Free The Female Charm by Amelia Price

Sod
off.”
    “Not until we've
had a quick chat about your wife. And perhaps Melissa and Edith as
well.” Mycroft kept his tone even and quiet, and his expression
impassive. The best threats were never said as if they were
threats.
    “Who is it?” a
woman's voice called from somewhere deeper in the house,
reinforcing the peril Kendel was in. His eyes widened like a deer's
in headlights before he frowned and gave Mycroft his best
scowl.
    “Just come have a
talk with me, Mr Kendel. I'm sure it won't take long.” Mycroft felt
the pressure of the door against his arm ease up, and then Kendel
nodded.
    “All right. But
this'd better be quick.”
    Mycroft took a
step backwards and moved out of view of the inside of the
house.
    “Gary's car has
broken down. He needs some help getting it back to his place. I
won't be long,” Kendel said, loudly enough that his wife would be
able to hear from inside the house.
    Without waiting to
see if Kendel followed, Mycroft headed back to the car. He hung
back so Daniels could open the door for both him and the reporter.
After all, appearances played a big part in these sorts of
negotiations. Thankfully, Daniels also had the good sense not to
ask where to go but drove off and took a country lane out of the
area.
    Mycroft handed
Kendel Amelia's replacement article first.
    “What's this?”
Kendel asked after a brief glance.
    “It's what you're
going to submit instead of the article you've been working on. I
think you'll find it satisfies the criteria.”
    “But I didn't
write it. Who did?”
    “Someone who fully
expects to see your name on it tomorrow. It might even be the best
article you've ever written.”
    Kendel looked it
over for a few minutes and Mycroft could soon tell the man was
impressed. His little disciple could at least write well.
    “What if I still
prefer my article?” Kendel asked when he'd finished skim-reading
the piece.
    “I think we both
know you don't already. But just in case you need a little extra
incentive, there's this.” Mycroft handed over a small cheque. It
wasn't as much as they'd given the initial source to stay quiet,
but Kendel would also get paid for the article so it didn't need to
be.
    “And, of course,
if you don't choose this new article, I think your wife would be
very interested to find out about this twitter account, as well as
this extra credit card and, well, these photos.”
    One by one,
Mycroft handed over the documentation to back up everything he'd
just mentioned. For several months, and in one case just over a
year, Kendel had been pretending to be other men in order to pick
up different women. His wife was oblivious to the adultery, as well
as the debt the extravagant alter egos had racked up. On top of
that, Kendel wasn't legally entitled to be married to his current
wife because he was still married to his previous wife under yet
another name and owed the first wife a substantial amount for
selling their house and taking the entire proceeds.
    “Now these
documents can go back where they came from, or they can be sent to
the woman you currently have as your wife. I also think the police
might be interested in one or two of them. But it's entirely up to
you, Mr Kendel.”
    “You don't mess
around, do you?” Kendel said after a few seconds.
    Mycroft smiled.
The rest of the meeting was inevitable. Kendel sighed and accepted
the new article and cheque.
    A few minutes
later, Daniels was letting Kendel out of the car and Mycroft was
tucking a signed agreement into his jacket pocket. The reporter and
the source had both been silenced. As Kendel went inside his house,
Daniels waited by the car door, leaving it shut to keep the heat
in.
    A few seconds
later the reporter appeared with several pieces of paper, some
loose pages from a notebook and a small USB stick. He handed all of
them to Daniels while Mycroft watched through the one-way glass
window.
    “Home, sir?”
Daniels asked once Kendel had gone and Mycroft had everything the
man