Page 61 of Courting Gossip (Courting)
He leaned in closer, his arms taking the weight. ‘So where do I go to plug that leak? Who do you think it was?’
Genieve pushed back her hair. She’d turned a blow dryer on it, but it was still damp. ‘Do you think I haven’t tried to figure that out?’
‘So try with me,’ he said softly. ‘Who has a thing against Gunderson?’
‘Nobody – and everybody.’ She rubbed her feet together. She was getting more and more uncomfortable talking about Samuel with him. That link was there between them, but every time it came up she could feel the friction. ‘He’s a nice man who plays the political game well. He never rocks the boat, and he doesn’t have any strong stances – yet that wishy-washiness frustrates some people.’
‘The two of you were at a political party gathering, right? Did he get into it with anyone? Did you get any bad vibes?’
‘I don’t remember anything unusual. It was just another of those boring dinners with dry chicken.’
‘But that event was on Samuel’s schedule. Anyone could have found out where he’d be. All they had to do was follow you to the hotel.’
True, but it had gone beyond that. Those TMI reporters had been told she was an escort, and Luxxor worked very hard to keep that information private. Genieve shivered at the implications. ‘Shouldn’t we be leaving this to Detective Morgan?’
Brody’s jaw stiffened. ‘I’m not trusting this to anyone else.’
She glanced towards the television. Samuel’s opponent was demanding that they get back to the matters important to voters and questioning whether Gunderson had even been injured. There was an angry look in the man’s eyes. Red colour slashed across his cheeks, and he hadn’t mastered the politician’s non-gesture. His finger jabs at the camera were pointed and fierce.
‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘He’s not going to quit digging.’
‘What about Luxxor? Who has it in for them?’
She flinched. That was a loaded question, but she knew why he was asking. ‘Nina’s looking into it, Brody.’
‘What about you? Any enemies?’ he asked, his voice going flat. For once, his expression didn’t fall into step. He couldn’t pretend to be so disconnected any more – and that lit a tiny spark inside her. ‘Or unhappy clients?’
OK, that made the spark flare in a totally different way.
‘Because they were turned down,’ he said quickly. ‘Or because you ended the contract sooner than they liked?’
Now she was the one who wasn’t comfortable in her own skin. She pressed her hand against his chest. ‘I can’t talk about this with you,’ she said quietly.
For so many reasons.
Looking back was making her more and more ill at ease. She was falling into their game of pretend as badly as he was. She didn’t want to think back to any time before him.
He didn’t let up. ‘Somebody out there didn’t like Gunderson being with you,’ he said, his voice like steel.
She looked into his eyes. ‘Other than you?’
The tension in the room rose. It was the truth. She waited for him to deny it, but he couldn’t. He’d hated her being with Gunderson.
‘Damn it, Jenny, I—’
He stopped and his head snapped around when the doorbell suddenly started singing. Genieve jumped in surprise. Brody quickly stepped between her and the window. His hands clamped onto her waist, and he put her on her feet. ‘Go,’ he said. ‘Hide. I’ll get rid of whoever it is.’
She scurried down the hallway, only the balls of her feet hitting the carpeting. She spun into the guest bedroom and hid behind the door. She left it open a crack so she could hear, but her breaths were too loud in her ears.
Who was it? In her time here, nobody had dropped by, not even a deliveryman. Come to think of it, the only time Brody’s phone rang, it seemed to be for business. She needed to get the boy out sometime, but that only left people she didn’t want to see. Like the press…or Samuel…or Detective Morgan…
She heard rapid knocking on the door. Whoever was out there was insistent. They wanted in.
* * *
Brody waited until Genieve was out of sight before he headed to the front door. It was so rarely used, the foyer felt foreign to him. The open, vaulted space let the knocking echo, and it was swiftly followed by the ring of the doorbell again.
Somebody wanted attention, but they hadn’t been invited. He checked for the baseball bat stowed in the corner behind the door before undoing the deadbolt. He opened the door and quickly stepped into the open space to block it. He knew how the slimy press machine worked.
