AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’ve used that word four times this morning alone,” he teased.
“Don’t you have a plane to catch?” I threw back, noticing he’d already poured a glass of scotch. My buddy had made himself at home, my home, including rearranging the furniture in my office before the sun had risen in the sky.
That’s what he’d always done when he didn’t feel in control of a situation. Hell, I wasn’t certain if I could feel in control for a very long time. I’d thought up to this point I had a solid handle on what went down in the bowels of the city.
Think again, dumbass.
The reports continued to stream in, the FBI taking over from the DC police hours before. I hadn’t been privy to any additional information that Davidson had provided. Granted, I’d made a copy, planning on ripping apart membership in the club. The bastards had used Carnal Sins as well as Club Darkness as their stomping grounds, something I’d made Gregory aware of. Neither one of us liked to be painted as fools.
“I knew you needed help.”
I laughed, shaking my head as I walked away from the television. Maybe I’d indulged in a glass or two, at least while Lark was still being questioned. I fucking hated it. The FBI needed to hear the same damn shit she’d told the police. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. You up for staying for a few days?”
“I think I can manage since I no longer have the heat from Senator Winston to deal with.”
I added a single ice cube, grousing under my breath about Marshall Winston. When Lark had told me just how controlling the man had been in her life, all I could think about was breaking the senator’s neck. At least with his arrest, he’d have some quiet time to think about all the shit he’d put her through. “Lucky bastard,” I told him. “You owe me one.”
Jameson laughed, which was the first time one of the three of us had done so after leaving the hotel. Thank goodness Lark’s larynx hadn’t been damaged, just bruised. Other than the ugly bruises already yellowing around her neck and the emotional damage after learning her father was behind Davidson’s murder, she would make a full recovery.
That didn’t mean I wasn’t still livid, ready to hunt down the other members.
My buddy scratched his head as he took a seat on the couch. “I still can’t figure out why Davidson made the confession to you. Why not the police?”
“I’ll venture a guess he wasn’t entirely certain how far reaching the underbelly went. He knew what I’d do when I got my hands on the information.”
“Yeah, bull in a china shop,” he retorted. “Still, the whole damn thing is sketchy in my mind. Davidson accidentally killed Claire Kenwright during a session of breath play.”
“Yes.”
“Then after the police questioned you, one or more of this group decided to make you a convenient scapegoat.”
“Or at least put questions in the minds of the police.”
“Why didn’t one of their members just squelch the whole thing?”
I thought about his question and sighed. “Because of who Claire’s father was. I’m going to bet the good senator of Wisconsin wasn’t a member of this glorious society.”
“He wasn’t.”
“How do you know?”
Jameson lifted his eyebrows. “You forget. I also have a photographic memory. How the hell did we get a second victim?”
“I guess that’s what the police will need to figure out. Maybe Davidson was pushing the group or threatening them. I think the promise Marshall made regarding Lark and the arrangement for marriage was an effort to keep his mouth shut, but I’m just speculating at this point. From what I read of Davidson’s confession, he wasn’t privy to the inside workings of the group. However, it was obvious the man sensed he had a target on his back.”
“They have a hierarchy?” he asked, half laughing.
“Why the hell not? You have that in politics, education, the medical field.”
“True enough. Davidson thought he’d be protected by the group. Then he was arrested.”
“Exactly. Maybe that’s when the marriage contract was proposed in the group’s effort to keep him quiet. Then the other girl died, and he realized he was on the chopping block.” One thing that had struck me as interesting was that Davidson had mentioned the requirement for heirs. The underground had built an entire society around the need to control the world.
“And her boss was coordinating all this?”
“It would appear so.”
“Jesus Christ. Glad you picked DC and not me.” His eyes lit up as he made the statement, only he knew as well as I did corruption was rampant everywhere.
