Page 2 of Lessons in Power

“I’d like for you to stop using your children as pawns in whatever sick game you have going on with your ex-wife,” I said. “But I’ll settle for a rather large transfer of funds.”

Bancroft stared at me in disbelief. “Who put you up to this?”

“A better question might be what I’m going to do if you don’t transfer those funds.”

“Do?” Bancroft sputtered. “You can’tdoanything. You’re a kid.”

“I’m Tess Kendrick,” I said. “Keyes.” The second last name was an afterthought. The combination of the two had the man in the backseat paling. “I go to Hardwicke with your son. Jeremy seems fairly convinced that you’re hiding money in an offshore account to keep your child support payments to a minimum.”

Bancroft showed not even a trace of emotion at the mention of his son. “Prove it,” he spat out.

“I don’t have to.” I took my time explaining those words. “Either youhavebeen hiding assets,” I said, “which makes you a felon, or you’re actually as broke as you claim to be, which makes you the very last person in the world whom anyone in DC should trust to invest their money.” I paused. “I wonder how long it would take for news of your financial difficulties to spread.”

Bancroft snorted, but his eyes gave him away. He was looking nervous.Good. “You think my ex-wife wants DC society to realize how brokesheis?” the man countered. “If she was going to go public with this, she would have already.”

True.

“I’m not your ex-wife.” I picked up my phone and brought up the contact information for theWashington Post. “And as it turns out,Idon’t have a vested interest in whether people think she’s broke or not.” I turned the phone toward Bancroft just longenough for him to see who I was calling, then hit thecallbutton, setting the phone to speaker.

It rang once.

Twice.

“Stop,” Bancroft said.

I hit the button to end the call just as someone picked up. I held out the paperwork Henry had asked his family attorney to draw up. “In an ideal world,” I said, “you’d amend the divorce settlement you made with your ex-wife.”

A muscle in Bancroft’s jaw ticked. He’d take his chances weathering damaging rumors before he’d give his ex anything she wanted.

“However,” I continued, “I thought you might prefer making an anonymous donation to your children’s school.”

I held out the papers again. Bancroft took them. Reading them, he frowned. “A scholarship fund?”

“Donors can put whatever stipulations they would like on a donation. Your stipulations are very specific.”

Jeremy and his little sister would be the recipients of scholarships that would pay their Hardwicke tuition through graduation.

“I only have two children.” Bancroft looked up from the pages and glowered at me. “Why am I funding three scholarships?”

I offered him a tight-lipped smile. “Price of doing business.”

A vein in Bancroft’s forehead throbbed. “And if I tear up these papers, call the police, and have you arrested for stealing my car?”

I shrugged. “Technically,” I said, “Ididn’t steal your car.”

The car slowed to a stop at the curb of the Roosevelt, having circled the block. In the driver’s seat, Henry turned around. “Technically,” he said, “I did.”

“Henry Marquette,” I clarified for the man in the backseat. “His mother is Pamela Abellard.” My smile took on a cat-eating-canary glint. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t the Abellards your firm’s biggest client?”

Bancroft’s grip tightened over his phone, his knuckles turning white.

“We both know you’re not making that call,” I said. I nodded toward the paperwork in his hands.

The man’s eyes went back to Henry’s.

“Normally,” Henry told him conversationally, “when someone asks me to commit grand theft auto, my answer is a firm no. But I have a sister.” Henry’s expression was perfectly polite, but his mint-green eyes flashed, striking against his dark brown skin. “My little sister,” Henry continued, “is your daughter’s age. Nine years old.”

Bancroft signed the papers. He made a call and authorized the transfer of funds.