Part 25 (1/2)
”And perhaps he will recognize the blond man in the pictures. I would especially love to be present when we find him.” From Mihaly's expression, he was not going to be forgiving about someone else having seen his private photos of Meg.
But exactly how private were they? Lauren recalled her initial a.s.sumption that Meg had been unaware of the camera. A hidden camera wouldn't be a surprise in Mihaly's electronically enhanced apartment. Lauren had to consider the other possible explanation for the pictures. If Meg hadn't known she was being photographed, she might have been appalled to discover that her lover had taken advantage of her that way. She might have avoided contacting Mihaly because she no longer trusted him.
She should have thought of it sooner. Lauren eyed Mihaly suspiciously. ”I'm surprised Meg agreed to let you take those photographs,” she said.
He looked up, dark gaze sparkling as he a.s.sessed her. ”Meg can be rather uninhibited,” he said, watching her closely. ”The photos were her idea, Lauren. Perhaps there is more to your sister than she lets you know.”
Lauren blinked. He sure had that right.
Mihaly slid the pictures back in the envelope, folding the clasp. ”I would prefer to keep these, if you don't mind.”
She minded only if he was lying about being the man in the pictures, and about Meg being aware of the camera. She had a feeling he wasn't.
Lauren nodded, and watched him fold the envelope before fitting it into an inner pocket of his suit coat. The photos would be creased, but she imagined he had negatives. Or maybe it was Meg who had them. Suddenly recalling the rows of video tapes at Meg's apartment, she flushed, glad they hadn't decided to look through them. Who knew what else her sister had decided to record.
Drew used the tapped house line and put Agent Chapman on speaker so Lauren and Mihaly could hear.
”What do you want now?” Chapman's voice barked.
”h.e.l.lo to you, too.”
”What state are you in now, Creighton? Or have you left the country?”
Drew grinned, beginning to enjoy ruffling Chapman's feathers. ”We're back in Georgetown.”
”Be still, my heart.” The words were flat and lifeless.
Lauren stifled a giggle and whispered to Drew, ”Be nice, I like this guy.”
For a second Drew felt a stab of jealousy toward Chapman, wis.h.i.+ng she'd said that about him. Not that she hadn't demonstrated how much she liked him in several ways over the past few days, but he hadn't actually heard the words. He was surprised to realize how much that mattered. Shrugging it off for now, he groused to Chapman, ”Hey, don't I get points for keeping you updated?”
”You're a bit late. I got word last night about three a.m. that you were home. I really enjoyed that wakeup call, by the way, 'cause I've been getting way too much sleep lately.”
Drew didn't hide his surprise. ”You have someone watching the house?”
”We're not totally incompetent, Creighton.” The agent's voice was sharper now, and not the least bit friendly. ”We even know that you visited your father's safety deposit box. Again. I might overlook that bit of ident.i.ty fraud on Miss Sutherland's part if you want to tell me what it is that's so important in there.”
He glanced at Lauren before answering. ”Come on over, and we'll tell you all about it.”
A moment of silence followed. ”Are you saying you're ready to cooperate?” He could hear the caution in Chapman's voice.
”Fully.” He waited to see if the agent would believe him.
”Let me guess. You have something important and you need help.”
”Yes.”
”I'm an hour away.”
”Then we'll see you in an hour.” Drew hung up the phone and looked at Lauren and Mihaly. ”One down, one to go.”
Pierson seemed even more eager for an update than Chapman. ”Come on over, I'm at the apartment. You need the address?”
”I have it in Dad's book. Be there in ten,” he said, clicking off.
Lauren looked confused. ”He has an apartment?”
”Pierson's from Pennsylvania,” Drew explained. ”That's not too far from Was.h.i.+ngton for him to get home on weekends, so his family stays there and he lives in an apartment when he's in town. A lot of senators and representatives do that. It's not far from here. You want to come?”
”Are you kidding? Just try to stop me.”
He loved it; she was always ready for a new adventure. How this woman ever led a structured, uneventful life was beyond him. It sounded like she had a lot of cautious living to make up for, and he was just the man for the job.
”I'd better stay out of it,” Mihaly said, jerking his thoughts back to the moment. ”Just be back by the time Chapman gets here.”
”No problem. And I'll get Gerald to come over, too. He'll kill me if I leave him out of this.”
The visit with Pierson would be quick. All he needed to do was prod the senator into examining his memories. Maybe he could shake something loose, some tidbit of information like the one that led them to Senator McNabb.
Pierson ushered them inside his small apartment and showed them to the single couch while he pulled up a chair. His face was paler than normal, and his anxiety was anything but subtle, with his hands on his knees, looking ready to spring into action at a moment's notice. ”Did you talk to Charly? What did you find out?”
He and Lauren had already discussed how they would answer this one. Even though Pierson had given them that lead, Drew saw no reason to tell what they'd learned. He'd promised Senator McNabb to leave her out of it if he could, and he intended to do that.
”That's no longer important, Senator Pierson.”
”It's not? I don't understand. I thought you needed to find out who the blackmailer is.”
”We think we know. At least, we have enough information to track him down.” An exaggeration, but close enough.
Pierson looked ready to go after the blackmailers himself, right now. ”You do? My G.o.d, tell me what you found out. Have they tried to compromise other senators? Do you realize the implications here?”
”We do.” He should have guessed that Pierson would see how the blackmail scheme would play out. The man wasn't stupid. Naturally, he would fear the very scenario that Senator McNabb confirmed.
Drew glanced at Lauren and raised an eyebrow. She nodded, agreeing they would have to fill Pierson in on some of what was happening. He couldn't hide a quick smile, enjoying the fact that they were thinking alike. They worked well together. They did everything well together. He squeezed her hand.
Since Pierson was aware of the possibilities, Drew didn't try to play it down. ”Someone is trying to control votes on key bills, Senator. And this won't be the only time. Senators, and maybe congressmen, will be repeatedly pressured into voting a certain way. We don't know how many, but it's possible it's already happening. I don't even want to think about how it would upset the balance of power. Someone has a very large, very frightening agenda.”
”d.a.m.n straight! And if it's already started, this is more urgent than I thought. We have to find out who it is and stop them.”
It felt good to know they had someone from the inside in their corner willing to help.
”We agree, Senator,” Lauren chimed in. That's why we're turning over everything we know to the Secret Service, who can contact the FBI and whoever else they need to track the culprit down.”
Pierson's eyebrows went up. ”Well, that's a change. The last time I talked to you, you didn't trust them because Harlan and Meg gave them the slip.”
”We can't do this alone; we need help,” Drew admitted.
”h.e.l.l, I'll help however I can. Just don't get the authorities involved if you don't know who you can trust.”
”They already were involved,” Lauren reminded him.