Act of Exposure (33 page)

'I shall sue
if you continue to libel me.'

'It's not
libel. I have a tape showing three people meeting near a pretty
desperate place. You are one of them. Another is a policeman, and
the third is dead. I know a man called Charles Wallis killed
Candel, but you hired him. Admit it.'

'No! It wasn't
me. I swear it!'

The sculptured
face was now contorted with fear. Abby knew she would talk, knew
she would do anything to save herself.

She kept her
own voice calm. 'All right. So it wasn't you who killed Carl
Candel, and it wasn't you who hired him. But who did, and why?'

Medina's
bottom lip shook. Black false eyelashes fluttered nervously.
Intense emotion strained the tucks where the surgeon had hidden the
scars of his art. Suddenly, the smooth facade took on clownish
contortions. 'I have my reasons. Believe me, if you have ever
loved, you would have done the same. And I love that man. I would
do anything to save him from ruin. You of all people must
understand that.'

The coldness
of Medina's hand permeated the warmth of her own. Oh yes, Abby
understood how she might feel about someone she loved, about
protecting them. But who was that person?

'Who?' she
said quietly.

Medina
withdrew her hand and held it to her brow. 'John Humphries. I love
him. I didn't want anyone killed. I just wanted to save him and his
career.' She looked up suddenly. 'And I would have if you hadn't
intervened. John orchestrated Swan and Swallow Investments, and it
was his idea to float it offshore once the home housing market had
collapsed. It wasn't his fault, it was the middle man. He was
recommended, but turned out to be a crook. I love John, you see. I
have to save him.'

Abby stared. A
high court judge with a mistress was of no particular consequence.
But a judge dabbling in a suspect company which robbed a lot of
people of their savings was another matter.

'So Hardiman
was the middle man. Who hired the killer?'

In the ensuing
silence Abby willed Medina to answer. So much depended on it.
Medina's voice became very quiet as she said, 'Christopher Probert.
He found the man through one of his clients. He had a file on the
client. Some misdemeanour he knew of that never came to court.'

'Archie
Ringer.'

'Yes. I think
that was his name. He runs a club. The man worked for a close
friend, so he told me.'

'But why would
Christopher want to help you?'

Medina's eyes
sparkled with sudden pleasure. 'He was infatuated. I used him. He
was nothing to me. I just wanted to help John. I love John. I love
him. You must understand that.'

For a few
minutes, it was hard for Abby to say anything at all. All the
heartache, the danger of the past weeks had left her feeling
slightly off balance. But why was that? The reason was clearer than
she could admit. People in her profession hid behind their veneer
of respectability. And yet, she had thought it was just her and Val
whose lives were split in two. Then she met Stephen, and a lot of
other people who wore masks in public but let their hair down in
private.

It was
sickening to think that Christopher Probert had hired the killer
who had killed Carl Candel. Indirectly then, he was also the one
who had left Mrs Vector slumped on the floor and had almost snuffed
out the journalist's life with forcible cunnilingus.

Summer had
arrived by the time the guilty had been dealt with and the innocent
released.

During that
time, Abby had buried herself in her work. Stephen was also working
at rebuilding his reputation now his innocence had been proved.

They phoned
each other, had rushed lunches together, and Stephen even brought
Mr Rheingold to her office to thank her for her part in proving his
innocence.

The guilty
were all punished. All except the elusive man who ran the Daily
Sin.

It was time to
build a wall between the past and the future. By late summer, once
all the ends had finally been tied up, Abby and Stephen hired a
yacht and sailed the Greek islands. Their relationship had taken
another turn.

Making love
beneath the stars, on the deck of the yacht and on secluded sandy
beaches, they found themselves and found each other.

In London, a
man was pouring himself a drink in a high penthouse suite
overlooking the City. The editor of the newspaper he owned was
standing behind him, wondering what chance there was of being
offered a drink too. It wouldn't happen. It never did.

'This didn't
go so well, Squires. My friend, John Humphries is ruined. It's a
great shame. He could quite easily have made it to the House of
Lords. But business is business. The public will want his blood. Of
course, we'll have to give it to them. Rake up all you can about
his private life. Get that little man, Vector, on it. I'm sure
he'll be his usual, enthusiastic self.'

'I'm sure he
will, Mr Hardiman. I'll get him on it right away.'

Vector was
waiting in his editor's office. The editor told Vector what was
wanted. Vector only nodded. There was a strange look in his eyes, a
look the editor did not like. Not once had the man blinked as his
mission was outlined to him. 'He wants you to go up and see
him.'

Vector nodded
and got up to make his way to the penthouse suite.

Frowning, the
editor watched him go. Vector never looked back. The editor
wondered what was in his head.

Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord
.
Lance paced his steps with each word in his head. He had lost his
mother. He had also lost the only woman he had ever wanted. It was
all the fault of the man up in the penthouse suite. He fingered the
knife in his pocket. Vengeance would indeed soon be his.

-oOo-

Enjoy more
great erotic stories by Cathryn Cooper, also published as eBooks by
us and available to download from many online bookstores now,
including Anything Goes, Green Silk, Intoxication, Obsession,
Seduction, and...

'I did exactly
as he said. I bent over facing the mirror. My face was now flushed
with the exertion of sucking him. My breasts hung like ripe fruit
from a tree.

'He came up
behind me and I knew immediately what he was going to do. He had
seen me at my most brazen, my most vulnerable. My hands had been
holding my buttocks apart when he had appeared. My anus had been
open to his gaze. He couldn't wait to have me.

'I wanted to
close my eyes, but I couldn't. I wanted to see, to know fully what
he was going to do to me. If it was going to happen, then so be
it.'

The changing
room at the gym is a great place to show off for macho males like
Michael, Jamie and Thomas. After working out, they relax by
shooting the breeze. And what else is there to talk about but
sex?

But do the men
tell the truth? Do their exotic lovers from the past really exist?
Did their sensual triumphs actually take place? For answers, it's
necessary to listen to their current partners. Josie, Mariana and
Crystal are strong women with their own sexual agendas - and their
own erotic stories to tell...

-oOo-

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