Lust and Lies 04 - Pretty Maids in a Row

swear. Please. Let me come talk to you. I always feel better after we visit."
    For several seconds, April said nothing. When she spoke, her voice seemed almost too calm. "All right, Holly. I'll let Theodore know you're coming to visit. He's being very protective of me at the moment. By the way, how is your reporter friend?"
    "Not nearly as bad as it sounded. In fact, he's here with me now. If you don't mind, I'd like to bring him with me. He sympathizes with what happened to us and I thought, maybe, if it's all right with you, he might be able to help."
    Again April paused for several seconds before speaking. "Actually, I think I'd like to meet him."
    Before saying goodbye, Holly gushed her thanks and promised to be there as fast as she could.
    Quick filled David in while Diane called Thackery to get him moving on the warrants in case they became necessary after all.
    As soon as Diane hung up, she told Quick, "I have a recorder and remote in the trunk of my car. I'll set it up in Holly's back seat and Jim and I can ride up with them. We can stay out of sight, but if anything happens, we'll only be a few feet away."
    "Fine. I'll head back to the office and meet up with Thackery. Hopefully, he'll get the warrants easily and we won't be too far behind you."
    As soon as they reached the parking area, Diane transferred the equipment to Holly's car, tucked the remote into the waistband of Holly's jeans and tested it. "All set," she declared confidently.
    Holly wished she could work up half the excitement she could feel coming from the others. This was the sort of activity they all thrived on. She just wanted it to be over with.
    * * *
    Philip was at the end of his patience.
    When he left Holly, he'd gone out and sat in his car across the street. At first, he didn't leave because he couldn't decide where to go. Then he remained to keep an eye on anyone entering the building who might pose a danger to Holly. It was a relief to know that an FBI agent was in her apartment, but if he saw any of the women Holly had described going inside, he could provide backup protection. They all sounded very unstable to him and he feared any one of them might try to retaliate against Holly for revealing their secrets.
    Then he saw David Wells and another man get out of a cab and go inside the building, and he forgot all about the women. What was that damn reporter doing back in Washington so soon? Philip thought of a number of reasons for Wells to want to speak to Holly—some of them legitimate, most of them not. He kept reminding himself that they weren't alone up there. The female agent was with them. But who was that other man?
    Then he remembered that the agent had been there when he was asking Holly to run away with him. What if Wells had the same thing in mind? What if he was telling her lies to convince her to leave with him?
    As the length of time stretched into hours, he considered paying Holly another visit, just to make sure the reporter was sent on his way.
    He was mentally preparing himself for a confrontation when he recognized Holly's car exiting the parking area... with Wells in the passenger seat. Whatever that bastard was up to, Philip intended to put a stop to it. He turned the ignition on and took off after them. He didn't know how Wells had gotten Holly away from the agent... maybe the other man was distracting her somehow... but he wouldn't shed Philip so easily.
    Keeping his eyes on Holly's car and traffic in general, he reached over and opened the glove compartment. His fingers probed inside, beneath the tissue box and all the automobile papers, and pulled out the gun he kept there for protection.
    If it was the last thing he did, he would make Wells regret the day he tried to steal Philip Sinkiewicz's woman.

Chapter 23

    "Scared?" David asked in a quiet voice. It was the first word spoken between them since they had left Holly's apartment, and they both knew the silence was not merely because of the agents in the back seat.
    Holly met David's glance and nodded.
    Slowly, he stretched out his hand to her, palm upward, and waited.
    She knew better than to touch him, but to refuse his offer of comfort was beyond her ability. Placing her hand on his, she let him reassure her that she wasn't alone—at least for the moment.
    Shortly before they reached April's house, Diane went over the ground rules one more time. "Try to relax and get her talking without sounding like you're interrogating her. As soon as possible,