Page 26 of Devil
“You should go to the dinner,” Nora said at the same time.
“I didn’t find any evidence that suggested a rift between them, but they don’t appear to be close,” Devil said, addressing Cyn’s question first.
“What about the dinner?” Six asked. “Maybe you should go and see if you can press him for information on his daughter.”
Devil mulled the idea over. If the father and daughter weren’t close, it wasn’t likely she’d learn anything. On the other hand, even a little something would be better than nothing. She couldn’t suddenly strike up a friendship with the woman herself—not without raising suspicions. Maybe the father was the next best bet.
“That’s not a bad idea. It’s a small event and it’s sold out, but I’ll call Franklin and see if he can get me a ticket. I need to update him about the Lam sisters anyway and thank him for grounding that flight last night.”
“What’s the news on them?” Six asked.
“They rented a car and drove home early this morning,” Cyn answered. “The DeMarcos followed them to northern New Jersey, and then Stella’s people picked them up from there. Last she checked in, the sisters were passing through Philadelphia.” Stella Matthews was the sister of Vice President Calvin Matthews. She owned a private security firm that Beni, Cal’s wife and former FBI agent, unofficially consulted with. When she wasn’t trying to catch up on sleep after taking care of the couple’s newborn twins.
Silence fell over the group as they sipped their drinks. Devil’s gaze drifted over her lawn, dappled with the morning sun that filtered through the large maple tree in the back corner. The air was crisp and clean, though not yet cold. Right now, a sweater kept her warm, but in three weeks, she’d need a jacket. Four weeks after that, her yard would be uninhabitable for anyone other than the hardiest of fools.
As she absorbed the sun on her skin, Devil pondered several scenarios. How the four women could have connected over the Uyghur situation was a mystery, but Nora was right. It was an interesting angle. One she wanted to look into more.
Devil finished her coffee and rose to take her cup inside and call Franklin but paused when her phone rang. Glancing at the screen, she gave a little shake of her head and held it up for her friends to see.
Six snorted at the sight of Franklin’s name, and Cyn muttered, “Lucky you.” Nora said nothing but gave Devil a sympathetic look as she answered.
“Good morning, Franklin. Thank you for your assistance last night.”
“It was helpful, I presume?”
“I think you know it was.”
“Yes, but it’s always nice to hear when one’s been useful. Now please do me the great honor of telling me why I grounded a flight last night and impacted air travel at two international airports?”
Franklin wasn’t prone to drama or hyperbole, but he was quite handy with the sarcasm. Rising from her seat and moving inside, Devil provided him with the details of what she and the club were looking into and why. He asked a few probing questions, which she answered, and then she asked for another favor, a ticket to Dr. Pritchard’s dinner that night. His agreement was so swift that she almost wondered if he’d been waiting for her to ask. Which, if true, would be both extremely annoying—since it meant she’d wasted her breath walking him through the situation—and a bit creepy.
“There will be two tickets at the door. Commander Washington should accompany you,” he said.
“It’s a black-tie affair. He might not have time to find a tux,” she pointed out. The dinner started in a little over five hours, and she doubted he had the right attire in his closet. Unlike her, who had a host of appropriate gowns.
“Please give the man some credit, Devil. He wouldn’t be there if he didn’t have a modicum of ingenuity.”
Devil wasn’t quite sure what to make of that statement, mostly because it was true. Nothing Darius had done or said led her to believe he was anything other than fully capable. But more to the point, if Franklin had picked him then he was significantly more than justcapable.
Still, she didn’t like the idea of Franklin dictating to her.
She managed to answer without sounding either snarking or impetuous, and a few minutes later they ended the call. Wanting to give Darius as much time as possible to find something to wear, she immediately dialed his number.
“Good morning, Lily,” he answered. The way her name rolled off his tongue with the tiniest hint of a Southern drawl didnotaffect her in any way.
“Good morning. How do you feel about attending a black-tie affair tonight to listen to Dr. Gerard Pritchard, Jennifer’s father, speak?”
“What time?”
“It starts at five. I can pick you up a few minutes before that?”
“I’ll be ready.”
“You did hear the black-tie part, right?”
He chuckled. Which also didnothingfor her. “I have it covered, Lily. I am curious as to why, though.”
Lily walked toward the back of her living room and stared out a window as she answered. “There’s not a lot online about Jennifer Pritchard. Tonight’s dinner might be an opportunity to learn something about her that’s more than a list of the papers she’s written or the conferences she’s attended. Ideally, we’d talk to her, but I think if either of us suddenly struck up a friendship with her, she’d figure out why. I know it’s a stretch, but maybe the father can give us some insight into the daughter.”
