Courting Gossip. Kimberly Dean

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СКАЧАТЬ to see a red mark slashing across his forearm. Jesus. Things had gotten more physical than he’d understood. He glanced worriedly at Genieve. She’d said Samuel was fighting with them, but he’d thought they’d had words. Had she avoided the fray? If there was so much as one mark on her—‘Get a photo of that,’ Morgan instructed a cop with a camera.

      Whoa. Brody stuck out his hand. ‘Just the arm.’

      The fewer photos documenting this, the better.

      ‘Document the evidence,’ the detective ordered. He wandered over to the door connecting the two rooms of the suite. ‘Dust for fingerprints.’

      Brody was piecing the sequence of events together in his head, too, and he didn’t like what he saw. He didn’t like that the senator and Genieve were together, and he didn’t like that Samuel had brought her here, but this wasn’t their fault. They’d been the victims of an hotel room invasion. Pure and simple. It was the truth, and that was exactly how he’d make sure the story played out.

      He judged the distance from the bed to the bathroom. It had probably looked like miles to her with people yelling and a bright light glaring in her eyes. The muscle in his jaw clenched so tight it began to ache. He needed to get her out of here.

      Gunderson waved his arm around, making sure everyone in the room saw the bruise. ‘I want those two charged to the full extent of the law. Breaking and entering…invasion of privacy…people should be as safe in a hotel room as they are in their own homes.’

      Enough. They had their evidence. They’d made an arrest. ‘You’ve got your pictures and a statement,’ Brody said. ‘We’re leaving now.’

      He picked up the senator’s shirt and thrust it into the man’s hands. ‘Get dressed. Sir.’

      He finally got the senator moving, but he hadn’t counted on the detective’s attention turning to Genieve. Brody stiffened at the sight of the big guy squatting down on his haunches to talk to her. He was too close and too…concerned.

      ‘Are you all right?’ he asked.

      Brody glared at the back of Morgan’s head when the redhead gave him a timid smile.

      ‘I’m OK, just shaken. They came in at a really bad time, if you know what I mean.’

      And boom. Second sucker punch of the evening. Brody raked his hand through his hair. He had not needed to hear that.

      He cursed under his breath.

      He knew what she was. He knew what she and the senator did together, but seeing it the way he had? Hearing it? He halted that train of thought so fast his brain twinged.

      The detective continued talking with her quietly, and Brody leaned against the wall. He crossed his arms and tapped his fingers against his elbow. He knew that, between her and the senator, Genieve was the solid one. Normally he didn’t worry about her slipping up, but Morgan was a pro. And she’d had a rough night. Her voice had been shaking when she’d called him on the phone.

      Did the detective have to be so…so soothing?

      The heel of Brody’s shoe knocked against the wall, and her gaze suddenly lifted to lock with his. Her smile faded. She stopped talking and pulled the robe up tighter against her throat. His eyes narrowed. And there it was, the reaction he typically got from her…

      The senator finally came out of the bathroom in trousers and a wrinkled dress shirt. Genieve rose from her chair, and people stumbled over themselves helping her find her dress. The muscle in Brody’s jaw ticked when the detective was the one who found it. People parted like the Red Sea as she made her way back to the bathroom she’d been locked inside not so long ago. Brody watched her go, her red toenails peeking out from under the long hem of her robe.

      His head whipped around, though, when he heard the detective ask his client, ‘How can I contact you if I have more questions?’

      Oh, no. They weren’t going to drag this out with more questioning. ‘Call his office,’ Brody said coolly.

      ‘I’ll get you my card,’ Gunderson said.

      That wasn’t what he’d meant. Brody pushed away from the wall, but the senator was already pulling his wallet out of his jacket.

      ‘They can get the number,’ he repeated.

      ‘I’ve got it, Brody.’

      Brody’s air hissed out of his lungs. And now he’d been outed. He mentally counted to ten. He’d been trying to fly under the radar, but none of this was being handled the way he liked.

      The corners of Detective Morgan’s mouth twitched, and Brody felt a pinch between his shoulder blades. The guy was good.

      The senator opened his wallet, and the detective watched closely. Probably looking to see if cash had exchanged hands yet. The senator pulled out a business card but, as he passed it to Morgan, something else fell to the floor. Brody couldn’t see what it was, but when Genieve stopped on a dime he knew it was something bad.

      ‘You dropped something,’ the detective said. His voice had gone to gravel.

      Genieve’s grip tightened on the dress in her hands. She pivoted on the ball of one of her bare feet and swished back towards the action. Brody reached for her, but with a smooth swivel of her hips she evaded him.

      ‘May I have my purse?’ she asked, her voice silky smooth.

      His warning radar went off. He knew that voice. It was the one she used when she was wheedling to get her way. He’d yet to see a man who could fight the call of the siren, but he was at least onto her. He looked for her purse as he tried to figure out what she was up to.

      An officer handed her the leather bag, and Brody’s forehead furrowed when she carried it directly to the detective. Morgan opened it to check it. The police couldn’t let people go off on their own when a scene wasn’t secured, but, instead of letting the detective paw through her things, she deliberately spilled the contents onto the bed.

      ‘Here, allow me.’

      ‘Jenny,’ Brody choked out.

      She didn’t even hesitate in opening her pocketbook.

      He let out a long breath when understanding dawned. Brilliant. The woman was freaking brilliant. She didn’t have any cash on her. Even with a video recording of her and the senator’s actions, nobody could prove that money had exchanged hands. He’d worried about how to squash that part of the story, but she’d just effectively made it a moot point for Metro PD. All they had evidence for was the break-in. Anything more was conjecture.

      From the looks of Detective Morgan, he didn’t go for that.

      ‘Oh, there it is,’ she said sweetly as she picked up a tube of lipstick. ‘This is all I needed.’

      She swished by everyone in her over-large robe and knelt to pick up the black bra that Brody hadn’t been able to ignore. He stared at the floor and shook his head. He couldn’t believe it. After everything that had gone down tonight, she’d found a way to effectively squash what could have been the worst of it.

      That was supposed to be his job.

      He СКАЧАТЬ