by Destiny Ford
“So,” I said, still trying to gauge his reaction, “I think the next step is to find out who got Chelsea pregnant and get some proof.”
“That’s not going to be easy.”
“Did you know Chelsea was dating the son of a politician?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “Do you know which one?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Wait, did you say ‘yeah’?” I asked. “You already knew about that?” So maybe he did know Chelsea had been pregnant! Clearly he was keeping secrets.
“Obviously you knew about the mystery boyfriend too.”
“Of course I did! I’m a good reporter,” I said, trying to ignore the suspicious way Hawke was looking at me. “There was a rumor going around after she left that she’d been in love with some boy whose dad was important in the state political arena.”
Hawke narrowed his eyes, sliding his tongue over the inside of his cheek. “You just forgot to tell me you knew about all that, huh?”
“Yeah, I did. And apparently you forgot to tell me you knew about it too!”
He pinched his nose in the same way I pinch mine every time I hear about another one of my mom’s disasters. “We need to have a discussion about sharing information.”
“Well go ahead and share then.”
“If you want to find out who the politician is, I imagine that’s where your—” he looked at my chest— “assets could come in handy.”
“Stop staring at my boobs!” I warned. “And how is my chest going to help?” He raised an eyebrow; I took offense. “I’m not doing anything unethical.”
He shook his head. “You’re the weirdest reporter I’ve ever met. You won’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with. I just think you should go to the state capitol and snoop around a bit. An unassuming, attractive girl like you will be able to do that a lot easier than someone like me will.”
“Because you’re a giant?”
“People tell me I’m intimidating.”
“Imagine that,” I said. “The legislature isn’t even in session until winter. I doubt I’ll learn much.”
“The session isn’t going on, but they hold committee meetings throughout the year. You should be able to get into the building and ask some questions.” He took a piece of paper from a notepad on the archive room desk. In handwriting that looked so structured it was almost architectural, he wrote some names down and handed the list to me. “These are the names of Utah politicians the Bradfords were friends with before they moved to Branson Falls. You should concentrate on the five names at the top.”
I stared at him, mouth agape. “What other lists do you have that I don’t know about?”
Hawke smiled. “I share as much information as I can.”
I glared at him, waving the list. “So what am I supposed to do with this?”
“You’re going to be an intern. Go to the capitol building. Talk to the politicians on the list, and the people who work for them.” He handed me a laminated card with my photo on it. Apparently fake ID’s were also one of Hawke’s specialties. “Here’s a badge; you’ll need to look like a legitimate intern if you want to get into the offices and have people answer questions without thinking you’re a national security threat.”
“Wait a minute,” I said, cutting him off. “Why do you already have the badge made and the list of politicians committed to memory? How long have you been planning this reconnaissance mission for me?”
“Long enough to make a badge and a list.”
I scowled at him. His lips lifted in a slow, amused smile before he continued, “When you get to the capitol, ask around, get a feel for people, and try to find out what the latest gossip is.”
I lifted my shoulders. “Okay. That sounds easy enough.”
Hawke’s lips quirked slightly at the corners like he was trying to hold back a smile. “This is your first under-cover investigation, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. But it doesn’t sound difficult.”
The grin he was holding back broke through. “You should go tomorrow if you can.” He took his keys from his pocket. “I’ll call you.” As he walked out the door, he turned his head and over his shoulder said, “Good luck, Kitty Kate.”
After Hawke left, I told Spence and Ella the whole story about Mrs. Olsen’s head in the revolving door and we laughed for at least fifteen minutes. Spence left to get us dinner. I sat at my desk to write the story about Mrs. Olsen and edit some articles that were in my inbox. As I started sorting through the box, a letter with my name typed across the front fell out. I opened it. A note was written with letters from a magazine—like someone had been taking anonymous threat writing lessons from Murder She Wrote. It was short, just six words: Be careful who you work with.
I stared at it. What was that supposed to mean? I work with a lot of people, and lately the list had grown. Was it referencing Spence, Hawke, Drake, Ella, the police department . . . the possibilities went on and on. I also couldn’t tell if it was a threat, or a warning. Staring at it wasn’t helping me decipher its meaning. I folded it up, reaching for my bag when I heard Ella ask, “How’d you meet Hawke?” She was suddenly at my side, sitting on the edge of the desk. She watched me closely as I dropped the letter in my bag.
I laughed a little in surprise. “He helped me get into the crime scene when Chelsea’s body was found.”
Ella looked wistfully at a painting on the wall, lost in thought for a few seconds. “I’ve heard about him, but I’ve never seen him until today. I can die a happy woman. He is one sexy, sexy man.”
I laughed again. It was so odd to be talking about this with a woman twenty years older than my grandma. “Speaking of sex,” Ella said, “what favors have you been promisin’ to get Hawke’s help?”
I did my best to act disgusted, though the thought of sexual favors for Hawke made my stomach flutter in a very good way. “I didn’t promise anything. He just said he wanted to help me out. He thought I could help him too.”
Ella broke out into fits of laughter. “Honey, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a man naked, or even dated one with real teeth, but even I know Hawke has an ulterior motive. You better make sure you’ve always got sexy underwear on until he’s done helping you.”
I grimaced, wondering if Ella was right. It would be bad if Hawke wanted something from me. I mean, sexual favors would break some sort of journalism law or code of ethics, right? Though, there are a lot of reporters who cross that line—and they’re probably just the sort of people Hawke spends time with.
“I bet he has a lot of tattoos. When he starts taking his clothes off you better look for them. And take notes. Like I said, it’s been a long time and I’ve never slept with someone as good lookin’ as Hawke.”
That night, I pulled the note out of my bag again. I still wasn’t sure what to make of it. I knew a lot of people in my life would have an opinion though, and most would be bordering on frantic. If this had something to do with Chelsea’s death, sending me a note just made me more determined to figure out what really happened. I looked at it for a few more minutes before I folded it up and put it on my desk. I decided to treat it as both a threat and a warning. For now, I’d keep my eyes open and keep the information to myself.
I decided I’d fit in at the state capitol building better if I was wearing a pencil skirt and fitted jacket—which forced me to sport some Spanx to give the illusion I have a firm butt and thighs. The skirt also meant that in addition to waking up early to drive to the capitol, I’d had to wake up even earlier to shave my legs. Mornings make me angry.
I clipped the ID badge on the bottom of my shirt as I got out of my Jeep, and locked my car door. I walked into the capitol building and read through the offices listed on a board in the foyer. As I scanned the names, my eyes stopped on Dylan Drake. Huh. I’d forgotten there was a chance I could run into him. Though I doubted he was around anyway—I mean, what were the chances he’d be on one of the committees meeting today?
I brought a file folde
r to use as a prop and hopefully make me seem less suspicious. The goal was to look more like I was supposed to be in the building and less like I was spying on people and trying to get gossip about sons of representatives and senators who might have knocked a girl up.
Like the federal government, Utah’s state government is comprised of Utah House and Senate members representing districts throughout the state. I decided to start with finding out how the politicians on Hawke’s list knew the Bradfords. Honestly, I felt like the whole undercover operation was probably a waste of time. We didn’t have any clue about the identity of the guy Chelsea had supposedly been dating. I doubted I’d stumble across the information today. But I’d promised to help Hawke and doing this favor was better than taking my clothes off—well, not better exactly, but more professional. Plus, if my suspicions were right, there was still a murderer on the loose. Since the Branson police force was MIA, I felt responsible for finding out who killed Chelsea, and stopping it from happening again.
As I wandered up and down the halls, I read the name tags on the outside of offices and peeked into open rooms. I found the offices for four of the five senators and representatives Hawke had told me to investigate. I chatted with office assistants and other real interns, but I didn’t get much information about the Bradfords. It would have been more helpful to talk to the senators and representatives on the list, but they were all either in committee meetings or out of the office because they didn’t have meetings scheduled. I’d been wandering and chatting with people most of the morning and hadn’t gotten any relevant information, but there was one senator left on Hawke’s list. Senator Tanner’s office was empty when I strolled by the first time, and the second. On my third pass, I entered the office.
Like other offices I’d seen today, the space consisted of a main room, with a private office for the senator behind a door to my right. I stood in front of the office assistant’s desk, my arms at my sides, while I looked at paintings of landscapes and cowboys and tried to be very inconspicuous. The office had the dusty smell of a place that doesn’t get used often. Finally, I decided no one was there so I might as well have a look around to see if I could find a connection to the Bradfords.
I glanced at papers on the desk, just in case I’d become the luckiest person in the world and the Bradfords’ name along with a confession for murdering their daughter was there. It wasn’t. I eyed the filing cabinets next to the west wall. I tried to open the drawers, but they were locked. I’d all but given up when I saw a rolodex sitting on the desk.
I shifted my eyes around the room making sure I was still alone before flipping through the ‘B’ names as fast as I could to see if Brian and Julia’s names were listed. Baylor, Bird, Boone, Bradford! There were their names, listed in bright red ink. The handy color coding system next to the rolodex indicated that as ‘reds’ they were friends and campaign donors. Bingo! I was so excited at my lead that I wanted to dance around the room. My celebration was cut short, though, when I heard voices coming from behind the Senator’s private office door.
I moved away from the desk as fast as I could. I tried to get out of the room, but it was too late. The door opened. I discreetly covered my ID badge with my left hand as an older gentleman with graying hair and a portly stomach came through the door first, followed by someone else I couldn’t see. As the second person stepped out of the first man’s shadow, I recognized the charming smile I knew all too well: Drake.
Drake’s brow wrinkled as surprise and puzzlement flickered across his face, but he recovered quickly.
“Well, hello there young lady,” the man with gray hair said in a jovial voice. “What can I do for ya?”
I tried to come up with a good cover story, I really did. If my brain had been working, I could have fabricated an incredible excuse that even a lie-smelling werewolf would have believed. The problem was I’d just been caught snooping around Senator Tanner’s office and Dylan Drake had been one of the people to catch me. My brain wasn’t functioning, and I couldn’t answer the question. I thought it might be best to just pretend to be deaf.
Drake realized I was in trouble and walked up to me. He put his arm around my shoulder, hugging me to him. “Hey, beautiful! What a great surprise! I didn’t think you were coming until later.”
I managed to eke out a reply, “I got here early.”
“I’ll have to thank my staff for telling you where I was,” he said, pulling me closer and rubbing his hand up and down my arm. He knew I’d been doing something nefarious. His roaming hands were a dare to stop me. I took a deep breath, smiling as I reached around his back and attempted to pinch the side of his torso—“attempted” being the operative word. There was nothing there to pinch. Drake grinned widely in response before turning his attention back to Tanner. “Senator, I’d like you to meet my girlfriend, Katie.”
The senator rocked back on his heels and gave a wide smile. “Looks like you’re robbin’ the cradle a bit with that one, Drake.”
Drake held me tighter. “Just trying to live up to my reputation.” Drake was one of the non-rule following Mormons who got by on pure charm and the illusion he was a true believer because he knew what to say and went to church every Sunday. Most men in Utah couldn’t get away with a playboy attitude; Drake was the exception. I imagined it was probably because the men he spent time around had wives and kids and were trying to live vicariously through bachelor-Drake.
“She the cutie you’re bringin’ to the legislature party at the Country Club tonight?” He directed his question at Drake like I wasn’t even in the room. I clenched my teeth and fought not to tell Senator Tanner exactly what I thought of the patriarchal nature of politics—especially in Utah.
“Sure is,” Drake said. “I wouldn’t want anyone else to snag her up.”
The senator chuckled. “I’ll see you tonight.” He turned and walked back into his private office.
With his arm still around me, Drake led me out of Senator Tanner’s office. As soon as we were down the hall, I slipped out from under Drake’s hold. “What did you just commit me to doing with you?” My voice was low and steady, but ready to jump three octaves at a moment’s notice.
He gave me a mischievous look. “It’s just a party,” he said. “You’ll have fun.”
I gave him a wary stare. “I’m pretty sure my version of fun and yours are two very different things.”
Drake smiled slowly. “If that’s the case, we need to expand your definition.”
“I’m not going with you.” I rifled through my purse looking for my Jeep keys. “I’m sure you’ll be able to find a Barbie bimbo who would be more convincing as your date to take my place.”
Drake shook his head. “Oh, you’re coming with me all right.”
I stopped searching for my keys and met his eyes. “No. I’m not.”
“Katie, why are you here?”
I stared at him in response.
“Because it was pretty obvious you were snooping around Tanner’s office,” he said. “In fact, if I hadn’t been there to save you, I don’t know how you would have gotten out of that situation. You couldn’t even talk.”
I wanted to stick my tongue out at him. If he hadn’t shown up, I would have thought of a fabulous reason for why I’d been in Tanner’s office. “I’m good at thinking on my feet. I would have figured something out. You just stole my thunder.”
He laughed and leaned against the wall, holding me with his bright blue eyes. The eyes that weren’t mesmerizing me. They weren’t. “Listen, I know you probably won’t tell me what you’re looking for, but regardless, if you want information about state House and Senate members, this party will be your best chance to network and talk to people.”
Hmm. I hated admitting Drake was right, but I couldn’t really argue with his logic. He watched me as the internal debate I was having with myself played out on my face. “Fine,” I finally consented, “I’ll go with you, but this is a professional decision not a personal one.”
He tilted his head, cocking an eyebrow in acknowledgment. “I did you a huge favor, you know. I saved you when you couldn’t think of a cover story, and I got you into a party that might help you get the information you want. A party that I didn’t have to ask you to.”
“You’re right,” I said as I finally found my keys and put my purse back on my shoulder. “You didn’t ask. You dictated.” I turned and started to walk away as I heard Drake’s voice.
“You owe me now.”
I spun around. “I what?” My voice jumped four octaves, not three.
“I did you a favor. It’s only fair you do me one if I ever need it.”
I marched back to him. “That’s why you want me to come with you?” I poked him hard in the chest. “So I have to give your lying politician’s butt a favor?”
“I didn’t say you have to, but you should probably consider it.”
“What kind of favor are we talking about?”
He shrugged and grinned. “I don’t know yet, but I’m sure I’ll come up with something eventually.”
If I didn’t need to get into the party, I never would have agreed to Drake’s terms, but he was right. I wanted the kind of access that being with Drake would give me. I pressed my lips together hard, and finally relented. “You know I think you’re an asshat?”
“You’re cute when you’re mad,” he said, pinching my cheek like I was five and he was my great uncle.
I pushed his hand away. As I walked off, I called back to him, “Jerk.”
“I’ll meet you at the Country Club at six,” he said. “And get a nice dress for the party tonight, Katie. Something little and black.”
I seethed as I kept walking, and fought the urge to flip him off on my way out the door. The only thing that could make this day worse was dress shopping.
I went to the nearest mall and wandered around the stores buying stuff I really didn’t need. I stopped by the food court to get something to eat before the party so I could spend my time at the Country Club getting information instead of starving.