“I did just arrest his daughter.”
Jacob chuckled. “True. But he doesn’t know that yet. Wait until he finds out.”
Monteith, Meadows, McCloud, and Carmichael all took seats in the four chairs that circled a small coffee table. Ledbetter entered a few seconds later, with Zane right behind him. Ledbetter pulled a chair from a small game table and put it in front of the men. Zane strode around them and came straight to Tessa. Hetook a position on her other side, with his arm brushing against hers. “Everything okay?”
“Not sure.” She’d explained everything to Ledbetter. At one point, she truly believed his head was going to explode, and she was so thankful for Jacob’s steady presence nearby. But when she was done, Ledbetter shook his head and said, “This is why my daughters are never dating. They’re also never going to the beach with their friends on Spring Break. Or leaving home. I’ll get them tutors. Who needs college?” Then he’d asked where Monteith currently was.
Jacob leaned around her and said, “It went fine. She’s fine. Ledbetter’s a good man.”
They fell silent when Ledbetter cleared his throat. “Gentlemen, it’s been quite an evening.”
Carmichael’s nostrils flared. Ledbetter needed to hurry, because Carmichael was going to take Monteith down if he wasn’t arrested soon.
“Right now, we have Ms. Wendy Monteith upstairs. She’s in custody.”
Tyson Monteith jumped to his feet. “What? Why? You have no right—”
“Your psychopath daughter shot my butler and injected a Secret Service agent with insulin.” Carmichael was on his feet with his finger in Monteith’s face. “Why would you bring her here in the first place, Tyson? We all know she’s nuts, but what could have possessed her to do something like that?”
And that’s when it happened. Monteith’s gaze flicked to Tessa, and everyone in the room saw it.
“Do you have a problem with Special Agent Reed’s presence, Mr. Monteith?” Ledbetter asked.
“No.” Monteith sat. “Wendy wouldn’t have done what you say she did. I’m sure there’s an explanation.”
“Oh, I’m sure there is.” Ledbetter sat back and steepled his fingers. “Right now, I need to direct our conversation away from Ms. Monteith for a moment.” When Tyson made as if to object, Ledbetter hurried to say, “Oh, don’t worry. We won’t forget about her. Not for a second. But before we can go on, I need to ask you gentlemen about the present you gave to Mr. Monteith this evening.”
Carmichael frowned. “What are you talking about? The cuff link? What does that have to do with anything?”
“I’m afraid it may be the key to everything, Mr. Carmichael, so I ask your indulgence. What can you tell me about the significance of the cuff link?”
Carmichael shrugged. “There was a group of us in college. We were sitting around one night, talking and drinking beer. We were giving the president a hard time. He was determined to run for office, and we were razzing him about how he’d better let us stay in the White House. But Monteith”—Carmichael nodded in Tyson’s direction—“said he didn’t want to be the one to hold office. He wanted to be the one with the real power. The power to open doors, a gatekeeper type. Someone people would come to when they wanted to get stuff done.”
McCloud and Meadows nodded their agreement with Carmichael’s version of events. “It was a bunch of guys sitting around doing some male bonding, but that night was when we agreed we’d always support each other. Someone said we should come up with a name for who we were. One of the guys was a Classics major. He told us about Janus, and it seemed like a perfect fit. We figured most people would assume it was an acronym. But those who knew about Janus would get it.”
Meadows snorted. “I was so drunk that night that I had to look it up the next day to see what I’d agreed to.”
McCloud leaned forward and rested his forearms on his legs. “We were young and stupid, but I’ve never regretted the decision to be part of Janus. We were selective about membership, but we continued to accept new members for another fifteen years. At that point we felt that we had the group we needed and made the decision not to add anyone else. That’s when we decided to get the cuff links made. I didn’t wear mine tonight, but I wear them a lot. We all do. But Monty here lost one a few years ago, so since we were going to be together, we thought we’d get him a replacement.”
Monteith looked like he’d swallowed an ice cube.
“How did you come to lose that cuff link, Mr. Monteith?” Ledbetter asked.
“I, uh, don’t recall.” Monteith’s face was red, and he was acting like his collar had grown too tight around his neck. “Look, what does it matter about an old cuff link? My daughter is upstairs—”
“Mr. Monteith, if you wish to have this discussion at the local sheriff’s office, that can be arranged.” Ledbetter’s expression hadn’t changed, but he was exuding menace in a way that made Tessa think it would be wise to never ever make him angry. “Otherwise, I suggest you let me ask the questions, and you provide answers. So again, the cuff link. Where did you lose it?”
“I don’t recall.”
“Oh, I do.” Meadows leaned toward him, his face eager. “Don’t you remember, Monty? We all went out to that bar. What’s the name of that place? Gino’s? Yeah. That’s it. I remember because it wasn’t Memorial Day weekend, but it was the weekend after that. It was a Friday night, and we all went out. You hooked up with some chick and lit out of there.”
“I can’t say if I remember the specifics the way Meadows does.” McCloud gave Ledbetter a smile that was close to authentic but didn’t quite hit the mark. “But with all due respect, there’s nolaw against getting drunk in a bar. And Monty here hasn’t been married in years. If he can find a beautiful woman willing to leave with him, that’s his business.”
“You are correct.” Ledbetter turned to Monteith. “Are your friends’ memories jogging yours?”
“Like they said, I was drunk. I may have left that night with someone. I honestly couldn’t say.”
“Do you make a habit of that?” Ledbetter leaned back, his face an expression of concern.
