Page 76 of The Ruling Class
“And Keyes?” I plowed on before she could say more. “How did you clear him?”
There was a long pause. “I collect information,” Ivy said finally. “Details that might prove useful down the road. Given that William does the same, it is always in my best interest to have something on him. And right now, what I have on him tells me that Theodore Marquette is thelastperson he would have wanted to see removed from the Supreme Court.”
Like that wasn’t cryptic.
“Keyes is working to get Pierce nominated,” I insisted. “The president is the one who actually does the nominating. They were both there the night before Justice Marquette’s heart attack. They were both in that picture I gave you—”
“Letmeworry about this,” Ivy interrupted.
“The picture was taken at Camp David,” I continued. Maybe, if I kept pelting her with information, I could get something—anything—out of her in return. “A retreat. I think that’s where Vivvie’s dad and Pierce met. We know there’s a third party involved. And the president and Keyes were the only ones there who were also at the gala that night.”
“No,” Ivy said sharply. “They weren’t.”
I frowned, an argument on the tip of my tongue.
“I know where that picture was taken, Tess. I knew before you did. This ismy job. It’s what I do. I trade in secrets and information. I solve problems. You brought this one to me, and so help me God, you are going to let me fix it.”
“What do you mean the president and Adam’s father weren’t the only people in both places?” I asked.
Ivy threw her hands up in frustration. “Did you ever wonder who took the picture? Who might be standing right outside the frame? You have afractionof the story, Tess. Don’t confuse that with the truth.”
Who took the picture?Ivy was right. I hadn’t wondered that.
“You said that you already knew the picture was taken at Camp David.” The words almost got stuck in my throat. “How?”
Ivy stared at me for a few seconds, then answered. “Because I was there.”
When I’d given her the photograph, she hadn’t said anything about recognizing it. She hadn’t allowed so much as a flash of recognition to cross her face.
Fixers are experts at covering things up.Henry’s words wouldn’t leave me alone.Your sister’s practically an artist.
“I’m going to help Vivvie, Tessie. I’m going to find the truth here. You just have to let me.” She tucked a stray piece of hair back into my braid.
The second she called me Tessie, my throat started to sting. “You can’t let the president nominate Pierce.”
“I won’t.”
“The article in thePostsaid—”
“I won’t,” Ivy repeated, her voice louder this time, more final. She turned to take her leave but glanced back at me. “For what it’s worth,” she said, “you can tell Vivvie that I wouldn’t pay much attention to that article.”
Bodie had said that there were two reasons for leaking a story like that—to help Pierce’s case or to hurt him.
“Are you going to track down the source?” I asked Ivy.
I’m not having this conversation with you.I could practically see her bite back those words. Instead, she lifted her chin slightly. “Trust me, Tessie, it’s not worth checking out.”
CHAPTER 46
By the end of the week, a slew of opinion articles had come out in Pierce’s favor. In World Issues, we had to watch people debate his merits on TV.
And with each day, I became more convinced that whoever had leaked that article had done it to help Pierce’s chances, not hurt them.
It’s not worth checking out.Ivy’s words rang in my ears as I watched Henry Marquette take a seat across the courtyard at lunch. He hadn’t spoken to me once since he’d told me about his father. Asher cast a glance at me but took a seat next to Henry.
“Has Ivy found anything?” Vivvie asked me. It was just the two of us at our table—the way it had been before all this had started.
“I don’t know.” I wished I had something to tell her, but Ivy had spent the past few days locked in her office, going over filesshe’d brought back from Arizona. I had no idea what kind of files they were. All I knew was that she’d brought boxes of them back—and I’d barely seen her since that night in my room.
