“No, baby. I don’t need it. I was thinking we should put it in the gun safe.”
“Right. That’s a good idea. But Dad—”
“I’m afraid I have to go. I’ll call you later, okay?”
“Sure. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
Carmichael’s hand shook as he ended the call. “Did Wendy shoot Graham with a tiny 9mm?”
“I can’t prove that yet, sir.” Tessa kept her tone gentle. “But I can tell you that she tried to shoot me with one.”
31
AN HOUR AFTER LEAVINGthe Carmichael estate, Zane ran up the driveway and wove through the people still in the main entertaining area. Part of his brain noted that agents were chatting with the guests in a nonthreatening way before allowing them to depart.
Another part of his brain noted that Monteith, Meadows, and McCloud were huddled together in one corner of the room and three agents were too close for it to be a coincidence.
But a solid 99 percent of his brain was focused on one thing and one thing only. The woman who stood at the back of the room and, at least in his imagination, had eyes only for him. He didn’t stop moving until he was two inches away. “You’re okay.” His hand reached for her, and he managed through sheer force of will to be content with a gentle squeeze to her elbow.
“Yes.” Her voice was low and a little raspy. “I’ll fill you in.”
“Not yet. I need to tell you something first.” This time he pulled her back into the command center for the evening and bent so he could speak in her ear. “Monteith.”
“Yes. Wendy Monteith.”
“No. Tyson Monteith.”
“What are you taking about?” Tessa shook her head in obvious confusion.
“I witnessed Carmichael, Meadows, and McCloud give Monteith a replacement for his Janus cuff link. Right in front of the president.”
Tessa’s eyes widened, then she blinked rapidly. “It can’t be.”
“Why not?” Monteith had been one of Zane’s top contenders all week.
“No. It’s not that.” Tessa filled him in on what had happened upstairs.
“So Wendy Monteith suckers Graham into taking her upstairs on the possibility that her buddy from two decades ago hadn’t cleaned out her safe?” he asked.
“We found the safe open, and we also found a jet injector of insulin in her purse. That’s how she took out Rodriguez.”
Zane dropped his head. “If she had a prescription for it, and it was sealed and in her purse, the agents wouldn’t have taken it from her.”
“Oh, it had her name on it.” Tessa’s rage burned with the force of a supernova. “But Wendy Monteith isn’t a diabetic.”
“And injecting insulin into anyone who doesn’t need it—”
“Can kill them,” Tessa finished his thought. “We called the hospital and told them what we suspected. Rodriguez should be okay, but it was a close call.”
Zane took the time to process everything he’d heard. “Where’s Wendy Monteith now?”
“Still upstairs. They want to wait until all the guests have left to take her out of the house. They’re trying to cut down on the scandal.”
“Has anyone questioned Tyson Monteith yet?”
“No. The focus has been on trying to keep everything casualdown here. But he won’t be leaving until he has a sit-down with Ledbetter. By the way, Ledbetter is seriously ticked about having to stay here. He promised his kids pancakes in the morning. I wouldn’t want to be Monteith right now.”
