Chapter Five

Kate Reynolds was admitted to the hospital today. Since she was reportedly released several hours later, we hope it wasn’t serious, although according to our sources, her sister Blair came back from Boston to be at her bedside.

—Capital Confessions blog

Kate

“I’m fine. You heard the doctor—it wasn’t even enough to keep me overnight.”

“You had stitches. You were stabbed. You’re not fine,” Blair answered as she settled a blanket over my lap and tucked me into bed.

She’d flown down from Boston where she’d moved with her boyfriend, Gray, calling in a favor from a family friend who had a private plane. Gray came with her, and they’d gotten a hotel in D.C. She’d insisted on staying the weekend to make sure I was okay, and no amount of me telling her I was fine had discouraged her. Gray had gone out to get food and to give us some time together.

I hadn’t been a huge fan of his in the beginning—had been worried that his checkered past wasn’t good for my sister—but I had to admit that I’d been wrong. It was clear that he adored Blair, and whatever his history might have been, it was impossible to think he was anything but devoted to her. Not to mention she was the happiest I’d ever seen her. The time away from D.C. seemed to have been good for her, and she looked so much more relaxed, free from the intrusive media eye.

We’d grown up in the limelight here in D.C. thanks to our father’s position in the Senate and my mother’s thirst for social and political power. I’d given up trying to be the poster child for the perfect American dynasty a long time ago, but the expectations had always been higher for Blair so it was good to see her stepping out from their influence and finding a life that worked for her.

I winced as Blair fluffed the pillows behind me, the act of sitting up hurting my aching side. They’d given me the good pain drugs so it was only a dull ache, but it was enough to make me uncomfortable.

She sat down next to me on the bed. “You don’t know how scary it was to get that call.”

“I’m sorry.”

Given my relationship with my parents, Blair had seemed like the best person to use as my emergency contact. I was close with Jackie, but it wasn’t the same as twenty-two years of being sisters, even if things were still a little weird with Blair right now. Even if the shame of what I’d done, the secrets I’d shared, hit me every single time I looked at her.

“The police said they would be in contact with you to follow up on your statement,” Blair continued.

I nodded, already dreading that conversation. I couldn’t exactly be candid about what had been stolen, and since nothing else was taken, my only option was to claim that it had been an aborted mugging-gone-bad. They’d asked for a description of my attacker, but I hadn’t been able to give any information on that, either. Whoever had stolen the file had been a pro; I hadn’t even realized what had happened until it was too late.

Part of me thought about involving the police, but I couldn’t do it without implicating myself or exposing the fact that Matt was alive. And whoever was after this information was clearly someone with a lot of resources and probably even more connections. It wasn’t a leap to think that they might have someone in the police department on their payroll. And it wasn’t like I could cut a deal, because now I didn’t have any proof, and the proof I’d had hadn’t exactly been enough to convict anyone.

And where the hell was Matt?

“So do you know what happened after I fainted?” I asked Blair, trying to keep my voice nonchalant.

Had he been there? Did he try to help? Did he find whoever attacked me?

“The police said that some guy got to you and stopped the bleeding. I guess he had medical training or something. He left when the paramedics arrived. They were hoping to get his witness statement as well.”

So he had been there.

Blair reached out, her hand gripping mine. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”

I squeezed her fingers, a lump forming in my throat. I knew I couldn’t undo the damage I’d done to her, but I prayed that one day we could put everything behind us and move forward. I probably didn’t deserve her forgiveness, but there were some bonds that were unbreakable. She was my sister, and no matter what, I’d always love her.

“You aren’t going to lose me. Promise.”

I wasn’t sure it was a promise I could keep, but the last thing I wanted to do was cause Blair more worry and pain.

She forced a smile, the curve of her lips at odds with the sadness in her eyes.

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

I matched her smile, wondering if my poker face failed as much as hers. “Deal.”

“By the way, I called your work and told them what happened.”

I’d completely forgotten that I’d called in sick. I wasn’t sure how I was going to explain that I’d been too sick to go to work, but not too sick to be out on the streets.

Blair’s lips twitched. “Don’t worry. I told them you were on your way to the drugstore to get meds for your cold.”

“Thanks for that one. Getting fired immediately after starting my job probably wouldn’t be the best thing. I like having money to buy food and keep a roof over my head.”

She grinned. “No problem. I kind of felt like a badass lying to the CIA.”

I laughed.

“By the way, why did you call in sick? You’re feeling okay, right?”

It was getting hard to keep all of the lies straight in my head.

“Yeah, I was just a little down.” I shrugged, the motion bringing more pain to my side. “My birthday’s always hard.”

“I know.”

I felt awful lying to her, but I didn’t know what to say. Part of me wanted to tell Blair about Matt—she’d loved him, too, and I trusted her to keep his secret—and at the same time, it wasn’t my secret to tell. And I couldn’t stand the idea of someone after her, too.

“Jackie was sorry she couldn’t be here,” Blair added. “Will had an appearance tonight and she needed to be there with him. She offered to cancel, but I told her not to worry about it since I was here. But she’ll be around if you need her when I go back to Boston on Sunday night.”

“Thanks. Honestly, it’s not that big of a wound. I feel stupid that I even fainted; I’m sure I’ll be okay.”

“You lost a lot of blood; they had to stitch you up. It kind of is a big deal.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Blair hesitated for a second. “Mom and Dad both called to see how you were doing.”

I didn’t speak to either one of my parents; even though Blair had definitely distanced herself from our family, she clearly hadn’t completely cut ties with them, which given her frequent role as peacemaker wasn’t exactly surprising.

“What did you tell them?”

Was my father calling to see if his associate had finished the job?

“That you’re fine and I’m taking care of you.” She made a face. “It hit Capital Confessions.”

I stifled a groan. “Awesome.”

“Dad mentioned something about cracking down on street crime. Maybe using what happened to you to garner support.”

I fucking knew it. The man never missed an opportunity to push his agenda. Hell, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d engineered the whole thing and still tried to use it to his benefit. My father made Machiavelli look like a giant pussy.

“Happy my misfortune could benefit him.”

She smirked. “If that isn’t the Reynolds family motto, I don’t know what is.”

“I’m surprised he even cares about street crime—or thinks it’s worth it to pretend to. Has he turned over a new leaf? Worrying about the peons now?”

“I don’t know. I’ve given up trying to predict what the hell his agenda is. I could spend the rest of my life never hearing about politics and be happy.”

We’d both been political science majors in undergrad, but whereas Blair had done it to make our father happy, I genuinely loved my major. I didn’t want to go into politics, had no patience for the glad-handing and all the other bullshit that came with elected office, but I did love my work as an analyst.