Gayle Wilson – Rocky Mountain Maverick (страница 5)

“I could use some help right now,” she said, “and since you’re here…”

Get up now, he told himself. Walk down the hall to your bedroom, thoughtfully located on the ground floor. Crawl into bed, pull the covers over your head, and pretend this conversation never happened.

“Help with what?” he said instead.

“An assignment.”

After she’d left the police department, Colleen had set up her own private investigation agency. She ran it from behind the scenes, and from what she’d told him earlier, it had become very successful.

This offer to join it was probably her way of getting him back on his feet, as misguided as the idea was. He’d been approached by other people with the same purpose during the last couple of months. His answer hadn’t been repeatable. He mitigated his response to his sister, however, because he truly believed she acted out of love.

“I’m no P.I., but thanks for the thought.”

“You think I’m patronizing you.”

He smiled rather than responding with what he thought.

“I really do need your help, Michael. I’m assuming your security clearances are all in order.”

“For what it’s worth.”

“A baby’s life,” she said softly. “What would that be worth to you?”

Chapter Two

Every time he thought he’d figured out where this was going, Colleen threw him a curve. He didn’t much like this last one. “Whose baby?”

“Samuel Langworthy’s grandson.”

Even as he’d asked the question, Michael had realized there was only one baby who’d occupied the headlines of the nation’s newspapers during the past two weeks. He’d read stories back in Virginia about the Langworthy kidnapping. The coverage here in Colorado had probably been ten times as intense, not only because of the political ramifications, but because it involved one of the founding families of the state.

The Langworthys were Colorado’s version of the Kennedys, and to most people here they were every bit as glamorous. Samuel, the patriarch, had served as governor. His run at the Senate had been interrupted by heart trouble, so his political dreams were being lived out by his son, Joshua.

A Harvard Law grad who had come home to work for the Department of Justice, Josh Langworthy was currently running for governor. There were also two Langworthy daughters, but Michael had been away from the state too long to remember their names.

“Langworthy hired you?”

“Not Langworthy,” Colleen said. “This is…something official.”

“Meaning what?”

He wondered for a moment if she’d maintained some connection to the Denver police. That wouldn’t explain, of course, how she had known so much about what he had been doing for the past eight years.

“ICU has been recruited.”

Investigations, Confidential & Undercover was Colleen’s agency, which she’d started after she left the police force. Who might have “recruited” a private investigation firm and to do what was another question.

One he refused to ask. She seemed to want to tell this in her own way. He had plenty of time to listen.

“You probably don’t remember Dad’s friend, Mitch Forbes.”

“From Texas?”

Colleen nodded and leaned forward to refill his glass. When she had, she held it out to him across the table. As he reached for it, she said, “He asked me to organize a branch of the investigative arm of the Department of Public Safety here in Colorado, just as he’s done in Texas. Something called Colorado Confidential.”

“I’m not sure I follow. To investigate what?”

“Threats to the public safety,” she said, as if that explained everything. “On a local level, of course.”

“And the Langworthy baby’s kidnapping qualifies as a threat to public safety?” He didn’t bother to mask his skepticism.

“Someone in DPS thinks so.”

“And that’s good enough for you?”

“Did you question Jack Waigner when he sent you to San Parrano?”

“I should have.”

She smiled, recognizing the gallows humor for what it was.

“I don’t question my orders either. I try to carry them out to the best of my ability. And frankly, you’d be a real asset right now in helping me accomplish that.”

“I think that would be a matter of opinion.”

“Yes, it is. Mine. All I’m asking is that you sit in on a meeting. Offer suggestions. Criticisms. Maybe undertake a little legwork.” Again her eyes touched on his knee. “Whatever you feel up to.”

If there was anything more likely to get him to agree than that note of unctuous concern in his sister’s voice, he couldn’t imagine what it would be.

“Anybody ever tell you that you don’t play fair?” he said, letting her know that he recognized what she was doing.

“I play to win,” she said. “And I make no apologies for it.”

“EVERYONE, this is my brother, Michael. I’ve asked him to join us today to offer suggestions and observations.” As she talked, Colleen’s eyes touched on the face of each of the three people gathered around the table.

During last night’s tour, she had shown Michael the renovations she’d made that allowed Colorado Confidential to function efficiently from the ranch. The room where they were meeting today, its entrance cleverly hidden behind a wine rack, had once been the basement storage area. Beyond this room, behind another disguised entrance, a second room contained state-of-the-art surveillance equipment, which, he admitted, nearly rivaled that of the CIA.

“And in case you’re wondering,” she went on, “his security clearances are higher than mine.”

There was a nearly imperceptible change in the atmosphere. A relaxation, perhaps, now that his presence had been explained. And a curiosity that was expressed to varying degrees in the three pairs of eyes, all of which had settled on him. Evaluating.

He was more than willing to play the role of consultant, but he had no interest in getting involved in any fieldwork. As slow as he was right now, he’d be a hazard to the rest of the team.

“I didn’t know you had a brother.” The comment sounded vaguely sympathetic, perhaps because it came from the only female member of the group.

“Fiona Clark,” Colleen said, introducing the woman who’d spoken. “Ex-FBI. From Chicago.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Small, blond and delicate, Clark didn’t look or sound like anyone’s idea of an FBI agent, which had undoubtedly been to her advantage.

“Shawn Jameson. Arson investigator, currently employed at the Royal Flush. From…?”

“Around,” Jameson said. His blue eyes mocked the relevance of Colleen’s question.

Without seeming the least bit embarrassed by his lack of response, she turned to the last of the three operatives at the table.

“And this is Night Walker. Former bounty hunter and private security specialist. Night works with the horse-breeding operation here on the ranch. Among other things.”

Both the name and the long, raven’s-wing black hair indicated Walker’s heritage. As far as Michael was concerned, the fact that Colleen had hired him to handle her beloved horses said all he needed to know about the man’s character.

“I’m sure most of you know about the Langworthy kidnapping. With the media coverage, it would be pretty hard not to. Colorado Confidential has been asked to conduct its own investigation, since the official one seems to be going nowhere. And, more importantly, since there are some aspects of the case that set off alarm bells in Washington.”

“Can you tell us what those are?” Shawn asked.

“They haven’t told me,” Colleen admitted. “Just that, like other things we’ve handled for the Department of Public Safety in the last six months, there’s more to this abduction than meets the eye. We’ll be working closely with the head of the Colorado DPS, Wiley Longbottom, on a need-to-know basis. We’ve been told enough to determine some initial avenues of investigation. That’s our first order of business. To decide who does what.”

A little more democratic than what Michael was accustomed to, but no one seemed to find it strange that they were being let in on the decision making.

“As you know, Schyler Langworthy, three months old, was taken from his crib in the Langworthy’s home in Denver on the night of the Fourth of July. It happened while the family was attending a campaign rally for Josh Langworthy, who is currently a candidate for governor.”

“I think we all know the history on this,” Fiona Clark offered, obviously in an attempt to cut short the background.

“I wasn’t sure that Michael did,” Colleen explained.

Again, three pairs of eyes focused on him. Since his sister had covered most of this with him last night, Michael believed she had some other agenda for this rehash of things they all knew. He was willing to serve as her excuse.

“Samuel Langworthy thinks Governor Houghton and Senator Gettys are somehow involved, maybe in hopes that the kidnapping will distract Josh from the campaign. I’m not sure that belief is based on anything other than the political bad blood that exists between the three. Considering the seriousness of the accusation, however, Houghton and Gettys have been questioned. Discretely questioned, given their positions. The governor suggested that the kidnapping is a desperate move on the part of the Langworthy clan to gain a sympathy vote for Josh’s flagging campaign.”