Page 86 of The Shadow Friends

Jo

At 4:30 a.m., two hours before sunrise, Jo climbed the steps to the Slocums’ front porch, not knowing why she was here. She couldn’t make sense of Maggie’s phone call, which had roused her from a deep sleep. There’d been something about a situation. Something about an identity that needed to be confirmed. The Martini Club had caused her trouble before, but they’d never made her drag herself out of bed to deal with their latest interference. And why had they called her directly, and not reached out to the officer on duty? Their audacity was getting out of hand. Limits needed to be set, starting now, she thought as she reached for the doorbell.

Before she could even ring it, the door opened. Maggie pulled her inside and swung the door shut again.

“What’s the rush? What’s this all about?” Jo demanded.

“Someone could be watching the house.”

“Why would anyone be watching the house? It’s four in the morning.”

“And we’ve been here all night. So let’s get straight to business, then we can all go home to bed.” Maggie looked like she’d been up all night, her eyes puffy, her silver hair awhirl, as if she’d just trudged through a sandstorm.

Jo eyed Maggie’s black turtleneck and pants, then she focused on the gun strapped to her hip. “What is this, some kind of James Bond cosplay?”

“We have a situation.”

“That’s what you said on the phone.”

“And he’s in the other room.”

He?

Jo followed Maggie down the hall and into the family room, where a cheery fire crackled in the hearth. Declan was crouched at the fireplace, casually prodding the logs with a poker, and Ben sat in an easy chair with a gun on his lap, sipping a glass of what looked like whisky. Except for their weapons and their black clothes, this could be just another boozy get-together, and all three of them looked perfectly at ease.

Unlike Agent Tanner Minnihan, who sat on the sofa with his wrists zip-tied together.

Minnihan saw Jo and blurted out: “Oh, thank God! Tell these people who I am!”

“We caught him in the act,” said Ben.

“What act?” Jo asked.

“He was breaking into this house.”

“I was not breaking in! I never set foot in the house! You dragged me inside.”

“After you opened the sliding door.”

“I noticed it was unlocked, that’s all. I wasn’t about to come in. I don’t have a warrant!”

Jo groaned. “Oh God.”

“I just wanted to check the house. Confirm that the Slocums have returned.”

“At three in the morning?” said Ben.

“Well, they weren’t here during the day. I came by twice to check. I know the Slocums flew from Madrid to Boston on Friday, aboard a commercial flight. Then they just vanished, and their phones went dead. Until a few hours ago, when I got the alert that their phones are now active and pinging from this location.”

“You couldn’t have waited until morning to pay a visit?”

“I was already wide awake.” Minnihan looked at Jo. “I’m still dealing with jet lag. It’s ten thirty a.m. in Brussels right now.”

“He’s telling the truth?” said Maggie, looking at Jo. “He really is FBI?”

“A poor excuse for one, if you ask me,” said Ben.

“He’s actually a physicist,” said Jo.