Kiss My Lips: A Freddie Huntsman Investigation

By Bernard Veale

Freddie Huntsman is now the Executive assistant of Governor Bradford Bronson who is top of the polls for President of the United States. The incumbent president died in office and the Vice President is acting president and intends to get himself elected to office by hook or by crook. He sees Freddie as the Governor’s biggest asset and is determined to either bribe him with high office to get him to change sides or to frame him for various crimes to discredit him. Freddie manages to stay ahead of the game but gets embroiled in the ‘Mack the Knife’ serial murders while juggling his new girlfriend Julienne Light with Jadi Benton, his ex-lover, who is handling the ‘Mack the Knife’ case. Everything comes to a dramatic end when Freddie faces off with the ‘Mack the Knife’ killer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AUK Authors
• Release date: May 28, 2014
• ISBN: 9781781661956

Book preview

characteristics.

Chapter One

I could see that the Vice President of the United States was angry. He was pacing up and down and almost foaming at the mouth.

Who the hell does Bradford Bronson think he is? He is the jumped-up governor of a single state and he acts as if he were the crown prince!

The party is backing him, Art. The polls say that he has an unassailable lead.

I can read the damned press, Damon! They’ve been wrong before! This is my shot at the brass ring and I’m taking it. I’ll turn this around. In six months time no-one is going to remember his name.

He’s got a lot of money behind him, Art. You are going to have to pull some very fancy rabbits out of a hat to outshine him unless he drops dead like the president just did.

There’s dead like the president and there is politically dead, Damon. I’m going to kill Bronson politically dead before we get to an election.

How are you going to do that, Art? His backers are going to protect him like he was the Mona Lisa.

Find out what his weaknesses are Damon. That’s your top priority. I want to know what we can use against him.

Well, he likes beautiful women. He has been married to three and each of them was a knockout.

How did his wives die? Maybe he got rid of the first two so that he could get the current one?

No chance there, Art. That guy Huntsman proved that his first wife was killed by his second wife and the second was killed by kidnappers. That’s part of Bronson’s public appeal. Everyone feels sorry for the guy.

What about a link between the kidnappers and Bronson?

I don’t think so. The kidnapper had a good go at his kids and that Huntsman guy stopped him. I can’t see Bronson hiring the guy that kidnapped his kid to kill his wife. You’d have to have some rock solid proof for that.

Okay, so we’ll have to frame him. What if he was implicated in killing the Democratic front-runner?

Roman Mitford? He’s going to give Bronson a run for his money. You won’t be able to get near that one.

It doesn’t have to succeed; just an attempt on him will do as long as we can pin it onto Bronson.

I’ll look into it and get back to you, Art.

That’s what I pay you for, Damon. Make it quick.

I pulled back behind the pillar and tucked my field glasses into my inner pocket as they began to walk toward me. They had about two hundred yards to walk so I had plenty of time to slip back into the conference room and take my chair alongside Governor Bradford Bronson.

This was a conference of the Grand Old Party arising out of the recently death of the incumbent president. The President had been ailing for some time and had been contemplating resigning when he died peacefully in his bed.

Arthur Rixon, the Vice President, was chairing the meeting in the hope that he could sway the party faithful to endorse his candidacy as the Republican candidate but his chances of beating Roman Mitford were generally regarded as poor. Roman Mitford was a very popular and well-known movie star who had, since his retirement from movies, gained a seat in the senate and was renowned for his rabble-rousing orations.

The Republican senators favored Bradford Bronson for two good reasons. The first was that he was way ahead in the polls, which was a very good reason indeed and the second was that he was adequately self-financed as well as having an extremely strong inflow of campaign contributions from the public.

My name is Freddie Huntsman and I work as Governor Bronson’s security chief, investigator and general adviser. He is old enough to be my father but for some reason he trusts me and values my advice. This is probably because I have one special skill which has helped me in past instances when I have solved some very tricky situations for the Governor going back to when he was the Mayor.

My special skill is that I am able to read lips because when I was a boy I was deaf for five years until surgical intervention restored my hearing. In that five years of total loss of hearing, I got by with lip-reading and became unusually adept at it.

I can stand well out of hearing range and understand what is being said and with the very fine field glasses that I possess, I can extend the distance to close to three hundred yards.

I had given it some thought and in future I would not be watching Arthur Rixon. He was too clever to do anything that would make him criminally liable without having a strong level of deniability. He was going to claim that Damon Tenebre acted without his knowledge if any of this plot came to light. Tenebre was known to be something of a loose-cannon.

I excused myself once again and called State Agent Godfrey Jayville Porter, known as Jeejay. He was in charge of the State Investigation Department. I told him what I had learned from the Rixon-Tenebre conversation.

Have you been doing another of your eavesdropping exercises, Freddie? How do you get that close to the Vice President? He must be surrounded by Secret Service Agents now that the President is dead.

I’m regarded as a colleague by the Secret Service. I said non-committally.

So what do you want me to do? Jeejay asked.

Keep Tenebre under surveillance until we know what he plans to do. Normally I would also warn Roman Mitford but I don’t want to risk scaring Tenebre off. Mitford is just going to have to take his chances.

Wow! That doesn’t sound like the Freddie Huntsman that I know. What if Tenebre moves quickly and creams Mitford?

It isn’t going to be as easy as that, Jeejay. Mitford has plenty of security around him and don’t forget that it has to look as if it were planned by Governor Bronson. Tenebre has quite a lot of organizing to do before he can pull this off.

I returned to the Governor’s side. He had not noticed that I was missing; he was too busy making a point to the meeting. I do not know what the point was but it seemed to go down exceptionally well with the delegates. They gave him a standing ovation.

The meeting broke up with several delegates rushing up to make themselves known to the Governor. He took it in his stride and even managed to remember each one’s name, using it liberally as he replied to each.

I think that went rather well, Freddie. What do you think? He said complacently.

I wasn’t around through all of it, sir. I unearthed something really interesting. I can’t tell you here in case we are overheard but I’ll tell you about it in the car.

Our car pulled up almost as soon as we stepped out of the building. I made sure that the Governor was safely seated before I followed him and sat on the small flap-seat facing him.

Governor, you are going to have to watch Arthur Rixon. I told him quietly, just in case anyone could hear us.

Of course, Freddie, I know that. He really hopes that the GOP will back him in the election but it won’t. He doesn’t have a very good reputation and he is well below Roman Mitford in the polls.

He has plans to solve both those difficulties, sir. He intends to assassinate Mitford and frame you for it. The problem for us is that you could have the strongest alibi in the world but no one will believe that you didn’t order the killing because you have so much to gain from it. He has left Damon Tenebre to do the planning so I’m going to have Tenebre watched continually.

What do you want me to do, my boy?

Nothing sir; just make sure that you don’t give Rixon any opportunities that he could use to frame you. Stay away from any woman that isn’t your wife and avoid beautiful young men. Those are the sorts of traps that a man like Rixon is likely to spring. He won’t just leave everything in Tenebre’s hands. He is an opportunist and if he sees something that he could smear you with, he will use it.

Okay, I hear you. I will have to tell Janine that she has to stay by my side. She keeps wanting to go back home and I was beginning to feel that I should let her but now I see that her presence will protect me from the sort of traps that you think Rixon might try. Freddie let’s see if we can turn this trick against Rixon.

I handed the Governor over to his regular bodyguards and went back to my hotel suite to pick up my directional microphone. They are not very popular with the politicians in Washington DC for obvious reasons but my one had been tailor-made for me. I use it when I am unable to see the lips of my targets. It is very powerful and folds away into a neat little package hardly bigger than a laptop computer. Jeejay believes that this is how I obtain most of my ‘eavesdropping’ information. Actually I do not use it all that much because most of my information is picked up spontaneously from a casual glance at distant talkers.

I opened the door of my hotel suite and found Desdemona Bronson spread out on the couch fast asleep. Desdemona is the Governor’s nineteen year-old-daughter from his first marriage. I rescued her from a kidnapper called Spike Crawley. She is determined to get me to sleep with her but I do not think that sleeping with the boss’s daughter would be good for my career and I know that my current girlfriend Julienne Light would not be happy with it either.

I shook her shoulder a little more roughly than I should have.

She sat up. Oh, Freddie, it’s you! I was just dreaming about you. Aren’t you going to kiss me ‘hello’?

Certainly not, Desdemona; what are you doing here in Washington?

Everything is so boring at home without you, Freddie. I came to spend time with you and Daddy.

Desdemona, you know the danger of being kidnapped. It’s happened to you before. Where are your bodyguards?

I think I lost them at the airport when I went into the Ladies restroom. I don’t think that they knew that there was another door.

Have you no consideration at all for others? Those poor guys must be frantic with worry over what has happened to you. We had better get out there and let them know that you are safe.

Not this airport you dope; the one back home!

Shit! That’s even worse! They are probably searching the town for you as we speak. You are an absolutely spoiled brat, Desdemona! I said as I dialed to get Armagh Wilkinson at the Governor’s residence. Armagh used to be the butler when Bradford Bronson was the mayor but now he was the General Manager of the Governor’s household.

Armagh, it’s Freddie here. Desdemona has just arrived here without any bodyguards.

We worked that out, Freddie. She told her guards that she was at the airport to welcome an arriving friend. When she disappeared, they checked all outgoing flights and saw that she was on the plane to Washington DC. They had two of the Governor’s off-duty bodyguards to follow her from the airport to your hotel and they saw her go up to your suite shortly before you arrived at the hotel. They called me to tell me that the panic was over.

We are going to have to get that girl a location device. It is going to have to be something that she will always carry with her without knowing that it is a location device. I gritted out between my teeth after checking that she had gone into the bathroom and closed the door.

I’ll ask the agents about the location device, Freddie, but you will have to work out what she will always carry around with her. She is highly unpredictable.

Yes, Armagh, leave that with me. It is going to take some thinking about.

I heard the toilet flush and I signed off with Armagh.

Desdemona came back into the lounge.

Freddie, you’ll have to take me shopping now. I didn’t bring anything with me.

Damn it, Desdemona, this is all very irresponsible of you. Your father has a strong chance of becoming the President and your behavior could impact upon his ratings. The very least you could do for him is keep a low profile until the election is over.

Firstly, Daddy’s bid for the presidency is his own selfish ambition. It certainly is nothing that either Daniel or I want. What I want is to be a normal girl. All my friends from school go out on dates and have fun. I can’t do that because of the fear of being kidnapped. Secondly it is your responsibility, Freddie, to protect me from harm so, as I see it, it is your duty to see that I get protection while I live an otherwise normal life.

I was struck by the thought that I had never looked at Desdemona’s plight through her eyes. She was quite right. Her brother Daniel and she were both leading unnatural lives. I had felt sorry for Daniel and had taken him to ball games, had played ball with him as well as chess but, because of her avid pursuit of me, I had avoided Desdemona. I had regarded her as a spoilt rich girl, high on drugs and obsessed with sex when actually she was missing out on all the things that make the teen years so magical.

Okay, Desdemona, I’ll take you out to do your shopping but first we have to get you a hotel room.

I don’t need a room, Freddie. I can stay here in your suite.

No, Desdemona, we’ll get you a separate room. Your father is going to be unhappy enough that you are here in DC. He will hit the roof if you are staying in my suite.

She didn’t say anything more but looked suspiciously satisfied with my comment.

We went down to the reception desk and I asked for another room.

I’m very sorry sir but all the hotels are full to capacity what with the President’s death. There is a spate of conferences on at the moment. I cannot even let you have so much as a broom closet.

As we walked back to the elevator Desdemona said smugly. I could have told you that Freddie, I asked for a room when I arrived. I can’t stay with Daddy because he has Janine with him so I have to stay with you. At least this way you can provide me with the protection that it is your responsibility to give me.

There was a small bedroom designed for children in my suite. It had a bunk bed with one bed over another and not much else in its tiny space. I calculated some permutations relating to a sleeping arrangement and came to the conclusion that it would be better for me to sleep in the bunk bed where Desdemona could not slip in beside me.

You can take the main bedroom, Desdemona. I’ll use the kid’s room.

She thought that I was being gracious and was quite touched by my generosity.

Oh, thank you Freddie. Of course, you are welcome to share the main bedroom with me. The bed is quite wide enough. I checked it.

I changed the subject. Desdemona, can I trust you to stay here in the suite until I have spoken to your father?

Why do I have to stay here? Why can’t I come with you?

Well, of course you can come with me if you want to but I expect that you will get quite a dressing down from your father. I thought if I spoke to him first he might have calmed down by the time that we meet for supper.

Okay Freddie, I’ll stay here but you had better hurry. I have quite a lot of shopping to do.

I went upstairs to the larger suite that the governor had taken and I knocked on the door. The door was almost immediately opened by Janine Bronson.

Oh hello Freddie, come in! What can I get you to drink?

I stepped into the suite and she closed the door behind me and threw her arms around my neck.

I opened my mouth to object that I had come to see the Governor and she caught my mouth with hers and pushed the tip of her tongue against mine.

Janine Drew had been a cub reporter when I first met her. I had been very much attracted to her because she was a gorgeous woman. I put a number of news stories her way and when the Governor needed a press liaison officer, I recommended her to him for the job. He employed her and they had worked so well together that he had very quickly asked her to marry him. She came to me and asked me for my opinion before she would give him an answer. I pointed out that she would very likely be the next First Lady of America if she accepted and so she did. She had not been very happy since the wedding. Bradford Bronson was almost as bad a husband as he was a father. He had no vices but his political ambitions absorbed him and Janine was as lonely and as bored as her step-children. She turned back to me as her only friend and had given me a number of hints that she believed she had married the wrong man.

I pushed her firmly away from me. Janine, I can’t believe that you did that! Where is the Governor?

Where he usually is, Freddie; hobnobbing with his political friends. He expects me to sit at his side smiling sweetly for hours on end. When I was his Press Officer at least he used to ask my opinion and discuss things with me. Now he hardly remembers to peck me on the cheek when he comes or goes.

I need to speak to him urgently, Janine. Where will I find him?

Up on Capitol Hill for all I know. I am going crazy here. I want to go home.

Janine, he needs you here right now. He told me that he was going to keep you by his side. His political opponents are going to do their best to frame him probably by photographing him with a hooker. You are his best defense against that sort of thing.

That’s his problem if that is the type of woman he gets his sex from.

Of course he doesn’t, Janine. He is a decent man. They will get some well-known call-girl to disorder her clothing and then walk up to him and throw her arms around him while they take a photograph that will appear in every newspaper. They can’t get away with that if you are hanging onto his arm.

Well as usual I am expected to sacrifice myself for his political agenda.

You went into this with your eyes open, Janine. Most women would give their all for your opportunity to be the First Lady and also to end up mega-rich when he dies. He is twenty years your senior.

Twenty eight years, actually, but I don’t care. I have reached screaming pitch. I can’t take this any longer.

I did some quick thinking. Janine I have Desdemona with me. She arrived here without any luggage. I have to take her shopping. Would you like to come with us?

Oh please! I will do anything to get out of this suite and see something besides four walls. What is Desdemona doing here?

She was feeling very much the same boredom at home as you are feeling here. She gave her bodyguards the slip at the airport and jumped on a plane to DC.

Well, at least I can understand how the brat felt. Let me get my coat and my bodyguards. I’ll meet you down in the lobby.

I walked back to my suite and found Desdemona watching a TV sitcom.

Let’s go, kid. We need to buy a valise first so that we have something to put your purchases into.

She stood up and pushed her feet into her sneakers.

You are going to have to use your credit card Freddie; mine is maxed out.

How in hell did you max out your credit card? I’ve seen the limit on yours. I told your father that it was excessive.

Thanks a million; that is probably why he halved it without telling me. There was a room available in the hotel when I came in but my credit card was rejected and the next person in the queue took the room. Now you have to put me up and it is no more than you deserve.

We went downstairs to find Janine with two bodyguards waiting for us in the lobby.

I could see that Desdemona was not very happy about Janine tagging along. They still had not found common ground mainly due to Desdemona's hostility. Janine had tried hard enough and she had succeeded in winning young Daniel over.

We drove to a nearby mall and each woman took one of my arms and marched me inside the mall as if I were their prisoner, which, in a sense, I was.

Desdemona tugged me into a boutique where she gathered a handful of jeans much like picking ripe fruit from a tree.

I have to try these on, Freddie. Don't forget that I have to use your credit card because mine is maxed. Desdemona said before disappearing into the changing room.

Why does she have to use your credit card, Freddie? She has one with a very generous limit on it.

I mentioned the over-generous limit to the Governor and he cut it without forewarning Desdemona. She carried on spending and now has reached the new lower limit.

Well, you had better let me pay for everything, Freddie. I hardly use my credit card at all these days and Bradford hasn't dropped my limit.

Desdemona came out wearing a pair of jeans. What do you think, Freddie? She asked me, ignoring Janine.

Er, they look a little tight around the butt and crotch area, Desdemona. What do you think Janine?

No, those will be fine with the right panties, Freddie. Young girls like to wear them tight.

Desdemona went back inside the booth and very quickly returned with another pair of jeans that looked as if they had been painted onto her.

How about these? She demanded but this time her glance included Janine in the question.

It all depends on whether you are going to wear them in the dark or at your father's inauguration. I commented.

No, those are okay, Desdemona but I prefer the first pair. They showed off your cute butt nicely. Janine asserted.

Maybe you should come into the booth with me Janine. You seem to have a good eye for this stuff. Desdemona said unexpectedly.

The rest of the day went very well for me. I joined the bodyguards and let the two women get on with it.

They were chatting away like childhood friends by the time we returned to the car laden with parcels.

Chapter Two

The Governor was not happy with Desdemona’s proposal that she and I should share a suite. He decreed that Janine and Desdemona should share his suite and he moved down to share mine. Of course that meant that I still ended up sleeping on the bunk bed but at least I did not have Desdemona trying her best to seduce me.

I do not know what woke me up at two in the morning but from a dead sleep I was suddenly wide awake and listening intently. I heard the bedroom door creak but the bathroom was on the far side of the suite and the Governor did not have to use the