Seduced By The Candidate (The Candidate, #1) (15 page)

Considering what he had been doing only six hours earlier, he
struggled to maintain a straight face when confronted with the obvious
hypocrisy, but his pleasure at receiving the gift had been real enough. He had
made sure that Charlotte placed it in her purse and guarded it carefully
against loss or theft. All that was left now was the usual round of
photographs, a few carefully screened questions and perhaps a quick session of
autograph signing and working the crowd. Like it or not, Goulding was born for
this. He was a complete natural and had the drive, determination and ruthless
ability to go all the way.

If circumstances let him that was.

As he was posing with his arm around the school mascot, he
caught sight of Jake Armstrong shouldering his way through the crowd, like a
bulldozer moving through a snowdrift. His head of security had been gone for
nearly five full days and although his stomach knotted with nervous
anticipation, Goulding was eager to know exactly what he had found out. John
continued to live up to his reputation of having an ability to assess and
manage any situation perfectly. Almost at the same time that Goulding saw Jake,
the little man stood and addressed the crowd.

“Ladies and Gentlemen…please! Thank you. The Senator regrets
that we are going to have to bring this visit to a close. We’ve been humbled by
the reaction and support that you’ve shown us and will cherish the memory of
the Jackson High School staff and students until we meet again. Please…no more
questions. Thank you.”

“Not bad,” thought Goulding. “Not bad at all. If Lyndsey ever
considers a career change, he really would make a pretty good politician,
especially with speeches like that!”

Jake waited for the crowd to disperse and only when Goulding’s
party stood alone, did he take the Senator to one side.

“It’s good to see you, Bill. Has there been any more…trouble
while I’ve been away?”

“No Jake, it’s been pretty quiet to be honest”. He smiled.
“Or as quiet as this circus will allow anyway!”

“Good. That’s good,” said Jake looking around somewhat
distractedly.

“So…” prompted Goulding. “
What did you
find out?”

“What? Oh yes, sorry. It’s been a hectic few days and now I’m
back I guess I just went straight into the old protector/protectee shit. Have
the new guys been doing the job right?
Just like I showed
‘em?
I was never a hundred percent sure about Marshall…”

“Jake, with all due respect,
fuck
the
security detail and fuck Marshall! What did you find out about Quest?”

For a second Jake looked angry and wounded and at one point
Goulding thought he might actually hit him for taking for granted the work that
clearly meant so much to him. He took a deep breath and his face cleared and he
nodded in agreement.

“Sorry, Bill. You’re right. Well those fuckers definitely have
evidence linking you to their organization and their less than savory
dealings.”

“Brilliant. Just fucking brilliant,” said Goulding mournfully.

“I’m not done yet Bill. Hear me out and then decide how bad you
think it is.The hard copies were pretty obvious and they all seemed to be
genuine and not forgeries. They also didn’t give me anything to go on as you
can print or copy from pretty much anywhere that has the necessary hardware and
facilities.”

“Still waiting for it to get better, Jake,” said Goulding
bitterly.

Choosing discretion as the better part of valor, Jake ignored
Goulding and continued.

“Having discounted the hard copies, I had a look at the
electronic stuff on the memory stick and that was a very different animal. Each
document was embedded with an electronic file path that is as unique as a
signature and indicates the location of the file on a hard drive, or a server.
I still have a few contacts that I can call on and I also managed to…forget to
hand back all of my equipment when they kicked me out of the army, so it wasn’t
too hard to trace these files and determine exactly where they were saved.”

Jake looked at Goulding, clearly expecting this information to
be received as some kind of earth-shattering revelation. Seeing only confusion
and expectation in his eyes, he continued to explain its significance.

“All of the files were saved to the hard drive of a single
computer.” Jake paused for effect. “A computer owned by that asshole Frazer
Martin. It’s a desktop, not a laptop and it sits on his desk in the offices of
Quest Realtors. I was willing to bet that due to the nature of the information
and the fact that it incriminates them just as much as it incriminates you,
there wouldn’t be too many copies of this stuff, but I still wanted to be sure.
I hacked into Frazer’s personal computer, as well as the machines of Arthur
Deane and Larry Ackermann. None of the other computers contained anything that
tied you into their company dealings, so it would look like Frazer’s machine
contains the only copy.”

Jake rubbed his hands together in anticipation as he got ready
to share the best part.

 
“I might not have found
anything else about you, Bill. But I did find a whole shit load of information
regarding illegal dealings, underhand payments, tax evasion scams and similar
blackmailing schemes. It seems like that those three wankers are about as
filthy as they come and have been fucking and sucking their way to a fortune
over the past couple of decades at the considerable detriment of a large number
of people.”

Goulding was struggling to try and process everything that he
was being told and in the face of Jake’s obvious excitement, he needed some
further clarity.

“Okay mate, that’s all very exciting, but I’m still not sure
how it helps me?”

“Really, Bill? You’ve been out of the game for far too long! If
all of your information is stored on a single machine, it wouldn’t take much to
either retrieve it, or destroy the machine completely. True, there might be
some hard copies floating around…I’m guessing in Frazer’s private safe, but
there can’t be many. They’re nervous enough to only keep a single electronic
copy, so they’re not going to risk losing track of hard copies.”

Finally, realization dawned in Goulding’s eyes and he broke
into a broad smile.

“So you think we can make this go away and destroy the
evidence?”

“Piece of piss,” said Jake returning Goulding’s smile, “But
you’re not thinking big enough.”

“I don’t follow you, Jake?”

“Why settle for merely covering your ass when you can bring
these fuckers down once and for all? Turn the tables on them and use their own
dirty tricks against them?” Jake spread his hands wide. “It would be just as
easy to download all of the information that paints them in a less than savory
light, wipe out anything that links you to them and then the ball is very much
in your court. Sure, I’d have to do a bit more invasive digging to alter the
electronic bank records, but that shouldn’t be too difficult. So what do you
think?”

Goulding was so choked with relief and emotion that he could
barely speak and when he did his voice came out as a cracked whisper.

“Thank you Jake, that’s…” his voice trailed off, but Jake
understood completely.

“It’s a pleasure Bill. What do you want me to do? Shall I act
on it?”
  

“Not just yet, Jake,” said Goulding, having recovered his
composure. “I need a bit of time to process all of this and decide what to do
for the best. I’ll let you know okay?”

“Sure Boss, all you have to do is call, you know that.”

Jake got up to leave and was already heading for the door when
Goulding called out to him.

“I don’t suppose that there was any change from that five grand
was there Jake?”

“Funny thing Boss,” Jake replied with a grin. “Expenses came to
exactly five thousand…hell of a coincidence really, but every single penny was
accounted for!”

* * *

Goulding was just collecting his belongings and readying
himself to leave when a voice behind him made him jump.

“Senator, would you mind posing for one last picture? I need a
new shot of you to go with a story I’m writing and it really won’t take a
second.”

Without looking up and desperately trying to hide his annoyance
at the continued press intrusion, he shot a response over his shoulder.

“I’m sorry but the session is over. You’ll have to make do with
the pictures you’ve already got, or come to my next engagement at the…”

As Goulding turned to face his protagonist, the words died on
his lips. Before him stood Brian Kennedy and in an instant all of the hope that
he had felt from his conversation with Jake evaporated.
 

“Ah…Brian,” he stumbled. “It’s good to see you. I trust you’re
well?”

“Pretty good, Senator.
Thank you. I
seem to be making some real progress with my story and wondered if you’d be
good enough to let me get a photograph to accompany it.”

“Of course Brian,” said Goulding through gritted teeth and did
his best to act calm and natural as the disheveled reporter clicked off half a
dozen pictures.

When Brian was satisfied with the images that he had captured,
Goulding pressed the matter further.

“Progress Brian?
Perhaps you’d be good
enough to enlighten me.”

Without saying a word, the reporter reached into his bag,
pulled out three glossy pictures and handed them to Goulding. They were a
little grainy and had obviously been taken from some distance away with a zoom
lens, but the details of the men that they featured were clearly recognizable.

Goulding looked at them and saw
himself
smiling back up from the paper. He was dressed in the formal black-tie attire
that had added so much to the overall impression when he had made his memorable
speech at the Evangelist dinner a little over a week ago.
Before
him stood Frazer Martin, Arthur Deane and Larry Ackermann and the anger on the
faces of the four men was apparent for all to see.

Goulding returned the pictures to the reporter with a single
nod of his head.

“Well you have been busy Brian. Still, I’m not sure that a few
pictures of me meeting my loyal constituents
is
exactly the ground breaking expose that you were hoping for.”

“Very good Senator,” said Brian almost apologetically. “But I
know that these three men are far from being simple, loyal constituents. They
are the top brass at Quest Realtors, but I suspect you already know that. They
are also widely rumored to be ruthless, immoral and willing to do pretty much
anything to make a quick buck, regardless of whether it’s legal or not.

I know that you’re involved with them somehow, Senator, I just
don’t know how yet. I’ll find out and as soon as I do, I’ll have the story of
the decade. It’s not too late to get in early and give your side of the story.
I’ll make sure you get a favorable write-up and have the opportunity to tell me
what happened in your own words…what do you say?”

The temptation to blurt it all out was immense, but with a sigh
Goulding shook his head and forced a smile onto his face.

“Brian, I sorry that you’re putting so much
effort into something that simply isn’t there.
There is no story and
there is nothing to tell, in my words or anyone else’s. Do us both a favor and
drop this before you’re made to look foolish in the eyes of your colleagues and
fellow professionals.”

“With respect Senator, I can’t do that. I admire the candor and
your heart-felt advice, but I need to see this through, regardless of where it
might or might not lead me.”

“Fair enough Brian,” said Goulding and began to walk the
reporter to the door. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Goulding watched the little man for a few minutes until he was
barely a spot on the horizon and then retrieved his cell phone from his suit
pocket. Quickly he keyed in Jake’s number and typed the two-word message,

Do it

With his instruction given, Goulding then dialed John Lyndsey’s
number. It was time to handle Brian Kennedy himself and in the process call in
a favor that he knew the little man would be only too eager to see
fulfilled.
 

* * *

His business concluded
,
Goulding
retreated to his hotel suite and Charlotte’s reassuring presence. His mind swam
with countless threats and possibilities and he wondered how he would ever be
able to silence them long enough to get any kind of peace. As he opened the
door and stepped into the hotel’s penthouse suite, the roar instantly morphed
into a serene silence as he caught sight of Charlotte. She stood before him, a
vision of filthy innocence and the curious paradox excited him more than
anything else he had ever experienced before.

Leaning casually against the wall, her delicate white skin
stood out in stark contrast to the skimpy black underwear that she was wearing.
As she traced a finger along the line of the panty elastic, she bit her lip in
a maddeningly sensual manner. Her long, toned legs were clad in sheer black
stockings and she was wearing a pair of sharp stiletto heels that looked far
too severe to walk in for any length of time.

These were ‘fuck me heels’ and he was not about to rebuff her
unspoken request. He could scarcely believe that only a week ago this sultry
temptress was an innocent, virginal young girl and now she was a cock hungry
slut! He had unleashed in her. A pent up thirst that she had only just begun to
quench and the thought of what she might be truly capable off was enough to
have his cock straining at his pants in seconds.

“Well!” she purred. “It looks like you’ve brought me a present.
Do you mind if I
unwrap
it now?”

Without waiting for a response, she dropped to her knees and
began to unbuckle his belt and unbutton his pants. This was something straight
out of a fantasy. Goulding could barely believe what was happening, but he was
far too aroused to object or even question her actions. He merely leaned
against the wall and pushed his hips forward as she dragged his pants and boxer
shorts down his legs and pooled them around his ankles.