Page 37 of The Fallen Man

“What?” growled Evan, feeling the hot flush of rage that hit him every time he thought about Olivia’s grandfather.

“I discussed it in advance with Olivia,” said Jackson.

“What?” demanded Evan.

“He’s probably coming to the wedding.”

“No.”

“Olivia OK’d it.”

“No.”

“I mean… yeah. She kind of did.”

“That man is abusive. He called her a whore. He tried to blackmail us into breaking up, and I don’t want him there.”

“Olivia says she’ll seat him someplace out of your line of sight,and Dominique says that between her people and my people, he won’t make a fuss.”

“Dominique has people?”

“She said she could recruit some sort of social babysitters. And I figure if he starts saying too much shit, my guys will take over and just chuck his ass out. Don’t worry. You won’t even have to think about him. It won’t be a thing.”

“It’s already a thing,” growled Evan. It was becoming clear to him that his wedding was not going to behiswedding but was going to be an Eleanor Deveraux party. Olivia had said as much and declared that she was fine with it, but Evan wasn’t sure he was. On the other hand, that wasn’t Jackson’s fault. But clearly, Evan would have to circle back around with Olivia before going off in anger. “OK, fine. Why did she OK it? Please tell me you got something useful in exchange?”

“We did. Ralph pointed us toward Senator Griffeth from New Jersey. Says that she’s been cockblocking Eleanor on releasing the Absolex files to the public.”

“OK,” said Evan taking a deep breath and trying to let go of his anger, “fine. At least that’s progress. As long as he doesn’t actually talk to me, then maybe he can come. So what did you find out about the Senator?”

“Nothing,” said Jackson. “Because Eleanor keeps telling me not to investigate.”

“But,” said Evan. He was having trouble picturing a scenario where he wouldn’t call Jackson and ask for his help. “But, I mean… this is what you do. I don’t understand. Why? I mean, just… what?”

Jackson laughed.

“I’m serious!”

“Yes, thank you. I appreciate that. After wading through her nonsense, I think she has put me in thelooks after the childrenbox and not thelooks after Eleanorbox.”

“Ah,” said Evan. “Yes. That makes sense. I had some of that when I got out of school. She kept telling me I was in charge of the finances, but I swear she didn’t take my advice for nearly five years.”

“Well, it’s been at least five years. What the fuck?” demanded Jackson.

Evan nodded. “It’s fine. I’m just going to give you some very Jackson advice.”

“I can’t tell if I’m looking forward to this or not,” said Jackson.

“You’re not. You’re going to be mad,” he predicted. “OK, here it is. Do it anyway. At this point, the only person who doesn’t believe that you look after Grandma is… Grandma. She’s given you the keys to the kingdom. Her staff all know, respect, and listen to you. Pete, maybe, might think to double-check an order with Grandma, but that’s only because he’s a cautious son of a bitch. Everyone else wouldn’t even blink. I know you’ve end-run her before. Stop hesitating now.”

Jackson took a swallow of his drink and gave Evan a very Deveraux look, which made Evan grin. He loved it when Jackson hadn’t seen the answer coming.

“You’re right. I’m annoyed that your advice is to be more myself. It’s the political stuff, and I usually try to stay out of it. She’s got all the wheels within wheels. I don’t want to mess up her game.”

“Agreed. But digging up dirt isn’t going to mess up Grandma’s stuff, and it sounds like she needs it.”

“I don’t know…” Jackson shook his head. “Schrodinger’s Cat.”

“Do I need to call Olivia for an explanation?” asked Evan. It always amused him when his prison-educated cousin got erudite.