“Is that guy boring you to death?” Black asked.
She sighed, refusing to stop. “Sorry, fella. I’ve already got one lame pickup artist to ditch right now. I don’t have time for two.”
“Miss Tiller, I’m not trying to pick you up,” he said.
She stopped and looked him in the eye.
“That is unless you’re talking about the kind of pickup that involves taking a ride with me to an undisclosed location for interrogation.”
She cocked her head to one side and gazed at him. “Mister—”
“Agent Black,” he said.
“Agent Black, I’m not sure what you want with me, but I can assure you that many other G-men before you have tried to bring trumped up charges against me and failed. I’d hate for your name to be added to a long list of losers.”
“I’m not a G-man,” Black said, grabbing her by the arm. “And I’m not trying to bring you in, but I do need to discuss a few things with you regarding your relationship with General Van Fortner.”
“Who?”
Black relaxed his grip. “This is not the time to play dumb, Miss Tiller.”
“Say his name again. Maybe it will jog my memory.”
Black narrowed his eyes. “Van Fortner. General Van Fortner.”
“Ah, yes, I think I do remember him. But I’m afraid I can’t help you. I haven’t seen him in a while, several months if I recall correctly.”
Black decided to call her bluff. “Then how come I have surveillance footage of him entering your home as recently as this week?”
“I thought you said you weren’t a G-man.”
“I’m not, which means I have far better means to obtain access to video cameras in a more expeditious manner. But thanks for confirming that Fortner was at your apartment this week. I thought you said you were well versed when it came to dealing with FBI agents.”
She turned fully toward Black and brushed her hand along his bicep. “Well, aren’t you a sly one.”
“And impervious toward your advances,” Black said with a faint smile. “However, I’m still prone to marching you out of here if you don’t cooperate.”
“Is that a threat?” she asked, her eyes widening.
“Do you feel threatened?”
She shook her head.
“Then I guess it isn’t. Consider it more of a promise that if you aren’t willing to assist me in this matter, I might have to resort to other means.”
“I’ll do you one better. I’ll just tell Fortner about your so-called promise. You’ll regret you ever decided to tangle with me.”
Black stroked his chin and looked skyward. “Why would you even consider defending that monster?”
“Monster?” she asked as she drew back. “General Fortner is a national treasure. He’s one of the few people who understands what this country needs at this moment and is willing to make the sacrifices necessary to see a better future realized.”
“The kind of sacrifices that include kidnapping innocent young women just to get his way?”
Kitty pursed her lips and shook her head. “The general would never do such a thing. That’s not his style.”
“Tell that to my sister,” Black said. “Some of his goons abducted her just to get to me. That’s exactly his style.”
“No, not the general. You’re just trying to get me to go along with your scheme.”
Black whipped out his phone and swiped a few times until he reached the image of his sister tied up and looking like she’d just endured a few rounds in a boxing ring against a far more physical opponent.
Kitty’s mouth fell agape. “Well, I—how do I know you’re not lying? That just seems absurd.”
“If you’ve been around him as much as you claim you have, I think you know the truth,” Black said. “You, perhaps more than anyone, wouldn’t want to go on protecting someone like that, would you?”
Black understood his confrontation with Kitty would require a thorough knowledge of his opponent. Before she became arguably Washington’s most famous madam, Black learned that she had been kidnapped as a college student by one of her father’s enemies in the dark underworld of illegal sports gambling in Las Vegas. She was eventually released but not until she had spent three weeks confined to a small room with just a pillow and a blanket to comfort her each night as she slept on a concrete floor. But she never saw her father again as he was killed in a car bombing the morning before her abductors let her go.
Black didn’t want to lead with that information, instead skillfully guiding the conversation to that point where he could wield the past as a way to pry a gap between her and Fortner.
Kitty shook her head. “Nice try, Mr. Black. You have the version of that story I wanted everyone to know. Unfortunately for you, the tugging on my emotional heartstrings won’t work, especially since I engineered the entire episode. My father was a very abusive man, and he got a just end.”
Black paused, unsure of what to say since his grand plan had just been thrown a curveball by a master manipulator.
“Wow,” she said. “You’re speechless, though that shouldn’t be entirely surprising since I have quite a talent for making men shut up.”
Black glared at her.
Kitty moved closer and patted him on the chest. “Now, I’m gonna go ditch this loser at the bar and you’re going to stay right here.”
Black decided his pleasant approach had gone on long enough. If he was going to get Kitty Tiller to cooperate, he needed to employ a more forceful tactic.
“No, you’re coming with me,” Black said as he opened up his coat and showed her his sidearm. “I’m not against carrying you out of here kicking and screaming. And if you try to make a scene, you and I both know you’re not going to get the benefit of the doubt from anyone. Most importantly, I doubt it will be good for your business.”
Kitty sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
