Part 31 (2/2)
Lauren couldn't resist a glance at the withered remains of his arousal. m.u.f.fling her giggle with a snort, she looked away quickly.
Her amus.e.m.e.nt didn't improve Pierson's temper. Heedless of his nudity and the handcuffs holding one arm back, he faced Drew with defiance. ”I see what's happened here. The two of you have apparently conspired to embarra.s.s one of your father's political opponents. If you and your little s.l.u.t girlfriend think you can-”
Pierson broke off with a flinch as Drew stepped into range, drew his fist back and aimed at the senator's jaw.
Chapman caught it before the punch could land. With Drew's arm in a lock, he turned a cool look on Pierson. ”You have a point, Senator. This incident is sure to have political repercussions. Perhaps we should take pictures to doc.u.ment it. Your wife could so easily misunderstand the situation, based solely on the facts.”
Pierson's face drained of color.
Drew spoke through gritted teeth. ”One punch, Chapman. You can say he hit his head on the nightstand.”
”Sorry, no.” Chapman released Drew's arm. ”But I trust you'll understand when I send Miss Sutherland a large bouquet of flowers to thank her for this memorable moment. It more than makes up for your death-defying drive over here.”
”Yeah, sorry about that last tree.” After a glance at Lauren, Drew asked Chapman, ”You mind if I take Lauren to her room so she can get dressed?”
”Go ahead. But don't take long, I have a few questions for her.”
”Yeah, so do I.”
Lauren had forgotten she was dressed in a robe, with only underwear beneath it. When Drew left she'd been fully clothed. Seeing Senator Pierson's condition, she supposed he did have a few questions.
She explained it to him briefly while she got dressed, then again in more detail for Chapman when they convened in the living room. Drew listened quietly at first. When she mentioned Pierson's hand on her leg he narrowed his eyes, and when she got to the part where he grabbed her arms, Drew jumped up and paced. By the time she finished she was glad Pierson had been taken away, because she didn't think Chapman could have prevented the beating Drew was ready to give.
He was furious with Pierson. She understood, was flattered, even. But the more distance she had from the event, the more excited she felt about her part in it. The proper and perfect Lauren Sutherland who had come to Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C., would have handled things differently.
Drew was the one who'd seen the potential for change in her; he even encouraged it. It was part of why she loved him. That, and the way he cared about standing up for what was right and correcting what was wrong. And his tight b.u.t.t and amazing shoulders. She might tell him about that part.
But not the rest. She didn't want to be one of those women he hated, the ones who used men for what they could get out of them. Because that sure was how it looked. She broke out of her self-imposed prison and wanted an adventure, and she'd grabbed the first man who offered one. But wanting to keep him hadn't been part of the plan.
”We still don't know where Meg is,” she said aloud, not even knowing who to ask about it. The house had been crawling with FBI and Secret Service agents, a few of whom were still there.
Chapman looked up from his notes. ”Doesn't matter. As soon as this. .h.i.ts the news tomorrow morning, they'll come in, you can count on it. They'll know it's safe.”
The front door opened behind her for what might have been the thousandth time that night, but the voice she heard in the foyer was one she'd been waiting for.
”All you had to do was shoot him.” Gerald was lecturing someone in a superior tone. ”That shouldn't be difficult to figure out, even for someone on your rung of the evolutionary ladder. Don't you Neanderthal types excel at those basic skills-eat, sleep, and kill things?”
”You're the only one who came close to killing someone,” Renke growled. ”That shot could have hit your Romanian friend if it had been any higher.”
”Not likely, Bozo, since I knew exactly what I was-Lauren!” Spotting her in the living room as she jumped up, he complained, ”I've had the most awful night, consorting with emotionally stunted G-men and gun-wielding thugs.”
Lauren looked appropriately shocked. ”You poor thing, it sounds terrifying.”
”You have no idea. You came alarmingly close to losing me.”
She led him to the sofa where she sat down next to Drew, patting the cus.h.i.+on beside her. ”Where's Mihaly?”
”Gone already. He took off in his car to scout some areas looking for Meg. It's driving him crazy that she's out there, probably scared, and with some other man.” He grinned. ”Isn't love wonderful?”
Not when it was one-sided. She was sure Meg's feelings for Mihaly went beyond fondness and friends.h.i.+p but was less sure of Drew's feelings for her.
”Hey,” Drew greeted Gerald. ”Glad to see you're alive. We've been waiting to hear from you.”
Chapman laid his notes on a bookshelf and folded his arms. ”Yes, tell us about it. I'd be fascinated to know why you ignored my direct orders and risked the lives of two other men.”
Gerald leaned close to her, rolling his eyes. ”These law enforcement types think no one else can plan an operation or capture a criminal. Like it's rocket science.” Peering around her, he said, ”Andrew, I hope that a.s.sociating with these men hasn't damaged your good nature and sense of decency.”
Drew gave him a wry smile. ”I think I'm okay.”
”That's a relief.” He squeezed Lauren's hand. ”Sometimes he may act like one of them, but he's worth hanging on to.”
Somehow, she kept smiling. Hanging on to Drew was not a topic she wanted to think about right now. A premature sense of loss pierced her heart at the thought of him leaving. He would go soon enough. She wasn't ready to accept it graciously and didn't know how she ever would be.
”I'd like to hear what happened,” Drew told him.
Gerald settled into being the center of attention. ”Well. You know we thought we were going to meet Senator Creighton and Meg. And when we drove by the area Senator Pierson had told us about, there was a car on the side of the road with its parking lights on. We thought it was them.”
”Not exactly.” Renke's voice came from behind her, and Lauren realized he'd followed them into the living room, probably to hear Gerald's version of what happened. Judging from his sour tone, he found it a bit inaccurate. ”Not all of us were so trusting and naive.”
Gerald clutched his chest in mock alarm. ”Forgive me. Agent Renke, with G.o.dlike foresight, sensed a trap and saved the day.”
Renke snarled, ”I followed procedure and took precautions, which turned out to be a smart move.”
”Yes, it worked out well when you surprised the bad guys and wrestled that gun away, saving Mihaly's life. Oh wait, that was me.”
”a.s.shole,” Renke muttered.
Chapman pinched the bridge of his nose, then waved his hand at Gerald. ”Just get on with it. Skip the part we know and get to what happened after you decided to run amok.”
”Huh. You'd think they'd be more appreciative,” he confided to Lauren.
”I'm sure they will be when they hear they hear what happened,” she a.s.sured him.
He patted her cheek like an elderly aunt. ”That's so sweet, hon. You have faith in people.” He peeked around her to turn his fond smile on Drew. ”What'd I tell you? This one's a keeper.”
”Gerald...”
Drew's warning snapped him back to storytelling mode. ”Right. The guys Agent Chapman has been trying to track down are sitting right in front of us, and what does Mr. Big Government Agent tell me to do?”
He obviously wanted a response, so she shook her head. ”I don't know. What?”
”Run away! Can you believe it? Of course you can't. Neither could I. I knew we had to catch these guys or Meg and Senator Creighton would still be in danger, and so would you.”
”That's bull. We would have caught them,” Renke began, but stopped at another hand gesture and head shake from Chapman. ”Forget it,” he grumbled. ”Tell it in your own special way.”
Gerald seemed to take it as a compliment, and continued. ”I have to tell you, Agent Chapman was no help. Apparently he gets a little tense in a crisis situation.”
<script>