Page 56 of Devil
Devil smiled, knowing exactly what her friend was going to do. “I’m sure she does. You’re going to hack into the Bergdorf system, aren’t you?”
“I’ll check Tina’s and Amy’s credit card charges first, and then I’ll check Nadia’s and Sonia’s. Neither of them have money problems, and I could see them giving the sisters a card to use. If I don’t find anything in those searches, then I’ll pop into the Bergdorf system.”
“You are brilliant, my friend,” Devil said.
Cyn paused. “Only about some things. I really am sorry, Devil. About, well, you know. After all these years, you’d think I would know how to give you the space you need when you need it. You so rarely ask for it, and I completely bulldozed you.”
Devil let out a huff. “I appreciate that, Cyn. I really do. But I also want to say that, for the record, there are times I need you, Six, and Nora to push me. Without you all showing me how it’s done, I wouldn’t even be having this conversation about all the feels.”
Cyn harrumphed. “Thank you for saying that, but I still shouldn’t have pushed. Now, let’s change the subject, tell each other we love each other, and go figure out how to stop the Lam sisters from assassinating the Chinese president.”
Devil laughed. “Sounds like a plan. Love you, and we’ll talk soon.”
“Love you too, and be careful.”
When she returned her phone to her jacket pocket, Darius cast her a look. “Everything okay?”
Devil inclined her head and relayed what Cyn planned to do. “I can’t imagine what they might have bought that could further their plan, but at this point, we can’t leave any stone unturned.”
“On the off chance theydidbuy something, and it gives us a solid lead, maybe we can confront the sisters before the president even arrives,” he said.
“One can but hope,” she said. They walked the rest of the way to the hotel in silence. When they arrived, it was a hub of activity as the staff prepared for the president’s visit. Security lingered at all the entrances, and the road in front of the hotel was closed to cars. Looking up, Devil caught the reflection of a sharpshooter’s scope on the roof of the building across the street.
“Another pass?” Darius asked. They’d already circled the building twice.
She shook her head. “I know we talked about walking the route to the White House, but I think the embassy needs to be our focus. It’s a little over four miles away. How do you feel about doing that first?”
He gestured her onward. “Lead the way.”
They headed toward Connecticut Avenue, then turned north. To all the world they probably looked like a couple of tourists taking in the sights, which couldn’t be further from the truth. As they walked north, they occasionally pointed out potential vulnerabilities—an empty storefront north of Dupont Circle, roadwork near the National Zoo. In truth, the president was at risk everywhere. But since they couldn’t be everywhere at once, they identified locations that provided the greatest opportunity for success. Places that would give someone both access and an easy escape route.
When they arrived at the embassy, they found a bench and took a seat at the edge of International Park. “I don’t like it,” Devil said.
“Me, neither,” Darius echoed. “Unless they are planning something like a car bomb and then intend to use the ensuing chaos to get close enough to him, the only reasonable assumption is that they are going to target him at the dinner itself. Wasn’t Cyn going to get you a list of the invitees to the dinner?”
“She was, but after talking to Franklin, he offered.” She pulled out her phone and checked her email. Nothing from Franklin. “Not sure what’s taking so long, but if it’s not in my inbox by the time we get back to the house, I’ll call him.”
They fell into silence again, both contemplating the building in front of them. Completed in 2009, the stark white structure with its sharp lines looked both austere and authoritative. But it also held hints of tradition in the design of the main edifice. Many considered it beautiful, and although it wasn’t her favorite embassy, it wasn’t an eyesore.
Darius’s hand tightened on hers, pulling her attention away from the building. His gaze flickered to the two people walking toward them. The two people who were very clearly federal agents of some sort.
The woman had dark hair pulled into a low ponytail and, in her heels, was fairly tall. The black suit she wore hung from her slim frame, although it wasn’t loose enough to hide the bulge of her shoulder holster.
The man was a hair shorter than the woman, maybe five foot eight, and had black hair. Even from a distance, his dark eyebrows slashed across his forehead. His suit was navy and fit better than the woman’s, although Devil had no illusions that he, too, was carrying.
She and Darius remained seated as the two approached. Pausing in front of them, the agents’ gazes swept over both her and Darius. The scrutiny was returned in kind.
“Dr. Devillier?” the male agent asked, addressing her. She nodded. “Agent Alex Highborn, DSS,” he said, holding his hand out. “And this is Agent Sandra Crawford.”
Devil eyed them for a moment, then took his hand before extending it to Agent Crawford. “And this is Commander Darius Washington,” she said, gesturing to her side. Neither agent offered to shake his hand, but that might have been because he was still holding her left hand with his right. He did nod to them, though, a gesture they both returned.
“I understand you have some information for us?” Agent Highborn asked.
Devil kept her summary short, telling them in as few words as possible about what they believed was being planned. When she was done, Agent Crawford had her arms crossed and a bored look on her face, and Agent Highborn’s stance wasn’t much different.
“You really think that two housewives, a single scientist, and two sisters with no training are actually going to try to infect China’s president with smallpox,” Highborn said. Not asked.
Darius’s fingers twitched around hers, but Devil didn’t much care if they believed her, so his tone rolled off her back. “It’s not smallpox,” Devil corrected. “It’s worse, much worse.” That wasn’t the point of Agent Highborn’s statement. In his own passive-aggressive and not particularly clever way, he’d basically called her full of shit.
