Ladies of the Night OMNIBUS Collection: Sizzling Romantic Suspense

by Taylor Lee

  Frank’s eyes widened. “Phew. That is some cover, Ian. Can you tell me the purpose for that particular subterfuge?”

  “I will, Frank, later.”

  Turning back to Noah, Ian said with a grim smile, “At the risk of sinking to gallows humor, Noah, let me say that your father just dodged a bullet, albeit temporarily at best.”

  Frank Gunderson raised his hand in a disgruntled gesture. “You can say that again, Ian.”

  “By the way, thanks for getting here when you did, Frank. I didn’t know how much longer I could hold them off. Christ, you know MacArthur and Connelly as well if not better than I do.”

  Ian added with a sigh, “Hell, we couldn’t have drawn a shorter straw when it came to who’s leading the investigation than if Vic Mackey had been in the running.”

  “You’re also right about that, Ian,” Gunderson agreed. “Hell, when it comes to sheer abrasiveness only Andy Sipowicz might give Jimmy Connolly a better run for his money than Vic Mackey.”

  Ian grimaced. “Of course the real danger is my Delta Force buddy Jason MacArthur. Don’t know, Noah, if you ever ran into Mac in Afghanistan, but he has as many medals as you do. And like us, he’s known for his willingness to go off the grid, even disobey orders to get the bad guys. Which is another way of saying that no matter which muckety muck from the Commissioner to the fucking President of the United States tells them to go easy on the sitting Senator, Mac wouldn’t hear him. If he’s convinced your father is involved, nothing and no one will hold him back.”

  Gunderson moved forward and cocked a brow. Looking from one to the other of them he said in a careful tone, “Perhaps it’s time for the Senator’s lawyer to ask the question the cops wanted to ask. ‘Was Senator Walker with Representative Brunson tonight shortly before the guy was killed?’ ”

  Noah and Ian shared a troubled glance. Ian spoke for his friend.

  “Tell you what, Frank. How ’bout we go ask him?”

  ~~~

  Diamond didn’t know what she expected to see when they went into the library to meet with the Senator. She wasn’t surprised to see the strain on Francis Walker’s face. The older woman looked shell shocked. Ruby was standing beside her, her hand resting on the dazed woman’s shoulder. Diamond met her agent’s questioning frown with a slight nod acknowledging that the situation was as bad as it seemed.

  Glancing at Senator Walker, who was sitting in a large armchair across the room from his wife and Ruby, Diamond was stunned. She’d expected him to be concerned, even angry, but he literally looked frozen in place. His expression was granite-hard. He was gripping the arms of the chair like it was his road to salvation, as though if he let go he would collapse. He barely looked up when the four of them entered the room. If he knew Frank Gunderson, he didn’t acknowledge him, merely stared straight ahead, immobilized.

  Noah stepped forward and said to Ruby, “Sweetheart, will you please take my mother into the bedroom?”

  Francis shook her head and appealed to her son. “No…no, Noah. I want to stay here. I need to know what is happening.”

  Noah was firm. “I understand that, Mother. But right now, we need to talk with Father, and it will be better if we do that alone. I promise you that as soon as I have his permission, I’ll fill you in. But for now, please go with Ruby.”

  Ruby tugged on Francis’s arm and helped her to her feet. She didn’t sugarcoat her request.

  “Come, Francis. You need to rest. We have some challenging days ahead of us. At this point, Noah and Ian need to talk with Senator Walker privately. I promise you that as soon as he is able, Noah will tell you everything that he can.”

  The frail looking woman demurred but gave in when Noah walked over and with Ruby‘s help walked his shattered mother to the bedroom.

  When Noah returned, closing the door firmly behind him, Ian took over.

  Striding to the liquor cabinet, Ian retrieved a bottle of Maker’s Mark and put it on the coffee table in front of the Senator. He nodded to Diamond, indicating the row of glasses on the well-stocked shelf.

  “Diamond, please bring us five glasses. My assumption is that we all can use a dose of the hard stuff before we begin what is sure to be a challenging discussion.”

  At Ian’s indication, Frank Gunderson took the chair across from Senator Walker. Again, at Ian’s silent directive, Noah sank down on the sofa next to Diamond. Assuming the leadership role, Ian yanked a hard-backed chair from around the conference table and plunked it beside Senator Walker’s chair. When he sat down he was close enough to the Senator that their knees touched. Given the Senator’s glassy-eyed expression, Diamond was sure that like her, Ian was concerned that Walker was in shock.

  Ian’s voice was firm.

  “Given the amount of alcohol you’ve consumed tonight, John, I’m limiting you to a short one. We have a challenging discussion ahead of us and we all need to be as clear as possible.”

  Waving to Gunderson, he added, “You know Frank. You also know that he’s the best damned criminal attorney in the Distract, as well as the most expensive. I’m assuming you have no objection to hiring him.”

  When the Senator nodded without looking up, Ian continued.

  “Good. Consider the four of us your legal team. What you say to us is confidential until and unless you give us permission to discuss it with others, including your wife.”

  Ian took a hearty swallow of the bourbon then spoke in a commanding tone. “That said, John, out with it. What the hell happened tonight? Where did you go, when and why? Was Brunson alone when you met with him? And….was he alive when you left?”

  Holding the Senator’s shocked gaze, Ian drove in the figurative knife.

  “While you are concocting what version of the truth you are going to give us, please know that at least Diamond and I are aware of your long time extramarital affair with Tiffany Jackson, one of the founding members of Club 69, D.C.’s elite call girl outfit.”

  Diamond couldn’t discern whose shocked gasp was louder, Noah’s or his father’s.

  Chapter 24

  “What the Goddamned hell, Ian? How dare you say something like that in front of my son?”

  Senator Walker leapt to his feet and cast a murderous glare at Ian. His face was rigid with rage, his hands clenched in tight fists at his sides. He turned to the doorway, clearly intending to leave the room. Ian rose and put a restraining hand on the irate man’s arm and shook his head.

  “Sorry, John. There’s no walking away from this. Like you, I’m sorry as hell that Noah has to hear this, but he does. As does Frank Gunderson.” He added with a sigh, “Please sit down, Senator.”

  When Walker tried to jerk free, Ian tightened his grip, barring the Senator’s exit.

  Noah’s command whistled like a bullwhip through the tense air.

  “You heard Ian, Father. Sit down, dammit. Now.”

  Ian didn’t have to look at his friend to know the agony contorting his face. He was confident it was the same anguish he saw in the Senator’s eyes as he gazed at his son. The older man stood silently for a moment then closed his eyes. He trembled violently and likely would have fallen if Ian hadn’t been holding him.

  “Sit down, John,” Ian murmured as he eased the shaking man into the chair. Turning to Diamond, he said, “Please, Col. Davis, get the Senator a glass of water. That will be more beneficial than the Maker’s Mark.”

  While the Senator reluctantly sipped from the glass that Diamond held to his lips, Ian allowed the silence to settle. When the shaken man seemed to have regained some of his composure, Ian pressed forward.

  “What made you go to Brunson’s headquarters, John? According to Francis you were in the den drinking when she heard you talking on the telephone. Again according to your wife, when she came into the room you were preparing to leave. She said you were very agitated and insisted that you needed to meet someone.”

  When the Senator didn’t answer, just stared at the floor in front of him, Ian pressed.

  “Who cal
led you, John? Brunson or….”

  Ian let the question hang, including the implication that it may have been someone other than the representative on the telephone.

  When the Senator was silent Noah broke in, his voice as pained as his rigid expression.

  “Father, please. Answer the question. Don’t make this any harder than it already is.”

  Walker reluctantly met his son’s gaze. Shaking his head he breathed a hard sigh. Turning back to Ian, he said, “It was Brunson. He said he had information that would end my campaign if it became public. I called him a liar, said he had nothing. He…he said enough that made me think that he might…”

  He stopped and buried his head in his hands. His shoulders shook betraying his emotions. Ian waited for a moment and then asked, “Did he mention Ms. Jackson?”

  Walker lifted his head and shot Ian a bleary eyed look and shook his head. “No. Not on the telephone.”

  Ian prompted, “But he did, when you went to see him?”

  The Senator closed his eyes and nodded affirming the damning conclusion. Noah’s choked cough underscored the importance of his father’s admission that he had been involved with the Club 69 prostitute. Out of the corner of his eye, Ian was glad to see Diamond move next to Noah and reach for his hand. Damn, he could only imagine what Noah was feeling. As close as he was to his father, Noah had to be angry, likely furious. But knowing how much he loved his father and how compassionate Noah was, Ian knew he was agonizing over the devastating pain the proud man was feeling.

  When the Senator refused to speak, merely looked down, studying his hands, Ian took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “How about you tell us what happened next. And, John, the more detailed you are, the more we’re going to be able to help you.” He waited for a moment to see if the Senator would continue. When he didn’t, Ian prompted him. “You went to his headquarters, correct?” At the Senator’s affirming grunt, Ian asked, “Was Brunson alone?”

  Walker nodded. “Yes, he was alone. He was sitting behind his desk with that self-righteous look plastered on his smug face.” As if remembering his altercation with Brunson, the Senator’s expression changed. His despair slowly morphed to anger. He glanced at Ian and scoffed, sounding more like his usual acerbic self. “Yeah, he was alone. And the fucking prick had a Bible in front of him. Like he wanted me to think he’d been reading it when I came in. Christ, what a supercilious prick. He didn’t even have the courtesy to rise when I entered the room.” He added with a snort, “What I would have done to shove that leather bound book up his ass.”

  Gratified that John had come out of his stupor, Ian pressed.

  “Then what happened?”

  Walker’s annoyance flared. “He started saying a bunch of crap. That I was a sinner and that I should know what happens to sinners. I told him that we were all sinners and that this was a fucking election, not a contest for sainthood.”

  The Senator rose to his feet and began pacing the room. Clearly agitated, he fumed. “He said I put Sodom and Gomorrah to shame and that I needed to step down, leave the Senate race or he’d crucify me in the press.”

  When he turned away and began muttering incoherently, Ian interrupted.

  “How did you respond to his accusations?”

  The Senator whirled on Ian. “How do you think I responded? I told the fucking asshole he was full of shit. That he didn’t have a single thing on me. That no one would believe anything he said. I told him I could understand why he was drumming up these lies. That if I was forty points behind in the polls and knew I was about to get my ass royally kicked, I might be desperate too.” He hesitated and dragged his hands through his cropped gray hair, then continuing fiercely. “That was when he alluded to Club 69. To that woman….”

  When the agitated man turned his back on the assembled group and was silent for a long moment, Ian asked, “What did you do then, John?”

  Senator Walker whirled around and faced Ian. His expression was cold, contained. “I told him that he didn’t have a goddamned bit of proof, and that if he so much as breathed one word of that pack of lies that…that I…I would kill him.”

  A heavy silence settled over the room. Glaring at each of them, the Senator’s voice dropped dangerously low. The vein on the side of his head visibly throbbed. Clenching his hands in tight fists, he said in sharp, clipped tones, “And then I left the room. I got in the fucking elevator. I went to the goddamned garage. I got in my car and came home.”

  Ian sucked in a deep breath and held the irate man’s angry gaze. Allowing the air to leave his lungs, he asked quietly, “Did anyone see you leave, John?”

  Senator Walker’s expression changed. He closed his eyes and took several audible breaths. When he opened his eyes he raised his hands in a gesture of defeat and shook his head.

  “Not that I know of.”

  “One more question, John, Noah mentioned that it looked like you had blood on your pants.”

  Noah held up his hands. “That was my mistake, Ian. Apparently in addition to the bottle of scotch he polished off, my father also drank half a bottle of Cabernet when he got home. He spilled some of it on his trousers.”

  Ian blew out a hard sigh. “Well, that’s a relief. That could’ve been the nail in the coffin. Thank God, John, you’re just a sloppy drunk, not a murderer.”

  Ignoring Senator Walker’s angry growl, Ian dragged his vibrating phone out of his pocket and glanced at it. Seeing the name on the caller ID, he held up his hand.

  “Excuse me for a minute, gentlemen and lady. I need to take this.”

  He listened to the voice on the other end and nodded at the information he was hearing. Arching a brow, he confirmed, “Yeah, you did right, man. Somehow the detectives neglected to pass on that fact. I owe you one, bro.” He chuckled. “Yes, I’m sure you will collect. Thanks.”

  Looking at his colleagues questioning expressions, Ian gave a satisfied nod.

  “We actually might have caught a break. That was one of my sources in the coroner’s office. It seems that the good detectives withheld a bit of information that my source thought I should know. Apparently Brunson was shot four times—three times in the chest. According to my source given the location of the fourth bullet, it’s a wonder Brunson’s penis is still partially attached.”

  ~~~

  Following a heated discussion with Senator Walker who adamantly refused to initiate a conversation with the police, Ian held up his hands.

  “John, I understand why you don’t want to get in front of those hard-assed cops. I agree. They think they have their guy and given the pressure they’re under, they want to wrap this up as quickly as possible. As it is, the story will be international news by daybreak and all the cable channel operators in the country will be creaming their collective pants to feature the scandal.”

  He leaned forward and held the older man’s determined gaze.

  “The problem, Senator, is that I know Jason MacArthur. If you think you’re tough or that I am, or that Noah is, or Christ, we all know how tough Col. Davis is. Put us all in a blender and you get a smidgen of what makes up Mac. When he’s on a case, he’s like a rabid pit bull who’s found the juiciest bone in the garbage can. He’s going to grab that bone and not let go until he proves his case. Without question at this very moment, he’s getting a warrant to take your statement. I say we get ahead of this, go down to the precinct and beat him to it. It’s the best way to assert your innocence.”

  After the Senator reluctantly agreed, and the four of them prepared to leave, Ian pulled Diamond aside.

  “I don’t want you to come with us, Diamond. Mac and Jimmy are too sharp. They’ll never buy the fact that I would bring my lover and/or my whore on an official visit. We have to keep them believing in the ruse as long as we can. Besides, it’s time for you to connect with Tiffany. I sure as hell would like to get her take on this.”

  Ian didn’t miss the pained expression on her face and hastened to explain. “Remember, Jimmy and that kiddie
cop saw you at the fundraising event. Mac was probably there as well. Everybody in the whole damn place was talking about you—and us. You are likely still the talk of the town. We can’t have you suddenly trot into the precinct for an official visit. It would destroy the image we’ve created.”

  “I understand, Ian. And, I agree. We wouldn’t do to do anything to spoil the image you’ve worked so hard to create. It would be a terrible shame if anyone thought I was anything but your whore.”

  Startled at her caustic tone, Ian jumped in. “You know that’s not what I meant, Tiger.”

  Before he could explain, she gave him a dismissive wave and moved toward the doorway leading to the bedrooms.

  “Besides, I want to spend some time with Ruby and Francis Walker. And yes I plan to learn as much as I can today about the infamous Club 69.”

  He followed her into the hallway and reached for her, pulling her close to him. “C’mere, you.” He stroked her cheek and forced her to meet his gaze. “You’re not getting away from me without letting me hold you, even if it’s for no more than seconds.” Rewarded by her slight tremor, he continued, “By the way, I chose another interesting outfit for you. I had the concierge put it in our suite for you. It’s guaranteed to convince the Club 69 members that you’re one of them.” When she glared at him and pushed back, he chuckled. “Don’t worry honey. It’s not as provocative as the one you wore last night. But then, you would need to be stark naked to top that risqué creation.”

  Chapter 25

  “Remember, Senator, you want to be responsive—but not volunteer a damn thing. I know I don’t have to tell you the difference. Treat this as you would one of those ridiculous televised campaign debates you politicians subject us to. You know the drill. Spin every question, every response back to the ‘pat answer.’ You know, the one you’ve spouted so many times the audience can regurgitate it for you.”

  When Senator Walker gave a disgusted grunt, Ian added, “And to remind you, that ‘pat answer’ in this case is: “As much as I would like to help you find the person who murdered my opponent, I can only tell you what I did tonight.”