Part 26 (1/2)
They arrived at the Creighton home before Chapman. Mihaly was there, in the process of fitting together an array of metal pieces that lay on the coffee table before him. It took Lauren about three seconds to realize he was rea.s.sembling a gun. She sobered quickly.
”Where did that come from?”
He jammed two pieces together. ”What?”
”That gun.”
”What gun?” He tucked the completed weapon into his back waistband and covered it with his sweater.
She narrowed her eyes at him but said nothing. There were about to be a lot of government agents involved, all carrying guns. She'd better get used to it.
Mihaly turned to Drew. ”Tell me what you think of this Chapman. Do you trust him?”
Drew curled his lip in distaste as he threw his coat over a chair. ”He's officious, arrogant, and rude. And he's young. But as irritating as I find him, yes, I trust him.”
Lauren felt obligated to defend him. ”He's not irritating. He's just another dominant male b.u.t.ting heads with you over who's in charge.”
Drew looked at her, eyebrow raised. ”A dominant male?” He smiled. ”I didn't know you financial types dabbled in psychology.”
”All women dabble in psychology,” she answered sweetly. ”We're forced to.”
He snorted, then said to Mihaly, ”He's competent, but a bit on the surly side. I should warn you, Mihaly, he's not fond of us. We ambushed him then skipped town. When he finds out we've been withholding this information, he won't be happy.”
Agent Chapman leaned forward on the sofa and cradled his head in his hands. The man appeared to be in actual pain. The clenched eyelids and the circles he ma.s.saged into his temples indicated the beginnings of a migraine.
”Let me get this straight,” Chapman said, squinting up at them. ”Compromising photos of Miss Sutherland that you refuse to show me were delivered for purposes of extorting votes from Senator Creighton?”
Seated on the sofa across from him, Lauren nodded. She had volunteered to be the bearer of bad news, hoping he'd be less likely to explode. Gerald sat beside her for moral support. Standing behind them, Drew and Mihaly simply stared back at Chapman.
The agent pressed two fingers against what appeared to be a particularly painful spot on his temple. ”The pictures were also meant to warn Miss Sutherland not to involve her boyfriend in the scheme. A boyfriend who is quite possibly a foreign agent operating in the United States.”
Lauren nodded again.
”I am the Romanian Deputy Amba.s.sador,” Mihaly corrected.
Chapman's eyebrows drew together as he scrutinized Mihaly. ”Yeah, right.”
”He checks out.”
Hawknose, who had been introduced as Agent Renke, tossed the ID holder back to Mihaly before flopping into an arm chair. Lauren noticed that he kept a wary eye on Gerald sitting beside her with arms folded, glaring holes into the man's skull.
”No espionage activity?” Chapman asked his partner.
”If there is, the CIA isn't sharing it.” Renke gave Mihaly a final hard stare before s.h.i.+fting his gaze to Drew. ”The senator's son, however, has training in several martial arts disciplines and is licensed to carry.”
Lauren turned a surprised look up at Drew, but he kept his calm gaze on Chapman and Renke.
”I carry a handgun back in Colorado when I have to transport checks and cash into town. I've never used it.”
”And the martial arts are to guard against bear attacks?” Chapman asked in a cynical tone.
”I work with juvenile offenders who are often ex-gang members. I find it best to be prepared for all contingencies. What does this have to do with finding Meg and my father?” Drew asked.
Chapman's headache appeared to stab harder as he bristled at Drew. ”You're the one asking us for help here, Creighton. I'll decide what's relevant and what isn't.” He included Lauren in his fierce scowl, then rubbed at his forehead again before stating the part he apparently liked least. ”And you think one of our agents is behind all this?”
”At least one. Has to be,” Drew said.
”He's right,” Mihaly added, earning him a glare that clearly said the opinions of foreign intelligence agents weren't welcome.
Lauren tried to explain without giving too much away. ”We know which Senator first approached Drew's father about the blackmail scheme. The, uh, compromising incident occurred during a spur-of-the-moment trip, and only the senator's secretary knew the destination. And she only told one person, a Secret Service agent who asked to see the Senator during that time. We asked the senator to check that part out.”
”You just said the secretary knew,” Chapman pointed out. ”What makes you think she didn't have a partner who propositioned your senator?”
Lauren paused. They hadn't even considered that. She thought about the woman in Senator McNabb's office. Efficient, controlling, and maybe a tad resentful at being left behind when her boss went to Florida. But a little too careless with information to be a successful criminal.
”Gut instinct,” she told Chapman. ”And because whoever is behind this must have a significant stake in the result of the vote, probably a financial stake. That means someone with power and influence, not a secretary. And most of all, because there's only one reason my sister and Senator Creighton would run from the Secret Service agents who were supposed to protect them-because they knew they might be the same people who were threatening them.”
Chapman chewed on the inside of his cheek while he considered it. ”Which one of you wants to tell me about the senator you visited in Florida?”
”I just did,” Lauren pointed out.
”The senator's ident.i.ty is privileged information,” Drew said.
”Come on, Creighton, there are only two senators from each state. I'm gonna figure it out. Save me some time. You found out something down there that convinced you, and I want to know what it is.”
”You're right. We found bullet holes in our car. I found it very convincing.”
Lauren tried to defuse what promised to become a messy distraction. ”Look, we gave our word and the information is irrelevant. The senator was photographed in a compromising situation with the same man who appears in my sister's doctored photos and who broke into Mihaly's apartment.”
”I can show you my security tape for identification purposes,” Mihaly interjected.
”You have a good picture of the guy?”
”Not his features, just his blond hair sticking out from under a face mask.”
”Uh-huh,” Chapman mused. ”So I will a.s.sume that either the distinguished Senator McNabb is hiding an adulterous affair, or the equally distinguished Senator Stockton is hiding a bis.e.xual double life.”
Through clenched jaws, Drew said, ”a.s.sume what you want, it doesn't matter. We told you what you need to know-the blond guy is a major part of the scheme, and it's likely that either my father or Meg recognized him as an agent. Are you going to help us out here or not?”
The two men stared at each other for several seconds before Chapman growled at his partner, ”Get the pictures together for them to look at. All the white male agents in D.C. under forty, no matter what their hair color. He could have dyed it. And don't advertise what you're doing. We don't know how many people might be involved.”
Lauren breathed a small sigh of relief. Despite Chapman's stubborn att.i.tude, he was going to help.
Renke stood. ”You gonna bring these guys in to look through them?”
”No. Someone's obviously worried enough to want them dead. Bring the pictures here. These two can look through them,” he said, pointing at Lauren and Mihaly. ”They got the best look at the guy.”
”While he does that, I'll check out the location we got from Senator Pierson.”
Drew's announcement made Chapman look up. Lauren turned to look, too. Drew stood behind the couch with arms folded and feet planted, an intimidating presence. Chapman must have felt at a disadvantage, because he stood before answering. ”We'll do that later.”