Part 23 (1/2)
Lauren parked a quarter mile down the road, where Drew pretended to consult a map. Ten minutes later, the two boys blew past them in the s.h.i.+ny black Jeep.
”About time,” he said, folding the map. ”Let's go.”
Lauren pulled a U-turn and drove back, slowing as she neared the senator's property. The tall iron gates had just come into view when they swung open, and a small station wagon pulled out with two women in the front seat. Drew craned his neck to see the logo on the driver's door.
”Gulf Breeze Clean,” he read aloud. ”Looks like the cleaning service is done for the day. That makes the husband gone with his golf clubs, at least one kid gone with his friend, and the maid service gone. I say we try our luck.”
Lauren nodded and pulled up to the imposing black gates, now closed again.
”Press the b.u.t.ton on the call box,” Drew instructed, moving as close to her and the speaker as the gear s.h.i.+ft allowed.
”We should have switched places,” she said, leaning back in the bucket seat to give him room.
Drew braced an arm on the dash and edged closer to her side. ”I like it better this way.” It was actually d.a.m.ned uncomfortable, but worth the risk of impaling himself on the gear s.h.i.+ft in order to brush against Lauren's breast and inhale the scent of suntan lotion rising from her warm skin.
”Yes?”
The tinny static from the box was marginally better than a fast food drive-up. Drew spoke loudly.
”Drew Creighton to see Senator McNabb.”
”Do you have an appointment?”
”No. I'm here on urgent, personal business. Tell her I'm Senator Creighton's son.”
”One moment, please.”
He s.h.i.+fted position while he waited, rubbing against Lauren breast.
She smiled. ”Enjoying yourself?”
”Yes, thanks. Are you?”
”You're insatiable,” she said, pursing her lips in a way probably meant to look prudish. It made him want to tug her pouty lower lip into his mouth and run his tongue over it.
He dropped his eyelids seductively and murmured, ”You're right, I am,” just to watch the flush spread up her neck to her cheeks. d.a.m.n, he loved it when she blushed like that. It made him want to lock them both in a bedroom for a week and- The box rattled to life. ”I'm sorry, Mr. Creighton. Senator McNabb is unable to see you.”
”What?” He'd a.s.sumed his father's name would arouse the lady's curiosity, if not outright concern. ”Tell her it has to do with my father's recent marriage,” he said, then added pointedly, ”And with his rather sudden departure from Was.h.i.+ngton.” If she was the one who had been blackmailed, she would have to know he was referring to the Secret Service sting operation.
This time only a few seconds pa.s.sed before the man's fuzzy voice replied, ”Senator McNabb sends her congratulations on Senator Creighton's marriage, but she is not available at this time.”
The pause had been too brief for the man to have left to consult Senator McNabb. She was either beside him, listening, or her security man was making presumptive decisions for her. Drew gambled on the former.
They'd risked their own safety to track her down and he wasn't leaving without seeing her. If Paul Pierson was wrong about Senator McNabb having a secret worth protecting, she wouldn't respond to threats. But if she was the one who'd been blackmailed, he had to talk his way inside those gates.
In a hard voice, he said, ”Tell her it's about some highly sensitive personal information she gave my father. Tell her I'd prefer to discuss it with her, but if she's unavailable I will be glad to question other government officials about the matter in order to confirm-”
The box crackled with a staticky, ”The senator will see you, Mr. Creighton.” The gates began their slow swing inward.
Lauren sucked in a breath and looked at him with pain in her eyes. ”It is is her,” she whispered. ”How awful for her.” her,” she whispered. ”How awful for her.”
”Thank you,” Drew muttered to the box and eased back to his side of the car. He slumped in the bucket seat. ”I have a feeling we're not going to receive a warm welcome.”
Drew's prediction was an understatement.
They sat on a patio behind the house, sipping lemonade and watching the Gulf of Mexico roll onto the senator's white sandy beach for nearly fifteen minutes before the woman appeared.
Drew stood to shake her hand, suffering a cool stare and an even cooler h.e.l.lo.
”Thank you for seeing us, Senator McNabb,” he said.
Sharp brown eyes a.s.sessed him. ”I agreed to see you as a courtesy to your father, who is a friend and colleague.”
He understood; she would not concede without proof. ”Senator, this is Lauren Sutherland. Her sister is-”
”Meg Sutherland, Harlan's secretary. A charming young woman.” Charlene McNabb tilted her head as she shook Lauren's hand, her short hair gleaming in several expertly tinted shades of blonde. ”But I suppose I should refer to Meg as Harlan's wife now.”
”No, you shouldn't.”
Lauren's soft reply seemed to startle Senator McNabb. She studied Lauren as they settled back into chairs under the filtered shade of the patio umbrella. ”Why shouldn't I?” she asked carefully.
Drew closed his hand over Lauren's and answered for her. ”Because they aren't really married. But you already know that.”
The senator's piercing gaze s.h.i.+fted to him. ”What makes you say that?”
This was where things got messy. He pinned her with a hard stare, willing to be as blunt as necessary. ”You're the one who went to my father with a story about blackmail, so naturally you would know that his marriage was a ruse. You know he and Meg announced their marriage in order to draw whoever had blackmailed you into another attempt. My father must consider you a good friend, Senator, if he was willing to put his reputation in jeopardy to save yours.”
Something flickered in the steady brown eyes, but her lips remained pressed tightly together. He'd told her what she already knew, and she didn't intend to admit to it. It was what she didn't know that might get her to talk.
”The Secret Service was supposed to catch whoever tried to blackmail them, but it didn't work. Something went wrong.”
Her eyebrows jumped with a tiny twitch. ”What went wrong?”
”We don't know. But the story about my dad and Meg leaving on a honeymoon was obviously a diversion. They ran from both the blackmailers and the Secret Service, and we don't know why. They're even hiding from us to keep us safe. Except it's not working. We started asking questions, and two nights ago someone tried to run us down and kill us.”
That seemed to crack her composure a little. ”Perhaps if you would just let the Secret Service do its job-”
”I'd love to, Senator, but the Secret Service doesn't know where they are or why they disappeared. And more important, they don't know where to look for answers, because my dad refused to give them your name.”
She did a credible job of looking skeptical. ”Are you saying he gave it to you?”
”No, he didn't. Someone else did.”
That one shook her. Senator McNabb whispered, ”Someone else told you I was being blackmailed?” She swallowed and made her voice stronger. ”Who?”
”I'd rather not-”
Lauren squeezed his fingers. ”She needs to know,” she said before turning to Senator McNabb. ”Senator Pierson told us there were rumors about you and another man.”
The senator's face crumpled and Drew watched her break. As a seasoned politician, Senator McNabb would know how to draw on composure she didn't feel, but it required a coolness that seemed to have escaped her. She closed her eyes tightly as if in pain. ”I hoped it would never... I didn't think anyone would...” Senator McNabb's hoa.r.s.e voice failed altogether.