Page 76 of Code Name: Reaper
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. Maybe later.”
Reaper glanced over at me once we were in the SUV and on our way to the town house. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“It? Which one? That my ‘mother’s’ family name was Hyde? I suppose that means Jekyll isn’t my father. If it’s even the same Hyde.”
I rested against the seat and covered my face. When Reaper’s hand rested on my thigh, I turned to him.
“I know I said it earlier, but I don’t understand why my grandparents told me so little about my mom and dad.”
“Why didn’t you ask?”
“When I was younger, I did. Maybe middle-school age. It made both of them so uncomfortable—and sad—that I eventually gave up.”
“I take it you didn’t know your dad worked for the agency.”
“Not a clue. But if he did, it would’ve been around the same time Prism worked there.”
“There’s a possible connection,” Reaper suggested.
“True.” Something else nagged at me. “So if Hyde was my mother’s maiden name, what if Jekyll was her brother?”
“Of everything, that makes the most sense.”
“Uncle Edgar? It sounds creepy, doesn’t it?”
“Not as much as Uncle Jekyll.”
“That’s for sure.” I chuckled. “Here’s another thing. We know he graduated from Bethel-Rhodes at the same time Mercury did and that he eventually went to work for MI6.”
“His father may have been a diplomat, which would explain why Jekyll attended high school in the States and also answer the question about his nationality,” Reaper added.
“Once we’re at the town house, I’ll see what I can find on that angle.”
We’d beeninside a few minutes, and I was scouring intelligence sites for a possible diplomat with the last name Hyde when there was a knock at the door. “It’s too early to be Vera,” I said as Reaper went to look.
“It’s my mom. Okay if I invite her in?”
I smiled. “Of course.”
“Hello, Kingston,” she said, hugging him when she came inside. “I swear you get taller every time I see you.”
“Ma, I hit six-four in college and have been the same height since.”
“Hello, Amaryllis. Or do you prefer Charity?”
“Hello, and either is fine. Can I get you anything? Do you want to come in and sit down?” I asked.
“If I’m not interrupting.” She glanced at the piles of photos we’d left on the dining table.
“You’re not. In fact, the timing is great,” Reaper told her.
At first I was lost, but then I realized what he was getting at. “I know this is a really long shot, but you don’t happen to remember anyone named Hyde from foreign service? Someone British?”
She thought about my question for a few seconds. “Nothing that immediately comes to mind, but as you suggested, it wouldbe a long shot. At any given time, there are more than fifteen thousand foreign service personnel stationed in the US. A high percentage of those would be from the UK. I’ll look into it, and if I find anything, I’ll let you know later.”
Kyra took the cup of coffee Reaper handed to her.
“Which reminds me, that’s why I stopped by. Are you free for dinner this evening?”
