Part 27 (1/2)

Drew's eyes caught the same spark as he nodded. ”The desk clerk at our hotel. The kid said he wasn't blond, so I didn't ask him to identify the man. But it must be him, the blond guy's partner.”

Mihaly was apparently thinking along the same lines. ”Maybe one of these men recruited the other. But maybe they were both recruited by the same man. Perhaps there is some official they both had contact with. If we get an ID, we can compare a.s.signments with Marlow.”

Chapman didn't seem excited to have so many self-appointed a.s.sistants, but only asked, ”What time did you talk to the desk clerk?”

”It was about three thirty in the morning, just before we left for the airport.”

”Night s.h.i.+ft. Okay, I'll call the hotel, get his home address. Maybe we can catch him before he goes to work.”

He was back within five minutes. ”No go. The kid lives with his mother. Mom says he's out with friends and won't come home before going to work. She suggested I look for him at Gamer's nightclub in Arlington or a nearby McDonald's,” he reported dryly. ”I say we wait until his s.h.i.+ft starts at eleven.”

Five hours. Crime solving was getting duller by the minute. Lauren could think of a fun way to pa.s.s the time but stealing away upstairs with Drew would be rather conspicuous. Disgruntled and tired from being up all night, she went upstairs alone to nap.

No one seemed to have moved when she came downstairs four hours later, except Gerald. While the others sat silently behind magazines or newspapers, he had resorted to dusting the furniture to keep busy. On hands and knees, he squinted through his wire-rimmed gla.s.ses as he polished the clawed foot of an end table. Sighing, Lauren picked up a magazine and joined Drew on the sofa.

Two minutes later she was startled by a yell.

”Ouch! Holy effin' h.e.l.l! Darn it!” Holding his knee, Gerald rubbed vigorously, then picked up something from the carpet. The object in his fingers caught a tiny glint from the table lamp. ”Someone lost a diamond ring.”

He looked directly at Lauren.

”Not mine,” she said, shrugging.

Gerald's gaze drifted to her ringless left hand and his eyebrows rose.

Hearing a soft snort from Drew beside her, she caught his smile as he kept his attention on his newspaper. ”Finders keepers,” he murmured, as he shot her a hot glance from behind the pages.

Lauren felt heat rise in her cheeks, wanting to believe Drew referred to more than just her ring.

”Now, that's a new one,” Renke said. ”Guess it shows how much money you have when you find diamond rings in the carpet. If I found a ring in my carpet, it woulda come from a gum machine.”

Chapman leaned over to see it better. ”I don't know, doesn't look like much of a diamond. You sure it's real?”

With Renke and Chapman bored enough to take an interest in her ring, Lauren did a frantic mental search for any territory they hadn't covered. Anything to keep the conversation off that ring. ”So what happens if you identify this other agent?”

Chapman instantly lost interest in the ring in favor of protocol.

”With two positive suspects nailed down, we bring them in. If they're still working as agents, they shouldn't be too hard to locate.”

”What if they don't talk?”

Chapman's tight expression indicated how unfortunate a choice that would be.

”Then it just takes a little longer. We might be able to narrow the list by connecting them to the same official, like he said.” He jerked his thumb at Mihaly. ”But from the beginning we've been checking out anyone who might have an interest in the outcome of the offsh.o.r.e drilling bill. It's a long list.” He smiled grimly. ”So I plan to make sure they talk.”

Mention of the bill reminded Lauren of the partisan battle in Congress that had caused the forced votes. Privately, Lauren wondered how much the president's chief advisor on domestic affairs might care about the outcome of that bill. The woman's comments at the Romanian Emba.s.sy party had been particularly biting. Although jumping from a dislike of Meg to blackmailing United States senators seemed too much of a stretch to even mention to Chapman.

By the time Agent Chapman pulled out his car keys at ten thirty, they all responded like dogs eager to go along for a ride. Renke was the first to get shot down.

”You have to stay here with these guys.”

Renke frowned at his babysitting duties. ”You can't go out alone. Once you look like you're investigating a decent lead, they're gonna go for you.”

”I'll go,” Mihaly volunteered quickly. ”I have experience with this sort of... diplomacy.”

Chapman obviously knew what he meant, jingling his keys thoughtfully while considering it. But it was Drew his gaze finally settled on.

”Creighton can come. Seeing him might help jog the clerk's memory. Besides,” he scowled at Lauren and Drew, ”The last time I left you two alone with orders to stay put, you were gone within thirty minutes.”

”Fine,” Drew agreed. ”But Lauren goes too. She stays with me.”

”Miss Sutherland stays here.” Chapman was equally firm. ”She's a target, and I'm not parading her around D.C. where someone can shoot at her again.”

Drew frowned, considering it. For a moment Lauren was touched by his obvious concern, until the implications of what Chapman had said hit her. With an anxious start, she jumped to her feet. ”That means Drew's a target, too.”

Her worried gaze met his. Through the shared danger of the past two days, she'd never considered the possibility of losing him.

Unspoken emotions churned inside her, stirring up feelings she'd tried to ignore. Feelings she shouldn't have for a man intended to be nothing more than a casual fling.

”I won't be nearly as much of a target without you.” Drew's calm words cut through the turmoil inside her.

Chapman sneered. ”Especially if you're not bombing around town in a bright red convertible that practically shouts, 'Look at me!'”

Lauren ignored him. Watching Drew, she bit her lower lip to keep from blurting out the words that tugged at her heart.

”Mihaly,” Drew began.

”Don't worry,” he said. ”I will stay with Lauren.”

”So will I,” Renke muttered. ”But I'm only an experienced Secret Service agent, so you might not find that rea.s.suring.”

Gerald stood, hooking his arm through Lauren's. ”So will I. You just run along and play cops and robbers, Andrew. We'll hold down the fort.”

A hint of a smile showed on Drew's mouth. ”Thanks.”

Chapman studiously ignored Gerald. ”Let's get going.”

Lauren watched him go without saying what she was thinking, hoping she'd get a chance to say it later.

Waiting was torture. Lauren couldn't avoid the feeling that something big was about to happen, that they were on the verge of finding the person behind the blackmail photos. And, consequently, on the verge of finding Meg and Senator Creighton. And she was stuck at home, waiting, while Drew got to act.

After half an hour of leafing through magazines, Lauren decided one more minute on the couch would drive her crazy. ”How long do you think they'll be?” she asked Renke.

”Don't know. Maybe an hour and a half.”

”Fine. I'm taking a shower.”