The Test (2 page)

The vestibule was crammed with flowers and people. Conrad disliked crowds, but he calmed himself, nodded to fellow attendees, and wended his way toward the Parnell family. He found Ashley standing between her sisters. One was definitely older, and fat compared to Ashley. The other, who Welton knew from his research was a professional
model, had that typical emaciated look. All three women wore black dresses and wide-brimmed black hats as they greeted the snaking line of mourners. Welton joined the procession, noting how the chubby sister slowed the process down, sharing the details of the old man's death, singing the praises of the hospice. Waiting to get to Ashley, he got a good look at the skinny sister. She didn't look anything like the glamourous photos he'd seen on the Internet. Leaning heavily on Ashley, she was either consumed with grief or she was stoned. The latter, he surmised.

Murmuring, “I'm sorry,” Welton passed along the family in the line of mourners. When he stood in front of Ashley, he paused long enough to make sure she recognized him. This time she wore no glasses, he noted. Reaching to press her hand, he was rewarded with a gentle squeeze. He then abruptly left the cathedral, the stench raised by so many flowers sickening him.

The adulation of the masses, including the press, for the overprivileged, self-absorbed, pompous dead man disgusted Welton. All these people wanted a piece of the Parnell influence and money. Even a scrap would do. Well, no scraps for him, he had much more in mind.

Escaping the cathedral before the service began, Conrad had to step aside to avoid brushing against one of the two Parnell brothers, Senator Frank Parnell, junior U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, Ashley's half brother. The senator's face was flushed and his jaw clenched. An expression of anger, not grief, Conrad surmised. He was tempted to follow the senator back inside the cathedral, but the sickening floral odor deterred him.

As Welton retreated, his attention was directed to a stage-whispered conversation between a sophisticated-looking woman, whom he recognized from his Internet search as Meredith Parnell, the senator's wife, and a partner in one of Philadelphia's most prestigious law firms, and a frail old man with very black hair.

“Frank's upset, Carl,” said the Parnell woman, as if defending a petulant child. “He expected Paul to be buried next to his own mother, not Vivian.”

“What can I say?” The old man's shoulders slumped further forward. “Paul and Vivian were married for twenty-three years. It's been thirty-seven years since Frank's mother, Kay, died. It's what Paul stipulated.”

Welton knew exactly what this overheard tiff was all about. Which wife to be buried next to: wife number one or wife number two?

“I know there's nothing that you can do, but Frank is irate,” the woman said. “Maybe after the will is squared away this afternoon, Frank'll come out of his funk.”

As Welton turned to watch the senator's wife and the old man return to the family, he noticed a look of panic flash across the face of the other Parnell brother, who must be Daniel, the oldest of Paul's children, reported to be a recluse in Florida. Following Daniel's troubled gaze, Conrad observed two dark-haired women, both attractive, one younger than the other, and a young man enter through a side door. Not much to note in and of itself. But why did the Parnell brother look like he'd seen a ghost? So much to learn about these Parnells. And learn he would.

J
ANUARY
2001

Meredith and Frank Parnell, their daughter between them, rode in the stretch limousine from the cemetery to the Parnell home in Devon, on Philadelphia's Main Line.

“What a shame we can't have a gathering at the house,” Meredith mused. “At least for the VIPs.”

“Darling, you're nonstop when it comes to political opportunities.”

Meredith reached over the little girl to take Frank's hand. “Every single vote counts. Just ask Al Gore.”

It was no secret that Meredith was the brains behind Frank's political career. And Frank didn't deny it, basking as he did in her unabashed love for him, her extraordinary intelligence, and her unfailing political street smarts.

“Dad had his own agenda. Who would have guessed that he'd mandate the family return to the homestead immediately after the burial service to read the will?”

“He spent a lot of time behind closed doors before he died,” Meredith said. “Ever notice that when men get older, they get more reluctant to talk to their kids about their money? I only wish he'd named me executor.”

“Surprised me. Dad respected you. I don't know what got into him at the end. Maybe it's all in a trust and you'll get to be trustee. If not—”

“What are you guys talking about?” Elise grabbed both of her parents' hands and shook them.

“Just grown-up talk, honey,” Meredith said, patting the seven-year-old's curly brown hair.

“Will you tell the driver to hurry? I want to get there the same time as my cousins.”

Frank and Meredith rolled their eyes. The “cousins,” not real cousins, but Paul had always insisted that Rory be treated like a Parnell. Rory, the daughter of Paul's second wife, had been twelve years old, and Frank had been fourteen, when their father married Vivian Barricelli and she and her daughter had moved into the house.

“Thank God, Dad never legally adopted Rory,” Frank said, not responding to Elise.

Rory was married to a family doctor; they had five kids; they'd adopted three more. Thus the “cousins” that Elise so adored. Rory's reputation as a saint had long been a thorn in Frank's side.

“She may fool the rest of the world, but I've always known Rory for what she is, a leech trying to take what belongs to the Parnell family. And she spent a heck of a lot of time with Dad at the end,” Frank said, strumming his fingers on the leather upholstery. “If Dad included—”

“Frank, not now.” Meredith raised half-moon eyebrows. “We've been over that. Paul knew what we'll need and he wanted it for us. He took care of your senatorial race. He'll have taken care of your political future.”

Meredith was right. That had been a shared dream—hers, his, and Paul's. Frank, president of the United States. Best case scenario: follow the second term of George W. In 2008, Frank would be forty-nine. Simply put, to make that happen, he needed the enormous amount of money now at stake.

“For now, be gracious,” she advised. “Just act nice to everybody. No matter what happens, don't blow up. The media's still hanging around the family.”

“You're a strange one to be giving me advice on ‘being nice.' Your tolerance level for my family is zero.”

“Except I always respected your dad,” she said. And Frank knew that to be true.

For the rest of the trip, Meredith chatted with Elise. Frank didn't know how she could find so much to say to the kid. For him, Elise was a political prop. A nice enough child, very pretty and always dressed like
she'd stepped from Saks' 'tween department. But Meredith truly loved the little girl and Frank respected that and never felt even the smallest twinge of resentment over the affection he had to share. At least Meredith didn't want more kids. Meredith didn't want Elise to have to share anything.

Frank used the rest of the ride to go over in his head the most pressing congressional issues. The screwed-up election in Florida was making Washington crazy. Bush was still not confirmed, although he was about to announce his cabinet nominees. The senate was looking at a 50-50 split. The Democrats had vowed to fight John Ashcroft's confirmation as attorney general. Committee chairs up for grabs. Politics in chaos. On top of that, a gunman had killed seven people in a Philadelphia row house and Mayor Street wanted Frank to join him for a press conference.

As Meredith and Elise chatted and Frank pondered, the car phone rang. The driver answered. “For you, Senator. Mr. Cleveland.”

Matt Cleveland, Frank's young staffer and confidant, managed his calendar, making all decisions about allocating his time between the unending demands from D.C., and those back home in Pennsylvania.

“Bad weather tonight, Senator,” Matt announced. The copter can't go. The Lear may make it out, but you'll have to take off out of Wings Field. Of course, if you're not in D.C. tomorrow, everybody will understand.”

The car had arrived at the Parnell estate and lingered in the circular drive. “I'd like to get back tonight,” Frank said. “But we just arrived at the house and I have to stay for the will. Call later with more specifics.”

As the driver came around to usher them out, Frank wondered what would happen to this stately mansion. Surely Dad would have willed it to Ashley. She still lived here, commuting to medical school at the University of Pennsylvania. Commuting via chauffeur, that is. Ashley, overprivileged, but so studious. On her way to becoming a doctor, just like her mom. Taking everything in life for granted. Frank doubted if she'd ever paid a single bill. Now she'd end up with the house, the cars, and the Mendoza couple to wait on her. Dad would have figured that no one else needed the house. Dan lived on a farm in Florida. Frank and Meredith
had an estate on a horse farm in Bucks County; Rory had her place in Doylestown; Carla stayed at the Parnell apartment in Manhattan. That left Ashley. Too bad, it would have brought a bundle on the market.

With Elise between them, Frank and Meredith headed inside the house where all four of the Parnell children had grown up—not counting Rory, the interloper. The skies were still blue, no sign of the snow that had been predicted.

Once inside the house, Mr. and Mrs. Mendoza, caretakers of the Parnell estate for over thirty years, murmured condolences and took their coats. Meredith turned Elise over to Mrs. M., instructing her to have the child join the Stevens' kids in the game room. Frank could hear the unruly chaos of kids chasing each other, squealing and giggling. You'd think that just this one day, Rory would insist on a modicum of decorum, but no, she believed in unfettered children at all times.

Frank took inventory of the priceless artwork displayed around the mansion, wondering absently whether he would dispose of Vivian's favorites, the Monets and Sisilys, and convert them into money. Dad had certainly indulged that woman. His own mother, Kay, had come from money, but Vivian had worked her way through medical school, a single mother and a cardiologist when she'd met Paul. For the millionth time, Frank thanked God that Vivian had died before Dad. He could only imagine the fiasco if she had been left with financial control.

Frank and Meredith entered the living room hand in hand. With a stab of pride, Frank marveled at Meredith's style: slim designer dress, black stockings, Ferragamo shoes with just enough of a heel to show off her legs. He'd often considered that her nose was a hint too large for her thin, oval face, but her large brown eyes, creamy complexion, and auburn hair swept dramatically off to one side more than compensated for that single imperfection.

Frank assessed those in the room. His brother, Dan, and Chandler Stevens, Rory's husband, chatted by the fireplace. Although older than Frank by three years, Dan was held in poor regard by his brother. Dan had dropped out of college and dropped out of family affairs, and Frank could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen his reclusive brother in the past ten years. Frank had to admit that both he and Dan were aging well. Tall, slim, wavy sandy-brown hair. Jack and Bobby
Kennedy look-alikes, people used to say. But unlike Jack and Bobby, Frank and Dan shared no common interests. Frank supposed that Dan would split as soon as the will was read. Dan had no interest in the family and no interest in the family's money.

Across the room, Ashley and Rory were speaking in low tones. Frank couldn't hear what they were saying, but he did note how horrible Rory looked. Eyes puffy, a frumpy dress that hung like a bag on her body, hair unstyled, no attempt at makeup. As Frank led Meredith toward them, Meredith leaned into whisper, “Rory could use a makeover.”

“She's in bad shape,” Ashley was saying to Rory. “Her drug habit is out of control.”

They were discussing Carla, Frank's youngest sister, half sister really. Not wanting to join that conversation, Frank changed course, letting go of Meredith's hand. The front door opened and he heard the voice of his uncle, Sean Cardinal Parnell. For a moment, Frank felt disoriented. If it weren't for the black clerical garb and the scarlet sash, the cardinal could have been his dad striding into the room. When they were kids, they'd been mistaken for twins even though Paul was two years older than Sean. Frank had been very close to his father, but his relationship with his uncle was strained, yet cordial. Meredith was Jewish and that hadn't set well with the cardinal.

“Let's go tell Carl that everybody's here.” Meredith had returned to his side. He knew she just wanted to get this over with, go home to her horses, settle in, and start planning their next political move. Carl Schiller was Paul's best friend, the founding partner of Meredith's law firm and, to Frank's chagrin, the executor of his father's will.

“Frank, before we get started, can I see you for a moment in the library?” Carl said as Frank approached him.

Frank exchanged an annoyed grimace with Meredith, then followed Carl into his dad's paneled oasis. The smell of old leather and pipe tobacco reassured Frank of his father's allegiance. Here is where they'd first plotted the course of his political aspirations.

“Frank,” Carl said immediately. “Just so you know, with Paul's will, I am reading it exactly as he instructed. He left me no latitude. None whatsoever.” Carl extended a frail arm to pat Frank on the arm. “I want you to understand that.”

The old man looked so stooped, much older than seventy-six, and his hands shook with Parkinson's. But his voice still held that rich baritone and Meredith reported that, in the firm's infinite wisdom, he was considered mentally competent.