Page 97 of Courting Gossip (Courting)
‘Not the escape you hoped for?’ he asked.
She wove her fingers through his at her waist. ‘Better. Once this is over.’
Brody didn’t know how long they waited, but it seemed like an eternity. When the phone finally began playing ‘Little Red Corvette’, Genieve answered. She immediately passed the phone to him.
‘Haynes,’ he said.
The man on the other end of the line didn’t bother with idle chitchat. He got right down to brass tacks and rattled off two names. ‘One was shot in the leg, and the other suffered a major concussion.’
Brody signalled for a pen and paper, and Genieve scampered away to get them. He quickly wrote the information down, because he was sure it wasn’t going to be repeated…Not unless he handed the phone back to Jenny, and she turned on her charm.
‘Were you able to get anything else?’ he asked.
‘From what I hear, that should be enough for you. Do me a favour. Cut the son of a bitch off at the knees – for Genieve and those Marines.’
Brody remembered Darien rubbing his side. He’d taken a knife for his woman.
Screw the knees. ‘I plan to cut off the head of the monster.’
‘Good to hear,’ the tough guy responded, ‘but I can’t help you any more.’
‘I don’t need it,’ Brody said. ‘I’ve got it from here.’
Genieve sat down next to him on the sofa when he ended the call. ‘Do we need to go back to DC?’ she asked.
‘I can make the same calls from here.’
‘Who will you tell?’
Brody tapped the pen against the pad of paper. Over in the corner, the fireplace crackled. He’d been thinking about that. ‘I know a reporter with theWashington Postwho would do the story justice. Once I give him the names, it won’t be like what happened to you. It will take more than a few days. If he can get the soldiers to talk, maybe Murphy’s cameraman and producer will follow.’
‘If he got awards while I got shot in the leg, I wouldn’t be happy about it,’ she said.
‘Exactly.’ Brody patted her leg. ‘He’ll do the story right, no guerrilla reporting. He’ll write an exposé, and the other media outlets will follow. They’ll dig for more dirt. Who knows what else they’ll find on Murphy?’
She caught his hand and squeezed. ‘You’ve found your new story to feed them.’
‘Anything to get them off you, but if it makes him pay for what he’s done, all the better.’
‘Apparently I’m not the only person he’s hurt.’
‘Everything hinges on those soldiers breaking ranks and telling the truth.’
‘They’ll do it,’ she said with certainty. ‘Especially if he’s trying to get into Congress now.’
Brody mulled that over. If everything worked out the way it should, the former reporter would find the press turning on him. He wanted into Congress, but he might face a Congressional inquisition instead. The military would have to take another look at how it embedded reporters. It was poetic from every angle he looked at it.
‘You are sneaky,’ she said, ‘but in a good way.’
‘This time.’ Things weren’t always so black and white in his world. If she wanted full disclosure, she needed to be prepared for that.
She sighed and nestled into the sofa’s cushions. ‘This means that Samuel will get another term in office.’
‘He’s already up by twenty-six points. He wasn’t going to lose anyway.’
‘He represents your state. Are you going to vote for him?’
‘No,’ Brody scoffed. But he would steal the guy’s girl.
She stirred and sat up. ‘I suppose you need to make calls and do your internet thing now.’
‘It can wait.’ The morning would be soon enough. Brody tossed the pad of paper and pen onto the coffee table and swept her up in his arms. She let out a gasp, but circled her arms around his neck. ‘Let’s get naked and watch the rain.’
If anyone was going to be carrying her to bed, from now on it would be him.
