Page 51 of Only the Wicked

Me

Y

* * *

The cell service isn’t horrible here, but it’s not San Francisco. And I’m not sure where Sydney and I will be at one. We’ll be finished with lunch. Possibly headed to Asheville? Might have to go old school, sans video.

Sydney’s legs are bent, tying her hiking boots. At that angle, with her cargo shorts scrunched low, her legs look fucking amazing.

Does it matter if she’s around when I speak to my grandmother? Probably not. What am I thinking? Sydney isn’t the issue. If Nana gets wind of Sydney, that’s when the issue will arise.

I grin, thinking about my visit with my grandmother this past weekend. At eighty-eight, she’s a firecracker. But she’s slowing down. Prefers to stay close to home and not travel so much. Her house backs up to Dilworth Park, which allows her to get out and walk. She’s an active member of a gardening club and actively supports the arts. Last weekend she finally agreed to me hiring a home aide. Which reminds me…

I open my contacts, select message, and hold up my phone to my mouth to dictate a message.

Hi. This is Rhodes MacMillan. When we met on Monday, you said you would send over prospects. Status?

* * *

I skim Siri’s work and hit send. It’s Wednesday. Sometimes I wonder how people keep their businesses running.

“Everything okay?”

Sydney’s beside me, peering over my arm. I pick up my pack and unzip the front pocket.

“Yeah. Fine,” I grumble. “You ready?”

The phone vibrates in my hand. I flip it over and read: Evie Thompson.

Hmm.

Sydney’s eyeing me, probably wondering who Evie is and why she’s calling. Let her wonder. I’m not going down that path of explaining every female interaction. No way, no how.

I step away from Sydney and speak to the speaker, dictating the response, but in a low, private voice.

Can’t right now. What’s up?

Chapter

Fifteen

Sydney

I make a mental note to have Quinn look into Evie Thompson. If I’m reading Rhodes correctly, my questions are unsettling. Something about his reaction doesn’t fit the profile I was given. A man selling state secrets wouldn’t react with genuine discomfort about a past relationship—he’d deflect or charm his way around it. Unless jealousy was an issue in a past relationship.

The man runs a company with hundreds of employees. He’s headed to D.C. in forty-eight hours and has meetings set up through next week. If he’s expecting jealousy from me, he’s off. He’ll learn I’m far too rational. Besides, out of necessity, this is a vacation thing.

If all goes well, I’ll gain some insight and drift into the recesses of his past, a woman he had fun with for a few days. He’ll never learn I had ulterior motives.

But his reaction sparks suspicion that perhaps his long-term girlfriend from the past trained him to be wary. Perhaps his long hours at the office were met with mistrust, perhaps her questions led to fights. That could also just be me reading into him. If this thing between us was real, I might prod. Pick at the thread to learn more. But it’s not and any insight on that score wouldn’t meet the objective. If anything, touching a sensitive subject might drive him to throw up a wall.

No, I thought the way to get to know Rhodes would be to flatter him, to play into what I assumed was a robust ego. So I asked about his climbing adventures, Eagle Scouts, even high school since he grew up in this state. I poked and prodded, but he never copped to being valedictorian or the men’s lacrosse MVP. He’s not boastful, and that’s surprising. Perhaps a lifetime of being hailed brilliant has left him without a need to brag. But there’s something else. Most people with dark secrets have tells—a need to overcompensate, to project an image that distracts from their corruption. Rhodes doesn’t have that energy. If anything, he seems...solid.

When Caroline approached me about this assignment, I expected questionable deal practices, or possibly questionable ties. The briefing made it sound straightforward: tech company prioritizes profit over patriotism, sells sensitive data to the highest bidder. Case closed.

But the more I learn about Rhodes, the harder it becomes to square the man I’m getting to know with the profile. A suspected corrosion of integrity doesn’t seem to fit. Rhodes fought for ARGUS to be a nonprofit. The fight is documented in interviews and posts. That’s not the action of someone chasing money at any cost.

What if we got this wrong?