Part 13 (1/2)
Lauren shoved her arm forcibly between the two men, prying them apart as they reluctantly let go of each other. Doubt crept into the Romanian's face, and he peered closely at Lauren. ”Meg? No, it can't be. Meg's lips are as full, but her taste is a little more-”
”Watch it,” Drew warned.
”Different.” His face cleared as he stepped back from Drew. ”Ahh. Then you must be Lauren.”
”Yes,” she said, surprised. ”How do you know my name?”
”Megan told me, of course.” He turned an amazed look on Drew. ”Are you Jeff?”
”h.e.l.l no,” Drew spat out. ”I'm Drew Creighton.”
”The senator's son? Yes, that makes more sense. From what I've heard, I didn't think Jeff would”-he glanced at Lauren-”be here,” he concluded, which Lauren thought was not what he'd been about to say. ”Where is Meg?”
”In the Virgin Islands,” Lauren said. Then, considering the steamy kiss she'd just received, she emphasized, ”On her honeymoon.”
He made a negating motion with his hand. ”I have heard that rumor. So you don't know where she really is?”
Lauren frowned at his easy dismissal of Meg's claim, but before she could question it, Drew said, ”Why don't you tell us why you think she isn't where she says she is, and why you think she's in danger. And start with your name.”
”Forgive me. I am Michael Dragos.” He shook hands with Drew, then smiled warmly at Lauren. ”I think we have already greeted one another,” he told her.
Drew scowled.
Lauren smiled back self-consciously. It occurred to her that in the past ten minutes she'd been in a pa.s.sionate clinch with both men, neither of whom was her fiance. Maybe she really was a bit drunk.
”How do you know Meg?” Drew asked. At least one of them was thinking clearly.
”We have dated for the past two years.”
”Meg has dated several men during the past two years,” Drew told him. ”And she married my father.”
Dragos waved Meg's marriage aside. ”No, that is what they want you to believe. She is in love with me.”
Lauren exchanged quick glances with Drew. The man sounded like an obsessed ex-lover. ”She never mentioned you,” Lauren told him cautiously.
Dragos nodded, unfazed. ”Michael is the Americanized version of my name. Meg would have referred to me by my real name, Mihaly. That is what she calls me.”
”You're Mihaly?” She turned to Drew. ”There is a Mihaly, a guy she keeps going back to between other men. She seemed pretty hung up on him.”
Drew looked at him skeptically. ”Doesn't sound like love to me.”
”Meg is in denial,” Mihaly told them, shaking his head with regret. ”She has difficulties with the concept of love but, fortunately for her, I am a patient man. However, she is putting herself in danger, and that that is straining my patience.” is straining my patience.”
Lauren watched him run his hand through his dark hair and decided that her sister was an even bigger idiot than she'd suspected. Meg was skittish about love, but if her sister was risking the devotion of this gorgeous hunk of a man by fooling around with other guys, even rich United States senators, she was out of her mind. Anyone who would tolerate Meg's flings while patiently waiting out her ”difficulties” with commitment was either crazy or truly in love with her.
Lauren decided she trusted Mihaly. She also decided that he would never learn of the photos of Meg and the blond stud.
In a burst of sobriety, Lauren remembered their reason for their meeting. ”When you called you told me Meg was in danger. Why do you think that?”
He gestured at the chairs and they all sat, but no one looked comfortable. Mihaly was on the edge of his seat, leaning toward them as he spoke.
”I returned from Bucharest yesterday and discovered that someone had broken into both my emba.s.sy office and my apartment. Believe me, these are impressive feats. Nothing was taken, but someone went through all my personal papers-letters, pictures, expense accounts, anything having to do with my personal life. It was a professional job, bypa.s.sing alarms and opening deadbolt locks.”
Drew listened impa.s.sively. ”If nothing was taken, how can you be sure someone broke in?”
Mihaly gave him a direct look. ”I know these things.”
Drew narrowed his eyes, and Lauren realized what Mihaly had meant-he had more than a pa.s.sing acquaintance with espionage.
”I don't see how breaking into your apartment puts Megan in danger,” she said.
”They disabled the alarms, but they didn't bother with the security cameras,” Mihaly said, his accent making each word precise. ”The man entered with his gun drawn and checked the rooms before he searched the place. He spoke into a wireless microphone and said, in English, 'She's not here.' Before he left, he asked his partner if he'd found anything in the Maxima.”
Lauren bit her lip. ”Meg drives a Nissan Maxima.”
Drew seemed not to hear her. ”You have security cameras inside inside your apartment?” he asked. ”And audio?” your apartment?” he asked. ”And audio?”
Mihaly turned an expressionless gaze on him.
Drew stared back, his eyes hard and calculating. ”Perhaps the danger to Meg has something to do with your profession,” he said.
”Perhaps,” Mihaly admitted. ”But I don't think so. The man seemed to be interested only in things pertaining to Meg.”
”What did the guy look like?” Lauren asked. ”Did he have a large, hawkish nose? Or wear a trench coat?”
Mihaly looked confused. ”No, no trench coat. He wore a ski mask, so all I could tell was that he was a tall white man with long hair, possibly blond. Some of it stuck out from beneath the mask.
Her gaze darted to Drew's in alarm. He shook his head, and she stayed silent, but felt chills creep over her back. If it was the same blond guy who had costarred with Meg in the photos, then they obviously knew about Mihaly and her sister had had been set up. Meg might be in more danger than she realized. been set up. Meg might be in more danger than she realized.
Mihlay had reached a similar conclusion. ”I didn't recognize him, but that only means he's probably not CIA, because I know most of them. Meg is still in danger. And if Lauren is mistaken for Meg,” he paused to look directly at Drew, ”she is in danger, too.”
Suddenly, enjoying the Was.h.i.+ngton social scene while pa.s.sing as Meg wasn't as much fun anymore.
Drew apparently had the same thought. ”Let's get you home,” he said, offering his hand.
Mihaly stood too. ”You will call me if you hear from Meg?” He offered Drew his card.
”If you'll do the same,” Drew agreed. ”Or if you learn anything about Meg and my father.”
They left Mihaly standing with his hands jammed into his pockets, a worried look creasing his brow and tightening his mouth. His distress seemed sincere; Lauren flashed a sympathetic smile before the door closed. The possibility that her sister might have a future with Mihaly Dragos intrigued Lauren and made Meg's marriage to Senator Creighton look even more like a lie.
”Do you think Mihaly is a spy?” she asked Drew.
”Ssh, not so loud.” He pulled her against him as they walked through the people mingling in the wide corridor. ”The term is intelligence agent, and yes, I think he is. Or was. I don't know what his position with the emba.s.sy is now.” He steered her to the coat check room. ”Now that we've talked to him, I think we should get out of here. I don't like the idea of you posing as Meg when those guys have already zeroed in on her connection to Dragos.”
He was being protective again. Since she seemed to need it, she wasn't about to object.