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 shifting 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."
"If I go now I"ll still have some daylight."
"If you go now, you won"t know who to watch out for or who might take the next shot at you. We identify the blond guy before anyone goes anywhere."
Drew was obviously unhappy with Chapman"s order, and the two men spent several seconds staring each other down. Lauren was getting a crick in her neck, trapped between the two posturing males. She jumped to her feet, smiling sweetly at Chapman. "We just want to help any way we can. Isn"t that right, Drew?"
She didn"t turn around, waiting with her smile in place and praying that Drew would take the opportunity to back down. Finally, she heard him say, "That"s right."
Chapman dropped an equally cool stare to Lauren. "Good. Right now you can help most by waiting for Renke."
"Sure thing." And by keeping Drew and Chapman on opposite ends of the house.
It was more than two hours before Renke returned with a pile of printouts on the agents, concise one-page resumes with pictures. Chapman split the pile, sending Lauren and Mihaly to separate rooms to look through the stack. Two-thirds of the way through her stack, Lauren felt her stomach flip at the sight of the familiar, perfectly cut features. The man had short, brown hair and the serious, unwavering gaze typical of all the agents" photos. But she knew it was the same face she"d seen hovering with pa.s.sionless perfection over her sister, the same face that had shoved close to hers at the airport, threatening her with cold disdain.
She didn"t want to touch the page. Sitting back in her chair, she pointed and told Chapman, "This one."
He took a long look at the photo and copied some of the agent"s personal information in a notebook while he motioned toward the stack. "Keep looking."
"But I"m positive that"s him."
"Humor me."
She shrugged and did as he said, then did it again when he exchanged her stack with the one Mihaly had examined. No one else looked even vaguely familiar. She shoved the pile away. "No question. The one I pointed out is the blond in the pictures."
"The Romanian said the same thing," Renke said from the doorway.
Chapman nodded. "Run the info and see where he"s been a.s.signed for the past two years. His contacts could be a clue to who recruited him for these dirty little tricks. And don"t call me, just get back here as soon as you can."
"Can we order something to eat now?" Lauren asked as soon as Renke disappeared.
"No. No one leaves, and no one comes to the door. Find something in the house."
She supposed she should be glad for Chapman"s caution, but she took a lot more pleasure in finding that Gerald had made an impressive haul when they"d left him at the grocery store two days ago. The five of them ate without talking, Chapman, Drew, and Mihaly all with serious, remote expressions. She imagined they were all working out various plans for outing an agent gone bad or for finding Meg and Senator Creighton. Grateful that someone at least had an idea, she left them alone and leaned against the counter next to Gerald.
"I see you and Renke haven"t kissed and made up."
Gerald made a strangled sound and coughed something into his hand. "Please, sweetie, I"d like to chew this apple, not suck it into my lungs. Mind your metaphors."
She grinned. "Sorry."
He brushed an invisible speck off his vest and glared across the room at Chapman, a surrogate target since Renke wasn"t there. "The boorish brute is unwilling to take the blame for ripping my coat. Raise your hand if you"re surprised."
"You already asked him?"
"Politely but firmly. He went off like a phaser on overload."
She snickered at the Star Trek Star Trek reference. "Ooh, I saw that once. Those things are dangerous." reference. "Ooh, I saw that once. Those things are dangerous."
"My point exactly. Probably "roid rage."
"Hmm." She let it go. Her opinion wasn"t going to count, anyway. "So he refused to reimburse you?"
"I believe that was the gist of his profanity."
Knowing Gerald, that couldn"t be the end of the story. "So?"
Gerald flashed an evil smile and chewed his apple as if it were a piece ripped directly from Renke"s leg. "You know me so well, already. And you are so right. I"ve drafted a detailed letter to his superiors about Agent Renke"s uncalled-for aggression, along with a bill for the coat, which they will will pay for in full. And let me tell you, I don"t buy cheap sweatshop knockoffs." pay for in full. And let me tell you, I don"t buy cheap sweatshop knockoffs."
"I could tell." Lauren gave a solemn nod.
"Fortunately, I have the receipt."
"Of course you do."
"And witnesses. That"s you. These people don"t know who they"re messing with."
Lauren"s smile was as much from admiration as amus.e.m.e.nt. "I guess you know how to deal with bureaucrats, huh?"
"Honey, I deal with AGAs every day. I could eat these guys for breakfast."
"AGAs?"
"Arrogant Government a.s.sholes. Can"t throw a stone in this town without hitting two of them." He bit into the apple for emphasis.
Lauren let out a small laugh.
Gerald pointed his apple at her. "Take some advice from the master, sweetheart. If you"re going to play with the big boys, the only way to beat them is with their own rules. And they"d better not try turning it into a paper chase. I can bury those pencil pushers in paperwork, if that"s the game they want to play."
"I"ll remember that."
Even though she didn"t expect to need it. She was almost done playing with the big boys. They"d identified the blond guy, and when Renke found out what he"d been doing for the past couple years, they might know who hired him. No doubt an AGA of the first order. And once they knew who it was, Meg and Harlan wouldn"t be the only ones in possession of that deadly secret. They would be out of danger.
She wished Renke would hurry up.
He arrived minutes later, looking rushed and smelling like greasy fast food.
Chapman grabbed a folder from him and headed toward the living room. "What took so long?"
"I stopped for a burger." He shrugged out of his jacket as Chapman opened the folder. "Doesn"t matter, I didn"t find anything helpful."
Lauren exchanged concerned looks with Drew as they all followed Chapman.
They stood around while Chapman shuffled a few papers, pausing to read while everyone remained unnaturally silent. It took half a minute. "s.h.i.t," he spat out, shoving the papers at Renke. "The guy, Marlow, has been detailed to the White House for the past year. He"s worked with all levels of staff from the president down."
Renke nodded. "That"s what I mean. He could have had contact with almost anyone. Senators, congressmen, cabinet members, you name it. Any one of them might want to set their own political agenda. This is a dead end."
Chapman nodded, his gaze focused on nothing as he thought. When his eyes finally sparked with determination again, Lauren was surprised to see him turn to Drew rather than Renke. "We need to identify Marlow"s partner. That"s our only chance to narrow things down. And as far as I can tell from your story, we only know of one person who got a good look at him."