Heat of the Night

by Donna Kauffman

  Todd took her elbow and steered her around the corner, away from the mayor's office. "No. We have to talk."

  Frowning, Erin extricated her elbow and stopped. "Talk about what?"

  It was obvious Todd was agitated, but then that was pretty much the general state of the mayor's campaign manager. Only she quickly realized he was beyond his normal agitation and had moved somewhere in the vicinity of fury.

  "What in the world is wrong?" she demanded. "Has something happened with the mayor?"

  "Don't act all innocent with me. I knew hiring you was a bad idea from the beginning. I told the mayor I could manage this little glitch with Sanderson, but he thought keeping this separate from the campaign committee was a good idea."

  "Little glitch? Little?" Erin laughed derisively. She'd known Todd wasn't keen on her involvement with the mayor, that he'd felt threatened by her, but he'd sulked in silence for the most part. Until now apparently. "I don't think I'd characterize Henley's single biggest campaign contributor, one of his most vocal supporters, the self-proclaimed moral leader of his party, being found dead in a satin tutu as a little problem, Todd." She propped a hand on her hip. "And the fact that he hired me tells me he didn't think so either."

  "For all the good it's done him."

  "Because he isn't taking my advice." She sent him a pointed look.

  "Maybe that's because he suspects you aren't telling him everything. What's going on between you and the detective?"

  He'd caught her so off guard she didn't have time to mask her surprise. "Just what the hell are you insinuating?"

  "I'm saying you're getting awfully cozy with O'Keefe and I'm not seeing it translate to help for the mayor. So I want to know who you're helping here?"

  "First of all, I'm doing what the mayor is asking of me, which is assisting you. Despite my advice to the contrary. I think he should be taking a more active role in responding to the outcry over Sanderson's death." Her gaze narrowed. "I'm sure his refusal has more to do with you than with his own feelings on the matter."

  Todd opened his mouth to respond, but the look in his eyes was all she needed to see. "Secondly, what I do on my own time, and with whom, is my business."

  "So it's just coincidence that you're seeing the lead detective on the case socially?"

  Erin's fingers tightened on the handle of her briefcase. "Who says we're seeing each other socially?"

  Todd shrugged now, but the smirk was still there. "I have sources."

  "I'm still in the dark over the problem here. Even if I were seeing Detective O'Keefe socially, I don't see the conflict. If anything, I was told by both the mayor and the commissioner to get close to him."

  "As it pertains to the murder investigation. Or is that the only way you know how to go about collecting information? On your back?"

  Erin had never punched anyone. At least not since becoming an adult. But her childhood survival instincts, honed to a razor sharp edge by being raised with a fistful of brothers, were kicking in. However, maturity had brought a few weapons of its own. And it was those she turned to now.

  She dropped her defensive stance and allowed a siren smile to curve her lips. "Now, Todd, we both know I'm quite capable of getting information without ever resorting to taking my clothes off." She moved closer, gratified when she saw his eyes widen and his throat visibly work. "I mean, I have nothing against sex, but let's be honest. I think we both know I don't need to use that to get what I want." Small beads of sweat popped out on his pale forehead. "Agreed?"

  Todd jerked his glance downward, but said nothing.

  "Now," she went on, voice as smooth as silk, "I don't know what your little eyes and ears told you, but if I have any information I think will help the mayor, then I'll be the first one to tell him." She dipped her chin slightly and dragged his focus off her breasts. He flushed hotly as her smile grew. "Do we have an understanding? Todd?"

  He only scowled. "You don't belong here."

  Erin didn't respond, but merely stepped around him, her smile instantly fading to a snarl as she walked to the mayor's office. What a jerkface. Of course, she knew this wouldn't be the end of it.

  She would have to get Henley to agree to see her privately, away from Todd's influence, and try to talk some sense into him. He was paying her good money to do a job that Todd was undermining every step of the way. It didn't have to be this way. All she had to do was get some time alone to explain and defend her strategy. She also made a note to call Brady and tell him he still had someone looking over his shoulder. One of Todd's weasels. "It takes one to know one," she muttered.

  She pushed into the office, smiled at Henley's receptionist, then motioned her to remain at her desk. "I'll let myself in." Todd would be right on her heels, so she wanted to get at least a minute with Henley first to arrange that appointment.

  "Hello, Erin," the mayor greeted her warmly, rising from his chair. "Sorry to have this meeting so late in the day, but you know how it is."

  She laughed lightly, as she was expected to. "A politician's work is never done." She approached his desk. "Sir, if I may, I'd like to schedule some time with you alone, to go over the proposals that I—"

  His welcoming smile faded to a resigned look that didn't bode well for her. "Erin, we've discussed this and I already told you that Todd and I—"

  "Sir, I understand Todd's reservations about you taking a more vocal role in the investigation into Sanderson's death. That first press conference was horrible, no question. But the initial furor is dying down and now the media are hounding the police for clues and even doing investigative work on their own. I really feel now is the time for us to step forward and—"

  Todd entered the room behind her. "Erin, unless you have any new information that conclusively gives us an edge with the voting constituency, I really feel keeping the mayor on the present track is the right thing to do. His poll numbers have evened out and I'm confident of an eventual upswing."

  Erin swallowed the urge to stick her tongue out at him. The little creep had rebounded faster than she'd expected. She also understood his unspoken threat regarding information from Brady. She had no doubt Todd planned to use whatever he thought he knew about her and Brady to discredit her further with the mayor. And while she knew she'd have no problem refuting his nasty innuendo, she also realized she was tired of all this petty bullshit.

  She kept her attention firmly on Henley and pretended Todd wasn't even there. "We need to make a firm commitment to seeing the investigation through. We know it was murder now, so discounting the manner in which Sanderson was found will be somewhat easier in terms of how it affects you, and more importantly, the city. You need to show the people that you are outraged at what was done to him and that you won't rest until the murderer is caught. I think—"

  "I think we need to spend our time here more wisely," Todd said smoothly, sweeping in front of her. "I have the schedule for your radio spots all mapped out, Mayor. Why don't we go to the conference room and look over the guidelines?"

  Henley, weak-spined animal that she'd learned he was, looked at Erin with an expression that was as good as an apologetic shrug. She knew right then that the only reason Henley kept her on was because he hadn't figured out how to fire her. How someone so muddled and softhearted had become mayor she had no idea. She probably didn't have to look much further than Todd. Which spelled out certain doom for any hope she had of working effectively for the mayor now. Likely it had been Commissioner Douglas who had pushed him to hire her in the first place. She didn't see Henley having that kind of independent thinking. Not with Todd hovering.

  "Come on," Henley said with his charismatic "let's all get along" smile that had won the hearts of voters everywhere.

  It hadn't won hers.

  "I'll get Teri to make us some coffee." Smiling oh so congenially, he stretched out his arm, indicating she was to precede him to the conference room. "Have you eaten?"

  Todd's swift smile in her direction told her he knew of this evening's meal
with Brady. She'd wondered, now she knew. Worm. "Yes, I have, thanks."

  Rather than follow Henley's direction, however, she paused in front of him, swiftly debated the words on the edge of her tongue, then went with her instincts and turned to face him. "Sir, if I may take a moment."

  He lifted a questioning eyebrow.

  She purposely kept her gaze off Todd, knowing he'd be all but preening in victory. However, as much as it grated, she knew when to fold. "I appreciate that you hired my firm to help you through such a difficult time. I only wish we could have been of greater service."

  His politician's smile faded to uncertainty. "What exactly are you saying?"

  "Perhaps you don't require my help at this point. Todd feels he is doing fine overseeing your campaign and you have made the choice to make that your priority." Her stomach knotted up. Was she actually doing this? Walking away from their biggest client to date? Gina was going to kill her. "I simply feel that my services are redundant here and that perhaps the fee you are paying us would be better served funding other aspects of your reelection campaign."

  She wanted to gag on her political correctness. But she wasn't in business to make enemies of past clients. Not if she wanted to stay in business.

  Henley studied her as if she were speaking a foreign language. Of course, in a way, she was. She was pretty certain no one had ever walked away from a lucrative position such as this without being fired or dismissed first. But it was evident her work here was as done as it would ever be.

  "I see." As predicted, he looked to Todd, who could barely contain his glee. "With this investigation into Morton's death still in the early stages, do you think it wise to end our association with Erin's firm? I don't want to give the wrong impression. After all, she's done her best."

  Erin ground her teeth as Todd appeared to give his query some serious thought. When he glanced snottily at her, however, she allowed her face to slide into the same knowing smile she'd put on out in the hallway. At least she got the very slim satisfaction of seeing his self-satisfied expression falter, even if only for a moment. He reached up to loosen his tie, carefully averting his gaze from that point on. It was a small victory, but she'd take them where she could get them.

  "Mayor," he said, trying to sound mournful. "I understand your concerns, but you know we've taken the strong position of trusting our police force and the commissioner to handle this thing quickly. We've made that commitment work for you with the public and I think that is the way to go with this. In that respect, I think it was very wise of Ms. Mahoney here to realize her role in this incident has come to an end."

  Erin looked at the two of them and swallowed the bitter taste of defeat. Between these two and what had happened with Brady today, her opinion of men at the moment was at an all-time low. She didn't care. She simply wanted out of here. It was going to be hard enough to tell Gina.

  She also realized she'd just severed her only continuing link to Brady. And that made her pause. Was that why she'd really done this?

  No. No, she'd known for some time this was coming. It just took Todd's snarky little comments to make her realize the time was now. At least this way she'd controlled her exit, but then, wasn't that what she did for a living? Put the best spin on a bad situation? She also realized that under Todd's direction, it was very likely this investigation would sooner rather than later come back to bite the mayor's backside. And she would rather not be the one responsible for covering those teeth marks when the time came. She'd much rather let Todd contend with that.

  The satisfaction that prospect gave her enabled her to turn to face the weasel. She extended her hand, her smile bright and hard. "I wish you the best of luck with the campaign." You're going to need it, she silently messaged. Then she turned back to the mayor, all business now. "I'm certain your office can handle our final billing. Best of luck in the election, sir." She shook his hand. She shouldn't have been surprised by the level of relief she felt as she turned around and walked back out of the office. She said goodbye to a surprised Teri and walked out of city hall.

  If any other politicians wanted their services, she was directing them to Gina.

  She thought about going by the office on the off chance Gina was still there, but decided against it. She was wiped out, both emotionally and physically. Erin wanted to make sure her partner heard the news straight from her, but she could call Gina from home. That way she could deliver the news with a glass of wine in her hand.

  She flashed back to the beer she'd had earlier with Brady. That meeting hadn't gone as hoped either. "Not exactly your best day," she murmured as she headed home.

  Pulling into her spot at her condo's underground parking garage, she realized it was going to get worse before it got better. Brady was waiting for her.

  He stood silently by the elevator doors. He shouldn't look so good, she thought. Rumpled as usual, his tie was completely gone now. Five o'clock shadow shaded his strong jaw, but his eyes were as sharp as ever.

  "What happened?" he said tersely.

  "Hello yourself," she returned just as sharply. As much as she'd like to be up for this encounter—there was no denying seeing him had sent a rush of anticipation through her—she was done for the day. And that rush was another reason for her not to hang around down here. Getting turned down once was enough for today. "What are you doing here?"

  "Why did Henley fire you?"

  Her mouth dropped open, then snapped shut as her eyes narrowed. "That little snake," she muttered. Apparently Todd hadn't wasted any time getting the news out. "Is that what he told you?" She shook her head and let out a mirthless laugh. "I bet he couldn't wait to write that press release. He probably assured Henley he'd deal with it discreetly." She snorted, talking more to herself than to Brady. "Yeah, right. As discreetly as he's done everything else, including having me followed."

  Brady took her arm as she went to push past him. "What?"

  She stopped, but firmly extricated her arm. Having him touch her right now was only adding insult to injury. At least the way her body reacted to it made it feel that way. "You heard me. I really don't want to talk about this right now. But for the record, Detective, I was the one to end my business relationship with the mayor." If she'd been more on the ball, she would have headed straight to the office and composed her own press release. But her mind had been in a jumble. Maybe Brady had been right in turning her down. She needed to get her focus back.

  She moved past him and all but felt him come up behind her. She stabbed at the elevator buttons. Come on, doors, help me out here and let me make my exit.

  "Erin."

  Apparently she wasn't going to get any breaks to-day. Brady barking at her was easy to push past. Brady saying her name all concerned like that turned her remaining defenses to mush. She sighed heavily, but didn't turn to look at him. "I really want to go upstairs and fix myself a drink. I have to call Gina." She swore under her breath, realizing she wouldn't put it past Todd to make a call to the office under pretense of getting the billing work done. Her partner might already know. Hopefully Gina would wait for an explanation from her before losing it.

  Brady placed a gentle but firm hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him. "Why don't you let me take you out for that drink. I want to hear what happened."

  "Why? It had nothing to do with you. I knew this was coming, but tonight I realized I had been rendered so ineffective by the mayor's own campaign manager that it was better to distance myself and my firm from the decisions he was making. Or should I say, decisions Todd the Weasel was making for him."

  A small smile quirked the corners of his mouth, even his eyes crinkled a bit. "Is that your official response, Ms. Mahoney?" At her dry smile, his own smile grew. "There, that's more like it."

  Erin stared at him, wondering why he was really here. Was he worried that her ending this job would somehow affect his investigation? She couldn't see how. So why? She was simply too tired to speculate.

  "I appreciate the offer of a
drink, but I really just want to go upstairs, get out of these heels and shove this entire day away."

  Brady's smile dimmed a little. "I'm sorry for the part that I played in making you want to shove the day away."

  Truth be told, if he stood there much longer, looking like he did, smelling so good and so…male, she'd find it harder and harder to shove him away. She sighed. "I'm really not up to this right now, okay?"

  He sighed too, then raked his hand through his already tousled hair. "Yeah, okay." He stepped back as the elevator doors finally slid open. "I do want to hear more about this. Will you call me tomorrow?"

  She frowned. "Is there something you're not telling me here?"

  He looked honestly surprised. "No. Why?"

  "I'm only trying to figure out why you're being so insistent. I'm a big girl. My business won't crumble because I decided to let this client go. I already told you it had nothing to do with you. So—" She shrugged. "Why the dogged persistence? Did Todd say anything else? Is there some other rumor I should be aware of? Some nasty surprise awaiting me in the morning paper?"

  Now it was Brady's turn to frown. "What would make you think that?" He stepped close again and the doors slid shut on the empty elevator behind her. "What exactly happened at city hall tonight? You said Todd has had you followed?"

  Erin sighed, but realized that perhaps she should talk things out here and now. If for no other reason than to make sure Todd didn't have some other nefarious plan to discredit her. She'd assumed her ending her association with Henley was all he wanted, but maybe she was wrong. She didn't think so, but right now she wasn't exactly at her sharpest. "Okay, maybe we should talk about this." She shifted her feet and winced at the bite her shoes put on her toes. Vanity, thy name is woman, she thought ruefully.

  Brady, sharp as ever, caught her little reaction. "Maybe we should. Would you mind if I came up? That way you could get off those towers of torture you call shoes, we could both have a much-needed drink and then I promise I'll get out of your hair."