Trust No One

by Velvet Vaughn

  She couldn't help sneaking another peek at the big man who tackled her. Alex. A detective. She would've pegged him for one even without being told. He had the look, the bearing of authority. His face was stern, uncompromising. His straight black hair was cut short, but not as short as Kendall's bodyguard. Both men were tall, dark, definitely Greek, though Alex had to have some Scandinavian blood in him. Neither was particularly handsome, not in the pretty-boy sophisticated sense of the men she worked with on television. But they were rugged, compelling, capable, and that made them downright sexy. Just recalling the feel of his strong, muscular body covering hers made her shiver in awareness.

  "Are you cold?" Alex asked. He stood to add another log to the roaring fire.

  No she definitely wasn't cold. Her body felt on fire. She'd never had this instant attraction to a man before. Sure, she'd fallen in lust at first sight before, but this was different. Lust was definitely in the mixture, but it was something more. She was afraid to probe the attraction too deeply. She'd only be in town for a couple of days. Besides, he could be married with five kids for all she knew. She checked his left hand and no ring, but some men didn’t wear them. Her eyes strayed to his face to find him watching her. She fought the urge to shiver again at the look in his eyes. He cleared his throat and tore his gaze away.

  "I want to hear the entire story from you, Kendall. Start at the beginning and don't leave anything out."

  #

  Kendall explained everything that happened from the minute she entered the hotel to meet her friends. Alex took it all in, not saying a word until she finished. He sighed, feeling old and weary and burned-out. He really didn't want to have to deal with a rogue cop, but after hearing Kendall's story, he had no doubt one operated in his own precinct. "I knew Rick Fleming," he said. "We were in different divisions, but played on the department softball team together. He was a good guy. I heard about the accident but thought it was just that—an accident." After a thoughtful pause, he asked, "Mrs. Fleming doesn't have any clue whom she talked to in the department?"

  "She had no idea," Dorian answered. "She tried calling the chief, but when he wasn't available, she asked for any officer, assuming he'd get the message."

  He needed to track down who took the call and find out if the chief ever received the message. He peeked at Olivia, something he had done frequently since she arrived. For some reason, he was drawn to her. It wasn't just because she was drop dead gorgeous. Kendall was also beautiful, but he didn't feel the same tug he felt for the petite blonde.

  He forced his thoughts back to the case. "I understand why you were reluctant to go to the cops, Kendall," Alex grudgingly admitted. "For now it's best if we continue to keep you hidden. I'll do some digging tomorrow, see what I can find out about Fleming's death. You've got the best protecting you, so you should be safe. You have no idea who Stefani would've been talking to in Senator Hofstra's office?"

  Kendall shook her head. "None. There were several calls both ways from two different numbers."

  "We called both and one is definitely the senator's offices," Dorian told him. "The other call went directly to an automated voice mail. No indication whose phone. We figured, they must've registered cells through his office for staff members."

  Kendall covered a yawn. "Unless you have any other pressing questions, I need to get some sleep so I don't look like a zombie for the interview tomorrow."

  "You sure you want to go through with it? The perp might recognize you."

  "Positive. Like I told Dorian, it's not even about the interview anymore. Plus, I want to see if I can find out who Stefani knew."

  Alex's grandfather's fishing cabin was rustic but well kept. The two bedrooms were small but clean and functional, each with queen beds. "The women can share one bedroom and Dorian, you take the other. I'll sack out on the couch."

  Dorian started to argue but Alex pinned him with a glare. "My house, my rules."

  He gathered a blanket and pillow from the hall closet and tossed them on the couch. Once everyone retreated to their rooms, he checked the perimeter to make sure everything was secure and then added another two logs to the fire. It was going to be a long night thinking about busting one of his own and trying not to think about the blond beauty on the other side of the cabin wall.

  Chapter Eleven

  Sunday, September 19

  Kendall bit her cheek to keep from laughing as the elevator climbed floors. Vince, the cameraman the local affiliate assigned to her, looked as nervous as a fat mouse facing a starving cat and it had nothing to do with the upcoming interview. It was because of the towering giant with the mirrored shades, backwards baseball cap, tight black t-shirt and heavily-muscled arms crossed over his chest that had him shaking in his Birkenstocks. She had to admit, Dorian did cut an impressive figure. She explained to Vince that her producer insisted on sending a bodyguard. It was a plausible explanation. Besides, she could hardly pass him off as her assistant. Dorian looked like no one’s assistant.

  When Vince wasn't cutting nervous glances at Dorian, he was ogling Olivia, who'd tagged along to help with Kendall's hair and makeup.

  The bell dinged and the elevator door slid open on the floor where Senator Hofstra's offices were located. Dorian's large hand smacked against the door to keep it from closing as she stepped out first, followed by Olivia and then Vince. Dorian brought up the rear, her bag of cosmetics dangling from his shoulder. He should've looked silly carrying the bag, but he didn't.

  She approached Senator Hofstra’s secretary and introduced herself. "The senator is expecting you. If you'll have a seat, I’ll let him know you're here."

  A loud burst of laughter could be heard behind the closed doors and Kendall thought it was odd that the man who was frantically searching for his wife and child, missing now for one week, could find anything remotely funny. Pushing the thought aside, she settled into a chair between Dorian and Olivia.

  A man and woman entered the office, talking in low, angry tones. The woman was in her early forties, beautiful in a perfectly-coiffed, classic way, but with a hard edge. The man was late thirties, early forties, medium height with dark brown, perfectly-styled hair. Handsome in a preppy frat boy way.

  "You have no business being here, Vivian," the man snapped.

  "I'm here to support Aaron," she argued, a nasty glower morphing into a practiced smile when she spotted Vince taping background shots of the office.

  The man noticed her transformation and glanced their way. He strode forward with a smile and extended a hand—to Olivia. "I recognize you. You must be here to interview the senator." His look was predatory.

  Olivia politely shook his hand and corrected him. "Ms. Buckley is conducting the interview. I'm hair and makeup."

  He glanced at Kendall and gave her a nod, before quickly dismissing her. Kendall disliked him instantly. "I never forget a face and I know I've seen you on television when I travel to New York." His hand stroked his chin. "Olive, Opal…"

  "Olivia," she confessed. "Larrson. And I am a reporter in New York, but I'm strictly here to support Ms. Buckley."

  He wasn't to be deterred. "You broke the story on the serial killer in Vermont. Excellent job."

  She inclined her head. "Thank you."

  Finally he addressed Kendall, shaking her hand. His grip was loose, moist, his fingers cool. "Ms. Buckley. I’m the senator's press secretary, Gray Posten. We spoke on the phone." He paused, looking pensively between her and Olivia. "I don't mean to sound rude, and I'm sure you are a fine reporter in your own right, Ms. Buckley, but I've seen Ms. Larrson's work and with her reputation…" He spread his hands wide, let the rest of his sentence hang in the air.

  Kendall stared at the man, feeling a flush of anger crawl up her face. Oh, she wouldn't argue his point about Olivia—she was an excellent reporter. But Kendall was no slouch. Hearing Dorian's deep growl behind her, fearing what he might say—or worse, do—to the senator's press secretary, she opened her mouth to speak but snapped it closed at
Olivia's harsh tone.

  "You are out of line, Mr. Posten." Olivia looked like a sweet, smiling Malibu Barbie, but get on her bad side, insult a friend, and she turned into a coiled snake, ready to strike. Posten looked from the finger stabbed into his chest to Olivia's thunderous expression. "You're lucky to have Kendall Buckley conducting this interview. She is absolutely the best there is, and you owe her an apology." Dorian growled in agreement and Kendall had to force down a sudden lump in her throat at their defense.

  Posten looked properly chastised. "You're right. Forgive me, Ms. Buckley. No disrespect intended." A wink. She barely managed not to roll her eyes. She hated winkers.

  The door opened and a man stepped out, all traces of the earlier laughter gone. Kendall recognized him as one of the men who comforted the senator on his televised breakdown.

  "Byron Wilks, Senator Hofstra’s campaign manager," he introduced with an outstretched hand. "You must be Ms. Buckley."

  His handshake was stronger, more authoritative than Posten's limp noodle one.

  "Nice to meet you," she said.

  His lips thinned when the woman who entered with Posten breezed past them into the senator's office. Kendall followed his gaze to see the woman embrace the senator with familiarity. Wilks shook his head and turned back to them with a practiced smile.

  "We should be all set for the interview."

  She introduced Vince, Dorian and then Olivia. Wilks did a double take, his attention focused on Olivia. Kendall wasn't arrogant, but she knew she was attractive. But standing next to Olivia and she might as well have worn a paper bag over her head.

  With a slight shake of his head, Wilks ushered the group inside the office. "The senator is expecting you."

  Aaron Hofstra, a handsome man in his mid-forties, stood to greet them. All traces of the earlier humor he shared with Wilks gone, replaced by a mask of pure misery. The mystery woman stood off to the side. "Ms. Buckley, it’s a pleasure to meet you, though I wish it were under different circumstances." He grimaced.

  "As do I, Senator."

  Kendall glanced around the room, her gaze sweeping over the other woman. "I thought your mother would be sitting in on the interview."

  Hofstra's brows drew together. "She wanted to be here." He seemed a little distant, distracted. Kendall wondered if he was medicated.

  "I'll call her," the mystery woman offered, drawing out a cell phone.

  "Thank you, Vivi. What would I do without you?" He turned back to Kendall. "Vivian Mathison is an old family friend, helping me through this difficult time."

  Helping…yeah, right. Kendall thought Vivi wanted to be more than a friend, judging from the looks she kept shooting Hofstra. "It's going to voice mail," Vivi announced, before turning her back to leave a message.

  Posten checked his watch. "How long do you need to set up?"

  Vince was working on positioning one camera that would strictly face Hofstra. He had another he would carry to include shots of Kendall and presumably Hofstra's mother if she arrived.

  She needed to check her make-up and change her outfit. "How about if we start in ten minutes?"

  #

  Ron Daulton entered the coroner's office with a sense of dread. He hated everything associated with every forensic lab in the country. The stench was overpowering…decomp mixed with formaldehyde and industrial cleaner. He didn't know how people worked with that odor constantly lurking in the air. He'd retched watching his first autopsy as the coroner cut into the putrefied body. He shuddered thinking about it now. He hated the sterile, windowless rooms filled with shelves of coolers to preserve the bodies. It depressed him just walking into the building.

  He shook hands with the medical examiner, Maxine Stone. She'd fast-tracked the autopsies due to the importance of the case. She led him into the lab and handed him a mask, for which he was eternally grateful. He slapped it over his nose and mouth.

  Maxine wasted no time with small talk. "Both cases are being classified as murder."

  "So they didn't die in the fire?"

  "No. They both died from blunt force trauma to the skull." She flipped on a light and showed him two x-rays pointing out damage to the occipital bone on the back of each skull. "This one also had a fracture on the frontal lobe." She pointed out another slide that showed the damage.

  "We know for sure the trauma killed them. She padded over to one of the blackened bodies and reached into the chest cavity. Ron tried not to wince at the human lung in her hands.

  "There is no smoke damage in the lungs, so they weren't breathing when the fire started."

  "No other injuries?"

  "Not that I've found. Except for the damage to the skulls, there were no fractures or breaks."

  "What about drugs in their system?"

  "Even fast tracked, it'll take a couple of days to get the results. If I had to guess, I'd say no. They were both hit so hard in the head, it did extensive, irrevocable damage. Drugs would've been overkill."

  Ron thanked her, asked for copies of the reports to be emailed to him and stepped gratefully into the Sunday sunshine.

  #

  Dorian lurked in the background as preparations for the prime-time interview took place. Kendall and Olivia retreated to the restroom while Vince ran around like a chicken with his head cut off, checking lighting and angles and making adjustments. No one paid him any attention, which allowed him to observe unobtrusively. Who here had Stefani called, and who'd called her?

  Gray Posten, Hofstra's press secretary stood nearby, checking messages on his Blackberry. Dorian really wanted to kick his preppy ass for his earlier treatment of Kendall, but he forced the urge down and eased over to introduce himself. He needed to do some investigating. "So, how long have you worked with the senator?"

  Posten's gaze strayed to where the senator stood talking in hushed tones with Wilks. "Worked with, about a dozen years. But I've known Aaron since first grade."

  "So, you planning to make the move to Washington if he's elected?"

  A flash of pure hatred crossed Posten's face before he could disguise it. He gave a quick shake of his head. "Afraid not. I'll be out of a job. He and his running mate, Governor Denton, have a new staff lined up."

  Dorian whistled softly. "That's a tough break, being such old friends and all." A motive for kidnapping the man's wife as revenge? "So Hofstra's not keeping any of the staff that helped get him to where he is today?"

  Another malice-filled glare, this one directed at Byron Wilks. "He's keeping some of them." He plastered on a fake smile. "If you'll excuse me, I need to speak with the senator before the cameras roll."

  Dorian watched as Posten inserted himself in the conversation with the senator and his campaign manager. It had to sting to have worked hard to get the senator where he was, only to be excluded from the future. Washington DC was the big time, working on the staff of the most influential man in the world. Could Posten have orchestrated an elaborate kidnapping plot as retaliation?

  Dorian's gaze landed on the woman who'd been fussing over the senator. He gave her his sexiest smile. It worked as she glided across the room and introduced herself as Vivian Mathison.

  "Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Mathison."

  "Please, call me Vivi," she cooed, stroking a hand over his bicep. "Everyone does."

  He fought the urge to shake her off. "So Vivi, you and the senator are old friends?"

  She gazed at the senator fondly. "The oldest. We were engaged once."

  This just kept getting more interesting. "Engaged? What happened? If you don't mind my asking," he tacked on diplomatically.

  She sighed deeply. "Aaron met Pamela, fell in love. It was very difficult," she admitted. "Oh, I didn't begrudge him, since Pam was such a charming woman." Her expression told a different story. And interesting wording saying was a charming woman, as in she wasn't anymore. "But then I met Homer and we fell in love and married. We had two good years together before he passed." She smiled. "It appears fate has brought Aaron and I back togethe
r once again."

  "You think Mrs. Hofstra is dead?"

  Vivi's head snapped around, her eyes wide. "What? Oh, Heavens, I didn't say that." Her eyes darted around the room. "No, no, of course not. I'm hoping and praying for her safe return."

  "And for the baby."

  She nodded. "If you will excuse me."

  He watched her go, adding another suspect to his mental file. Could Stefani have been friends with the woman and discovered a nefarious plot?

  And what about the senator himself? He glanced at the man. Sure, he looked haggard and miserable, but maybe he was just an accomplished actor. He was a politician after all, and most were practiced liars. What if his wife was having an affair or stealing from him…something bad enough to make the senator snap and kill her. The outburst of laughter earlier was certainly out of place. But did the senator have it in him to murder his wife and unborn child?

  Olivia returned, followed by Kendall and all the air left his lungs in a rush. It took several seconds before he could catch his breath. She was so damn beautiful and when she met his gaze and smiled, he staggered back a step. This was not good. This was so not good. Kendall was his client. He needed to keep her safe and nothing more. He never should've kissed her last night. He was thankful Alex and Olivia arrived when they did, otherwise he would have made an even bigger mistake by making love to her. His hand strayed to his injured shoulder, absently stroking the wound.

  It pissed him off earlier when both Gray Posten and Byron Wilks overlooked her in favor of Olivia. Sure, Olivia was beautiful. In fact, she was his usual type, but sometime over the last two days, his tastes definitely changed. Standing next to Kendall, Olivia didn't even garner a second glance from him. Kendall was simply the most stunning woman he'd ever met, both inside and out.

  Vince shooed everyone away and positioned the senator in a seat in front of the massive window overlooking Chicago. He filmed Kendall talking so he could adjust his cameras settings and gather filler shots. He signaled Kendall to begin. Olivia came to stand beside him. "Any suspects?" she whispered