TailSpin - Catherine Coulter [84]
“I told him I didn’t even have a career to change.
“He laughed, told me I wouldn’t have to concern myself with former employers then, would I?
“I went to see him the next morning. He hired me. Over the years I took on responsibilities, I gained his trust. We became close.” Nichols smiled. “I was his spearhead.” Again, he paused, eyes filling with tears. “I’m sorry, but I know you understand, Rachael.”
“Well, I certainly understand my own pain,” she said. “I expect I’ll feel it for a good long time.”
Nichols glanced at an abstract painting on the far wall, huge red flowers, looking ready to explode. He said, “I certainly understand that. Senator Abbott had charisma in spades. It’s a natural talent, one you really can’t learn. It’s certainly not Senator Jankel’s strong suit, but we’re trying.” He gave them a self-deprecating smile. “Please don’t spread that around, all right? I really don’t want another career change now.”
“Of course not,” Rachael said.
Nichols cocked his head to the side, looked thoughtful. “It’s been so long since I’ve had these concerns, I’d forgotten.
There’s so much to learn. Believe me, Senator Jankel’s likes and dislikes, his beliefs, what’s really important to him, they’re very different from Senator Abbott’s. What else can I tell you, Agent Crowne?”
Jack said, “Since I’m sure your time is running short, Greg, you could cut the bullshit, that’d be good.”
Nichols jumped to his feet, planted his hands on his desk. “What is it you’re implying, Agent Crowne?”
“Greg,” Rachael said, “you and I are both guilty of not telling the investigators the truth. Both of us know Jimmy killed that little girl because he told us individually. And we both know he hadn’t had a drink or driven a car for eighteen months because of it. Both of us remained silent. Neither of us wanted to ruin his good name. Of course, it might have led to your own involvement in the cover-up, but that’s over now.
“I’ve told everyone the truth. It’s time you did, as well. All of it.”
He sat down again, looked at them over his steepled fingers. “When I spoke to the investigators, I did not cover up that the senator had stopped drinking and driving, I simply didn’t emphasize it to the police because I didn’t want the hit-and-run accident eighteen months ago to come out now that Senator Abbott was dead anyway.
“Evidently, the FBI believes the senator was murdered, because he’d stopped drinking and driving. I suppose this was based on what you told them, Rachael?”
“Yes.”
To be honest, that sounds rather feeble to me, surely not enough to make the FBI reopen the case. There must be more.” He looked pointedly at Jack, who only shook his head.
Nichols continued. “I have given this a lot of thought, and I don’t believe he was murdered. No, that doesn’t make sense. I believe he committed suicide. Of course, I haven’t publicized that.
“And then you came to tell me you were going to make your father’s confession for him, you were going to tell the world about it.”
“Yes, that was what I was going to say, what I very well still might say.”
Nichols said, “Do you want to know why he told me he was going public, Rachael?”
The braid momentarily curved around her cheek as she nodded, and Nichols stared at it. He said slowly, “I believe Senator Abbott told me because he wanted me to talk him out of doing it.”
Jack said, “That’s an interesting theory. Care to tell us what you said to him?”
“I told him it was the worst possible mistake to go public about killing the little girl because the media would devour him, make him into their monster of the month. He wasn’t a monster and never would be, but that’s how it would end up. The