Page 69 of Devil
“Then we bring her in to talk,” Lily replied. “Cyn, did you ever find out what she bought at Bergdorf?”
“Oh, yes. I narrowed that down before I called you. There were eighteen different purchases in the time frame Stella gave us. Only six of those were bought with something other than a credit card. And of those six, only two would fit in the size bag Tina carried. The first was lingerie—bought with a traveler’s check…which, to be honest, I didn’t even realize was still a thing. And the second was a Carter Jones cologne, bought with cash. The signature on the traveler’s check was illegible, but the name looked significantly longer than Tina’s, so I’m going to go with the perfume.”
“That cologne is close to three thousand dollars an ounce,” Lily said. Both he and Chad voiced their disbelief, and Lily slid them a look. “Trust me, gentlemen, I know these things,” she said before continuing her conversation with Cyn. “Do you think Sonia and Nadia left her the cash when they left her the virus as well?”
“Possible,” Cyn said. “Likely even. The package left for the Lam sisters was a small box, about the size of a large hardback book. Definitely big enough to hold cash and a vial of the virus.”
“Stella sent you pictures of the bag?” she asked.
“She did,” Cyn said. “The verbal description was really enough, though. There are only so many bag sizes at Bergdorf, but it was good to have the visual confirmation.”
Darius stared at the phone as Lily considered this new intel. Never in his life did he think he’d know people who knew how many, and what size, bags Bergdorf carried.
After a beat, Lily spoke. “I can see how a cologne bottle would be the perfect way to dispense the virus. But the virus is so unstable, if it combines with any ingredients, especially if there’s any kind of alcohol, it’s going to kill it. It will be completely ineffective.”
“I don’t know about any of that,” Cyn said. “But it is what she bought.”
“And I can’t imagine it’s for her father,” Darius said, not even remotely over the fact that some people spent more on cologne than he spent on his mortgage.
“It’s definitely something the president would like,” Lily said. “Okay, where is she now?”
“Work,” Chad replied, holding his phone. “Angie, one of my colleagues, has been following her all day. I just checked in with her.”
“And the dinner is at seven, right?” she asked. Darius nodded.
“Okay, I don’t want to tip anyone off. It will be rushed, but let’s pick her up after work and before the dinner. Usually, these dinners will have a gift table where the guests can leave things for the president. Chad, can you confirm that? If so, I want to be sure that the embassy has an X-ray and a UV light sanitizer that they put all those gifts through. I know they’ll be checking the people, but I want the extra step in place for the gifts.”
“On it,” Chad said, dialing a number and moving into the sitting room to have a conversation.
“What do you need me to do?” Darius asked.
She tapped her fingers on the table. After a beat, her gaze fell on the stack of papers. “We aren’t going to have much time with her. We need to organize the information so we can present it to her in the most terrifying way as quickly as possible. You up for that?”
He grinned. “I thought you’d know by now, I’m pretty much up for anything.”
CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT
Darius lookedat the woman sitting across from them. Her hands were clenched tightly in her lap, her breathing was shallow, and her eyes darted between him and Lily. And the FBI agent leaning against the wall behind them. Although, to be fair, even Darius could admit the dude should be a model, so Tina Lam probably couldn’t help but look. Even if she was nervous as all get-out.
As for him and Lily, well, they were in their formal wear finest, and, as always, Lily looked as cool as an iceberg—especially in her blue gown. The room they were in was an outbuilding on the massive piece of property that housed Stella and her husband’s security firm. The man behind them was an agent specifically selected by Beni Ricci Matthews to stand in as their official law enforcement. Apparently, he and his wife were in town visiting the vice-presidential couple and their newborns.
Darius was quite certain this was the most bizarre interview he’d ever conducted.
“Let’s try this again,” Lily said. Tina Lam’s gaze jerked between them.
“I’ve told you, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.
Lily sighed and pulled out her phone. She’d tried to give the woman a chance, but Tina hadn’t taken it. Now they were going to pull out the big guns. Opening a video, she slid the phone across the table. Tina’s eyes locked on CCTV footage of her shoving the folded piece of paper into her coat pocket as she and her sister exited Lab 14.
In silence, Lily then slid over the same sheet of paper that he’d been able to track down. Tina’s eyes bugged out, and she started to shake. What she did not do was talk.
Next Lily pulled out a photo of Tina and her sister collecting the package Sonia and Nadia had left for them at the hotel. Then came a still image of Tina buying the cologne that Cyn had pulled from Bergdorf’s CCTV.
After that, Lily glanced to him. He opened his own file and pulled out two stacks of printouts. Arranging them in front of Tina, he watched as her eyes skated over the first, a detailed list of the email conversations between her and Sonia Trimble. Then her attention switched to the second, a diagram of the phone tracing Sabina, Chad’s IT connection, had done.
And last but not least, the FBI agent, a man named Dominic Burel, leaned forward and set a picture on the table. Sliding it over toward Tina, the woman lost all color and brought her hand to her mouth. Darius hoped she wasn’t about to vomit, but he looked for a garbage can just in case.
“Who’s that?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
