Page 91 of Caleb
He stalks away, and I follow him to his office in ominous silence.
“You’ll have to excuse me,” he says, motioning for me to step inside. “It’s a mess in here.” This space is a tad smaller than the one in the embassy around the block, and unlike the crispness of that office, this one smells of tobacco, old books, wood, and musky air freshener.
Almost everything is packed into cardboard boxes that have been appropriately labeled for whoever’s in charge of carrying them out tomorrow, but it’s nowhere near being a mess. The office is stunning, as every corner of the Residence is.
Ambassador Murphy takes a seat on the rich brown leather chair behind the antique desk and offers a limp wave, encouraging me to do the same. “I take it you haven’t talked to her,” he says, breaking the ice with a sledgehammer. “Since she hasn’t come to me to complain about it.”
“I haven’t, sir.”
“See that you do as soon as the party is over.” He sniffs and pours himself a scotch. “You’re dangling too close to the deadline.”
I swallow and nod. I must admit that sitting in front of him is making me second guess myself, but I need to either go for the jugular or don’t attempt this at all. If he senses even the tiniest shred of hesitation in my plan, I’m fucked.
“So what can I do for you, Caleb?” He rests his elbows on the armrests, threading his fingers over his stomach.
“Mr. Thomas Hill contacted your daughter today, as I’m sure you’ve become aware, displaying interest in seeing her once she’s back in New York. But I have my concerns about him. There were several things I spotted in his behavior the day they met that I didn’t appreciate, and I just wanted to pass this information along as a precaution.”
Ambassador Murphy shoots me with an unimpressed gaze. “Thomas is Senator Hill’s son. I’ve known their family for years now, so I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. But I appreciate the concern.” He takes a sip of his scotch and clicks his tongue.
“I would insist on at least a simple background check,” I say. “I know that if I were to go to New York, I’d keep an eye out on that kid. The aggressive behavior he displayed at the bar that night worried me. And the fact that he so conveniently met your daughter that night? I found it too much of a coincidence. Suspicious if you ask me.”
“What aggressive behavior?” That piques his interest. He leans in and pulls himself closer to the desk with narrowed eyes. “Why wasn’t I informed about this?”
“I believe it was on the report we handed in the following morning, sir,” I tell him. “A drunk man bumped against Miss Murphy at the bar, almost knocked her down, and Mr. Hill got pretty fired up about it to the point that your daughter had to calm him down. We were a few steps away from them, ensuring her safety, of course.”
“Calm him down, how?” He dips his chin, his green eyes going dark with each passing second.
“I saw her placing a hand on his chest and trying to get him to look at her while she spoke to him, trying to get him to drop it, I suppose. And he did, but I found it odd and thought he was overreacting, especially since they’d just met minutes before that happened,” I explain. “We can’t be too careful. I would advise on a background check and close monitoring in the event that he does reach out to her in New York.”
“I’ll talk to Aaron about a background check.” He drains his scotch. “And I hope you’re not exaggerating, Caleb. You can’t deny part of this conversation stems from jealousy.”
I snort. “This goes beyond any feelings I may or may not have,” I say honestly. “All I care about is the safety and wellbeing of your daughter. That’s why I’m here to ask if you would reconsider giving me the opportunity to go to New York and keep her safe from situations like these or any other that might arise.”
He blows out a breath and rubs the back of his neck. “That is not open for negotiation. We had an agreement, and I expect you to honor it word-for-word.”
“I get it. You don’t like me. We can get that out of the way, but don’t let her suffer for it. Yes, your daughter and I are friends, but there’s nothing more to it. And if anyone knows how to take care of her, it’s me. And you know it. She would benefit by surrounding herself with people she can trust. Especially during the transition of moving back to New York, having to make new friends, and dealing with young men like Mr. Hill.”
“I’m sorry, Caleb. My decision is final.” He lifts his wrist and checks the hour on his watch, his not-so-subtle way of letting me know I’m running out of time before he “kindly” invites me to leave. “Besides, I’ve seen the way you look at her, and you can’t deny you see her as more than a friend.”
“Is it the same way you look at Annette?” My heart is pounding so hard against my chest that I’m afraid it’ll make me fall to my knees. But I need to make my intentions known. And I need to say it loud and clear for him to understand that this will not be an amicable conversation. Not if I can help it.
“Excuse me?” He almost chokes on his words. We’re past the pleasantries, the formality, the cordiality, and honestly, this is bigger than me and bigger than him. This is about Red, so I will roll in the mud with him for a few rounds if necessary. If it’ll get me my job back.
“What do you say we do this your way?” I cross my arms and rest my forearms on the desk so our faces are closer. “I go to New York, and you can whip up one of your contracts where I promise not to tell your daughter about how her father cheated on her mother. And the real reason why she’s living on her own. That it’s not about you trusting her but about wanting to have the apartment for yourself and your extracurricular activities.”
He laughs as if our exchange was amusing to him and reclines back in his seat.
“I gotta give it to you, Caleb. You’ve got some balls,” he says, easing out from a laugh. “I respect you for fighting for what you want. And your plan seems well thought out and all, but I was already planning on talking to my daughter about Annette. And I’m sure she’ll be happy to know her father is happy. And there is no way to confirm the affair. So it’ll be your word against mine, and you’ll be so far away by then you won’t be able to convince her otherwise.”
I cock my head to the side. “I wonder if she’ll be equally happy to learn about Agent Mark.”
He slaps the table with the palm of his hand and blasts off from his seat.
That’s right, motherfucker. My plan doesn’t “seem” well thought out ... it actually is. But I admit its success depends on how many more secrets and aces under his sleeve he has to counter me with.
“Don’t you fucking dare bring Agent Mark into this!” He points a furious, shaky finger at me. The vein running along his forehead is outlined in an unhealthy way against his skin, and his neck is red from the outburst of emotion he’s displaying. Who knew the mention of Agent Mark would be the leading cause of throwing years of diplomacy out the window without a second thought.
“I don’t want to, Mr. Ambassador,” I say in a calm, collected tone. His screaming and finger-pointing do nothing to move me from my center. The ambassador ain’t got nothing on the commanding officers back in Israel. One can easily tell he’s mostly spent his time behind a desk. But I haven’t. He can throw a full-blown tantrum my way, and I won’t even blink. “But you need to understand that if I can’t keep my job, I’ll see that she finds out about everything. Something happens to me? She gets all the information.”
