Summer Rain (Lightning Strikes Book 3) by Barbara Freethy Page A

not all dull. I get to go to some cool parties. There's one tomorrow night, in fact—a gala at the Dunsmuir Hotel."
    "Really? Who gets to go to that?"
    "All the power players."
    "Senator Dillon?"
    She saw the gleam in his eyes. "You're not going, Patrick."
    "He's going to be there, isn't he?"
    "Possibly."
    "Who else? Congressman Parker?"
    "I don't know. It's a big gala. There will be a mix of politicians, press, and lobbyists as well as staffers like me. It's also a fundraiser for public schools in DC, so not just a party."
    "You have to get me in, Dani."
    "I thought you said you weren't going to ask me for any more favors."
    "One last favor, and you don't have to take me; you just have to get me a ticket."
    "I don't know if I can."
    "Will you try?"
    He was a really hard man to say no to, especially when he looked at her with such an earnest plea in his eyes. "I'll see if there's an extra ticket, but if you go, you cannot talk to me."
    "I can make my own way as long as you get me in the door. You won't regret it."
    "I'm already regretting it. If Erica or the senator were to find out that I helped you ambush him—"
    "I'm not going to attack him, Dani; I'll just say a friendly hello. I'll charm him, make him realize I'm no threat to his political ambitions."
    "But you are a threat. And I didn't need Joe to remind me of that." She sighed. "What am I doing?"
    "You're not doing anything. You're just helping a friend."
    "Are we friends?"
    "I'd like to think so. You did save my life. In some cultures, that makes you responsible for it."
    "I've never understood that saying. It seems like once I saved you my responsibility should be over. If anything, you should be watching out for me."
    He smiled. "We'll watch out for each other."
    Rico Montalvo stopped by the table. A Hispanic man of medium height, Rico was an attractive forty-something-year-old man with jet-black hair and dark eyes, eyes that were already a little suspicious.
    "Hello. Can I help you? Is there something wrong?" he asked.
    "Not at all," Patrick replied. "We were wondering if we might speak to you for a moment. Joe Gelbman gave us your name."
    Patrick's words did little to ease the tension in Montalvo's eyes.
    "It will just take a minute," Dani put in, giving him a reassuring smile.
    "I'm not in politics anymore," Rico said, as he sat down at the table. "And if Joe sent you, then it has to be about that."
    "My name is Patrick Kane. Jackie Kane was my mother. This is my friend, Dani Monroe."
    Dani was happy that Patrick had left off the fact that she worked for Senator Dillon.
    "You were Senator Stuart's press secretary when he died," Patrick continued.
    "I was," Rico said, not elaborating.
    "Was the senator having an affair with my mother?" Patrick said bluntly.
    Rico's eyes widened. "No, of course not."
    "Are you sure? Because I've heard some rumors."
    "They were close friends. But as far as I know, that's all they were."
    "I've heard that in the weeks before their deaths, they were working on something big, that they shared a lot of late nights. Do you know what that was about?"
    "Why are you asking these questions now? It's been eight years since they died," he countered. "Why not let them both rest in peace?"
    "Because I need an answer and the fact that it was so long ago should make it easier for you to give me one," Patrick said. "I want to know if my mother and your old boss were working on something that might have put them in danger. I'm not getting very far with the elected officials who are currently in office, but as you said, you don't work in politics anymore, and I'm hoping that you'll understand the need of a son to find out what happened to his mother and try to help me."
    Rico stared back at him for a long minute. Then he looked over his shoulder, checking the vicinity of the nearby tables and the diners at those tables. Finally, he turned his attention back to them. "They were having a lot of late-night meetings in the two weeks prior to the crash.