Our Little Secret Part 23

Lauren parked a quarter mile down the road, where Drew pretended to consult a map. Ten minutes later, the two boys blew past them in the s.h.i.+ny black Jeep.

"About time," he said, folding the map. "Let's go."

Lauren pulled a U-turn and drove back, slowing as she neared the senator's property. The tall iron gates had just come into view when they swung open, and a small station wagon pulled out with two women in the front seat. Drew craned his neck to see the logo on the driver's door.

"Gulf Breeze Clean," he read aloud. "Looks like the cleaning service is done for the day. That makes the husband gone with his golf clubs, at least one kid gone with his friend, and the maid service gone. I say we try our luck."

Lauren nodded and pulled up to the imposing black gates, now closed again.

"Press the b.u.t.ton on the call box," Drew instructed, moving as close to her and the speaker as the gear s.h.i.+ft allowed.

"We should have switched places," she said, leaning back in the bucket seat to give him room.

Drew braced an arm on the dash and edged closer to her side. "I like it better this way." It was actually d.a.m.ned uncomfortable, but worth the risk of impaling himself on the gear s.h.i.+ft in order to brush against Lauren's breast and inhale the scent of suntan lotion rising from her warm skin.

"Yes?"

The tinny static from the box was marginally better than a fast food drive-up. Drew spoke loudly.

"Drew Creighton to see Senator McNabb."

"Do you have an appointment?"

"No. I'm here on urgent, personal business. Tell her I'm Senator Creighton's son."

"One moment, please."

He s.h.i.+fted position while he waited, rubbing against Lauren breast.

She smiled. "Enjoying yourself?"

"Yes, thanks. Are you?"

"You're insatiable," she said, pursing her lips in a way probably meant to look prudish. It made him want to tug her pouty lower lip into his mouth and run his tongue over it.

He dropped his eyelids seductively and murmured, "You're right, I am," just to watch the flush spread up her neck to her cheeks. d.a.m.n, he loved it when she blushed like that. It made him want to lock them both in a bedroom for a week and- The box rattled to life. "I'm sorry, Mr. Creighton. Senator McNabb is unable to see you."

"What?" He'd a.s.sumed his father's name would arouse the lady's curiosity, if not outright concern. "Tell her it has to do with my father's recent marriage," he said, then added pointedly, "And with his rather sudden departure from Was.h.i.+ngton." If she was the one who had been blackmailed, she would have to know he was referring to the Secret Service sting operation.

This time only a few seconds pa.s.sed before the man's fuzzy voice replied, "Senator McNabb sends her congratulations on Senator Creighton's marriage, but she is not available at this time."

The pause had been too brief for the man to have left to consult Senator McNabb. She was either beside him, listening, or her security man was making presumptive decisions for her. Drew gambled on the former.

They'd risked their own safety to track her down and he wasn't leaving without seeing her. If Paul Pierson was wrong about Senator McNabb having a secret worth protecting, she wouldn't respond to threats. But if she was the one who'd been blackmailed, he had to talk his way inside those gates.

In a hard voice, he said, "Tell her it's about some highly sensitive personal information she gave my father. Tell her I'd prefer to discuss it with her, but if she's unavailable I will be glad to question other government officials about the matter in order to confirm-"

The box crackled with a staticky, "The senator will see you, Mr. Creighton." The gates began their slow swing inward.

Lauren sucked in a breath and looked at him with pain in her eyes. "It is is her," she whispered. "How awful for her." her," she whispered. "How awful for her."

"Thank you," Drew muttered to the box and eased back to his side of the car. He slumped in the bucket seat. "I have a feeling we're not going to receive a warm welcome."

Drew's prediction was an understatement.

They sat on a patio behind the house, sipping lemonade and watching the Gulf of Mexico roll onto the senator's white sandy beach for nearly fifteen minutes before the woman appeared.

Drew stood to shake her hand, suffering a cool stare and an even cooler h.e.l.lo.

"Thank you for seeing us, Senator McNabb," he said.

Sharp brown eyes a.s.sessed him. "I agreed to see you as a courtesy to your father, who is a friend and colleague."

He understood; she would not concede without proof. "Senator, this is Lauren Sutherland. Her sister is-"

"Meg Sutherland, Harlan's secretary. A charming young woman." Charlene McNabb tilted her head as she shook Lauren's hand, her short hair gleaming in several expertly tinted shades of blonde. "But I suppose I should refer to Meg as Harlan's wife now."

"No, you shouldn't."

Lauren's soft reply seemed to startle Senator McNabb. She studied Lauren as they settled back into chairs under the filtered shade of the patio umbrella. "Why shouldn't I?" she asked carefully.

Drew closed his hand over Lauren's and answered for her. "Because they aren't really married. But you already know that."

The senator's piercing gaze s.h.i.+fted to him. "What makes you say that?"

This was where things got messy. He pinned her with a hard stare, willing to be as blunt as necessary. "You're the one who went to my father with a story about blackmail, so naturally you would know that his marriage was a ruse. You know he and Meg announced their marriage in order to draw whoever had blackmailed you into another attempt. My father must consider you a good friend, Senator, if he was willing to put his reputation in jeopardy to save yours."

Something flickered in the steady brown eyes, but her lips remained pressed tightly together. He'd told her what she already knew, and she didn't intend to admit to it. It was what she didn't know that might get her to talk.

"The Secret Service was supposed to catch whoever tried to blackmail them, but it didn't work. Something went wrong."

Her eyebrows jumped with a tiny twitch. "What went wrong?"

"We don't know. But the story about my dad and Meg leaving on a honeymoon was obviously a diversion. They ran from both the blackmailers and the Secret Service, and we don't know why. They're even hiding from us to keep us safe. Except it's not working. We started asking questions, and two nights ago someone tried to run us down and kill us."

That seemed to crack her composure a little. "Perhaps if you would just let the Secret Service do its job-"

"I'd love to, Senator, but the Secret Service doesn't know where they are or why they disappeared. And more important, they don't know where to look for answers, because my dad refused to give them your name."

She did a credible job of looking skeptical. "Are you saying he gave it to you?"

"No, he didn't. Someone else did."

That one shook her. Senator McNabb whispered, "Someone else told you I was being blackmailed?" She swallowed and made her voice stronger. "Who?"

"I'd rather not-"

Lauren squeezed his fingers. "She needs to know," she said before turning to Senator McNabb. "Senator Pierson told us there were rumors about you and another man."

The senator's face crumpled and Drew watched her break. As a seasoned politician, Senator McNabb would know how to draw on composure she didn't feel, but it required a coolness that seemed to have escaped her. She closed her eyes tightly as if in pain. "I hoped it would never... I didn't think anyone would..." Senator McNabb's hoa.r.s.e voice failed altogether.

"I'm sorry," Drew told her gently, knowing that the woman was seeing her political and personal future going down in flames. As sleazy as it made him feel, he leaned forward and spoke intently, determined to push his advantage. "Please understand why we are here. You were the first target. We're hoping you know something that will help us find out who's doing this before there are any more victims."

And before they kill us. He didn't say it because she was already nodding dully.

Adding the only rea.s.surance he could, Drew said, "We have no interest in making this public, Senator, and rumors are only that. They don't have to destroy you. Believe me, if you know anything about my father, you know he has survived several unsavory escapades."

Her smile was bittersweet. "I am not Harlan Creighton. I'm a woman. A married married woman who stands for family values and morality in government. The public will not forgive me." Her voice broke. "I don't deserve forgiveness." woman who stands for family values and morality in government. The public will not forgive me." Her voice broke. "I don't deserve forgiveness."

He couldn't respond, couldn't judge her, and couldn't rea.s.sure her. He also didn't know how to get useful information while Charlene McNabb floundered in self-pity.

Lauren's fingers slipped away from his and Lauren leaned forward, her feminine concern all but dismissing him from the conversation.

"Senator, I don't know how this happened, but I don't believe you would be careless enough to risk exposure. Do you have any idea how someone obtained photographs of your... affair?"

Charlene McNabb sank back in her chair and covered her face with her hands, shaking her head as she spoke. "No. I don't know. I can't believe it happened. It wasn't even an affair. It was a spontaneous thing, just one night, while I was on vacation in the Bahamas." She raised her eyes in a pleading look. "I don't even know his last name, and I know he doesn't know mine. I lied about it." She clenched her eyes shut and pounded her fists onto the table. "G.o.d, I sound so pathetic. I don't understand this. I swear there's no way anyone could have known, much less taken those pictures." She choked up.

Drew hardly dared breathe while Lauren gave the senator several seconds to collect herself.

"Who was he?" Lauren asked.

Senator McNabb shook her head. "I don't know. Just a guy on vacation. He approached me at the bar. We talked, and he invited me to have dinner with him. I was there alone, feeling sorry for myself because my husband... well, we'd been having difficulties over our careers, with both of us being out of town a lot and the kids acting out, needing more supervision." She waved her hand as if brus.h.i.+ng aside her concerns. "We were working it out. But I was angry, feeling rejected, and Tony was so sympathetic, so understanding."

Senator McNabb took a deep breath and seemed to make an effort to pull herself together. Her back straightened and her expression grew determined. "I have no excuse. I was vulnerable, but I knew what I was doing. But those pictures... I've thought about nothing else for the past month. And as impossible as it seems, I can only conclude that I was set up."

Drew couldn't suppress his sudden flare of interest. "What do you mean?"

"It's not like we were out on a beach. We were in his hotel room. Blinds closed, door double-locked-I was rational enough to be paranoid about being recognized. Yet there were pictures. It had to have been a hidden camera."

For one swift second he caught Lauren's glance and knew they were both recalling the pictures of Meg. "Were the photos high quality? Like they were professionally done?"

She shook her head. "No, the room was dim. They were just clear enough that you could tell it was me. Why?"

"Never mind, it doesn't matter." Maybe it didn't, he couldn't sort it all out now.

"Did you ever hear from Tony again?" Lauren asked.

"No. I didn't even stay the night, I was so ashamed of what I'd done. And like I said, he didn't know my real name. At least, I didn't think he did." She laughed, a bitter, harsh sound. "I'm not even sure I know his. I remember I laughed when he told me it was Tony, because it didn't fit. Tony sounds so stereotypically Italian, that dark, olive-skinned look, you know? But he was so fair and blond, almost Nordic."

Drew felt his skin go cold despite the clammy Florida heat and knew from Lauren's wide eyes that she felt the same thing. Her voice was weak when she asked, "Did he have long, straight hair? About to here?" She indicated a line just above her collar.

Senator McNabb looked surprised, then suspicious. "Yes. How did you know that?"

"There are similar pictures," Lauren said, her voice shaky. "Of my sister and... and a man of that description."

Color drained from Senator McNabb's face. "Oh my G.o.d." Drew saw her hands tighten into white-knuckled fists and felt the same tense response in his gut. "For them to have planned that... my trip to the Bahamas was a last-second decision. Someone had to have known my schedule, followed me, have the whole seduction planned in advance." To her credit, she didn't waste much time on self-pity. "If they were that organized, this could be huge. And dangerous." She turned her gaze back to him. "Are you aware of what they used those pictures for, Mr. Creighton?"

"I know you were asked to vote a certain way to keep the pictures secret."

"Yes, I was told to vote against my party's position on the offsh.o.r.e drilling bill." She paused, shame obvious in her flushed cheeks and downcast eyes. "G.o.d help me, I did. It pa.s.sed by four votes, close but far more than anyone expected." She looked up. "It wasn't expected to pa.s.s. Do you see? With that margin I thought my vote didn't matter, that it would have pa.s.sed anyway, but how many of those four votes were coerced like mine was?"

Drew didn't have to be in politics to understand the enormity of what she was suggesting. New laws, appropriations, taxes-all were decided by the House and Senate. Many pa.s.sed by only a few votes. If someone gained control of more votes, whole political agendas could be changed.

One powerful person, with enough political blackmail behind him, could control the course of the country. One powerful, corrupt corrupt person. person.

"Who wanted the offsh.o.r.e drilling bill pa.s.sed?" he asked grimly.

"All of the opposing party pushed for it, but it was the president's baby." Senator McNabb watched Drew's shocked response and shook her head, following his thoughts. "No, it can't be him. I don't agree with the president's agenda, but I know and respect the man. I'm certain he'd never be involved in something so immoral."

Drew didn't argue, but he couldn't help recalling the evil glare and snide remarks Lauren had received at the Romanian emba.s.sy. The president's domestic advisor had not bothered to conceal her disdain for both Meg and Harlan Creighton. Even if the president were too principled to have done it, that didn't rule out any of the ambitious sycophants he employed.

Drew's mind whirled with scenarios of presidential advisors sneaking around Was.h.i.+ngton, luring senators into s.e.xual traps, then forcing them to vote for the president's pet programs. It was a plot far beyond the scope of Watergate, and he couldn't believe it. For one thing, it was too complex. To break into Mihaly's apartment, trail Senator McNabb to the Bahamas, and deliver the blackmail photos to Meg and his dad right under the nose of the Secret Service all required incredible resources. And skill. And inside information. Almost like the Secret Service itself.

Drew stiffened.

It was so obvious. Why hadn't he seen it sooner?

He stood abruptly, pulling a surprised Lauren up with him. "I'm sorry, Senator McNabb, but we must be going. Don't worry, your name won't come up. I'll do my best to see that this doesn't affect your career."

The senator's mouth pulled into a tight, regretful smile. "Thank you, but it doesn't matter. I'll be resigning my seat."

"No, please don't make a hasty decision-" Drew began.

"I'm not. I've given it a lot of thought, and I have to leave. Those pictures will be used against me again and again, and I refuse to violate my office and my const.i.tuents by voting against my conscience again. I'll be resigning when the Senate resumes session next week."

At their stunned looks, she shook her head wearily. "It's not your fault. If they want to use the pictures to destroy my marriage, they can try. That's my problem. But I won't let my mistakes influence the course of domestic and foreign policy. I hope Harlan and Meg are okay, and I'm sorry I couldn't help."

"But you did," Drew told her.

"I did? I don't understand."

He wasn't going to explain until he had proof. "If I learn anything, I'll keep you informed, Senator McNabb. Thank you for seeing us." He hustled Lauren toward the walk that led around the house to the driveway.

As soon as they rounded the corner and plunged into the senator's landscaped jungle of banyan trees and flowering hibiscus, Lauren tugged at his arm. "Will you please tell me what in the world is going on?"

Drew looked around, then pulled her into the deep green shade of a tree, sending several small lizards scurrying up its branches. As isolated as they seemed on the shaded path, Drew no longer trusted his sense of security. He leaned close to Lauren's ear.

"We have to return to Was.h.i.+ngton as soon as possible. I think we'd better call Mihaly, too," he said, grimacing at the thought.

Lauren lowered her voice conspiratorially. "Why?"

"Because I know why Dad and Meg disappeared. I just figured out who tried to blackmail them."

"Who?"

Even saying it aloud seemed dangerous. Instead, he put a finger to his lips and asked for the car keys.

When he was behind the wheel, squealing the tires as he sped out of the senator's driveway, he told her.