Page 81 of Shadowed Agenda

They had it terribly, terribly wrong. Wila wasn’t the target. It was the Senator. His wife had set him up. Blaine was going to kill the Senator.

Regan turned to Blaine. He had a gun in his hand. The carry-on case sat off to the side, the top open.

The Senator took in the gun and turned to Regan. “Who are you?”

“Regan Christenson, sir. I’m a well-known author. Your aide kidnapped me. They used me to get him in.” She waved her hand at Blaine.

“Gage?” the Senator looked at his aide. “What the hell is she talking about?”

“Just shut up and sit down, Lane,” Wila said, taking her seat again. “This is your damn fault, you old fool.”

“Wila?” Uncertainty crept in the Senator’s face. “You’re involved in this?” He turned to look at his aide. “Gage?”

A moment of uncomfortable silence passed as he processed the betrayal.

“Why?” He looked at his wife.

“They don’t like the changes you’ve made to your platform.”

“So, they’ve decided to what? Kill me?” The Senator scoffed and threw up his hands. “This is ridiculous. They could just withdraw their support.”

“You’d run as an independent.”

“Damn right I would,” Senator Aster growled. “I wouldn’t leave the people I represent without a voice.”

“You’d win. They couldn’t have that. It would upset their plans,” Wila replied and sighed. “I warned you there’d be repercussions if you didn’t back down. I begged you to wait until you were in the White House before you started rocking the boat.”

“Rocking the boat? I’m speaking for the people.” The Senator looked at her, perplexed. “Wila, why would you go along with something like this?”

“Because I’m tired of being referred to as Senator Aster’s wife,” she spat. “I was the one who did the research at the start of your career to develop your platform, your identity as the nation’s leader. I was the one who went door to door with brochures and spoke at parent-school meetings promoting you.”

“The Senator’s financial backers have decided to support you.” Regan turned to Wila as everything fell into place. “If the Senator dies in office, the Governor won’t hesitate to appoint you as his replacement. The public already believes you’re the driving force behind his campaigns. I’m guessing it was you who came up with the moniker Wilalane.”

“It didn’t take you long to figure it out,” Wila said, smiling at Regan.

“They’d control the country if you were president,” Regan said.

“President wasn’t the original plan, but I’m not unhappy with the unexpected change,” she said and shrugged her shoulders. “The plan was for Nicholas to be elected president. I’d be his running mate. He would still be alive if you hadn’t convinced him to speak to Lane about the threats.”

“You killed him?” Regan stared at the woman. “Why?”

“We were keeping him out of it. Nicholas would never have gone along with our plans. He was devoted to Lane and would have done everything to stop us. There was no need to know how we paved the road to his presidency.”

Nicholas hadn’t been involved in the scheme to assassinate Senator Aster. He’d seen Regan’s arrival in New York as an opportunity to change the custody agreement.

“He loved you and wanted to try again, despite what you thought,” Wila said, pity for Regan in her eyes. “Our original plan hadn’t included killing you. We believed you would have made the perfect first lady.”

Regan’s flesh crawled as she stared at Wila. Her hand slipped inside the crossbody’s exterior pouch. “Self-fulfillment is not what you’re seeking. Power is what you’re after, and it will always be out of your grasp. The decisions you make that affect our country will never be yours. Your financial backers will own you. You’ll be their puppet, nothing more.”

“Enough talk.” Wila waved her hand dismissively. “A group no one has heard of will announce they had used you to get to the Senator. People will grieve both his tragic death and yours.”

Wila looked at her husband. “I’m sorry, Lane. You should have listened to me.”

“Wila, you can’t be serious.” The Senator’s eyes widened as Blaine raised his gun.

Regan lunged at the assassin, the hunting knife clutched in one hand, and pushed him to the ground. The gun flew out of his hand.

Regan raised the knife and plunged it into Blaine’s body. He screamed. She pulled it out and drove it into his body again.