Page 84 of Out Of A Fix

“No. He wouldn’t do that to my mother.”

“Then it’s an oversight,” I said, pulling out my phone. “Let me see what I can do, all right?”

“Right now?” He sounded so hopeful.

“Of course,” I said, calling the office, putting it on speaker.

“What?” Shaw answered.

“First, you’re on speaker. And second, your phone etiquette is for shit,” I informed him, and Luke chuckled.

“Sorry, but I thought we agreed you’d stay until after Thanksgiving.”

“We did, that’s fine. That’s not what I’m calling about.”

“Oh,” he said, sounding much better, even cheerful. “Then what?”

“I need to talk to someone at the marshals’ office there. Who can you get me to?”

“I’m gonna put you on hold while I figure it out, and then I’ll put you through. I assume this is about Caitlyn Duchesne?”

“You would be right.”

“Okay. Stay there.”

Light jazz came over the line. When I looked at Luke, his brows were furrowed, and he was glaring at me.

“The hell did I do?”

“I thought we put the whole you-leaving thing to bed.”

“Uh, no. The reasons for me leaving have not changed.”

“I think you⁠—”

“Nash, g’head, you’ve got Deputy Director Ian Doyle on the line.”

“Thank you,” I said to Shaw, “and thank you, sir, for⁠—”

“No,” Doyle said flatly. “We’re speaking because of Colonel Colter, and Mr. James says you served. Is that right?”

“Yeah. Master sergeant.”

“That’s good, no bullshit,” he said, and I liked his voice, which was deep, and his tone, which was to the point. “Now, who do we need to discuss?”

“Caitlyn Duchesne and Marcello Conti. And you’re on speaker with me, Nash Miller of Torus Intercession, Mr. Conti’s brother, Richard, and Mrs. Duchesne’s ex-husband, Luke Duchesne.”

“Oh-kay,” he said like it was weird, which I knew it was. “What’s the question?”

“Mr. Duchesne knows his wife⁠—”

“Ex-wife,” Doyle corrected.

“Yes, sorry. Mr. Duchesne knows his ex-wife was placed in WITSEC, but Mr. Conti’s family was not informed.”

There was the sound of a keyboard, clicks of a mouse, and then a loud grunt. He asked for clarification of the spelling of Duchesne before a long silence.

“Lemme see what’s in this…oh. All right, I found the problem. It’s flagged. It looks like someone made a stupid call here, but at least it’s noted that they did. Back in 1972, one of Mr. Conti’s grandfather’s brothers was employed by the Gambino crime family in New York.”