Twisted Hunger (22 page)

Why would the senator have two different license plates? Better question, why would he hide one of them?

Then she read the words “Orange County” on the one in the trunk and became more bewildered. As far as she knew, Jones had never lived in Orange County, so why would he have a car registered down there?

As much as she admired the man, she had to admit this was strange enough to be considered suspicious. The instant after she had that thought, a logical explanation came to her. Since he drove an inconspicuous car to keep from being easily recognized, he might have a second license plate to throw off any bothersome media trying to track him down.

But why would he hide it?
Since no easy answer came to her, she pressed the carpet back down the way she’d found it. With nothing left to examine, she closed the trunk and was about to lock the doors when she heard a hushed “
Pssst.
”

Her heart slammed against her rib cage. Was she about to be attacked? Or had someone caught her spying? She didn’t know which she dreaded more.

She glanced anxiously around and finally saw Brevowski motioning to her from a squatting position behind another car.

“You scared the hell out of me,” she scolded as she crouched down beside him. “What are you doing here? Did the guard see you?”

“The guard has been distracted for a few minutes and the security cameras have been momentarily jammed. But I don’t want to take any chances of someone seeing us together. It would certainly be easier to have impromptu meetings if you weren’t quite so… eye-catching.”

“Well, excuse me,” she retorted in a snippy tone. “Perhaps you’d prefer me to dress like a bag lady while I’m sneaking around doing your dirty business.”

“I apologize for frightening you. I heard an opportunity to speak to you and I grabbed it.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I already figured out that you have the phones tapped, but that doesn’t explain— You have his offices bugged too, don’t you? Oh no, don’t tell me you have a video camera in there.” Immediately she tried to think if she had ever said or done anything embarrassing that he might now have on tape.

“No cameras, I assure you. As to everything else, you’re better off not knowing certain aspects of what I do. I told you I would be watching you for your protection. You’ll just have to trust me about how I do that. We don’t have much time. Have you found anything?”

She was still annoyed at him, but to show that she was doing her best to keep up her part of their agreement, she showed him the phone number in Jones’ wallet and told him about the new carpet in the trunk. “It’s not the kind of thing you’re looking for, but like I’ve said before, I really don’t think there’s anything earth-shattering for me to find.”

He studied her face for a moment, then said, “There was something else, wasn’t there? I must ask you to let me decide what is and isn’t important. You just pass everything on to me.”

She sighed. He was right. If there was even the tiniest possibility that Jones had anything to do with her mother’s death, she could not allow herself to feel protective of him. “I’m sure there must be a reasonable explanation, but I can’t think of what it could be.” She told him about finding the license plate and gave him the number.

“Excellent work, Ellery,” he said, rewarding her with a smile. “I know this doesn’t sit well with you, but it’s all going to pay off. I’m sorry to have to push you even harder, but our time is running out.”

“What do you mean,
harder
?”

“You’ve got to get into his home in Sausalito, where your mother had her heart attack.”

She shook her head. “I lucked out with an excuse to go through his car and wallet. There’s no way I could inspect his home.”

“You could, if you were invited,” he stated firmly.

His implication was clear enough once she reminded herself that he could hear everything that went on in the senator’s office. “You mean the Jones’ dinner party next weekend. Well, that could work, if I had any reason to be there, but I don’t. All the guests are influential Republican Party officials and their spouses.”

“Considering your own political aspirations, I would think that dinner might be one you would want to attend, even without any urging from me.”

Naturally the thought had occurred to her, but she hadn’t seen any way to get herself invited. Perhaps Brevowski was right about this also. She had to try a little harder. “I’ll work on it,” she assured him without promising results. “If we’re finished here, I should be getting back.”

“A few more minutes, if you please. You’ve been a very busy lady since I spoke to you last. I can’t order you not to go out on dates with old friends or not to strike up new friendships, but I must remind you that you’re in a very precarious position.”

“I know,” she said before he could repeat his warnings. “Trust no one. Brandon Ross
is
an old friend, one I know well enough not to trust, but not for the reasons you have. And since you’ve been listening in, you know the woman who joined us for dinner last night is Diane Oliver, a professional image consultant referred to the senator by his own mother. Any other questions?”

“What about the man you had lunch with yesterday?”

She tilted her head at him. “Why don’t
you
tell
me
about him?”

He frowned. “I have no idea what you mean by that.”

“Are you saying you didn’t send him to check up on me?”

“No, he’s not one of my… acquaintances. And if I send someone, I’ll make sure you know about it. Did he say or do something that made you suspicious of him?”

She was slightly relieved to learn that he wasn’t able to listen in on every word she said outside the office, but she wasn’t sure how she felt about learning that Luke hadn’t come from Brevowski. “I’m not sure. I mean it wasn’t anything specific. It was just a general sort of suspiciousness, if that makes any sense. Do you think he could have been sent by someone else to spy on me?”

His frown deepened. “It’s certainly possible. What has he told you about himself?” He made a few notes as she related details that she remembered from their two conversations. “Did he ask to see you again?”

“Yes, but I turned him down.”

“Did he tell you how to contact him if you changed your mind?”

She had a bad feeling about where his questions were leading. “Yes.”

“You should do it then. Contact him and stay in contact, at least until I can verify who he is.”

“Why would I—” She cut herself off. “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.”

He smiled. “True, but that’s not exactly the reason I had in mind. If he has been sent to spy on you, and you don’t let him near you, they’ll just send someone else until they’ve sent someone you feel comfortable with. At least this way, you would know who the enemy is.”

She clucked her tongue. “I don’t think he’s an
enemy
, he was just…” She couldn’t think of any words to explain what it was about him that bothered her.

He shook his head and sighed. “Unfortunately, Ellery, in my business, I have to assume people are enemies until I’ve confirmed otherwise, and even then, it’s still smart to watch my back. If you don’t think you can handle this guy, it’s okay to say so.”

Ellery’s spine straightened in response. “I’m not afraid of him. I just… wasn’t interested. But if you think I should keep him close, figuratively speaking, then I’ll contact him.”

“In case he’s a professional, don’t do anything to try to trip him up. All you want to do is make him believe you trust him, and be sure to reveal nothing of your true mission. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

She clucked her tongue again. “My intelligence quotient is far above average. I understand perfectly. Now if there isn’t anything else, I really need to get back to my office.”

“I think that’s it for now. Go on.”

She opened the car door then turned back to him. “How will you get out of here without the guard questioning you?”

“Don’t worry about it. Just go.”

The guard waved at her as she headed for the stairwell, and she waved back. She would love to hang around to see how Brevowski was going to get out without being seen, but she had an appointment with Vivian Jones in a half hour and several calls to return before that. Besides, Brevowski had given her something much bigger to think about than his cloak and dagger tricks.

Although he had assured her she didn’t have to make contact with Luke, his reasoning made sense. Wouldn’t it be better to know who your enemy was? If she didn’t let Luke get close to her, the next person they sent might not be so easy to figure out.

Why, it could even be someone like Diane—without Mother Jones’ reference, of course. Someone she felt so comfortable around, she would never suspect her.

Her speculations came to an abrupt halt when she heard someone else’s quick footsteps on the stairs. She stood still and confirmed that they were coming toward her from above rather than below, which eased her momentary panic that she had been followed into the stairwell. She rationalized that the panicky feeling was only a leftover reaction from Brevowski’s surprise appearance combined with the fact that, during all the times she’d used the stairs, she had never passed another person doing the same.

Telling herself how foolish she was being, she started climbing again, only to come to another abrupt halt when she saw Senator Jones coming toward her.
Dear God!
If he had been a few minutes earlier, he’d have caught her meeting with Brevowski. The mere thought of that made the panic flood back.

He stopped two steps above her, so that she had to look up at him for a change. He looked relieved to see her.

“Is something wrong?” she asked, struggling to calm herself.

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” he said. “I buzzed your desk, and your secretary said you’d come down here yourself instead of sending someone. When you didn’t return immediately, I had the most awful premonition that something had happened to you. Ms. Oliver needed to take a call, so I took advantage of that to come check on you. I wouldn’t normally have worried, but knowing how you prefer to take the stairs… well, as long as you’re all right.”

She should have felt appreciative for his concern, but something wasn’t right about his explanation, and he had that strange glazed look in his eyes again. “I’m fine, really. I, uh, stopped in the ladies room before I came down here.” She forced a smile. “You know how it is when we girls get to talking.”

“Who were you talking with?”

Her heart beat faster. He couldn’t possibly know about Brevowski… could he? “Pardon me?” His lips curved into a smile, but it didn’t make her relax. She wanted to get out of the stairwell, but he was standing directly in her path with no apparent desire to move.

“You said you were talking with someone,” he explained in a whispery voice. “I was just curious about who it was.”

She took a shaky breath. “Oh. Yes. In the ladies room. Actually, I don’t even know her name. It was just a female thing. You know how it is.” Why did he keep looking at her like he wondered what she was up to? Or was it only her guilty conscience that had her thinking that? Suddenly she remembered why she had gone down to the garage in the first place and handed the wallet to him. “It was on the floor, under the passenger seat.”

“Thank you,” he said, slipping it into his back pocket. “But it really wasn’t necessary for you to come down here yourself, especially considering your… little problem.”

It wasn’t just her guilty conscience. He was definitely acting peculiar.

“Or is it only being enclosed in an elevator that disturbs you?” he asked.

A silent alarm went off in her head, but she made herself respond in a casual tone. “How did you know about that?”

His smile broadened, showing more teeth, and it brought back the memory of Teddy’s surprising smile. “I’m a very observant fellow, Miss Winters. I thought you’d realized that by now.” He narrowed his eyes and cocked his head as though studying her. “Although I must admit to not having noticed something very interesting until now…” He cupped her chin firmly in his hand and turned her head to one side then the other while he scanned her features.

God help me
, she prayed.
Don’t let him see anything that reminds him of my mother.

“You have quite remarkable eyes. Classic facial bone structure too. How interesting. Have you ever studied anthropology, Miss Winters?” Like a blind man he started examining her face with his fingertips.

She swallowed hard. He was no longer acting a little peculiar—he was now giving her the full-on creeps. “Uh, only a basic course in college.” The walls were rapidly closing in on her and she had a strong urge to slap his hand away from her face. “We’d better get back to the office before they think we’ve both disappeared.”

He hesitated just long enough to make her have to swallow noticeably again before moving to one side to make room for her. Rather than letting her pass however, he grasped her elbow as though to support her. She told herself he was just being a gentleman, but it felt more like he was pulling her along.

The instant Ellery stepped into the hallway on their floor she deeply inhaled the open air with a tremendous surge of relief. She had the distinct impression that she had just gotten a peek at whatever her mother had sensed was strange about Senator Jones.