Running for congress
If another person had said what Gilbert Dankworth just said, Myra would have laughed till tears rolled down her cheeks.
But this was Gilbert Dankworth. He was no jester.
“What?”
“Yes. You are above twenty-five, smart and have a lot of achievements from your short time in the force. You can do it.”
“What?” She could not help repeating.
“You can do it, Miss Shaw.”
“How does that help anything?” She asked, now suspicious of this man.
Was he just trying to use her to further his political ambition?
She frowned, because therein lies the problem.
This was more than political ambition, and if there was any way of stopping that bill from being passed, she would do it even though she was being used.
As long as he had no other secret agenda.
She stared at him now, waiting for an answer.
“Cal was supposed to do it. He would have run against your father and even a child knows who would have won.”
He grimaced and looked away.
“But now, even if he woke up today, he would not have recovered in time to contest.”
Myra looked away as she felt tears begin to sting her eyes.
They were quiet for sometime while she thought.
This had always been her dream, to work in a place where she could have real influence over helping the disadvantaged.
And after what her father and Aiden did, she realized she was still powerless to do anything, even as a cop.
That had strengthened her determination to go higher, but even then her dreams were not so big.
She thought she would be a prosecutor. But now?
A congresswoman? That was not even real.
Who the hell would vote for her?
Well. That was not true. Women would vote for her, her generation would vote for her, and if she was backed by someone like Gilbert Dankworth, men would vote for her too.
“Do you remember what I told you that night at my brother’s house?” She heard the congressman’s voice, and she turned her eyes back to him.
How could she forget? “You said I would be good for Cal.”
The man smiled widely now. “I did not expect you to remember.”
“It was the weirdest thing you could have said, so I spent a lot of time thinking about it,” She said, and could not help smiling a little now.
The man smiled, and nodded. “I saw the fire in your eyes when you thought you would drag us all corrupt Dankworths to jail.” He said, and Myra blushed, looking away in embarrassment.
“And I saw how serious you were about finding the truth, and getting justice. I thought you would definitely be a good influence on Cal and encourage him to get into politics.”
“What? I had no such influence over him.”
“Oh. I knew you would both get into a relationship. I just did not know when,” the old man said, relaxing back in his seat.
“Don’t look so shocked now. Even a blind person could have seen you were both in love.”
Myra felt her face grow hot as she looked down at her hands.
What the hell did he mean by love?
She was attracted to Cal and could not imagine life without him anymore because he made her happy and had given her much-needed peace.
But love?
“I did not mean to embarrass you,” the man said quietly. “But yes, I thought you would be all the support Cal needed to run.”
He stopped.
“I had no idea at the time you were a better candidate.”
Myra looked up now with a squint. “Cal has a better record than me, and he is much smarter.”
“And less interested in running,” Gilberth Dankworth said. “I realize now that I was trying to force my desires on him this whole time. “But I don’t believe that is the case with you. Is it?”
Myra shook her head.
If this was another mission, she would be way more enthusiastic about it than she had been about any other thing in her life.
“My father would not let this slide. This would be the perfect opportunity to reveal what I did to the world.”
“Not when he knows you can do the same to him. He has everything to lose, whereas this might as well be another little project for you.”
“Would that not make him even more vicious and willing to fight dirty? This is his very last shot at becoming a congressman.”
Gilbert Dankworth shook his head.
“It’s not. He is tenacious and would keep trying till his last year on earth.”
“So we would just be holding a knife at each other's throat with the evidence we have on ourselves.”
Gilbert Dankworth laughed at this, “Better than to let him through on a red carpet, don’t you think?” He smiled gently at her now, “Besides, you do not have to worry about your name.”
He leaned forward and tapped the copy of Valentina’s diary in front of her.
“This is done. The only reason we are not working with this to close the case right now is because of Cal.”
“But we don’t know when he will wake up.” A sob caught in her throat. “I would tell him right now if I could.”
“Then you’d be killing him. You are the only person he has loved besides Cassie all his life.”
Myra could not meet the old man’s face anymore as she felt deep shame.
“I have faith that Cal will recover quickly,” Gilbert Dankworth said, but even his voice shook as he said that, “As soon as you have told him, we will make it public that you are running for congress. You would have a late start campaigning, but with Sutherland's team, you’ll do just fine.”
“My grandfather is involved in this?” Her mouth was wide open.
“Oh, yes. He is quite invested in the idea.” Then he turned to look at her. “Don’t give your father any more thoughts. We’ll handle him and he will back off. The only thing he can do to hurt you now is hack at your relationship with Cal. Don’t give him an opportunity to.”
Myra looked down at her fingers and back up at the old man.
“I told him I was off the case yesterday during an altercation and threatened to use the media against him.”
“He probably does not believe you can see that through, so do nothing more and let him assume.” The old man said, and Myra furrowed her brows.
Now it made sense why her father had not filed a case against her yet, and even Greg did not know about that altercation till she told him.
“So I should let him believe I am still on the mission.”
“What other reason would you have for staying in Cal’s house? He would definitely know you are there.”
Myra nodded. Now that she was the person solely responsible for Nova, she was practically going to be living in the penthouse.
She checked her watch and saw she would have to leave soon if she planned to not be late for pickup.
“What do you think about that diary?” She asked. “I do not know who that boy on the rooftop is, or who the big man is that took the gig for Mr Steels.”
“The big man? That is definitely your father, Miss Shaw.”