesn’t matter. You can have whatever little fantasies you want, Barbie.”
    â€œI’m not a woman taken to fantasizing.”
    Indeed not, she thought. She wouldn’t have gone to Jack if she hadn’t believed with all her heart, soul and mind that he wanted her to speak up, finally, after all these years. She didn’t invent this sort of thing, not after two decades in Washington. She hadn’t misread the cues. Jack Swift simply wasn’t prepared to act on his own feelings. He had run. And now she needed to turn him back in the right direction, back to her.
    Darren jumped up, grabbed both her hands and lifted her onto her feet. Her breath caught. What now? What was he doing? He was very muscular and strong. She could never physically overpower him. She had to rely on her wits, her intelligence and incredible self-discipline.
    There was nothing sexual in the way he held her. “How long has it been, Barbie? How long since you’ve had a man?” He squeezed her waist, choking the air from her. “Not since Colin Swift? Not ever?”
    â€œThat’s none of your business.” She kept her tone deliberately cold, in control. “Our relationship is strictly professional. We are partners in a scheme to blackmail a United States senator. That’s all. ”
    He squeezed harder, painfully. She couldn’t move. “No surprises, Barbie. Understand? If this is going to work, I know everything.”
    â€œI told you—”
    â€œDid you have an affair with Colin Swift?”
    â€œYes.”
    This had to be a test. She didn’t know what to do to pass. Run screaming? Beg him to make love to her? Slap him?
    No, she thought. Hold your ground. She wanted him to underestimate her, not to think he could roll over her.
    â€œYou stereotype me at your own peril, Mr. Mowery,” she said. “I’m not some dried-up prune pining for a man I can’t have.”
    â€œWhere were you last week?”
    â€œOn vacation. I hit outlet stores all over New England.”
    â€œVermont?”
    â€œWhat?”
    He moved his hands higher, squeezing her ribs. “Did you go to Vermont?”
    â€œI can’t breathe—”
    â€œYou can say yes or no.”
    She nodded, gasping. “Yes.”
    â€œDid you see Lucy Swift?”
    She shook her head, unable to speak.
    â€œShe decided to go to Wyoming at the last minute. She paid top dollar for the tickets. She took her kids. I want to know why.”
    â€œI can’t—breathe—I—”
    He eased up, just slightly.
    Barbara coughed, gulping in air. “Goddamn you—”
    â€œTell me about Lucy.”
    â€œI don’t know anything. You’ll have to ask her yourself. I went outlet shopping in Manchester one day. That’s all.”
    Lying to him was dangerous, Barbara thought, but telling the truth had to be more dangerous.
    He traced the skin just under her breasts with his thumbs. He had no sexual interest in her. His focus on his mission was total. He wasn’t that complicated a man, Barbara thought, and she wasn’t that undesirable a woman. Obviously his obsession with Jack Swift was something she needed to better understand.
    His gaze was cold even as he released her. “Arnica,” he said.
    She rubbed her sides. “What?”
    â€œRub in a little arnica oil for the bruises.”
    She