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“Figures he’d say that, but it’s not that bad,” I lied. Messing him up someday had been on my long-term to-do list. Vengeance could wait, but it wouldn’t be forgotten. When I got through with him, he’d know payback was a bitch.
“Good to hear. Also, the family would like to keep a lid on Deborah being found—at least for now.”
Once again the Bensons were dictating terms to the Bureau, and it sucked.
“Is that all?” I asked as nicely as I could.
“For now. It was nice meeting you. Good luck, and please keep me up to date.”
“Sure. Have a nice flight.”
We hung up, and the reason for the call was crystal clear: Keep her informed or else. The fucking Bensons thought they ran the world.
Well, Patty Hearst had come from a powerful family, but in the end the FBI had been more powerful, and she went to prison. The Bensons were going to learn the same lesson.
* * *
Kelly
My phone rangwith my big brother Dennis’s picture on the screen.
“Hey, Dennis,” I answered. “I hear from Serena you’ve got a new girl.”
He ignored my comment. “I flew in last night for a customer meeting. Want to do dinner?”
He was always changing the subject on me. Whether it came from being the boss at work or just being the oldest among us, he always had to set the agenda.
I hadn’t prepared for his question. “Dinner?” Having Adam shadowing me was a complication.
“Yeah, you know, food, wine, family.”
I couldn’t just refuse... “Sure.” Adam could probably watch from outside the restaurant.
“Is everything all right?”
“Sure. I’ve just got stuff going on.” I couldn’t bring up the Ghost.
“It’s your town,” he said. “You pick a place, and I’ll call you later.”
The Italian restaurant Adam had taken me came instantly to mind. Had I liked it solely because of the food, or also the company? I settled on the food. “If you like Italian, I’ve got a new place you might like. How’s Josh doing working for Daddy?”
Dennis started filling me in on the latest.
Asking about Josh lowered my apprehension about dinner. It would make it easier to avoid my current predicament at work if I kept the topic on the rest of the family.
Dennis had a way of needling things out of me that I didn’t mean to disclose—a big brother superpower of sorts. But I would be okay if I kept him busy answering my questions, and his avoiding the question of a new girl in his life gave me the tool to divert as needed. Poking at an area he didn’t want to talk about always got to him—it was my little sister superpower.
He didn’t mind dissectingourrelationships, but his were a different matter. It wasn’t fair. I could be as persistent as him, if I needed to. I’d get something out of him over the course of a meal.
He deserved a good woman in his life after how disastrous his marriage to Melissa had been.
Chapter 16
Adam
As I combedthrough the Falls Church video again, looking for the Benson girl, I couldn’t get Dennis’s face and Neil’s admonition out of my mind.
The fact that he’d brought that Parsons woman ate at me. Because of her I had be deferential to Dennis Benson and treat him with kid gloves. The guy deserved to be treated like the ass he was, not some fucking prince of the realm.
