“Thanks for the invite, Pat,” Cheyenne said as I closed the door behind her.
“You’re welcome.” Then I called to my stepdaughter in the kitchen, “Tessa, you were so kind to pass along the dinner invitation to Detective Warren as well.”
“Not a problem,” came the reply.
“As well?” Cheyenne said. “So who else is-”
Lien-hua stepped into the kitchen doorway. “Cheyenne.”
“Lien-hua.”
Both women looked at each other for a moment, and then, almost simultaneously, looked at me.
“Great,” I said awkwardly. “So, good… um, I’m glad there’s plenty of food then.”
Neither of them spoke.
Oh, this was just outstanding.
Cheyenne took the pie to the kitchen, Lien-hua joined her, and I asked Tessa if she could kindly come to the hall for a moment. She reluctantly followed, and when we were out of earshot of the two women, I said, “What is this all about?”
“We missed lunch with Agent Jiang.”
“I know, but why did you invite them both over here tonight? What are you trying to do?”
She gave me a you-are-so-clueless look. “We talked about this earlier. You need to decide who you’re more interested in. The best way to do that is to have them both here. That way-”
I didn’t buy it. “Why are you suddenly so concerned about me being with a woman?”
A long uncertain pause followed, and somehow it almost made me regret pressing her for a reason. At last she said softly, “When we got back here tonight, there was so much… I don’t know… I just thought it would be good for both of us if we didn’t have to think about death for a while.”
I couldn’t come up with any argument to that.
“You need to fill me in on these things, okay?”
“It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.”
“That line doesn’t apply to teenage girls.”
A tiny smile. “Come on.” She started down the hallway. “You have guests to entertain.”
Brad arrived at the small country gas station on the isolated road that skirted along the edge of the Quantico Marine Corps Base.
He parked the car.
Astrid had wanted an unforgettable climax to this crime spree, and so he’d suggested leaving the FBI a little surprise in their own backyard. She’d seemed pleased by the idea, and considering where he’d left the laptop, this gas station was in the perfect location.
There were no other cars on the road, none at the gas station.
Seclusion was another reason he and Astrid had chosen this place.
He turned his attention to the man behind the counter in the gas station-Hispanic, mid-twenties, bored, alternating between texting and talking on his cell phone.
Then Brad organized his things and prepared the needle.