Page 159 of Things We Left Behind

“You look cheerful. Did you unseat another senator?”

“I had a nice weekend,” I said with as much dignity as I could muster.

Petula rattled off the morning’s appointments while shooting me suspicious looks.

“What’s with the face?” Lina asked, stepping out of the kitchen. I realized that for once, I wasn’t the first person in the office. In fact, half of the staff was already here, gearing up for the day. I must have slept later than I thought thanks to She Who Shall Not Be Thought Of.

“Thank you, Petula. I’ll take it from here,” I said, dismissing her.

“If he starts to look feverish, I want to know,” Petula told Lina. “I have a medical team on standby.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my face,” I assured my newest employee.

“The mouth part is fighting its natural frown. You’re almost smiling,” she observed.

Nolan appeared behind her holding a cup of coffee and a stack of files. “Whoa. Someone got laid,” he announced, taking one look at my face.

“Don’t make me send you through HR’s six-­week sexual harassment training,” I warned, telegraphing a message of dire consequences if he dared mention Sloane’s name in front of Lina.

“He didn’t even threaten to fire you,” Lina stage-­whispered. “It’s official. Lucian Rollins has been abducted by aliens.”

“Aliens that had a lot of sex with him. Initiate Protocol D, people,” Nolan announced. Employees nearby grinned at him.

“You’re both fired,” I decided.

“You might want to hold off on that until I update you on that issue we discussed Saturday night,” Nolan said, nodding in the direction of his office.

“This concerns you too,” I told Lina.

Together the three of us trooped into Nolan’s office. He closed the door and dumped the files on his desk. Lina took a seat and crossed one long leg over the other. I remained standing.

“I pulled Travers off the Rugulio background check and sent him sniffing around Felix Metzer’s family this weekend.”

“And?” I prompted.

“He was able to confirm that Tate Dilton was the one who showed up at the Metzer family barbecue. Three family members IDed him after Travers showed them a couple of photos of our mustachioed, deceased douchebag.”

Lina was on her feet. “Tate Dilton. The son of a bitch who tried to murder my fiancé?”

“That’s the one,” Nolan said.

“Apparently he was connected to the man Anthony Hugo commissioned to create the list of law enforcement and informants,” I explained.

“Did he put Nash’s name on that list?” Lina demanded. Her fury was a controlled, icy blast.

“It looks that way,” Nolan said.

“But why the hell would he put Nash’s name on the list and then be the one to try to take him out?” she asked. “Why not just pull the trigger and forget the list?”

Nolan glanced at me. “The best we can figure it, Dilton was a dumbass.”

“Well, that tracks,” Lina said.

“He wanted Nash out of the picture but not enough to pull the trigger himself, until Duncan offered him cash. He could have been playing both sides, doing a little work for Anthony over here and a little something for Duncan over there. There’s no loyalty in dipshit criminals,” Nolan explained.

“It looks like that ties everything up in a nice neat bow,” I said. “Dilton put Nash’s name on the list. Dilton pulled the trigger twice. And Dilton ended up dead.”

Lina’s eyes narrowed. “I wish that asshole wasn’t dead so I could knee him in the balls and wax his mustache.”