I looked for a microphone that might have disguised his voice, but it was too dark. Microphones come small these days.
“No. We’re staying in D. C,” I informed him. “You can have us thrown out, if you like, but I’ve found a school for EG, and Nick has a job he likes. I can work anywhere, but I’m staying with my family.”
He nodded and steepled his fingers. I didn’t think he was praying. Bracing elbows against chair arms and pushing fingertips against each other is an excellent aerobic exercise that I use often.
“You won’t leave Max’s death alone, will you?”
I let stony silence answer for me.
“You don’t know what you’re asking for,” he replied.
“If you’d tell me about the cartel, I might know more.” I shrugged. Two could play at this game of nonchalance. “But it won’t change my mind. We’re staying. D.C. is the world Magda raised us for.”
Wow, I didn’t know where that had come from, but I knew I was right. In her own roundabout way, Magda had showed us all we needed to know to survive in her world. She didn’t force us into it. She let us choose for ourselves. And here we were, gravitating to the play of power and politics.
“Gauging by your energetic performance this evening, you may have taken her training a little farther than she imagined.”
I thought I detected amusement behind that cryptic comment, but I wasn’t biting. I wanted something, but I wasn’t asking for it. “How much danger is EG in if we stay in D.C. ?”
“Excellent question. I had a talk with Senator Hammond. He will be selling his stock in Edu-Pub and removing himself from oversight of the education committee. The shooting episode was a reminder to back off even if he beat the murder charge. He’s backing off.”
Which didn’t answer my question but raised a dozen others. “And I suppose you’ve talked to the cops and the FBI and know if Hagan is going down for murder?”
“I believe the DNA from the hairs caught beneath Ms. Carstairs fingernails will prove his guilt, yes.”
Diamond Man hadn’t mentioned DNA. But then, there had been plenty of time since the car had returned us here for him to have checked his sources with the police. “And Pao? What do they have on him?”
“Unfortunately, Pao is a trifle more elusive. He will no doubt be deported under any number of domestic security acts, but it’s unlikely that evidence will be found to convict him of any crimes unless they can prove conspiracy in providing Hagan’s alibi. The warehouse and all its records are gone. If the company laundered money, the evidence has been destroyed. I’m sure suitable personnel will be alerted to examine related bank accounts in Indonesia. It’s uncertain how Pao’s government will greet him.”
“Did he murder Max?” I demanded.
“The analysis of the poison isn’t in yet, but the symptoms point to a poison from Indonesia that would have been available to him. Reggie regularly ordered Max’s supplies. We will have to wait for Hagan to explain how he persuaded Reggie to give him the delivery schedule, but I think we both know that as a coke addict, Reggie was easily blackmailed.”
I knew he was right, but I felt a strange letdown, and sagged against the wall. I’d found Pao. I’d done my job. I just didn’t know what the hell that job had been. “I’ll never know for certain what this was all about, will I?”
He tapped his fingertips together. “Under the circumstances, if you insist on staying in D.C. , it might be wisest if you stayed here, where the security is unassailable and your unflagging curiosity and inimitable efficiency can be monitored.”
I straightened up so fast I almost conked my head against the wall. “Here? In this house?” I ignored all other references and zeroed in on the important one. “With EG?”
Not a single sign of reaction, but I had the feeling every word was being wrung from him the hard way. He didn’t want me here, but maybe it was because he didn’t want us hurt, not because he didn’t like us. Obviously, I was very tired.
“Max wanted his family looked after. For your own safety, I believe that living here would be best for both of you. However, there will be no more smashing of security cameras.”
“There will be no more placing of said cameras in my bedroom,” I countered, hands on hips as I drew my line in the sand, while my heart skipped in an excited cha-cha.
I can be honest with myself upon occasion. I realized it wasn’t just the house raising my hopes—it was the man in front of the monitors, a man I knew somehow had to be Diamond-Cufflink Man, a man more elegant, more sophisticated, more exciting than any man Magda had ever dragged home. I didn’t want to leave him. I was officially insane.
“A camera must be placed on all entrances and exits,” he continued, oblivious to my brain explosion, “and the window to your chosen room is vulnerable.”
“Then I’ll find a closet!” I should have been jumping up and down with joy, but I wasn’t letting him know how much I wanted this. My curiosity overfloweth, but I hid it well.
“There is a large closet in the chamber next door to yours if you want to put a bed in it,” he said in irritation, “but you cannot work in a closet.”
“We’re still hiring Oppenheimer to get our house back,” I warned. Graham might be into living in shadows, but I believe in being right upfront. We needed ground rules.
“You may try your best,” he murmured. “I believe Brashton is within a day’s sail of St. Kitts.”
Now I wanted to jump up and down and scream with joy. Nick could fly down and retrieve our millions. We could do anything.
“Why are you really doing this?” I asked, perpetual curiosity and optimism winning out.
“Because I owe your grandfather a great deal, and he would want me to protect his disastrous offspring if they insist on staying in D.C. ,” he said with familiar dryness. “And also because I can use your network of contacts—if you promise to leave the non-computer investigating to those who know how to do it.”
For all I knew, I was listening to a paranoid schizophrenic. And I didn’t care. He was telling me what I wanted to hear, so that made him sane in my world.
“I’ve had all the detective work I want,” I told him. “All I need is privacy for my computers. You wouldn’t happen to have an attic over this floor, would you?”
He sat silently tapping his fingers until I thought perhaps I’d pushed him far enough. I might dream of Diamond Cufflink Man. That didn’t mean I had to believe in superheroes.
“That is a possibility I will take into consideration,” he finally said.
I grinned so wide I thought it would split my face. “And if Patra shows up, I’ll give her my room.”
“Patra?” he asked with what passed for alarm in Graham’s world.
“Or Tudor, or any of the others. Where I am, they go.”
I thought I detected a highly unsuitable curse muttered under his breath, but I was adamant. I wouldn’t be living in hog heaven and shutting out the opportunity for my family to enjoy the same.
“I’m sure they all have far better things to do than come here,” he conceded with more grumpiness than any other emotion he’d ever expressed.
I didn’t tell him Tudor was expelled from school regularly, and while only EG of the younger ones had shown any adventurous aptitudes, the next eldest half-siblings all possessed Magda’s wanderlust. They’d show up just to see what I’d fallen into.
“Good-night, Ana,” said Robot Man.
He didn’t have to let us stay. He didn’t have to be concerned about our safety. It wouldn’t hurt to show appreciation for not throwing us out.
But a mere thank you simply wouldn’t suffice. Before he could spin his throne back to the monitors, I stalked across the office, clapped my hands on the chair arms, and planted my mouth on his.
He was alive and not a robot.
After a moment’s hesitation, I realized just how alive he was. My hair was standing on end by the time he’d hauled my head down to his and kissed me so thoroughly that I wasn�
�t certain I could walk away. Then he clasped my face in his hands, set me back where I belonged, and after briefly running his finger down my jaw, swung back to his keyboard.
“I like your new fashion statement,” he murmured in what sounded like genuine appreciation, “but bootheels are not suitable for wood floors.” He leaned his chair back to examine a screen well above my head, effectively dismissing me.
I refrained from pounding my bootheel against his hard head. I knew the need for distance after a mind-blowing experience.
And I’d been right. His cheek was badly scarred. I’d be able to identify him anywhere.
With anticipation, I closed the door and let him return to his web. For now.
~
The heat in my room woke me the next morning. Sunshine poured through the big front window. If I was staying here, I was definitely relocating to somewhere dark. Maybe I could move Mallard out of the basement.
As if recognizing that I was awake, the intercom intruded into my morning attitude adjustment. “Mrs. Euell Hammond on line one.”
Euell. No wonder the guy called himself Tex. I kicked off what remained of my sheet and stretched full length in front of John Quincy’s camera. I wore a T-shirt that stopped at my midriff and a pair of black panties and nothing more. If Graham had repaired the camera, I hoped he’d swallow his teeth. My hours at the gym hadn’t exactly been wasted, and my taut abdominals reflected it.
I hit the telephone button and tried not to snarl too obviously. “Yes?”
“The Senator and I would like to invite you and Elizabeth to dinner this evening,” Marjorie said in her oh-so-polite diction.
“And Nick?” I yawned and rubbed my eyes, not awake enough yet to care if I was being obnoxious. I’d probably regret it for EG’s sake if Marjorie withdrew the invitation, but I had no interest whatsoever in hobnobbing with the rich and famous.
I’ll give her credit for only hesitating a moment. “Yes, of course. The senator would prefer that he has time to get to know Elizabeth before the press finds out about her, but we are prepared for all eventualities.”
“You are a good person,” I told her. How many other wives would acknowledge their husband’s bastards? “I would have cut the man’s throat.”
The intercom made a loud harrumph warning me that I had gone too far. I smashed the side of my fist on the intercom’s buttons, and the machine emitted an unholy screech. I wanted Graham to drool over my bod, not interfere with my social life. But the knowledge that he was there, watching me, heated my already charged hormones.
The lady took it all in stride. “You’re young and idealistic. You’ll understand better when you’re older. At seven then? We’ll send Boise to pick you up.”
So, there we were. Not only had EG’s father accepted her existence, but his old lady was accepting her as well. Mission accomplished. I should cheer in triumph, but I was more interested in the spook in the attic than the walking wounded like the senator. Between the murder accusations and EG’s presence, Tex was a lame duck without a tail wind.
Before she could hang up, I remembered another dangling puzzle piece. “Has the senator figured out who told Hagan about EG’s message?”
She hesitated a little longer this time. “We believe it was Nick’s young friend. He handed in his resignation yesterday.”
Oh, shit. I let her hang up while I thought about that. Maybe Nick’s heart wasn’t involved this time, but chances were about even that he’d not kept EG’s parentage a secret if he’d trusted his lover. I didn’t think I’d take up newspaper reading just yet. Tex was about to get barbecued.
It was definitely time for Nick to be given a hero’s job of nabbing Brashton.
I gazed thoughtfully at John Quincy. My Grateful Dead poster had been removed to another wall. I had to assume the camera had been repaired.
“I’m getting my own phone line,” I announced. “And I’m hunting for the attic.”
“That’s a shame,” the intercom sighed. “Your choice of nightwear is revealing.”
I’m sure it was just my wishful thinking hearing a sexy chuckle emanating from the intercom as it switched off.
I grabbed my new silk halter and capris outfit so I could race downstairs and tell Nick he was off to St. Kitts to rescue our money and drag home Max’s murderer. We were so not going to put up with Graham’s nonsense forever.
About the Author
With several million books in print and New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists under her belt, former CPA Patricia Rice is one of romance’s hottest authors. With forty-seven published books, she's now branching into mystery with Evil Genius, a contemporary family mystery—or mystery family—set in Washingon D.C., where spies really do lurk around every corner. RT Book Reviews calls Evil Genius a “thought-provoking story” with a “convoluted mystery” and “fascinating characters... The ending will leave readers longing for more...”
Patricia Rice's emotionally-charged contemporary and historical romances have won numerous awards, including the RT Book Reviews Reviewers Choice and Career Achievement Awards. Her books have also been honored as Romance Writers of America RITA© finalists in the historical, regency and contemporary categories.
A firm believer in happily-ever-after, Patricia Rice is married to her high school sweetheart and has two children. A native of Kentucky and New York, a past resident of North Carolina, she currently resides in St. Louis, Missouri, and now does accounting only for herself. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, the Authors Guild, and Novelists, Inc., and Book View Café.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Information
Chapter 1: In which EG and Nick arrive bearing trouble.
Chapter 2: Ana visits the ancestral home and ends up talking to a lawyer.
Chapter 3: A deal is struck and an assignment is given.
Chapter 4: Researching a thief and toying with a lawyer.
Chapter 5: EG spies and Ana finds a butler and a mystery man or two.
Chapter 6: Of terrorists and kings, and Ana dons a disguise.
Chapter 7: Ana visits the home of US government and learns the ghost in the attic is real.
Chapter 8: Ana investigates a thief, finds his wife, a cat, and a gym; EG sends a message.
Chapter 9: Visit Mindy’s parents, talk to a hunky Irishman, win a fortune.
Chapter 10: EG skips school and Ana owns stock.
Chapter 11: Ana discovers the Oracle’s secrets and heads for political trouble.
Chapter 12: Ana accomplishes her task, blows up a building, and meets an Oracle.
Chapter 13: Ana goes to private school.
Chapter 14: Celebration time.
Chapter 15: Ana converses with Graham and Blackwell, visits the school, and meets Tex.
Chapter 16: Confrontation with Tex and Elsie, Nick gets tickets to party, Ana gets threatened.
Chapter 17: Magda arrives.
Chapter 18: Magda and Sean talk; Ana learns who Oracle is and falls in love with a dangerous car.
Chapter 19: Ana’s wild ride; Tex talks; Graham admits to knowing Max.
Chapter 20: EG finds yet another school, and textbook publishers are connected.
Chapter 21: Tex faces resignation; Ana investigates Hagan and shoe
s.
Chapter 22: EG calls a bomb scare and gets kidnapped.
Chapter 23: Ana visits Tex’s wife and goes home with Sean.
Chapter 24: Preparing for a reception.
Chapter 25: Ana questions Blackwell and finds a closet.
Chapter 26: Ana gets caught in her own trap.
Chapter 27: The bad guys are caught with their cigars down.
Chapter 28: Ana waits for Graham and finds a home.
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