Chương 2
Sophie picked at the edge of the blanket.
“Is he going to jail?”
“For tonight, he’s being questioned.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“No.”
The honesty seemed to settle between them. Beyond the curtain, a toddler cried while someone tried to persuade him to swallow medicine. A cart squeaked down the hall. The emergency department smelled of disinfectant and warm plastic.
Sophie looked toward Evelyn’s sleeve. The fabric remained wrinkled where Marcus had grabbed her.
“Did he know you were police?”
“I’m not police.”
“You had a badge.”
“I work for the federal government.”
“That sounds like police with more words.”
Under different circumstances, Evelyn might have corrected her. Instead she moved the chair closer to the bed.
“No. He didn’t know.”
“Did anybody?”
“Some people.”
“Did I?”
Evelyn did not answer immediately.
Sophie’s fingers stopped moving against the blanket.
“I knew you had secret work,” she said. “I didn’t know there would be guns.”
“You weren’t supposed to see them.”
“But I did.”
“Yes.”
“Were they pointing at him?”
“Yes.”
Sophie swallowed. Her eyes moved to the curtain, then back.
“Could they have shot me?”
“No.”
The answer came too fast. Evelyn heard it and knew Sophie heard it too.
She tried again.
“The agents were trained, and they had clear positions. They would not have fired unless someone was in immediate danger.”
“But could they have?”
Evelyn placed both hands around the paper cup of coffee she had not touched.
“Any weapon can hurt someone. That’s why the rules around them matter.”
Sophie looked down at her knees.
“You said it was a party.”
“It was.”
“That’s not an answer either.”
The curtain opened before Evelyn could respond.
Supervisory Special Agent Daniel Cho stepped inside, carrying his charcoal overcoat over one arm. He was forty-six, compact, deliberate, and normally incapable of appearing rumpled. Tonight his tie had been loosened, and his hair had flattened on one side from repeatedly running a hand over it.
He looked first at Sophie.
“How are you doing?”
“My head hurts.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You weren’t the one who pushed me.”
Daniel’s eyes shifted to Evelyn.
Evelyn said, “He needs to speak with me.”
“I figured.”
“I can ask him to come back.”
Sophie pulled the blanket higher.
“People always talk softer when they think I’m not listening.”
Daniel took the chair near the foot of the bed. He did not sit.
“Marcus Vane has counsel on the way,” he said. “The local assault complaint is being documented. The federal detention is temporary while we establish whether his actions interfered with an active operation.”
Evelyn studied him.
“He put his hands on me.”
“I know.”
“He prevented me from reaching an injured child.”
“I know that too.”
“And the brooch was under his coat.”
“We have photographs. The hotel secured it.”
Sophie’s eyes moved between them.
Daniel lowered his voice, but not enough to pretend she could not hear.
“The transaction did not happen.”
Evelyn had known that the moment she opened her badge wallet. Still, the words landed with weight.
For eleven months, she had worked her way into Marcus Vane’s circle under the identity of Evelyn Hale, an adviser to private families seeking charitable investments with favorable tax structures. Marcus believed she represented money that wanted to look generous without asking difficult questions. The role had required more patience than deception. Wealthy men often revealed themselves most completely when they assumed the person listening admired them.
The gala was supposed to end the waiting.
At ten forty-five, Marcus was expected to meet a representative of a shell contractor in a private hospitality suite upstairs. The representative was a cooperating witness. Marcus was expected to deliver access credentials to an account investigators believed held diverted charitable funds. The ballroom had been crowded with agents, but none intended to reveal themselves until the exchange was complete.
Then Sophie had seen the broken velvet case near a coat stand. She had bent to pick it up. Marcus had turned, seen the child near his coat, and panicked.
He had moved toward her.
Evelyn had stepped between them.
Everything after that existed online.
“Where is Keating?” she asked.
“Gone.”
“Did anyone follow him?”
“We lost visual during the ballroom response. Hotel cameras show him using the north service elevator, but he left through a loading area without coverage.”
Evelyn leaned back in the plastic chair. She could feel the shape of the badge wallet inside her jacket as though it were pressing against her ribs.
Daniel continued. “We searched the suite under the existing warrant. No credentials. No laptop. Nothing that ties Marcus directly to the transfer.”
“What about the arrest affidavit?”
“The prosecutor says it is not enough yet.”
Sophie spoke from the bed.
“Who’s Keating?”
Daniel paused.
Evelyn said, “A man we needed to talk to.”
“Is he bad?”
“We don’t know everything he did.”
“You were trying to catch him?”
“Yes.”
“And now you didn’t.”
Evelyn looked at the adhesive strips above Sophie’s eyebrow.
“No.”
“Because of me?”
“No.”
“Because you helped me.”
“Those are not the same thing.”
Sophie’s mouth tightened.
Daniel stared at the floor for a moment. He had authorized Evelyn’s attendance. He had known Sophie would be present as one of twenty children invited through local schools to represent programs funded by the foundation. Sophie’s watercolor of the city lakefront had been selected for the silent auction booklet. Evelyn had objected when she learned the operation would take place at the same event. Daniel had argued that pulling either of them out at the last moment might alert Marcus, who had a habit of interpreting inconvenience as disloyalty.
They had built contingencies.
None included Marcus placing his hands on a child.
“The doctor is discharging her soon,” Evelyn said. “I’m taking family leave.”
Daniel’s face gave almost nothing away.
“How much?”
“As much as she needs.”
“You’ll be placed on administrative status pending review either way.”
Sophie watched him.
“Is she in trouble?”
May you like
Daniel exhaled through his nose.
“There are questions about what happened.”
