St Kilda Consulting 02 - Innocent as Sin

trading with the politician.”
    “Who is this man?” The senator stood up and faced the intruder as he walked farther into the room.
    The politician would have been more impressive if he hadn’t been in shorts and a pink golf shirt.
    Elena didn’t rise. “He’s a struggling artist who thinks winning a prize gives him the right to be rude to me. He will regret the impertinence.”
    “How did he get past the guard?” the senator asked.
    “I have no idea. I’ll call security and have him removed.” She reached for a white telephone on a table at her end of the couch.
    The pulse beating in the open throat of her silk shirt put the lie to her cool voice. Some things even a good actress couldn’t hide.
    “Don’t bother,” Rand said. “Your guards are scrambling right now.”
    He stepped in front of the senator and looked out the tall glass wall toward the south. A brightly painted helicopter was closing in at high speed. Already he could see the camera blister on its nose.
    “But,” Rand said, turning back with a feral smile, “you might tell your men to keep their guns out of sight. That kind of publicity will undercut all the social climbing you’ve done up to now.”
    “Guns—my children—” She leaped to her feet.
    “Your children are fine,” Rand said. “If you want them to stay that way, shut up and listen to me.”
    White-faced, Elena sank back onto the couch.
    “Now see here, young man,” the senator began.
    “No, you see,” Rand said to the senator. “Her husband kidnapped my fiancée. If Elena wants her kids to avoid the shit storm that’s coming down, she’ll listen to me.”
    “You’re nuts,” the politician said, reaching past Elena for the phone.
    “How would you act if you were on camera, Senator?” Randasked. “Think about it, because a news chopper is coming in right now. Elena can be gracious about it and help me, or she can look like a gangster’s moll on the six o’clock news.” He turned on Elena. “How would your children like that, Mrs. Bertone?”
    She put a hand on her neck to cover the telltale hammering of her pulse. “Whatever you want. Just keep my children out of it.”
    “That’s up to you,” Rand said.
    The sound of a helicopter’s big blades beat through the windows. The craft was close enough that everyone could see the network logo on its red, yellow, and blue side. The pilot flared and took up station fifty yards off the pool, his camera aimed directly at the front of the house. Technically, he wasn’t violating anybody’s airspace.
    Yet.
    “I don’t understand,” she said in a strained voice.
    “That’s a good story,” Rand said. “You stick with it when the reporters start screaming, asking what you think about the thousands of people who were slaughtered so that you could sit on your pampered ass in the sky castle you designed.”
    Her eyes widened. She hugged herself and made a low sound.
    Rand kept pushing. He didn’t like it, but it was the least of what he would do to get to Bertone while Kayla was still alive.
    “It’s over,” he said flatly. “Your husband’s a gunrunner. The World in One Hour can prove it. Bertone is going down. Hard. Your only choice is whether you and the children go down with him.”
    “What the hell is going on?” the senator demanded as he backed away from the windows like they were on fire.
    Rand gave him a sideways look. “Senator, you better get the hell out of here. The good citizens of your district won’t like finding out how you were caught in a tête-à-tête with an international gunrunner’s arm candy. Blood, money, and sex make great headlines.”
    “This is outrageous!” the senator said.
    “No,” Rand shot back. “What’s outrageous is that Kayla Shaw was kidnapped by Andre Bertone, who will torture her to get the magic word that will unlock a quarter of a billion dollars and start a war to overthrow a duly elected government half a world away.”
    “Elena?” the senator asked.
    “Please go, Senator,” Elena said. “Please. It is not good for you to be…here, now.”
    “All I’m doing here is talking about donations and campaign strategy.” The senator gave Rand a cold look. “And if you imply anything else to the media, I’ll have your balls.” He switched his glare to Elena. “Where is Andre? He’ll cut through this bullshit.”
    Elena looked blankly at the senator. “Andre is not here.”
    “Well, get him here.” The senator glared at the