Courting Suspicion

Josh accepted the camera that was being offered to him, handling it carefully. He looked over the buttons and dials and hit rewind. The video came with audio, and more than one head turned when it started playing again. Grunts and sexy little feminine cries fill the airspace. ‘Sorry,’ he muttered.

Damn technology.

He hit rewind again to take the video all the way back to the beginning.

‘I want that video burned.’ A deep baritone voice rang out from the next room. ‘They broke in here. That’s private.’

Josh wasn’t interested in the porn show. He’d get to that in a minute. For the time being, he wanted to see how Hoodie and Bieber had gotten access to the room. It didn’t take long to find out. They’d begun recording out in the hallway. He passed the camera to Simons when he got the information he needed. ‘Bag that.’

‘Yeah.’ The guy in the hoodie nodded and high-fived his floppy-haired friend. ‘All right.’

The two were grinning as if they’d just caught the next Watergate scandal on tape.

The guy who’d been on the phone in the hallway didn’t find it as funny. He was now inside the room. ‘You can’t use that. It was obtained illegally. My client will fight it.’

The lawyers were already on the scene, too. Fantastic.

‘And – as I was about to say,’ Josh said pointedly, ‘arrest them.’

‘What?’ Hoodie squeaked.

‘Ah, man.’ Bieber jerked his head to try to see as the cuffs were put on. When that didn’t work, he had to reach up with both hands to get his hair out of his eyes.

Simons read the duo their rights. ‘You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney …’

Hoodie’s face turned red with outrage, and he talked right over the cop. ‘You can’t stop the flow of information, man. This guy is running to represent the American people. They have a right to know that he’s not only screwing the system, but whores, too.’

Josh heard the gasp from the next room.

‘Watch it.’ The guy in the suit stepped forward menacingly.

Josh stopped him with a bar arm and eyed him more closely. The guy was pretty in that Sunday sales ads sort of way, but underneath the polish there was a street kind of toughness. The flintiness in his eyes betrayed it.

‘Were you involved here?’ he asked. ‘Why are you in my crime scene?’

The man smoothed his suit and backed off, but the cold fire was still in his eyes. ‘I was called here by my client in the next room.’

Josh couldn’t fight that. The senator had a right to legal representation. ‘Then let me do my work and don’t interfere with police actions.’

‘What? You’re taking their side?’ Bieber finally caught on to what was happening, and his eyes filled with fear.

At least Josh assumed there were tears in both his eyes. One of them was covered by that raggedy hair again.

And … head flip.

There it was again. Yup, the intrepid reporter was crying.

Josh honed in on the weak link. ‘How did you know the senator was here? And who he was with?’

‘An anonymous tip.’ Beiber forgot all about his right to remain silent. ‘We got a call that said Gunderson was here with a high-priced callgirl. The caller even had a room number – and he was right.’

As if that made everything OK.

‘Who did you pay for the room card?’

‘The – ow!’ Bieber stopped when Hoodie kicked him in the calf.

‘Shut up, dude.’

The two brainiacs finally pieced together their mistake. At least one of them.

It didn’t matter. Josh would find out who had given them the key card. If the senator had just stopped to put the chain on the door, his unwanted visitors might not have made it any further.

Josh gestured at Simons. ‘Have someone take them down to the station for processing.’

It was an open and shut case. No pun intended. Josh ran a hand through his hair. It was too late for puns, but the two dimwits were right about the tape showing everything. They’d documented their own crime.

He rolled his shoulders and braced himself. Now for the tough part.

He crossed the living room to the bedroom. It was more of a suite than a hotel room, pretty expensive for a one-night stand, if the TMI boys were right. The bedroom itself was lit up bright as a dentist’s office, and the atmosphere inside was about as comfortable. Josh’s gaze swept the room as he stepped inside and acquainted himself with the scene. There were two Metro officers, one male and one female, and another couple who were dressed more casually.

A lot more casually.

They were both in white robes with the Emissary’s insignia on the chest. They weren’t wearing much more, if the clothes strewn about on the floor and furniture were any indication.

The senator was one of those silver-haired fox types. His age was indeterminate, but he was fit … probably from working with a trainer in a high-priced gym. There wasn’t a ring on his finger, thank God. Things were going to be messy enough without that.

And the woman … Josh’s gaze instinctively went to her hands first to check for weapons. There weren’t any – but she packed a punch. She was sitting in the armchair in the corner of the room, toying with the belt of her snow-white robe. The big terrycloth robe should have drowned her, but instead of covering her it gaped open, showing tantalising cleavage.

Josh was a red-blooded guy. He saw her curves, but his attention was caught by her hair. She was a redhead, a real one from the tone of her skin. It was the kind of deep auburn that attracted attention and stuck in a person’s memory.

His included.

His gaze snapped up to her face. He recognised her, and it didn’t take him long to remember from where. Their gazes locked, right along with his jaw. Damn it. She was one of Nina’s employees, the one who’d covered as Luxxor’s receptionist when Rielle had been out. What was her name? Jessica? Joanne?

Her green eyes widened when she recognised him in return.

She pulled the neckline of her robe together and focused on the landscape picture on the far wall.

Josh’s thoughts went in a thousand different directions. It took effort to pull even a few back into alignment.

He cleared his throat. ‘I’m Detective Morgan. Let’s start at the beginning. Is everyone here OK?’

He was still watching the redhead and was relieved when she nodded.

‘No,’ her date snapped. ‘We are not OK.’

And here they went.