They knew the four of them had basically pushed Holt and June into each other’s path and then quietly braced the door shut behind them.
Rad let out a quick breath as Mina walked into the room, her eyes moving across the table with the composed curiosity of a woman who was never nearly as surprised as anyone hoped she would be.
“Hello, Grandmother.” Rad stood and leaned down to kiss her cheek. “We’ve set you a place at our side of the table.”
“Mmm.” Mina kissed his cheek in return, then gave the table another long look. “I take it we’ve been caught out?”
“I’m assuming because you’re here that is the case,” Rad said softly. “But it’s not just us trying to set them up that’s the reason we’re here.”
“Oh?” Mina’s brows rose. “Then what is it?”
“You’re about to find out.” He pulled out the chair for her. “I’m sorry we got you involved in this.”
“Oh, sweetheart,” Mina said, settling with her usual elegance into the chair he held for her, “your father and June getting together again was inevitable. Fate had them on a collision course already.” She smiled up at him. “We just gave them a little extra nudge in the right direction.”
“Yes, but…” Rad sighed as he nudged the chair in. “I’m afraid there’s a lot more to it now.”
“Oh, you mean they know about your show?” Mina asked, and the grin she gave him when his head whipped around toward her made something in his gut sink. “Come now, honey. I’ve known about that for quite some time.”
She glanced toward the end of the table, where June and Holt were once again talking quietly between themselves as if the rest of the room were simply waiting for them to finish.
“Ah,” Mina said softly. “So that’s what this is all really about.”
“Yes,” Rad admitted. “And Dad did that dramatic bait-and-trap thing he does to get us all here.”
“Ah.” Mina nodded, clearly pleased with her own assessment of the situation.
Margo stepped toward the chair beside Rad. “Would you like to sit here, Mina?”
“Oh no, dear.” Mina shook her head. “I’m better off right here out of the blast radius.” She smiled toward Margo, then flicked her eyes to Rad. “Especially as Rad has just told me that my son got you all here in a way that ensured none of you had time to get your story straight.”
“That’s why they did this?” Margo’s eyes widened, and she glanced immediately at Willa, Ace, and Harvey, who had the grace to look a little embarrassed. “They didn’t want us to have time to…”
“Get another cover story together.” Holt cut in smoothly. “That’s correct.”
He leaned back in his chair in a way that looked almost comfortable, which only made Rad more aware that his father was, in fact, in complete control of this room.
“I wanted to get each of you one by one,” Holt continued, his eyes moving from Margo to Rad, then to Ace, and finally Willa. “You can thank June that you’re not each sitting in an interrogation room at the FBI.”
“You wouldn’t.” Willa’s eyes went as wide as Margo’s.
“He would,” June said, with a single nod. “I talked him down, reminding him that we didn’t have a suspect yet, only speculation about who we thought it could be, and that if you were all suddenly dragged in for questioning…” She glanced toward Holt.
“It would raise suspicion and put you in more danger than you are already in,” Holt finished.
His eyes flashed with contained anger, and Rad shifted in his seat despite himself. He had never seen his father quite this furious, not even when he was a teenager and had once nearly gotten himself arrested on a stupid dare. This was colder. Deeper.
“So,” Holt said, “here we are.”
“Yesterday,” June began after everyone was seated, “we sat all of you around a conference table and asked for absolute transparency in this case, or cases, as it may turn out to be.”
Rad could picture her in court then with startling clarity and felt a sudden wash of sympathy for any opposing attorney who had ever mistaken her calm for softness. She gave nothing away when she didn't want to.
“Each one of you looked us in the eyes,” she went on, “and said nothing.”
“Even after knowing what happened to Lacey and Judy, the four of you still decided not to give us key information,” Holt continued. “I’m going to give you all an opportunity to tell us the truth.”
June turned to her daughter. “We’ll start with you, Willa. Tell us how you got involved with the Hidden Truths show.”
