Allison Brennan - Silenced

“I thought of that. I went through the list of everyone I met with-there’s no one who could have known about the locket or the note.”

“But someone did know. If they didn’t , then the locket and message mean nothing.” Sean hunched over his laptop and re-sorted his lists. “Other than Mallory, who took credit for killing Morton, who knew the truth? Russo?”

Paxton nodded.

“And?”

“No one else. Dave Biggler, who’s in prison after the WCF sting, wasn’t there. It was just Mallory, Russo, and me.” Paxton sighed. “I was not a good father,” he said quietly.

“I don’t care.”

“I was a workaholic,” he continued as if Sean hadn’t spoken. “I didn’t give Monique what she needed.”

Sean ignored him. He didn’t want to be drawn into a conversation with the senator about his daughter, because it would inevitably end up as a conversation about Lucy. His eyes wandered from the laptop to the shredding machine where Lucy’s statement was in a million pieces.

“We’re on the same team,” Paxton pleaded.

“We don’t even play in the same ballpark.”

“You’d be surprised what you’re capable of,” Paxton said.

Though it was difficult to ignore that statement, Sean said, “I’ve divided the meetings into categories-those who had private meetings with you, and those who had group meetings. I can’t discount group meetings because I can see any number of scenarios where someone in a group may have been left alone, or came back to the room because they forgot their papers or purse or briefcase.”

Paxton didn’t say anything. Sean could see he hadn’t considered that possibility.

“The other thing: I strongly believe that the person responsible has been in your office more than once. They may have been looking for something incriminating without knowing what it was. They may have had an idea as to what to look for. Who knows you killed Roger Morton?”

Paxton reddened. “I’ve tolerated your disrespect all day. Do not push me.”

“You put yourself in this position.”

“I told you. Only Mick Mallory and Sergio were there,” Paxton said quietly.

“Anyone else who might have suspected?”

“Fran Buckley talked to me about Mallory, but I never admitted to her that I was even there, let alone pulled the trigger.”

“All someone needs is to think it’s true. Someone who knows about the locket, that might think it has a secret that damages you-even if they don’t know what the secret is.”

Sean looked at his lists. He turned his monitor around and showed them to Paxton. “I ran the names of the individuals, every associate, common interests, some other factors, and came up with this short list of people who were in the office more than once since the beginning of the year.”

“I wasn’t the only one being blackmailed.”

Why was Sean surprised that Paxton hadn’t told him everything? “Who else?”

“I only know one for certain. Judge Robert Morgan.”

Sean searched his memory-the name was familiar, but he didn’t know why.

“Three months ago,” Paxton said, “Bob killed himself in his chambers.”

Now Sean remembered. “He called recess on a murder trial and blew his brains out, right?”

“He was a friend of mine.”

“Sorry. And you think he was being blackmailed?”

Paxton didn’t answer.

Sean closed his laptop and stood. “That’s it, I’m done.”

He walked to the door.

“Wait.”

“No. You need to tell me everything, or I’m walking out. I will tell Lucy what happened, and she’ll deal with it like she’s dealt with every shitty thing life has handed her. And you can feel like scum of the earth for putting a woman you ostensibly love like a daughter into the untenable position of losing her career and everything she holds dear because she was protecting you .”

Paxton waged an internal battle, and Sean wasn’t going to wait indefinitely.

He opened the door.

“Chris told me.”

“Chris Taylor,” Sean said flatly.

Paxton’s jaw tightened.

“If I walk out, we’re done. I will go to Noah. I’m willing to go to jail if that’s what it takes. But I will tell him, and Lucy, everything you’ve said to me.” Part of that was a bluff. Sean would leave the country before going to prison.

“Last year, Chris was upset about his wife’s work. Really worried about her. I knew about MARC and the work they did, I wanted to help. If it was money, I’d pay it. If it was legal matters, I’d find them an attorney or draft legislation and get it fixed. That’s what I do, Sean-I want to help people who no one else will.”

“Save it for your fucking campaign.”

Sean felt Paxton’s hatred rolling off him.

Paxton said, “Sergio and I took him out for drinks. He’s a lightweight. He told us Jocelyn was helping a young prostitute, and he thought she was too involved. It’s all she was working on, a mission. I didn’t know who it was at the time, but Sergio started following Jocelyn.

“Sergio took pictures and subsequently identified the prostitutes Jocelyn was helping,” Paxton continued. “Including Ivy. It was easy to put together that Ivy and her girls worked for Wendy James. I knew Wendy was having an affair with Bristow, a prick of a congressman from Colorado. But Bristow was single, so I didn’t think anything about it. Then Sergio said he had evidence that Wendy wasn’t a mistress, but a prostitute like Ivy and the others.

“Sergio got pictures of Ivy, Wendy, and the others with several prominent people-but nothing compromising. Then Bob-” He stopped.

Sean waited. He would wait all night, because this story just kept getting more and more interesting. And unbelievable. It was increasingly difficult to separate the truth from the lies.

“Sergio found out Bob was involved with Ivy. He was single, but I thought it odd that he would pay a call girl, considering he’s a judge and older than I am. We’d been friends a long time, but I couldn’t fathom being friendly with a man who was sleeping with a woman as young as Ivy.

“The day after Morgan’s suicide, I had Sergio confront Ivy, and set up a meeting with me. At first she didn’t want to talk, but I told her Bob was an old friend, that I wanted to know why he killed himself. She confessed that she’d been paid by Wendy James to make sex tapes with her clients. And then I realized, Wendy was blackmailing these people.”

“A twenty-eight-year-old secretary blackmailing congressmen and judges? You think she could have pulled it off?”

“Ivy was truly upset by Bob’s suicide. She said he’d been a client for three years and she regretted videotaping him, but she’d been paid twice what Wendy usually paid her. I offered her ten thousand to prove Wendy James was blackmailing anyone, preferably someone in a position of power. Something to use to avenge Bob’s death, which had to have been connected. But she and Wendy had a falling-out over it. All she could get were pictures with Crowley. I used them, hoping that when they were exposed, the truth would come out. But Crowley and Wendy covered it up, called it an affair! It wasn’t an affair. It was a paid relationship.”

“And you reneged on your deal with Ivy Harris.”

“Hell no! You know who she is. You did the research.”

“I know she’s the supposedly dead daughter of a wealthy televangelist.”

“Her father is sick, and he’s on my list.”

“Stop.” Sean closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He had already crossed the line, but he couldn’t go any farther. “Do not tell me anything about crimes you plan to commit.”

“What crimes?” Paxton answered with sincerity. Or fake sincerity.