had been horribly mutilated. What terrified Brad was the fact that he had seen photographs of other women who had been defiled in a similar manner.
There was one more thing Brad had to see before he could leave. Koshani’s arms were secured behind her back. He circled the body, stepping around and over pools of blood that covered sections of the rug. When he was behind Koshani, Brad forced himself to look at her hands. Clarence Little had hacked off a pinkie from each of his victims to keep as a souvenir. Jessica Koshani’s right hand had only four fingers.
B rad staggered out of the house into the light, feeling dizzy and sick to his stomach. He collapsed on the front stoop and took slow, deep breaths. As soon as he regained his composure, he took out his cell phone and punched in the senator’s number. The phone rang several times before a recording told him to leave a message. Brad called the office.
“I need to talk to the senator right away,” Brad told the receptionist. “It’s an emergency.”
“He’s not here, Brad.”
“Did he go to the Intelligence Committee hearing?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen him this morning.”
“What about Mr. Sharp? Is he in?”
“He’s not here, either.”
Brad thought for a minute. “Okay, if you see them, have them call my cell immediately. Something has come up they need to know about right away.”
Brad hung up and called 911. While he waited for the police, he called Ginny.
“Hi, honey,” Ginny said. “What’s up?”
“We might have a problem,” Brad said. “I’m at the house where Jessica Koshani is staying.”
“Who is Jessica Koshani?”
“The woman I picked up at the airport on Friday for the senator. She was staying at a house Carson owns.”
“And you’re telling me this because…?”
“She was murdered, and Clarence Little may have killed her. It’s his MO down to the missing pinkie.”
“Why would Clarence Little kill this Koshani woman?” Ginny asked, incredulously.
Brad felt sick again. “It could be me, Ginny. Clarence might have done it to get at me. If he’s here and he followed me to the airport, he would know where Koshani was staying, and he might have guessed that I’d drive her again or at least learn how she died.”
“Where exactly are you now?”
“Outside the house.”
“Have you called the police?”
“Yes, right before I called you.”
“That’s good, but I don’t like you being out there all alone. If Little killed Koshani, he could still be around.”
Brad was so distraught that he hadn’t thought of that possibility. His heartbeat sped up and he cast anxious glances around the neighborhood.
“I don’t see anything suspicious, but I’m worried about you. Can you call Dana and ask her to escort you home?”
“You think that’s necessary?”
“Probably not, but I’ll feel better knowing you’re protected. Right now I’m still upset and not thinking straight. We’ll decide what to do tonight after I’ve had time to calm down. The big thing now is that I want to be sure you’re safe.”
B rad stayed at the crime scene, answering questions. Then he was taken to police headquarters, where he gave a statement. He didn’t get into the office until a little after two. As soon as he walked in the door, the receptionist told him that Lucas Sharp had just arrived and wanted to talk to him.
“Does he know about the murder?” Brad asked.
“Two detectives were here to talk to the senator. They left when they found out he wasn’t in, but they told me why they needed to talk to him, and I told Mr. Sharp.”
As Brad walked down the hall to Lucas Sharp’s office, the staff members gave him odd looks, then turned away quickly. Gossip moved swiftly through the halls of Congress.
“How are you doing?” Sharp asked with great concern as soon as Brad walked in.
“I’m much better now, but I was pretty rocky for a while.”
“Sit down. Do you want water or something stronger?”
“Water would be good,” Brad said as he lowered himself onto one of the chairs on the other side of Sharp’s desk. Lucas walked over to a small refrigerator and brought Brad a bottle of water.
“What are the police saying?” Sharp asked.
“Nothing to me,” Brad said after he took a few sips. “It’s probably too soon for them to draw any conclusions, anyway. The forensic people weren’t done when they took me downtown. I told them about Clarence Little, and they’re contacting the authorities in Oregon.”
“What does Little have to do with Koshani’s murder?”
“I only got a quick look at the body…” Brad paused and swallowed as his body reacted to the gruesome memory of what he’d seen in Senator Carson’s living room. “She looked like Clarence’s other victims, and the killer took her pinkie.”
“Good God! Why would Little be here in D.C.?”
“I have no idea. Does the senator know about Miss Koshani?”
“I haven’t had a chance to tell him. He’s at his cabin in Oregon. It’s very remote and there’s no cell phone service or Internet.”
“Why is he in Oregon? Koshani was supposed to testify today.”
Sharp hesitated. Then he looked directly at Brad and stared hard enough and long enough to make Brad nervous.
“I’m going to tell you something in confidence,” Sharp said. “You’ve got to promise me this will stay between us.”
“Of course.”
“We received campaign contributions from friends of Koshani’s, large contributions. That’s not a problem, but Koshani could be. You were at the committee meeting when InCo was mentioned. That’s one of Koshani’s companies. If one of her companies helps finance a terrorist attack and Jack’s name is linked to hers… Well, I don’t have to spell out what the consequences could be. We thought it would be best if Jack was someplace where the press couldn’t get at him in case someone leaked what went on at the hearing.”
“I can see why you’re worried, but you’ve got to tell the senator.”
“I will. I just hope no one digs into the reason Koshani was in Washington. Now why don’t you head home? I don’t want you being hounded by the press, and you can use some downtime after what you just went through.”
S harp arranged for one of the interns to drive Brad home. Even though it was midday and the sun was shining, Brad looked up and down his street before he got out of the car. The stairwell that led to his apartment was suddenly as dark and foreboding as the stairs in a haunted house. Every sound made him startle, and his imagination turned every shadow into Clarence Little.
Brad didn’t relax until he had locked himself in and toured his apartment, clutching the biggest knife he could find. As soon as he was certain he was alone, he fixed himself a stiff drink and sank down on the couch.
Brad heard a key turn in the lock a little after six. He grabbed the knife and stood up. When he heard Ginny’s and Dana’s voices, he put the knife on the end table. Ginny rushed to Brad and hugged him.
“That had to be horrible. Are you okay?” Ginny asked.
“Now that I know you’re safe, I’m fine.”
Brad turned to Dana. “Thanks for playing bodyguard.”
“Anytime.”
“I’m really worried,” Brad said.
“Yeah, well, you should be,” Dana answered. “I made a call to one of my friends at the D.C. police, a detective in Homicide. He told me some of the preliminary findings. There were signs of a struggle on the landing
