The Triangle Conspiracy

Fascinating, he thought again. Sean himself had never paid for sex in his life. He’d never had to, he thought with a touch of…what? Arrogance? Pride? He had a feeling he was about to descend into a very strange netherworld.

He’d talked Faith into swapping cars for the evening, as he’d been afraid that if Daryn saw the Arizona plates, she might get spooked. He was supposed to be Michael Sullivan of Oklahoma City, after all. So he’d driven Faith’s little two-seater Miata instead.

Sean rang the bell at apartment number five. He heard movement inside, and the door opened.

Daryn McDermott was simply a breathtaking woman. She wasn’t classically beautiful, but Sean couldn’t take his eyes from her. She was petite, almost fragile in appearance, but the woman radiated sensuality and intelligence and passion. Her hair was indeed dyed blond-Sean caught sight of a few dark roots, as well as her dark eyebrows-and cut shorter than in the photos Owens had given him. But it framed her face beautifully, with its high cheekbones, gently upturned nose, and sensuous lips. She wasn’t wearing much makeup-a touch of eye shadow, very light blush, a subtle shade of lipstick. She didn’t need much else.

She was wearing a short skirt that came midthigh, and it fit her as if it had been tailored. Women like Monica and Britt could only dream of looking so good in such a skirt, Sean decided. Her blouse was white and simple and showing just enough cleavage to tantalize. He couldn’t quite see the tattoo on her left breast.

“Hello, Michael,” she said.

“Hello, Kat.”

Remembering her instructions, he opened his arms and they embraced. He had to bend down, his six three to her five one. Her touch was electric. Simply putting her arms around him and rubbing his back for a moment had made him more aroused than he would have thought possible.

Easy, he told himself. Just take it easy.

He handed her the white envelope without speaking. She took it without looking at it and put it on a wooden stand beside the door.

“Come in,” she said. “Please, come in.”

She led the way down a short hall. The apartment was clean and tidy. Sean suspected it had come furnished, as the furniture was all strictly middle of the line, neutral colors, nothing personal about it.

“You’ll have to forgive the decor,” Daryn said.

Or should I think of her as Kat? Sean wondered. I have to gain her trust, to develop a relationship with her. Can’t just take her to her father at gunpoint.

“I’m new to the city and haven’t had time to settle in yet,” she said.

Who are you? Sean felt like shouting. Daryn or Kat? Or someone else altogether?

“So am I,” he said slowly. “Just moved here.”

“Oh?” she said. “Where are you from?”

“Chicago, originally. You?”

“I’ve lived lots of places. Come, have a seat.”

They sat near to each other, but not too near, on a couch upholstered in soft earth tones. Sean heard music from somewhere, a solo acoustic guitar with a new age feel to it. He could feel the heat from Daryn. She positively radiated passion. He inhaled a bit of her scent, something musky and understated, but powerful, like the woman herself.

“What do you do, Michael?” Daryn draped her arm along the back of the couch. It reached far enough that she could almost touch his shoulder with her fingertips. He wished she would.

Sean had already decided on his cover story, and it wasn’t even a total lie. “I work with wood,” he said. “I design and build furniture.”

“With your own hands?”

Sean nodded.

“Let me see,” Daryn said.

The senator’s daughter took both his hands and turned them over, palms up. She traced the lines on his hands with her fingers. Sean shivered.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“Yes. I’m fine.”

She touched his fingertips with her own. “They’re good hands. I love men’s hands.”

She put one of his hands on top of one of hers, then reached up with her thumb and began kneading his palm, then worked her way up, massaging each of his fingers.

“That’s wonderful,” Sean whispered. “You have such a…”

“Yes?”

“An amazing touch. Firm and gentle at the same time.”

Daryn laughed lightly. “That’s a good description of me.”

Sean closed his eyes. On one level, he was aware that he’d accomplished at least part of what he had been hired to do-find Senator McDermott’s daughter. But in a more visceral place, he felt only the things she was stirring in him, right here, right now. And she’d barely even touched him.

“You like?” Daryn said softly.

“Very much. You have pretty good hands yourself.”

“Thank you. Shall we explore further? Come upstairs with me.”

Would he do it? Sean thought dimly. Would he actually have sex with this girl as part of this job?

Without breaking the hand contact, Daryn rose from the couch, lightly pulling Sean with her. She led him to the stairs, which opened just off the front door.

The lighting upstairs was more subdued, one bedside lamp and three votive candles. Sean smelled a hint of vanilla from one of them. Daryn sat on the edge of the full-size bed, but made no move to undress.

“You want to talk?” Daryn said. “My instinct tells me, Michael, that you haven’t been with a woman in a while and you’d just like to talk, for now.”

Jesus Christ, she could read him as easily as Faith could. Was he that transparent to all women?

Sean nodded. “Like I said, I’m new in town.” He cleared his throat.

They talked. More accurately, Sean talked and Daryn-as Kat-listened. He embellished his cover story, made up a fictional family on the fly, talked about how much he loved designing classic American furniture and building it with his own hands. That much, at least, was true.

Daryn listened, asking a question here and there, never giving up anything of herself. Sean let it go and didn’t pry. This was about him gaining her trust, and he had to dance very carefully with her or he might lose sight of who was leading and who was following.

Three-quarters of an hour passed. They gradually became a bit more physical. Daryn opened her shirt all the way. He felt her breasts. She rubbed his crotch through his pants. She kissed his neck a couple of times. Sean thought he would explode, but he kept it under control.

He was fondling her left breast-the one with the justice tattoo-and was moving his head toward it, as if being guided by an unseen hand. Daryn’s head was back, her arms gripping the headboard of the bed, her legs parted ever so slightly. The tension was almost unbearable, cracking in the air like prairie thunder. The world of street hookers like Monica and Britt was light-years away from the sensuality of this moment, of this woman.

His lips were inches from her breast when Sean heard a faint sound. He couldn’t quite place it-he thought it came from downstairs. Something familiar, an ordinary sound, but somehow out of place right here, right now.

A second later, the apartment door exploded inward.

Daryn screamed, pulling her shirt closed around her breasts. Sean rolled off the bed and came up in a crouch.

“Where the fuck is she?” a male voice growled from downstairs.

“Search the back,” said a second voice.

So there were at least two of them. Sean crawled toward the chair at the foot of the bed. He’d carefully draped his windbreaker over it when they came upstairs. His Glock was in it-he hadn’t anticipated trouble, at least not this kind, but he knew better than to walk into any kind of volatile situation unarmed. Seven years on the border had taught him that.

He raised his eyebrows at Daryn. She shook her head violently. I don’t know!

Shit!

They’d certainly heard Daryn’s scream, and it wouldn’t take them long to figure out that the sound had come from upstairs. The apartment wasn’t that large.

“Upstairs,” said the first voice.

Sean mimed blowing out the candles, which Daryn did, and she also turned off the lamp. The room went black.

Sean silently took his Glock from the pocket of the windbreaker. He looked over his shoulder. He could barely see Daryn, just the outline of the white shirt she wore. She was beside the bed, squatting on the balls of her feet. At least she hadn’t screamed again.

A host of possibilities ran through Sean’s mind. Who were they?

Maybe Tobias Owens and Senator McDermott had covered their bases in a different way. Maybe they’d had Sean followed, and all the talk about gaining her trust and convincing her to come home of her own accord was just that-talk. Let Sean find the girl, then send in the commandos.

Maybe they were political enemies, someone else who had been searching for Daryn McDermott because of her radical ideas. Maybe Sean had led them to her.

Maybe they were psycho former customers of the escort they knew as Kat Hall. Maybe they were common thieves.

Maybe, maybe…

Sean heard a heavy step turn toward the stairs. The other set of footsteps was still farther back in the apartment, perhaps in the living room or kitchen.

“It’s fuckin’ dark,” said the voice at the foot of the stairs. Then, louder: “You up there, girl? Come on now, you can’t hide.”

Daryn expelled a breath. Sean saw her move slightly in the darkness, and willed her to be still. He very carefully angled his body around so that he was facing the place where the stairs reached the bedroom.

The heavy steps started up the stairs. One stair, two, three…

Who were they?

Sean tried to remember how many steps there were. He’d been so consumed by Daryn’s touch that he hadn’t really noticed. Were there eleven, was that right? Or was it twelve?

Four steps up, five…

Weren’t all stairways built with an odd number of steps? Hadn’t he read that somewhere? Maybe it was eleven. Eleven steps up to the bedroom.

Six, seven, eight.

He couldn’t shoot up here, not in the dark. No one in their right mind got into a gun battle in the dark. Did they even have guns? He couldn’t tell, but they sure as hell weren’t friendly.

He put the Glock down, looking wildly around the darkened room. On some level it registered with him that there was still music playing, that flowing, soft acoustic guitar, and that the source of it