by Desiree Holt
Well, shit. This wasn’t good. Daniel Foreman had a very responsible position as the planning consultant on the Speaker’s staff. People like him didn’t just drop off the radar. Even the first day of recess.
Okay, Maddie girl. Don’t lose it. You’ve been through stranger things than this before. There has to be a reasonable answer here someplace.
Realizing the phone was not going to be her friend today, she called for a cab and swallowed the last of her coffee while she waited. When a horn honked outside, she checked to make sure it was the taxi she’d called, grabbed her purse and briefcase, remembered to set her security alarm before locking the front door and flew down the walk.
“Where to?” the driver asked in his bored, accented English.
Maddie looked up and down the street, feeling spooked, unsettled. In a panoramic scan, she checked to see if any unfamiliar cars were parked on the cozy street. If any unfamiliar faces walked the sidewalks, watching her.
Oh, this is stupid. Who the hell is watching, Madison Sommers? I’m being too paranoid.
But in Washington paranoia was very easy to come by.
With a jerk, she forced herself to dismiss her feelings and climbed in the backseat. But when the driver repeated “Where to?” she gave him Dan’s address. Surprised at herself, she sat back, trying to ease her nerves as the cab headed through Washington’s morning traffic to the condo in the high rise where Dan lived. The guard in the lobby looked at her expectantly.
“May I help you with something?”
Security had been a bitch everywhere since 9/11. She’d bet this guy knew every resident and their visitors by sight. She’d been to Dan’s place a few times, but always at night when someone else was on duty.
She smiled back at him. “I’m just going up to Mr. Foreman’s apartment,” she told him and headed toward the elevators.
The guard came out from behind his desk and tentatively put a hand on her arm. “I’m afraid he’s not in. Could I have your name, please?”
She looked at his hand, then up at his face, then back at his hand. He snatched it back as if she’d lit a match to it, but didn’t back away. Pushing the Up button impatiently, she asked, “Is there a problem?”
“I told you. Mr. Foreman’s not here.”
“I’ll just see for myself, okay? Sometimes he likes to hide from people.” She deliberately took two steps to the side, putting space between them. “I’m used to him. We work together. If he’s really out, I’ll just leave him a note.”
“I’ll need your name,” he insisted, his own smile looking forced.
“Madison Sommers.” Thankfully the elevator doors swooshed open at that moment and she stepped in.
“Wait, you can’t go up there.” The guard tried to reach in and stop the doors from closing.
Maddie smiled at him as she pushed the Close button, then the number for Dan’s floor. A knot the size of a fist formed in her stomach. Every sense she had told her this was more than a lover taking his leave after a night of hot sex. Call it egotistical. Call it crazy. But something was very wrong here.
When she rang the bell for his condo and a strange man opened the door, she was even more convinced. He was well over six feet, dressed in a gray suit, white shirt, navy tie and grim look. Everything about him screamed “government”. What the hell?
“Miss Sommers?” His voice sounded as if he were gargling with gravel.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Madison Sommers, right?”
“The guard,” she guessed. “He called you.” She’d been through so many security types who did their jobs well. Working for the Speaker gave anyone who worked for him the opportunity to wheedle or cajole their way through any barrier, secure or not.
The man nodded. “The guard was told to stop anyone from coming up here. He called to let us know you were tougher than he expected.”
All Maddie’s senses were on full alert. What the hell was going on?
“Listen, if he’s busy I’ll just give Dan a call later.”
A large hand closed on her forearm and literally pulled her into the apartment. “I’m thinking maybe you can answer some questions for us.”
Okay. I’ve battled with the best of them. Secret Service. FBI. CIA. The media. You name it. I don’t care who this jerk is, I’m not going to be intimidated.
She yanked her arm away from him. “If Dan’s not here, just exactly what are you doing in his apartment?”
“Problems, Greg?” the voice came from the direction of the kitchen. In a moment another man who could have been Greg’s twin walked into the foyer.
“We’ll see,” Greg said. He reached for Maddie again and pulled her inside, shutting the door behind her.
“Listen,” she protested, “I don’t know who the hell you are or what you’re doing here, but I came to see Dan. Where is he?” Maddie tried to see around the bulk of the man, but his partner also blocked her way. She shoved her hands in her pockets so they wouldn’t see they were trembling from a combination of dread and anger.
“You work with Mr. Foreman, correct?” Greg asked.
His partner stood behind him, an identically grim expression on his face.
What the hell is going on here?
“Yes. We both work for the Speaker of the House. But if you’re here I assume you know that.” She glared at him. “You still haven’t told me who you are. Don’t ask me anything else until you do.”
“I don’t think—” the other man began.
Greg cut him off. “I got it. Miss Sommers is right. She’s not going to tell anything to two strangers. Her boss would can her.” He pulled a flat leather wallet from his pocket and flipped it open to show her his identification.
She stared at the badge and the picture identification. Her eyes skimmed over the name, Gregory Devane, drawn by the letters FBI that jumped out at her. She looked at the other man. “I suppose you’re federal, too?”
He nodded, holding out his own badge wallet that identified him as Jason Riker.
Great. Just what she needed. Two federal agents sticking their nose in her business and Dan’s. Trask would have a holy fit over this. He liked things to run smoothly and depended on her to keep them that way.
Or did he already know something was up? If he did, why hadn’t he called her? Maddie wanted to hurry back to her apartment, jump into bed, pull the covers over her head and start the day all over again.
She lifted her gaze to Greg’s face. “Tell me. What does the FBI want with Dan? He’s a planning consultant, for god’s sake.”
Greg ignored her question. “When was the last time you saw Mr. Foreman?”
Maddie tightened her fists in her pockets, frustration added to the growing anxiety she was feeling. “If I tell you when I saw him, will you let me know what this is all about? I can’t imagine Dan being in any kind of trouble.” Then a disastrous thought punched her in the stomach. “Oh, god. Has something happened to him? Is he hurt?” Is he dead?
Jason Riker moved forward. “Are you expecting something to happen to him?”
No. I was expecting him to be in my bed this morning, warm and naked, for one last good fuck before we had to leave for work. Not being checked out by the FBI.
Maddie took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She’d done this dance before, when one or another congressman had been about to get his hand slapped and the mess ended up on Trask’s desk. But this was completely different. Besides, she hadn’t had wild, erotic sex with any of those representatives and couldn’t care less about them personally. But Dan was very different.
“Of course not,” she snapped back. “Look. I don’t know what this is all about, but I might be able to help you better if I knew.”
The two men looked at each other. “Unless you can tell us where Mr. Foreman might be, I don’t think we have much to say to each other. So I’ll ask you once more. When did you last see him and when were you expecting to see him today?”
“I assume you tried his o
ffice.” Of course they had. And what a stir that must have caused if they identified themselves.
Jason nodded. “Miss Sommers, you may not know this—”
Greg Devane shook his head at his partner and looked at Maddie again. “Well?”
“I don’t know where he is.” She tried to sounds as offhand as possible. “I thought he might have had some appointments or perhaps was working from home for a while. That’s why I stopped by.”
She tried not to fidget, anxious to get away from these men as soon as possible.
A cell phone chirped and Jason Riker pulled his from his pocket. He frowned at the text message on his screen, then moved up close to Devane and murmured something in his ear. Devane nodded.
“All right,” he told Maddie. “When we see him we’ll tell him you were here.”
As quickly as he’d pulled her inside, that fast he was hustling her toward the door.
“But—”
“Thank you, Miss Sommers. We’ll be in touch.”
She found herself out in the hallway so quickly her head was spinning, the door locked behind her. Well! What the hell was that about? What had been on that message Riker got that made them want to get rid of her so quickly? She’d been sure she was in for a grueling Q & A session.
Dan, Dan, Dan. What have you gotten yourself into?
Chapter Four
She didn’t want to admit it, even to herself, but threads of fear were wriggling their way through her body. Whatever this was, it wasn’t good. The FBI didn’t play games. And in her heart, she knew, just knew, that Dan would not have left her alone this morning if he hadn’t had to leave her.
She chewed it over in her mind while she cabbed to her office in the Capitol. She knew Paul Trask would be in by this time. He had an appointment just before lunch. She’d make him talk to her, tell her what he knew. If anything. Images from the night before flashed through her mind. Dan naked, his magnificent cock rising before her eyes. Dan fucking her until she screamed for mercy. Dan sucking her nipples until they ached with arousal. Dan sliding his fingers inside her wet and waiting cunt and watching her face as he brought her to orgasm.
No way could a man who could throw himself so completely into such erotic activities be on the verge of something sinister. Not unless he was a really good actor. Which she hated to admit, could be possible. But somehow, not probable.
Frustrated and jittery, she sailed through the detailed Capitol security not smiling or joking with the guards whom she knew so well. Up in the Speaker’s huge offices, she marched to her desk, dumped her purse and made a beeline for Trask’s secretary.
“I need five minutes with him,” she told the woman. “That’s all. Let me in now before his appointment gets here.”
“You know how he is about unscheduled interruptions, Maddie.” The woman shook her head, afraid as she always was to ruffle Trask’s feathers. “His day is packed.”
“Five minutes,” Maddie repeated and smiled. “I’ll tell him to blame me for any screw ups.”
The secretary studied her with an assessing gaze. The two women had worked together for five years now and got along well. Maddie didn’t want to upset that applecart by storming past her.
The woman sighed. “I’ll buzz him.” She depressed a button on her phone. “Mr. Speaker? Madison Sommers needs five minutes with you. I explained how tight your time is. All right. I’ll send her in.”
Maddie blew past her, opened the heavy oak door and stepped into the Speaker’s office.
Paul Trask was a tall man, muscular, with thick, stark-white hair and startling gray eyes. Those eyes could warm you with affection or pierce you like a dagger. Maddie had seen both. He’d been on the Hill for more than two decades and was in his second term as speaker. He’d made it plain he would work like a dog to retain his party’s majority in the House so he could keep his position. Everyone knew Paul thrived on power.
He nodded as Maddie closed the door behind her and indicated she should take one of the chairs in front of his desk. She tamped down her impatience, appearing as casual as possible. If she was seeing gremlins where there weren’t any, she didn’t want to raise an alarm unnecessarily. But this didn’t feel like it. She needed answers.
“Okay, Maddie. What’s so important you had to battle your way in here? Aren’t you and I on for our regular four o’clock wrap-up?”
“We are.” She wet her lips with the tip of her tongue. “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to strong-arm Julia. I’m concerned about Dan Foreman.”
“Oh? Is there a problem with him I’m not aware of?”
Maddie’s stomach clenched again. Whatever was going on, Trask didn’t seem to be aware of it. Unless he was putting on a damn good act.
“I don’t know. That’s what I wanted to ask you. He’s not in the office today, and he isn’t at home. I wondered if you had given him a special assignment.”
“If I had,” Trask barked, “you’d know about it.” Trask liked order and Maddie herself was the first one to know what he did and when. She was his rock and his shield. “Why bother me to even ask such a thing?”
“Because…” Because lately you act differently. She sat straighter at the shock of her own instinctive response. As if you have a secret.
“I’m waiting, Maddie. Because why?”
“Dan’s acting oddly. I thought perhaps something had happened to him.”
Trask put down the papers in his hands. His narrowed gaze flew over her body. If he surmised what had happened between her and Dan last night, he didn’t deem it necessary to discuss. “You think he’s been hurt? In an accident? Mugged? Something like that?”
She shrugged, trying for nonchalance she did not feel, stifling the urge to jump up and scream. “I was hoping you could tell me, sir. I can’t reach him. I assumed if something had happened you’d know about it.”
He waited a heartbeat before answering her. “Most likely he has an appointment outside the office and just didn’t put it on the calendar.”
“He wouldn’t do that.”
“No? He’s not regular staff. As a contracted freelance consultant he has more freedom to pursue channels we can’t. Hell, you hired him, so you know he’s helping us put some info together on trade legislation.” Trask waved a dismissive hand. “Maybe this had to do with one of his former clients. He said when he came on with us he had a few loose ends to tie up for them.”
Maddie gripped her hands together. “Wouldn’t he have left word with someone, in case you wanted to get hold of him?”
Trask scowled. “He probably expected to be here by now. Then his meeting ran late. He’s thinking of his vacation, just like you’re thinking of Cancun. Right?”
Wrong. “Sir.” Maddie moistened her lips again, not ready yet to let him know the FBI was looking for Dan. “None of Dan’s phones answer, either. They all go to voice mail.” Except that last one. “He and I have worked together for only two weeks, but it isn’t like him to just fall off the map.”
Trask startled. “His phones are off? Agreed, that’s not like him.” He shoved the papers he’d been working with into a folder. “Give him another hour. If we still haven’t heard from him I’ll make phone calls. I hate to press the panic button too soon.”
And I don’t want to press it too late.
Another minute of verbal fencing and it was clear that either Trask knew nothing or he was stonewalling her. Either way, she’d wasted a lot of time here.
“Thank you for seeing me, sir.”
Something was off-kilter here. She could feel it. Almost smell it. But she could hardly call Trask a liar to his face without any proof. Maybe she could find something in Dan’s office to point her in the right direction. She hurried to its location, tucked away in a corner of the suite. His desk yielded nothing so she booted up his computer, using the password for Trask’s top level staff. A list of documents came up but she was stymied by one that was encrypted. Nothing she did opened it for her.
Strange. Why
would Dan lock a document on his computer and prevent her from seeing it? As the person basically in charge of everything in his office, she was given open access to everything. Again something was hinky. She was trying another password when Paul Trask’s voice brought her up short.
“I’m sure you want to show Dan the same respect for privacy he’d give you.” His voice held an icy edge.
Maddie looked up to him standing in the doorway, a disapproving expression stamped on his face.
“I’d have thought better of you,” he continued. “Surely you have things to do. If not, I’m not making good use of your time.”
Babbling something that sounded like an apology, Maddie escaped to her office, closed the door and dropped into her chair. She had to get hold of Dan. She didn’t want to think that he’d gone off the reservation in some way, but hell! What was she supposed to think? He did a Houdini, strange suits showed up at his apartment and the Speaker shut the door on her.
One more time she tried all of Dan’s numbers with the same depressing results. She didn’t need flash cards to tell her this was more than an appointment he forgot to tell her about.
Oh, Dan. What have you gotten yourself into?
She had one last trump card to play, one she hesitated to use except in emergencies. But that’s what this seemed to be. Because the later it got, the more worried she became. Reluctantly, she opened her cell phone and dialed a number she knew by heart.
“Ambassador Sommers’ office.”
Maddie was startled when the phone was answered by an unfamiliar female voice. Who the hell was this?
“This is Madison Sommers. I called my father’s private line, expecting him to answer. May I speak to him, please?”
“I’m sorry. He’s not available at the moment. May I help you with something?”
Maddie resisted the urge to throw the phone across the room. “Who am I speaking to?”
“Caroline London. His personal assistant.”
Personal assistant? Since when?
“You must be new. I don’t remember hearing about you.” Maddie knew her voice had a nasty tone but she didn’t care.
